Abraham Lincoln: Peacemaker or Catalyst? The increasingly diverging economies of the North and South resulted in the development of different political and social ideologies. The South’s agrarian economy resulted in wealthy plantation owners investing their money into slaves, leading to weak institutions and little innovation. While New England’s economy benefited from factories and business ventures. New Englanders invested in transportation and internal improvements. Divisions surrounding taxes, tariffs, internal improvements and states rights versus federal rights was most prominent during the 1850’s. This period was most renown for it’s political compromises and violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery figures. Growing sectionalism …show more content…
Although the two regions had always been divided, their intentions were never for war. Slavery proved to be an economic issue for the South, while Northerners viewed it as a moral dilemma. Failed compromises such as the Missouri Compromise, Wilmot Proviso, and the Compromise of 1850 demonstrated the desire for peace, but their inability to find compromise led to violence. The Civil War could’ve been avoided up to the Election of 1860 if any capable politician had provided reasonable terms for a compromise between the North and South. In addition, if any other candidate had been elected whose position on slavery wasn’t as firm and were more willing to compromise, solutions could’ve been found through politics instead of violence. However, once Lincoln was elected, any hopes for compromise or negotiation were shattered. Lincoln was firm in his beliefs and wasn’t willing to compromise with the South, ultimately leading to the Civil …show more content…
Lincoln's election lead to the belief that Southern interests were no longer considered in the federal government, and that the government would outlaw slavery. However, Lincoln's only agenda was to preserve the union and restrict slavery where it already resided. Despite receiving no votes from Southerners, Lincoln was still able to win the election. Southerners viewed this as Northern conspirators planning the destruction of Southern institutions. Southerners virtually lost all political power due to the influx of immigrants in the North and the election of Lincoln. Southerners feared Lincoln would use federal power to push through the abolition of slavery. Lincoln’s desire to restrict slavery caused many Southerners to feel as though their constitutional rights were violated. With no representation in government Southerners felt the only solution was to secede from the Union and form their own government. In addition, Lincoln’s inaugural address made it clear that “the Union of these states is perpetual,” making clear that secession would not be tolerable. Lincoln's attitudes and policies after winning the Election of 1860 fueled the secessionist’s arguments of the South. If any other candidate had been elected, who was more willing to compromise, war would’ve been avoided and concessions could’ve been made to both sides. However, Lincoln couldn’t compromise with the South,
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Show MoreAt the time, the South depended on slavery to support their way of life. In fact, “to protect slavery the Confederate States of America would challenge the peaceful, lawful, orderly means of changing governments in the United States, even by resorting to war.” (635) Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and realized that slavery was bitterly dividing the country. Not only was slavery dividing the nation, but slavery was also endangering the Union, hurting both black and white people and threatening the processes of government. At first, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union in which “he would free none, some, or all the slaves to save that Union.” (634) However, Lincoln realized that “freeing the slaves and saving the Union were linked as one goal, not two optional goals.” (634) Therefore, Lincoln’s primary goal was to save the Union and in order to save the Union, Lincoln had to free the slaves. However, Paludan states that, “slave states understood this; that is why the seceded and why the Union needed saving.” (634) Lincoln’s presidential victory was the final sign to many Southerners that their position in the Union was
By the time of his speech South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas had already seceded from the Union. In his speech Lincoln had three main points: “to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government,” secession was impossible because the Union was unbreakable, and that any use of arms against the United States would be met with force but he would never be first to attack (Grafton 80). Lincoln aspired to increase his support in the North without alienating the South where most disliked him in fear of the end of slavery. In his speech however, Lincoln made it clear that his intention was not to interfere with slavery quoting “I have no purpose, directly, or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so” (Grafton 81). In hope to make amends with the South Lincoln closed by saying “We are not enemies, but friends. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature” (Grafton 81). Although meant to unify the North and South, this address had a larger impact on another
Throughout the period of Antebellum there were many compromises made regarding slavery: The ⅗ compromise in 1787, the Missouri Compromise in 1820, the Tariff of 1833, and finally the compromise. With so many agreements made between the North and the South, why was america not able to make a compromise in 1861 when the secession crisis was happening? What happened between 1787 to 1861 causing the United States to change from a country of compromising opponents to a country of fighting enemies? The answer answer is not so simple.There are a myriad of factors which resulted in the ultimate failure of compromise, but the most important ones are as follows: The imbalance of power between the North and South made it incapable for the two sides to make a compromise that would be in the southerners own self interest, disillusionment with the nature of compromisation made neither the North nor the South want to work it out, and finally the growing divide between the two regions, along with clashing political beliefs caused an animosity between them that could not be reconciled by mere compromise.
