Why did the Southern states secede in 1861?

The succession of the Southern States had been brewing for many years; this was due to fundamental differences in agriculture and resultant adoption of slavery in the South. From early days, the thirteen states had grown up separately, and each had their own culture and beliefs, which were often incompatible with those held in other states. The geographical and cultural differences between north and south would manifest themselves at regular and alarming intervals throughout the …

…south. Lincoln's election was the catalyst which sparked off the succession of the southern states and than lead to something catastrophic where millions of men would die. Bibliography Key Events and Battles of the Civil War, http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/chart.civwar.html, December 2003. Perkins, George, ed. "The American Tradition in Literature". The McGraw-Hill Companies, 1999. http://www.polytechnic.org/faculty/gfeldmeth/lec.civilwar.html December 2003 http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/chart.civwar.html December 2003