Mississippi's Secession

First off, the way they declared secession and proceeded to do so was illegal. To begin with everyday we recite the pledge of allegiance where it states, “one nation, indivisible”. Those southerners recited the same pledge we did and they recited themselves that this union is indivisible. Next, under the constitution of the United States of America secession was and always will be considered illegal because of Article 10 Section 1. In this part of the constitution it was illustrated that, “No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation….”. The southern states obviously did not follow that and violated the constitution they agreed to abide by themselves. When they concurred to join the Union they agreed to join an indivisible nation. Nowhere could they make a complaint worthy enough to try to separate for the states that they agreed to join, but of course they tried to with the controversial subject of slavery.

Southern states left the Union because they thought they had more power than the Federal Government. “Many Southerners favored secession as part of the idea that the states have rights and powers, which the federal government cannot legally deny”(Doc 5). This means that Southerners thought that the Federal Government could not deny their right to have slavery so they left. Southern states left the Union because Abraham Lincoln banned slavery and it was their only way to make a

Mississippi’s Civil War: A Narrative History begins by providing the account of the Nullification Crisis that took place in 1832. The crisis began as a dispute between the state of South Carolina and the federal government over a series of national tariffs that many of the southerners viewed as excessive. (6) The leader of the nullification movement in Mississippi was John Anthony Quitman. Quitman died in 1859 and Mississippi finally left the Union in 1861. (8) As a result of the Nullification crisis, the Mexican War took place. Many Mississippians volunteered to fight with much enthusiasm. After nearly two years of war, America won. (11) From 1840-1860 Mississippi’s population doubled to almost 800,000 residents and by 1860 Mississippi’s institutions were hopelessly entangled in the web of slavery. The cotton based agriculture increased the need for slaves and by the eve of the Civil War slaves represented 55 percent of the state’s total population. (12) Mississippi’s ordinance of secession officially took them out of the union in 1861 leading up to the Civil War. (32)

The controversy over slaves ultimately led to the secession. Abraham Lincoln thinks slavery is wrong and he wants to stop it from spreading. Earlier, he had warned that slavery could separate a nation. In the 1860 election Lincoln is elected, but southerners are worried he will end slavery forever. Southern states start to secede because they are worried. First South Carolina succeeds, then North, Texas, and then Florida too. They give themselves a new name called the Confederate States of America. (Wise...)

“If slavery must not expand in your mind, it’s settled, we as a state secede from the governing of the Union and join a greater power, the Confederacy. We will no longer be hampered in your hatred towards our way of living. ”…“Then be on your way, I shall not dabble in your cruel pro-slavery reasoning. Just bear the knowledge in mind, we are stronger as a whole.” The Missouri Compromise kept inevitable split of the Nation at bay when it prohibited slavery north of the parallel 3630’ north line. This was later repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which implemented idea of popular sovereignty. This led to “Bleeding Kansas.” “Border Ruffians,” who were pro-slavery and the

Many say that the South seceding was their own choice and that they failed to compromise with the North. The Southern states Seceded because of unfair treatment being forced upon them by the North.

The slaves states secede from the Union since the South thought Abraham Lincoln would try to end slavery. To many southerners, it seemed that the South no longer had a voice in the national government(textbook 500). The southern states secede from the Union since they felt they had no voice in their own country anymore. The South thinks Abraham Lincoln was trying to take slavery away from them. Therefore, Many southerners favored secession as part of the idea that the states have rights and powers which the federal government cannot legally deny(Document 5). Many southerners favored secession as part of the idea that the states have rights and powers which the federal government cannot legally deny(Document 5) The South believed that Abraham Lincoln was against slavery which lead to the states

There were many reasons the Southern States cried secession and often they exerted this. Southern states viewed slavery as a constitution right and slaves as property and commodity over the humility this shadowed. The north viewed slavery as in humane and that all men should be free as written in the constitution. These different views clashed when new territories in the west were forming. The Southern sates seen this as an opportunity, to establish pro-slavery states in California and New Mexico. The president elect Zachary Tailor revealed his new ideas of slavery and the western states to congress. Congress did not want to pick a fight with the fire eaters so they quickly made California and New Mexico states and have their state government

Imagine a life with suffering, sorrow, humiliation, insecurity, maltreatment, would you tolerate it? Unfortunately, these started happening in the South, where slavery prevailed and slaves were surrounded in a layer of injustice and inequality. In addition, authorities, social and economic problems dominated them taking away from them their opportunity to raise their voices and be heard. But what motivated the South Carolina leave the Union? If it was a legal act the secession of South Carolina from the Union according to the U.S Constitution? Was it a good or wrong action? Although the opinion vary, the South secede the Union during the American Civil War.

At the time of them wanting to secede, the Southern states were very successful in agriculture. They thought that they could make their money just from the slaves working on their crops and could eventually expand to make their crop space larger. The Confederacy would give the power to the State instead of the Federal Government. Having the Confederates not run on a central document, was like anarchy or lawlessness. Secession would have caused more problems in the Confederacy than what they already had.

When noted by Finkelman, Paul. “Most Americans believe that secession was about “states’ rights,” but the South Carolina delegates’ complaints about the “increasing hostility” to slavery suggests quite the opposite. In four decades before the outbreak of Civil War. Southern leaders had called for Northern states support and to enforce the federal fugitive slave law to, change their own state laws to allow southerners to travel with slaves in the north, and suppress abolitionist speech. In the constitutional debate over slavery, that is, Southerners wanted rights for their states, but not for the Northerners.” (2). This meant that the true meaning of South Carolina leaving is that the Union being aggressive towards slavery and the south itself. This meant that the Union was to start the upcoming civil war at the time and that South Carolina needed to do this to stop the Union in taking their slaves and their rights as a state. This was the reason for South Carolina leaving the Union as they saw their rights were at

The secession of the South right after Abraham Lincoln’s election asserted that the South would not have slavery abolished (Corrick 21). Differences in views on slavery caused several states in the South to threaten to secede (Ushistory). The South supported slavery and held pro-slavery movements in several states, while the North believed that slavery was not constitutional and should be abolished (Civilwar.org; Cavendish). However, the North did not make any laws proclaiming the legality of slavery, but pushed the abolishment of slavery across the United States even further. Due to the secession of the southern states, tensions inevitably increased between the North and the South, thus leading to the start of the Civil War.

The secession occurred due to conflicts between the Northern and Southern states. The Northerners wanted the America to remain united as one nation while the Southerners believed that the formation of Confederate states would enable them to gain equality with the North. Therefore, the major factors that spearheaded the secession from the Union included conflicts on whether to continue or abolish slavery and economic disparities.

First, our Declaration of Independence states “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government." The Confederate States defended their decision to secede by using the Due Process Clause of the 5th amendment, which stated that no person “shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”

On the other hand the South wanted to withhold all undetermined powers to the individual states and to withhold all these projects. The predominant issue why the South seceded was the slavery issue. The South wanted and called for slavery and would do anything they could to keep it. Cold-heartedly the slaves were items and if taken away would put a huge dent in investments towards Southerners. The value to the slaveholding planter class was immeasurable.