During the American Civil War, the struggle over states' rights was between the individual Southern states and the federal government over who ultimately had the political power. Some historians argue slavery was the man cause of the war, and others say states' rights was the cause, but both issues were very closely connected. At issue was whether the federal government could regulate or even end slavery within the terrritories. There were other factors that divided the country between Southern slaveholding states and Northern industrial states. The South saw the institution of slavery as necessary to its economy and its way of life. Even Southern churches supported slavery when Northern churches saw the ownership of another person as an abomination.