Why did the Southern states secede in 1861?

David M. Potter theme of Impending Crisis is the study of sectional conflict dealing primarily with political events that led up to or caused southern states to secede from the Union resulting in the Civil War. Potter contends that during the expansionist period

The economic differences between the North and the South were already The slavery matter caused the sectionalism between the North and the South: “There most certainly was sectional conflict between North and South over slavery-related matters...” America’s image or reputation in the international communities was also a part of the reasons that the northerners supported the abolishment of slavery. They cared about it because the trades with overseas countries were largely carried on in the North. Moreover, by 1865, most of more developed and influential countries at that time already abolished slavery, but slavery still existed in the U.S. Although the abolitionists were a minor group of anti-slavery people in the North, they argued to abolish slavery partially because they, as the northerners, worried about the America’s international image and how this would affect their trades and economy. The northern states could have seceded as they were wealthier, but with an economical reason, they needed the raw materials such as cotton from the south. Therefore, it was better for them to maintain the Union and also the secession is unconstitutional.

Advantages Essay From 1861 to 1865, the United States of America was fighting itself. The northern part of the United States, known as the Union or simply the North, was trying to end slavery in the southern part of the United States. The South seceded from the Union and formed the

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

The Southern states left the Union based on their opinions about slavery. “Many “In time, other plantation crops, especially cotton, sugarcane, and sugar beets, were found to thrive in the South”. It also says “As a result of those and other factors, the North's economy came to depend more on trade than on agriculture”(Doc 3). This means that the North and the South had different views on how to live and how to make money . This also means that the South and the North had different opinions that could not be solved. Southern states left the Union because they had different ways of making money and living.

Debates over which powers were rightly the states and rightly the federal governments were already tense and the question of whether slavery should or shouldn’t exist in the new territories of America, added on to the already strained relationship between the two sides. Document A describes this situation as a cup on the edge of the shelf, certain things almost pushing it over the edge such as the addition of new states being free or under a slavery economy. Many compromises were formed to try and keep states’ rights as well as keep power for the government. The south wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal rights they didn’t support, this was

Cotton was the king of the South. It was bringing in large amounts of money as the textile industry in the North grew. Slavery was vital to the economic well-being of the South, and when the North began to question the “peculiar institution” of the South the wall of civility between the two sectionalized areas began to crumble. Due to the growing issue of slavery in the 1850s, the United States of America was in a state of total disarray and turmoil. The tension that had always existed between the North and South over the matter of slavery was no longer ignorable. As the United States expanded to the West, the status of slavery in the new states erupted in a violence that could no longer be controlled by sectionalism. The peace treaties that had worked in the past became Band-Aids over stab wounds. Southern states began to leave the United States of America to form the Confederate States of America and war was declared as the South fired onto the forts of the North. The Civil War was caused directly by the issue of slavery; the fugitive slave act in the Compromise of 1850, Dred Scott v. Sandford, and Bleeding Kansas prove that slavery was the key factor in the eruption of the nation.

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...)

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.

The aim of this Investigation is to come to a conclusion how much of an effect Lincoln’s election into office had on succession of the southern states from the union.

Southerners were basically farmers who made their living of agriculture, architecture, so they needed to tend the land they owned. To be able to maintain their crops they needed labor as well as slaves. If slaves were banned in the south the southern economy would drop because the lack of labor and the trade market of slaves would drop as well. Slavery existed for primary labor. Southerners claimed that the federal government was not allowed to stop them from having slavery; the issue of slavery became one of the main issues, because it was the most certain issue of the time. The slavery issue came to the front of laws later, and many in the south were discussing the possibility of freeing the slaves on their own. The north, which was controlled by radical republicans, was pushing for the abolition of slavery. Northerners aided the escape of runaway slaves, which was a constitutional violation that made a fugitive from one state a fugitive of every state. Slavery in the beginning existed in every state, and the writers of the Constitution avoided addressing the issue of conserving or ending slavery in order to obtain ratification from all states. When Americans acclaimed victory in the Mexican War, which resulted in the US expanding its territory from Texas all the way to the Pacific Ocean, the question of whether or not to permit slavery in the new territories was later issued. The

The South had distinctly separate political views. So much so that South Carolina felt the need to secede from the Constitution, which resulted “from the nature of a compact between sovereign parties” (Doc. E). However, the North had different views on such a decision; they did not want South Carolina to leave the Constitution, and they asserted that “in contemplation of universal law and the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual” (Doc. F). Other political conflicts, such as the bitter contest between pro-slavery and anti-slavery due to the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed in 1854 -which organized the Kansas-Nebraska territories on the principle of popular sovereignty- (Doc. J); the speech given by Senator Charles Sumner over the Kansas-Nebraska bill in which he attacked pro-slavery men and insulted South Carolina and one of its senators, the well-liked Andrew Butler -to which Preston Brooks responded to by busting into the Senate chambers and beating Sumner with a cane- (Doc. K); the Dredd Scott Decision, in which Dredd Scott, a slave whose owner had taken him from a slave state to the free North, returned to Missouri and sued for his freedom, which set off even more controversy over slavery (Doc. L); and Abraham Lincoln’s speech when accepting the Republican nomination for US Senator in June 16, 1858, in which he stated that the pro-slavery/anti-slavery conflict

The Civil War was a time of fighting within the United States brought on by many events including the Missouri Compromise, abolition movement, presidential election of 1860, secession of Southern states, and other occurrences. Most Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America. The big divide stemmed from the differing positions on slavery. The North had been gradually abolishing slavery and did not depend on such free labor in the way the South did. The agricultural dependant economy of the South relied on African American labor. Therefore, each side feared the stance the government would take on the issue of slavery and how that would affect the economy and politics of the nation. From 1861 to 1865, the

Sectional conflict between the North and South was the very platform of the birth of the Civil War. Slavery was a prominent dispute that played a large role in the differences throughout the U.S. at this time, but there were other causes as well including economic and social differences and the election of Abraham Lincoln. In the midst of various events in the 1850s, it was the southern secession that began the true separation of the Union and the Confederacy, which showed the reality and quickness of the arrival of the Civil War in the United States.

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.