Why Did The South Secede

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...

Abraham Lincoln's victory alarmed many white southerners because this meant that their future was now in the hands of a political party that was primarily against their region's personal values and interests. The people that wanted the South to secede from the Union had their reasons to do so. They were worried that Lincoln's election might lead to future Republican administrations interfering with slavery in the states. In the Deep South, southerners feared that they might become a sticking minority in a nation that was overrun by their political opposites. With this in mind, they instead seceded from the Union and saved slavery within their states.

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 final cause leading to the Civil War was Abraham Lincoln’s election. Lincoln in truth fought for and against slavery depending on the situation. However, Southerners strongly believed Lincoln was anti-slavery. So before Lincoln even entered the office seven states had already seceded. These states included the following: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Lincoln was moderate towards slavery at first, but many congressmen agreed that the South was becoming too strong and slavery should not be

The North didn't care about slavery as long as it stayed in the South. South Carolina seceded, because Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, was voted into office. The Republican party threatened the South's expansion and so Southerners felt that they had no other choice.

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

Southern secession? I cannot think of something more ridiculous. The way it was handled and the reasons were just flat out disgraceful. It all started with South Carolina is 1860 and it was all about slavery and states rights.

The South wanted to secede from the Union because of Lincoln’s inauguration. Since he was elected, the South felt they were losing power and

Abraham Lincoln’s triumph in that election triggered frustration and a sense of unfairness from the South. His political republican views prompted southern states to try and succeed. South Carolina became the first state to declare its secession from the Union. (Doc 1.) They felt that they needed to protect their state’s right to maintain slavery.

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.

Lincoln was elected in November 1860, he supported anti-slavery stood along the Democratic Party. Lincoln did mention many times, he wasn’t going to do anything about slavery. Either way, the south was conflicted by the stand he took and not in their favor.

The United States had been divided during the 1850s surrounding the production and taxes for cotton and the rights of slave owners. North viewing slavery as an abomination and the south seeing it as an astonishing thing. Slavery was the cause of the southern states deciding to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861. The events that led the southern states to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861 were the Fugitive Slave Law, the narratives of slavery and The Election of 1860.

Slaves were integral part of southern society and their economy. The pressure crested amid the 1850, for the privilege to have slaves in new areas. From early days, the thirteen states had developed autonomously, and each had their own specific culture and feelings, which were consistently opposite with those held in various states. A few states were undermining to leave the nation since they felt perilous by the way the government is mishandling their powers.

A key issue leading to the war was states’ rights. The idea of secession was based upon states’ rights. After President Abraham Lincoln was elected, seven southern states seceded from the Union. These southern states feared that president Lincoln would abolish slavery. It also concerned the South that if more states entered the Union eventually, slavery would come to an end. Although President Lincoln did not morally agree with slavery, his main priorities were to spare the Union. Directly after the Election of 1860, the seven states of the Lower South-South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the Union to from the Confederacy. Shortly thereafter, four more states joined the South to fight to keep the intuition of slavery.