The Southern states of the U.S. had always differed from the Northern states. Northern states were more industrial, and Southern states were more centered around agriculture. In any case, differences usually lead to arguments, especially in this case. Eventually, their differences became too great, and the South wanted to secede. The North said it could not do this and that this act was illegal. The North and South bickered whether it had the right to secede or not, and it is still debated to this day. The Southern states did have the right to leave the union as secession was proved to be legal. Texas felt underpowered in federal government according to this quote in Document I, “ By consolidating their strength, they have placed the slave-holding …show more content…
In the Declaration of Independence, it states that if a government becomes destructive, the people have the right to abolish or create a new government altogether. According to this Document F, the Southern states were doing something that is allowed under the Declaration of Independence, “...that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government…” (Document F). The Southern states did not think that the government was serving them properly. All of the states that seceded from the union knew if the U.S. government wasn’t going to serve them properly, why live in bias of Lincoln who was going to abolish their number one source of making income, slaves making cotton. The South seceding from the Union was completely lawful under the Declaration of …show more content…
As it was not made official at the time, the Southern states were not at wrong for seceding from the union. Under the constitution, states had the right to use any power not directly delegated to the government. The act of secession was lawful under Amendment 10. Southern states had no say in a government which they believed was not fit to serve them. They had every right to leave the union and make their own government according to the Declaration of Independence, and if they had no say in government, they had no rights in that country. So the South had no reason to stay. It was lawful for the Southern states to secede and they had the right to do
Overall, this move proved to cause more conflict than it did resolve, as this fueled the rebellious South Carolina in the latter years into more intense emotions of wanting a secession. This was a big event, due to the fact that it showed how strongly the South believed in their own rights, by disregarding the Federal Government they show early acts of treason, and they could not predict how many lives would be lost in the conflict between the two regions, and how impactful the war would be, changing the nation for the rest of the
Much of the disagreement between the north and south was caused by the status of slavery, particularly what would happen in expansion states. The northern states wanted to eliminate slavery from new states, and ideally they wanted no slavery in the country in general. On the other hand, southern states believed that slavery should expand with the country. For example, a man from Georgia argued that new territory should be able to have the choice as to whether or not they will have slavery. But the north, however, “insists that while the territory was partly acquired by Southern men, is partly owned by Southern men, that they shall be excluded from its soil”(Document B).
While the North tried to stop the South from withdrawing their spot in the Union, the North also denied the Southern states rights. Sectional groups assembled in the North regarding the “unnatural feeling and hostility” to slavery in the South. “ By consolidating their strength, they have placed the strength... no avail in protecting Southern rights (Document I). The Northerners believed that slavery is not right, and also that “the demand of African slavery throughout the confederacy” is unheard of.
Well. Texas v. White in 1869 probed that the Court thought that the Union had to stay together. Secession was not condoned in the court so reconstruction was allowed. There were some problems. The biggest one was the Slaughterhouse Decisions.
In this paper there has been a discussion of the legislation and the tensions preceding the southern Secession. Based on this discussing it can be concluded that the tensions, which culminated with the Civil War, were present many decades before the secession itself. Even threats of Civil war and secession were present much prior to this particular conflict. This paper has also concluded that the threat of Lincoln was real to the South, because of the Republican party’s very distinct foundation as an anti-slavery party. Slavery was a soft spot in the South because of the substantial value slaves had.
It would be more than difficult not to read Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address without some sense of pride or honor for one’s own country. He brings about a call to civility among all citizens striving for unity and harmony with one another. Lincoln understood the dilemma that slavery became for not only the Northerners attempting to abolish the practice entirely, but also for the Southerners perpetuating it in the first place. The fact that there was a faction rising in favor of slavery on a scale that would divide the country indefinitely and that Lincoln foresaw this danger demonstrates the level of prudence he was able to acquire up until his presidency. In this address, Lincoln stressed the importance of the nation staying unified and true to the principles set by
Some Southerners believed that they needed to secede from the nation because they believed Abraham Lincoln, and his Republican majority were a major threat to the institution of slavery. The new Republican Party showed up in the 1850s and they were against the institution of slavery. When the election of 1860 came about, one of the candidates was Abraham Lincoln who just so happened to be a republican. When he won the election alongside his commanding majorities in both houses of Congress, the Southern states panicked, and got afraid that the federal government would stop the continuation of the practice of slavery. In other words, they were afraid that they were going to abolish slavery in the South, which they believed was going to be a problem
I found that while I tried to answer this, I found myself clearly able to see both sides of the issue. On one hand I feel that, yes, they were justified. The precedent set by the founding of the United States and the very strong belief in self-government and maintaining a life that one defines as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” could take one along a path toward secession. Isn’t that principle on which the constitution and our fundamental belief system had been established? I believe I could write an entire paper on that justification alone.
The North didn 't like earning less money than the South, so they taxed the South. Anytime a Southerner wanted to export their goods, they had a pay a large tariff. The Southerners felt they were being treated like colonies with no real say in anything. So they did what had to be done, they seceded. Here 's why the south was justified...
Crocker believes that the Southern states that followed South Carolina were justified in seceding from the Union. The federal government failed to seek the preservation of the life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of South Carolinians, Mississipians, Floridians, Alabamans, Georgians, Louisianans, and Texans. A new republic had sprung up in North America. It was based – despite what Yankees would say – not on treason, but patriotism. This new nation was led by Jefferson Davis, a U.S. Senator.
One of the reason Texans fought in the civil war, was to maintain states rights. At the time states had the right to secede from the Union or United States. According to document C,“The crisis upon us involves not only the right of self- government, but the maintenance of a great principle in the law of nations… the true theory of our (national) government as an association of sovereignties (independent states), and not a blended mass of people in one social compact.” When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, many people in the south were upset with this. Lincoln would take away slaves which in the south's minds, this violated their states rights, to keep slaves.
‘Slavery was the root cause of secession’. ‘November 6 1860, Lincoln was elected president of America which resulted in panic emerging in the South’ . The election of Lincoln as president who was a Republican leader meant that ideologies, movements and values from the North would be implemented in the South which meant the abolition of slavery. Slavery was a huge characteristic of the South as the economy; politics; social status and psychological mind-sets were influenced by the process of slavery. The southern white population then derived the idea of secession which meant the South would gain independence from Northern aggression .
This one was without a doubt the most important reason. The South had a huge success with selling cotton and people often owned huge plantations. The people who owned the farms hired slaves to farm and collect the cotton, that way they could make their cash. (Document A.)The North however wanted to abolish, or get rid of slavery. Fearful of losing their businesses, Texans decided to fight.
“The lack of… nationality, I believe, is one of the great evils of the times…” Senator John Sherman stated on February 10, 1863. The United States had been split into sections from the beginning, and it created a lack of unity and togetherness. In Document A, the reader can acquire from the reading that South Carolina (and later many other states) seceded from the Union because of states’ rights. Document A states that an amendment (specifically the
Secession- the act of pulling out of the union. By 1861 many southerners felt the need to secede. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina voted to secede. By February 1861 Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana had voted to secede and formed the confederate state of America.