Eve of the civil war Essay

The secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860, by a vote of 169-0 was a response to the election of Abraham Lincoln of 1860. Lincoln perceived as an abolitionist wanted to contain slavery rather than ending it. The majority party above the Mason-Dixon line were Republicans and below were primarily Democrats and Republicans were viewed as abolitionists. The election of a Republican threatened the South’s status quo. The primary catalyst for secession was based on slavery. Different social cultures and political beliefs developed due to the South’s intimate and reliant relationship on slavery. Southern whites feared the end of slavery and this paranoia was shared among plantation slave owners and white Yeoman farmers. Southern whites felt that the North were threatening the supposed tranquility of the South. The South’s agrarian economy, honor, and independence were believed to be in danger. Slavery was intertwined with the South’s social, cultural, and economic makeup. As a result of slavery, the South developed a paternalistic culture and racial ideology of white supremacy. The perceived notion that the North was influencing it’s political and social beliefs on the South lead them to believe that secession was the only act of self-preservation. The growing differences between the South and North made it difficult to negotiate. This fear was exaggerated and accelerated the South’s eventual implosion. The South believed that without slavery it would self-destruct and

The name Civil War is misleading because the war was not a class struggle, but a sectional combat, having its roots in political, economic, social, and psychological elements. It has been characterized, in the words of William H. Seward, as the “irrepressible conflict.” In another judgment the Civil War was viewed as criminally stupid, an unnecessary bloodletting brought on by arrogant extremists and blundering politicians. Both views accept the fact that in 1861 there existed a situation that, rightly or wrongly, had come to be regarded as insoluble by peaceful means.

Lincoln would have been able to maintain control the Radical Republicans, at least that is what is thought to be true. Lincoln 's death, however, left a blank space in

In order for them to generate a more lucrative business, the south used slaves as a labor source to produce crops, which had the largest impact on the southern lifestyle. This in turn boosted the south's economy, which allowed the the southern life to thrive and create a distinction between themselves and the other economies of North America. Whilst slaves dominated the southern economy, slaveholders only accounted for about two to three percent of the southern population. This small, yet powerful percentage of individuals were the people successful in agricultural business and the driving force behind the usage and continuation of slavery in the South. Without slaves there would be no cotton, tobacco, or sugar production and without these integral items, the Southern economy would absolutely collapse. The South depended on slaves to fuel their economy which in turn allowed for slavery to dominate the economy and be the sole resource of the South.

The 1860 presidential election of Abraham Lincoln greatly contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, born in Kentucky on February 12, 1809, served as the sixteenth president of the United States. He was the very first Republican to serve as president, eventually leading the Union to victory during the civil war. Lincoln opposed the idea of the expansion of slavery but acknowledged that he would not interfere with slavery where it existed. Despite this, Southern fears that slavery would soon be abolished by Republicans became a reality after Abraham Lincoln was elected president on November 6th, 1860. The election influenced the

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. It was his election that convinced South Carolina to secede from the Union. Though not an abolitionist, Lincoln was an opponent of slavery and determined to use all means at his disposal to stop its spread. Because the Republican Party was an anti-slavery party, South Carolina, along with several other states, saw the election of Lincoln

other duties. On the eve of the Civil War, some 4 million Africans and their

The Southern states wanted to keep slavery yet, the North, wanted to stop the expansion of it and above all, abolish slavery. For example, in document three it states, “These Republicans claim the right to make a code of laws for the South, not only in the States, but in the territories, which shall control or prohibit slavery… If Lincoln were President… The Union would be endangered from that hour.” In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president. One of his many plans was to cut off the expansion of slavery. Obviously, when he ended up going through with his plan, the South did not respond kindly. Their response was rebelling from the North. The only way they could have kept slavery was if they seceded. In addition, a quote that backs up his hatred towards slavery, Lincoln states, “we deny the authority of congress… to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States.” Clearly, Lincoln was against slavery. He believed that it was unconstitutional and planned to get rid of it once he became president. In conclusion, the Election of 1860 was the final reason for the South seceding from the

