The succession of the eleven southern states significantly impacted the United States and its citizens during the years of 1860 and 1861. Many people are curious as to why, after many years of unification and prosperity, the North and South would find it necessary to split apart. Many aspects contributed to the southern states decision to succeed from the union including: the diverse perspectives on the emancipation of slavery, the South’s belief it was capable of being self sufficient, as well as, standing as a nation on its own, and the concern that the Constitution of the United States was being altered from the original meaning it was meant to have. The debate over slavery, what it stood for, and what rights the African American population was actually granted by the Constitution was probably the most significant issue contributing to secession. In his 1858 "On the Irrepressible Conflict," William Seward addresses the condition of the United States clearly by stating, “Our Country is a theatre, which exhibits, in full operation, two radically different political systems; the one resting on the basis of servile or slave labor, the other on voluntary labor of freemen.” This statement is evidence that each side had completely different interpretations of the rights that were set forth to the slave population within the Constitution. The South believed the Constitution granted the African American slaves no civil liberties at all. They had no rights guaranteed to them
America’s transformation into the country we live in today has been formed through numerous events during its short history but the event that will split the United States into North versus South is truly one of the most defining events in American history. Through numerous events leading up to the start of the Civil War, I will attempt to show how the United States was destined for conflict and that the Civil War was inevitable. The first way I will show how the war could not be avoided will deal with the issue of slavery. Slavery should be the first mentioned because many conflicts within the United States leading up to the Civil War and the division of the United States dealt with slavery. The Missouri Compromise should also be talked
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
During the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but at the middle of the century people views started to become more concrete and so separation in the Union became more drastic. From 1850 to 1861 it was apparent that the union was separating into the North and the South. The Constitution played a major role in the separation that was occurring. Through sectional favoritism of bits and pieces of the Constitution and through ideas that were left out of it, the Constitution led to sectional discord and nearly the failure of the union.
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...)
Charles B. Dew's Apostles of Disunion delves into the controversial topic of the causes of the Civil War and the secession of the states that eventually became the Confederate States of America. There are many accounts that point to defending states' rights as the primary cause of the Civil War. However, most people believe that slavery was the main and primary concern the deep South cited for seceding from the Union to form their own separate country focused on individual liberty and the progression of slavery in those states. Dew makes the point that searching for the cause for the Civil War is a search that continues to be debated
Tensions between the North and South had grown steadily since the anti slavery movement in 1830. Several compromises between the North and South regarding slavery had been passed such as the Nebraska-Kansas and the Missouri act; but this did little to relieve the strain. The election of President Lincoln in 1861 proved to be the boiling point for the South, and secession followed. This eventually sparked the civil war; which was viewed differently by the North and the South. The Northern goal was to keep the Union intact while the Southern goal was to separate from the Union. Southern leaders gave convincing arguments to justify secession. Exploring documents from South Carolina’s secession ordinance and a speech from the Georgia
America’s states were being shattered in the fact that the states were turning against one another and fighting for what each geographical state believed in. The Northern more states wanted slavery to be abolished and to treat them like humans, however the South
More than any other event, the American Civil War went far in defining a United States that had been imperfectly and incompletely shaped by its first 70 years. For seven decades, the presence of slavery in a republic founded on principles of human freedom increasingly confused the political system and unraveled the social fabric. (Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler. (2015)). Although slavery in the South had given rise to antislavery movements in the North as early as the American Revolution, a fresh vigor characterized the abolition movement in the 1830s. Arguments over the western territories clouded the country into a series of disruptive crises. Each was settled with an unsatisfying compromise that left most Southerners feeling materially cheated and many Northerners morally embarrassed. (Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler. (2015)). Efforts to organize the Midwest region called the Nebraska Territory in 1854, led to the ill-conceived Kansas-Nebraska Act. It was yet another attempt designed to secure Southern support for the organization of what by prior agreement would have been a free territory. Kansas and Nebraska were created from the region under the principal of popular sovereignty, which was to say that each territory would decide for itself whether to admit or prohibit slavery. (Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler. (2015)). That plan
Throughout history, people have gone to extreme lengths to secure their economic well being. The people in the Southern states were no different in this regard, and for this reason we affirm the resolution that the South was justified to secede from the Union. Before going any farther, we must define key terms in the resolution. The South refers to the 11 states who became the Confederate States of America. The Union was the United States in 1860. Lastly, justified means done for a legitimate reason, in this case in the context of the political and economic circumstances of the time. We support our affirmation with the following contention: that the South’s economic interests were in such danger that they took the only path available to them
Before the civil war, the country was dividing between the north and south, Problems included the states’ rights and disagreements over tariffs hi but the greatest divide was on the issue of slavery. Slavery was legal in the south but had been banned by sets north of the Mason Dixon line. With the election in 1860 of Abraham Lincoln who ran a message of containing slavery to where it currently existed and the success of the republican party to which he belonged. South Carolina issued a proclamation on December 24, 1860, to explain its reasons for seceding from the United states. An official secession convention met in South Carolina following the November 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the united states on a platform opposing the expansion of slavery into us territories Years after the wars end claims were made that South Carolina decision to secede was created by other issues such as tariffs and taxes but these issues were not mentioned at all in the deceleration The primary focus of the declaration is the perceived violation of
The election of 1860 was a crucial point in our countries history. The Tensions were high between the north and southern states and the issue of slavery was the biggest problem at the time. The election of Lincoln led to the perception that the south and its interests would lose control of the federal government and that the new government would ultimately get rid of slavery altogether.
Before the Civil War started, the North and the South argued on two main topics: slavery and state rights. In my opinion, it was because of slavery that state rights were argued. When Western territories were annexed from Mexico, they were admitted to the Union with the condition that that slavery be banned through the Wilmot Proviso (History.com). Because of this, slave states felt they were unfairly treated and outnumbered. The religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening also gave way to new ideology. Combined with the growing abolitionist sentiment, Northern states began taking action against Southern states. Because their rights as
The Southern states thought that seceding from the North was the only solution to their problems. Lincoln said, “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free,” and he was right about that. The north wanting to get rid of slaves and the south wanting to keep them caused many problems between the two. Their disagreement on slaves made their lives living together very
After Abraham Lincolns election, most of the slave states decided to leave the union to form their own country. The states that started to secede from the Union in the early 1860’s to form the Confederacy had the chance to build something great. They built it for all the wrong reasons. Since the Republican platform prohibited the expansion of slavery in future western states, all future Confederate states started to plan to keep their ways of life protected. It went against their plans for expansion and their ideals so with their decision to secede from the Union many problems had risen up in their new government. The worst of the problems consisted of the rich controlled the government, the lack of industry, and the lack of allies that could provide help and resources
South Carolina also accused the Northern states of instigating “a war [that would] be waged against slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States,” (South Carolina) through the election of Abraham Lincoln as president. In Georgia’s declaration of secession, the reasons for secession are cited as “numerous and serious causes of complaint” (Georgia) against the non-slave holding states that were centered on “the subject of African slavery” (Georgia). In Mississippi, the consensus in the same; Mississippi’s position in the issue “[was] thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery” (Mississippi) and goes to list many reasons pertaining to slavery for its secession, most notably 1) The North “has made combinations and formed associations to carry out its schemes of emancipation” (Mississippi), 2) “has nullified the Fugitive Slave Law in almost every free State in the Union” (Mississippi), and 3) “advocates negro equality” (Mississippi). For these as well as other reasons all pertaining to slavery, the Confederate States seceded from the Union. In the Southern States, as seen through the declarations of secession from the Confederate States, the people, along with the governments of those states all supported secession based on issues arising from the conflict over slavery.