Eleven states in the south came to the conclusion that secession was the best way to escape the oppressive government. All of these southern states were justified as they felt that they were not being properly represented in the government and were seen as a joke. They were not taken seriously and they felt that since their votes didn’t matter anyway that their place in the union also didn’t matter. A large reason for the south’s secession revolves around the idea of slavery. All the south wanted was for slavery to spread and be legal across the north and once they discovered that this opening was closing they began the thoughts of secession. These thoughts of the south seceding from the union worried the government so they did what they could to make the south happy without allowing slavery to actually expand. This came in the form of many events including the Missiouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law, and Washington D.C. remaining a slave territory. This kept the south at bay for a while until the events of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the election of 1860 opened their eyes to see that in reality their votes didn’t matter. This ultimately led to their justified secession from the union. In 1820 president James Monroe passed the Missouri Compromise stating that slavery was illegal in any state north of the parallel 36°30’ north with the exception of Missouri. This left the states south of this line free to continue practicing slavery. In order to
DBQ 10: What Caused Secession? The controversy of slavery led the southern states to secede from the US in 1860 and 1861 in many different ways. One of the ways was in Doucement 2 which was a speech giving by Albert Gallatin Brown on September 26, 1860 showing that the southern and northern states loathed each other...
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 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...)
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
In 1820 Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state. Since it would ruin the balance between Slave states and Free states in the Senate, Henry Clay came up with the Missouri compromise. What it did was make Missouri a Slave state and Maine a free state. “This law prohibited slavery in the Louisiana Territory north of the 36° 30´ latitude line.”(Bibliography source #2) It also allowed the owners to recapture runaway slaves that fled to the North, like wanted posters describing them and how much for the reward. “Runaway from the subscriber, on the night of Thursday, the 30th of September” (Bibliography#3) They limited themselves by only applying the Compromise to the states gained in the Louisiana Purchase, this than led to the fighting after the Mexican war when America gained new territories in the West. This ruined the Missouri Compromise. Historians believe that if the Compromise had been applied to all
Oddly enough the Pittsburgh Press wrote this paper in the Northern state of Pennsylvania. The South felt the North was going to abolish slavery, which increased the conflict between the two sides of the Union leading the South to secede and create a separate, pro-slavery government and country. In the South Carolina ordinance of secession it states Lincoln and his Northern followers show hostile views towards slavery along with the idea that the government cannot hold itself up when the conflicting views of a half free and half slave government. This only confirms that the conflict between the North and South is growing and secession will happen in time. This led to the secession of the South because there is conflict between the two sides and the South wants slavery to continue to thrive and expand. Slavery was another reason why the South seceded. Besides slavery, the South felt they had no power within the government.
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.
There are many other reasons that the south seceded from the union but those are just a few. The differences in economies, the protective tariff act, and the Election of 1850. Even though not all of the people of the south wanted to secede from the union, they still did, which eventually lead to the Civil War of the United
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 South felt that they had multiple reasons for secession, although the North did not fully support their decisions. They wanted to secede for their own safety since different abolitionist groups were attacking them. Also, Lincoln’s inauguration further encouraged the Southern states to secede because Lincoln did not agree with slavery and wanted it abolished. Another reason for secession was the increase of sectional hostility. The Southern states seceded from the Union because of the results of the election of 1860, the existing hostility between the North and the South, and the attempts performed by extreme abolitionists who tried to end slavery.
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
First South Carolina solicited a convention to leave the Union and with the time other stated joined until it was formed the confederacy. The first motive of separation from the Union was when the Continental Congress tried to custom all the colonies and population, including slaves. Also, the secession has relationship with the Whig viewpoint, which demanded a rebellion against authoritarian government. Generally the issues of the main cause were the different opinions about slavery and the states’ rights. Especially the main cause was the election of Abraham Lincoln as a president, he want to avoid the expansion of slavery to new territories, southerners were worried that abolitionist government would end with slavery and their lifestyle would change dramatically.
The three main reasons for secession were the purpose of slavery, the states’ rights, and the fear of Lincolns proposition as president. Slavery for a while has always
This shows that South Carolina had the right to secede because it was a sovereign state. It also shows how the South should have had the right to decide whether they would want to secede from the country or not. Another example is that when the Southern states joined the Union, it was voluntarily (Appleby et.al 556). “Nowhere in the Constitution is there any mention of the union of the states being permanent.” (http:/civilwar.bluegrass.net). This shows that they should have the right to leave the Union if they choose to. They had this right because the South had no bind with the Union stating that they had to stay except for the United States constitution in which the North had already violated. Even though the United States constitution was what they looked at as a contract, the Union already desecrated its’ terms before this dispute. It also shows how the right was their own and the government could not control their choices in staying or not. These reasons and examples show how the South had to right to secede because of various reasons regarding the political state the government was in.
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.