In this conflict, Southern states seceded to defend their states' rights to determine their own destinies without interference by the federal government.

• A. American Revolutionary War
• B. War of 1812
• C. Civil War
• D. Spanish-American War

Answer: (C)

Secession over whether states could decide their own destinies without federal interference points to the Civil War. Southern states left the Union and formed the Confederacy, arguing they had the right to govern themselves and maintain their social and economic system without federal meddling. The Union fought to preserve the United States and to assert federal authority, and the era’s debates about states’ rights are tied to the broader conflict over slavery and national power. The other wars listed were driven by different issues: independence from Britain, resisting British influence, or U.S. expansion abroad, not the specific question of secession and state sovereignty.