The issues that eventually led to the secession of the southern states had been brewing for a considerable amount of time. Most people want to say that the reason for the war was slavery, while yes that was an issue it don’t start the war and wasn’t brought up into a little ways in to the war. One of the biggest issues that truly led to the states seceding was the debate over States’ rights. There had been a debate for years on if the federal government had the right to pass laws reversed laws already in place at state level, going far back as 1798. Although most people claim that the southerners were trying to break up the union, It was more of a case of the south trying to stand up to the federal government and saying that the laws that they pass within the state do matter. In 1828 tariffs were passed by Congress to benefited trade in northern states. Relaying to heavily on the export of agricultural goods, these tariffs started becoming harmful to the Southern states. In 1832, South Carolina passed a state law stating that the tariffs were invalid within the state of South Carolina. President Andrew Jackson responded with a naval flotilla and a threat of federal troops to enforce the tariffs in South Carolina. This was one of the first key phases in violation the …show more content…
In fact, his state in him inaugural address that he had to real interest in abolishing slavery, in an attempt to reassure Southerners. Prior to his election, Lincoln took a very similar position when he ran for the US Senate. In his acceptance speech he stated "I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free." He then went on to say that "slavery in the United States would eventually have to end everywhere or become legal everywhere in order for the nation to survive." Although Lincoln was not the kind of man to condone or approve of slavery, he did not take a stance against
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreIn this election, Lincoln and Douglas had some series of debates over slavery. Although Lincoln never exactly stated that he wanted to abolish slavery, much of the South believed he was an Abolitionist. At his speech in 1858 in Springfield Illinois, Lincoln wanted the nation to be one thing or another, meaning all free or all slave, because it couldn’t keep going on how it was, else it would fall apart. In his speech, Lincoln said, “...but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other” (Doc G).
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.
As the South grew more and more bitter, Andrew decisively chose to lower the tariffs hoping to satisfy them as well as his own needs, however, their anger was fully ingrained in their minds, recalcitrant to alter their views. Consequently, he had no other choice but to propose a compromise to lower the tariff gradually over several years, but to ensure compliance, he also proposed another bill called the “Force Bill” granting the permission to utilize military forces for guaranteed agreement. In other words, Jackson
He should have thought about south carolina when he issued the tariff. He did’t seem to care what south carolina had to say and threatened them by sending the army. This incident also shows that jackson more of a dictator than a
Secession Essay The Southerners felt they had to secede from the Union for many reasons. They wanted to make their own Confederate government so they could do what they wanted. Like for instance, have control of slavery in their territories. The state South Carolina was the first to secede, on December 20, 1860, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.
You can see this in Document B, wherein 1858 Lincoln says this: “I have no purpose . . . to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists . . .” Later on in the same document he also states, “There is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights . . . in the Declaration of Independence- the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” While Lincoln was running for president, he promised to leave slavery alone in the South, but he also stays true to his personal morals through his time, that slavery
Henry Clay(person on opposing side) allowed little to no compromise, as a result Clahaoun resigned as Vice president to side with his home country. As expected, Jackson's political interests also aligned with the Southerners, and the plantation workers in the South. He forced and convinced Clay to give them a better compromise. To calm tensions down with the President, Clay passed another tariff in 1833 that lowered rates over a 10 year period. Although the president got his way, and the situation subsided, there was still regional and sectional tension that worsened in the United
Jackson was wanting to change Washington and America. He done that very fast. The very first major piece of legislation, Jackson had recommended and got passed, was the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This act forced Jackson to prevent all the Indian tribes to live East of the Mississippi River. There were five Indian nations that were highly effected.
The North had a significantly larger population, caused by both the surge in immigrants at the time, as well as the success of business and factories there, creating more jobs. This difference in population meant that the North did not need slavery, and that it supported government ideas that helped business. According to the Congressional Record, in New England and the Middle States, the majority of House votes were cast for the Tariff of 1816, while the majority of the South’s House votes were cast against the tariff (Document 7). These states were clearly in favor of business, while the South who relies on imports and exports, was wholly against it. Because factory jobs were in the North, railroads and steamboats were in vastly more demand in the North than they were in the South, increasing the speed at which a business could move its product, an essential for
‘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 .
There were three main causes of the civil war including slavery, sectionalism and secession. Slavery was a huge part of it and it led to the Missouri Compromise where any states below the border would be slave states and the anything north of that was free states. (Mrs. Wise) "The south feared the declaration of freedom for the slaves by government leaders in the North." Next, sectionalism. Sectionalism-
The Civil War was caused in part by the interaction of state’s rights that tore the Union apart. In “A Discourse of the Constitution and Government of the United States” by John C Calhoun, it states “A state, as a party to the constitutional compact, has the right to secede…” (Doc. E). John C Calhoun states that it is normal for states to want to break away, but is highly not recommended. The action of states showing their rights contribute to the cause of the Civil War.
After the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, eleven Southern states seceded from the Union. People in the South made a living through a plantation economy, Southerners needed cash crops that were labor intensive, using slaves to work this economy. The Northern economy was very different than the Southern economy the Northern economy was an industrialized economy, unlike the Southern economy. Abolitionists wanted slavery to end and thought it was an immoral and incorrect way to treat other human beings. Many Southerners supported the secession of South Carolina, and many other states, from the Union because they would rather leave the Union now than be killed by the people who hated them and the people they owned.
The South was prosperous as they had been purchasing cheap priced goods that were exported that they did not produce but the tariff caused the South to pay double since they now had to pay higher prices on those products and their cotton they sold to Britain had to be priced higher making it harder to sell. The Southern states did not feel this lessened tariff was going to be effective enough and was a failure, mainly in South Carolina, who responded by declaring the right to nullification of the tax. Vice President Calhoun, who Jackson felt a personal dislike for, supported South Carolina’s nullification and Jackson responded with his Old Hickory attitude and threatened that he would use the United States Army to take action against South Carolina. This settled down for a while with the Compromise Tariff if 1833 turning out to be satisfactory by the South and South
Then later the south ignore the compromises and did what wanted which led to the civil war .the south seceded from the union by fighting for slavery,political differences, and economic and social differences. The south seceded from the union by fighting for slavery. D.C.It also included a srict fugitve slave law that required Northerners to return escaped slaves