The difference between the North and South’s economy varied greatly. The South had a mainly agricultural economy while the North mainly focused on an industrial economy. It can be seen on the pi charts of the North and South’s economy that the North was more prosperous with their economy do to that fact that one and a half trillion dollars of manufactured goods were produced in the North while only one hundred fifty-five million dollars were produced in the South (Doc 2). The South made most of their money from crops but most importantly cotton. South was the top producer in cotton and it was a very popular crop to buy. The difference in economy between the North and South took a toll on the relationship between them. The difference in economies was a tension that was one event that led to the civil

Abraham Lincoln was elected as the sixteenth president of the united states in 1860. This made the southern state furious. They knew that Lincoln was against slavery and they were very fearful that he would change their entire lifestyle by abolishing slavery. He once said: “I am naturally anti-slavery, if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” This caused many southern states to secede one by one. The first state to secede was South Carolina. South Carolina was so angry by the election that they seceded before Lincoln even went into office. Then in 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas all succeeded. A total of eleven states. Eventually they formed the Confederate States of America. They wanted to be recognized as an independent nation but Lincoln refused to recognize them as an independent nation. This caused a war to break out.

The South considered agriculture, especially the production of cotton, to be the crux of their economy. The South was producing half of the world's cotton. Sprawling estates and plantations with hundreds of slaves running them dotted the southern region. Eli Whitney's cotton gin made cotton production easier, faster, and it revived the industry once again. Soon, tons of cotton was being traded in foreign countries and in the North. Cotton was a fast cash business, but it ruined the soil, leaving the plantation owners to constantly be looking for new land. In little to no time, the South had become a one-crop economy with everything becoming dependent on cotton sales, which were dependent on other factors such as demand for cotton goods. One of the most lucrative, horrifying, and large businesses was the slave trade. Many Southern whites considered slavery a necessity for their economy. The South was able to produce these enormous amounts of cotton because of the manual labor provided by slaves. In the beginning, during the era of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, slavery was considered a necessary evil. However, views of slavery were rapidly changing and by the Jacksonian era, many Southerners saw no other option than slavery. William Harper, a jurist in South Carolina, ventured to say, "The cultivation… of great staple crops cannot be

After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, politicians in the southern states wished to secede from the northern states. President Lincoln opposed slavery and hoped to get rid of this act in any state that practiced it. The southern states viewed Lincoln’s vision as a threat to those states who supported slavery and they believed that having an anti-slavery president would endanger the states in many ways. For this reason, South Carolina became the first to secede six weeks after Lincoln became president and later on more states to follow the secession (lecture). The states who seceded became known as the Confederate states and the conflict resulted in the civil war which lasted from 1861 to 1865 (lecture). The secession all falls back to the disagreement between the North and the South’s different views on slavery based on three different factors which were geographic positioning, economic power and man power.

It all started when the Northern States didn't agree with the Southern States about States’ rights. The Southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal laws they didn't support, especially laws interfering with the South's right to keep slaves and take them wherever they wished (Cite C). As you could tell already the Northern States did not like the idea of having slaves in this country due to everyone having a right/freedom of speech. [So] The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, as President in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, was a clear signal to the Southern states that they had lost all influence (Cite C).

In the early years of the 19th century, slavery was more than ever turning into a sectional concern, such that the nation had essentially become divided along regional lines. Based on economic or moral reasoning, people of the Northern states were increasingly in support of opposition to slavery, all the while Southerners became united to defend the institution of slavery. Brought on by profound changes including regional differences in the pattern of slavery in the upper and lower South, as well as the movement of abolitionism in the North, slavery in America had transformed from an issue of politics into a moral campaign during the period of 1815-1860, ultimately polarizing the North and the South to the point in which threats of a Southern disunion would mark the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 (Goldfield et. al, The American Journey, p. 281).

What challenges did the “new immigrants” face (those arriving between 1877 and 1914) that previous waves of immigrants did not?  (Discuss at least 2 challenges.)