The American Civil War, Episode 2: The Nullification Crisis & the Mexican-American War

The Civil War nearly began in South Carolina almost 30 years before the Civil War actually did begin in South Carolina. This was the "Nullification Crisis," where South Carolina made the strongest possible case for states' rights, attempted to nullify federal law, and nearly sparked a war with the Jackson Administration. ... Also, many of the big names of the American Civil War got valuable combat experience in a war against Mexico. The war enflamed American political parties who were for or against the obvious attempt to seize territory, arguably for the particular purpose of gaining more southern territory that could become slave states.