The events of the 1850s and 1860s posed the greatest threat the Union had ever faced because when the Southern states attempted secession they almost succeeded. Their secession threatened the Union for three large reasons, it would set a precedent of state nullification, it caused questions to arise regarding executive power, and it almost succeeded. The South’s secession was based on the idea that state governments could void any laws they disagreed with, therefore if they had been allowed to secede then a precedent would have been set that would allow any state in the Union to void federal laws they disagreed with. A union in this sense is, as defined by google, “a political unit consisting of a number of states or provinces with the same central government.” The issue that this precedent would have on the Union is that a central government is rendered useless when it can't act in any way shape or form which is the power this precedent would give to the states. If the states could ignore the federal government at any point then by definition the Union would no longer be a union.…show more content… Lincoln violated his executive power in multiple ways, between the draft, blockades, theft of property and more Lincoln severely exceeded the limits set by the constitution. The fact that congress cleared his actions instead of punishing him only reinforced his power, these were some of the very same actions that were used to justify declaring independence, the actions of a monarchy. This caused instability in the Union because it gave the executive power to violate individual rights and therefore the constitution (plus
