One of the most difficult times in the history of the United States was the Civil War. The Civil War is often remembered as the war to end slavery. While that did play a part of the Civil War the larger issue at hand was the annihilation of the United States of America. The Confederate States of America wanted to break away from the United States and form their own country.
The Confederate States of America, or more commonly known as the Confederacy, was formed by seven slave states located in the southern region of the United States. The economy in the southern half of the United States was heavily dependent on agriculture. Running a farm takes a lot of manpower which is why the slave industry was such big business in the lower half of
…show more content…
The states splintered during spring time of 1865.
A major consensus among white Southerners was they were more “southern” than they were Americans. Dating back to the early days of the formation of the United States a popular thought was that citizens had more pride in their respective states than the newly formed federal government. Another issue was that the states would not have as much power in light of a new federal government. For the next hundred years those issues would not perish in the South. Southern pride ran strong and Lincoln’s aim to end slavery was like an attack on their livelihood. The southern states saw themselves as an entity all their own and decided to secede from the Union, what the northern states came to be known as that represented the United States of America. That sense of regionalism in the South affectionately came to be known as the “Cause” among Southerners. Southerners saw Lincoln’s attempt to end slave labor as an attack on their lifestyle.
Seceding from the United States was something that was unheard of. The Confederates rationale was that there was no wording in the United States Constitution had no specific clause that forbade states from breaking apart from the country. They argued that it was a pact among the states instead of binding contract. Under the South’s new government their constitution, called the Articles of Confederation, outlined
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...)
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 United States of America divided by different beliefs and ideas in 1861. Therefore, states were demanding to split up America because of the vast different beliefs. The southern states of The United States formed “Confederate States” because of the desire of central power and state’s rights. They believed that the northern states were trying to take away southern values and society (Blight, p.43). The Confederate states consisted of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, and Louisiana.
The Civil War was fought from 1861-1865.(Masur,L 2011) One of its main components was slavery. Many northern states fought to end slavery, while the southern states wished to fight to keep slavery and protect its rights.(civilwar.org) The Southern states economy was dependent on cotton which to them made slavery a necessity, while the North was becoming a more industrialized economy.(Masur,L 2011)The separation in economic needs helped to create a divide between the two sections.(ushistory.org) In addition to the economy, southern states pushed for nullification. They did not believe that the Federal Government should impose its will on the states. (Masur,L 2011 pg4) The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 did little to reassure the south that their rights to own slaves would be upheld and was basically a final straw for many southern states. (civilwar.org) There were a total of eleven states that would secede from the Union from 1860-1861 prior to the start of the Civil War. These states in order of secession were
In 1860 the South decided to secede from the Union. The reason that the South decided to secede was because they did not share the same views as the North. The South was in favor for slavery, unlike the North who up the Mason-Dixie Line had begun to gradually ban slavery. The South was more reliant on slavery for plantation matters. The North did not care much for the reasons why the South needed slavery, since they relied on cheap labor. The South had to secede because they would not be getting their slave economy if they stayed in the North. Once Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860 the South seceding the Union vas creating their own Confederacy. South Carolina decided to secede for the Union first. Then they dispatched delegates
In the time between the election of 1860 and the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in March of 1861, a total of seven states had withdrawn from the Union for several reasons. The South first argued that the North threatened liberty, and they protested that an assertion of federal power would overturn slavery and destroy the one institution that guaranteed equality for white Americans. Along with this, the South feared that the Republican Party’s victory would set into motion the complete eradication of slavery. Their next argument was that Lincoln and Republican Congressmen ignored the Dred Scott case, showing an usurpation of power that was unconstitutional and even justified leaving the Union; the South viewed their slaves as property and believed no one could take this right. The South believed their right to secede
Southern states seceded from the Union because they wanted slavery. “Many Northerners viewed slavery as wrong. Abolitionists wanted to end slavery and some helped slaves escape to the north” (Doc 4). The quote shows that the north and the south saw slavery differently. The north was mainly abolitionists and helped slaves escape but the south wanted slavery to continue. The north didn’t want slavery to continue and decided to help them but
Before the Civil War, the South was based mostly on slavery for plantation, but the North was much more industrialized with only a small portion of slaves. Since the North took over most of
The North was a financial and industrial mecca, whereas the South had an agricultural economy based on the institution of slavery. Because Southern plantation owners feared that the powerful North would put an end to slavery, political leaders did what they could to ease the sectional conflict (Cite F). In the end of the war all the success went straight to the Northern states. The Confederacy was destroyed for good, and every state that had seceded was readmitted to the Union (Cite G). Later in the years the federal government came to a point on if they wanted to use outlaw slavery as an amendment.
The North and the South had differences even before the beginning of the Civil War. The North had been more of an industrial economy and the South were all farmers that required cheap labor. In 1818, Missouri Territory had gained the required population to be entered into the Union as a state. It was expected to be entered as a slave state. Then in January, 1820 a bill was passed to enter Maine into the Union. This would balance out the equal power between the amount of slave states and non-slave states. This was known as the Missouri Compromise. It showed how North and South wanted an equal amount of states to be free of slaves and states with slaves. The North had already disputed having slaves and the South originally had the idea of keeping the slaves to increase their profit. The South and the North were both economically separated decades before the war, and during that time this difference was of less concern to the people of the U.S. In 1787, the 3/5ths compromise was created. The North denied the request of the South for counting black slaves which already revealed the division. Northern states did not want to let the Southern states gain power. The North was the most populated region in the U.S. The South had slaves but were not able to count them as people. The North denied the request of the South for counting black slaves which already revealed the division. The Civil War was a conflict because of the division in opinions.The American Civil War was caused by the
The novel March is one of the greatest depictions of the American Civil War in all of literature. March gives the reader an in-depth look at the everyday struggles of the United States through a soldier prospective during this time. It also show that even during this time of what was supposed to be revamping of the nation, many citizens and slaves alike in the broken mindsets that have led up to this point. One of the greatest examples of this is the relationship between Mr. Canning a lawyer for Illinois and the slaves at Oak Landing. This relationship is introduced to the reader in chapter six when the main character Mr. March who is a Chaplin in the union army is reassigned to this plantation. While at dinner with Mr. Canning on his very
The southern states wanted to have their own nation and wanted to keep slavery alive, was unable to decide on laws. The north did not want the country to be broken apart. In the election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln stated that he wanted to stop the spread of slavery. The southern states said that if Lincoln won, they would secede and leave the union. The southern states seceded from the union after Lincoln was elected.
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.