In the 1860’s the United States weren’t united because of the issue of slavery. The civil war was never just about getting the union back together, but about making it count and getting rid of slavery. The south wanted their slaves and would say they are “-the happiest, and in some, the freest people in the world”. (Doc 5) However, the north knew that was not true because of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed it caused some issues. Anti-slavery supporters were not happy because they did not want expansion of slavery, but the pro-slavery supporters weren’t happy because they wanted slavery everywhere for sure. (Doc. 7)The Kansas-Nebraska act caused trouble before it was even passed, Senator Charles Sumner argued against and attacked pro-slavery men causing Preston Brooks to beat Sumner with a cane. The south praised Brooks while the north felt for Sumner. (Doc 8) In 1858 during his acceptance speech Lincoln said his famous line, “A house divided
The institution of slavery, from the year 1830 to 1860, created a divide between the northern and southern regions of the United States. Southerners, who relied on slaves to maintain their plantations, supported the institution, as it was a major part of their economy. Meanwhile, northerners, many of whom depended on slave produced cotton for textile mills and goods for the shipping industry, were divided on the slave issue, as some saw it as a blessing while the abolitionists saw it as a horrific institution. Overall, attitudes toward the institution of slavery, due to a variety of causes, differed in the varying regions in the United States from 1830 to 1860.
The existence of slavery was the central element of the conflict of the north and south. Other problems existed that led to this succession but none were as big as the slavery issue. The only way to avoid the war was to abolish slavery, but this was not able to be done because slavery is what kept the south running. When the south seceded it was said by Abraham Lincoln that “ a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” Because slavery formed two opposing societies and slavery could never be abolished, the civil war was inevitable. These were all the reasons why the south seceded from the union, this succession was eminent and there was no plausible way to avoid it.
In the years paving the way to the Civil War, both north and south were disagreeable with one another, creating the three “triggering” reasons for the war: the fanaticism on the slavery issue, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the separation of the Democratic Party. North being against the bondage of individuals and the South being for it, there was no real way to evade the clash. For the south slavery was a form of obtaining a living, without subjugation the economy might drop majorly if not disappear. In the North there were significant ethical issues with the issue of subjugation. Amazing measures to keep and dispose of subjugation were taken and there was never a genuine adjusted center for bargain. Despite the fact that there were a lot of seemingly insignificant issues, the fundamental thing that divided these two states was bondage and the flexibilities for it or against. With these significant extremes, for example, John Brown and Uncle Tom's Cabin, the south felt disdain towards the danger the Northerners were holding against their alleged flexibilities. The more hatred the South advanced, the more combative they were to anything the Northerners did. Northerners were irritated and it parted Democrats over the issue of bondage and made another Republican gathering, which included: Whigs, Free Soilers, Know Nothings and previous Democrats and brought about a split of segments and abbreviated the street to common war. Southerners loathed the insubordination of the north and started to address how they could stay with the Union.
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 assembly speech will explain how the Southern leaders justify the secession from the United States.
By the year of 1860, the North and the South was developed into extremely different sections. There was opposing social, economic, and political points of view, starting back into colonial periods, and it slowly drove the two regions farther in separate directions. The two sections tried to force its point of view on the nation as a whole. Even though negotiations had kept the Union together for many years, in 1860 the condition was unstable. The presidential election of Abraham Lincoln was observed by the South as a risk to slavery and many believe it initiated the war.
After thoroughly assessing past readings and additional research on the Civil War between the North and South, it was quite apparent that the war was inevitable. Opposed views on this would have probably argued that slavery was the only reason for the Civil War. Therefore suggesting it could have been avoided if a resolution was reached on the issue of slavery. Although there is accuracy in stating slavery led to the war, it wasn’t the only factor. Along with slavery, political issues with territorial expansion, there were also economic and social differences between North and South. These differences, being more than just one or two, gradually led to a war that was bound to happened one way or another.
Contrary to what today’s society believes about Lincoln, he was not a popular man with the South at this period in time. The South wanted to expand towards the West but Lincoln created a geographical containment rule keeping slavery in the states it currently resided in. Despite his trying to rationalize with the South, Lincoln actually believed something different ”Lincoln claimed that he, like the Founding Fathers, saw slavery in the Old South as regrettable reality whose expansion could and should be arrested, thereby putting it on the long and gradual road ”ultimate extinction” (216). He believed it to be “evil” thus “implying that free southerners were evil for defending it”(275). Lincoln wanted to wipe out slavery for good and the South could sense his secret motives. By trying to trick them, the South rebelled as soon as Lincoln became president and launched what is today known as the Civil war.
The expansion of industry, slavery and prominence of peculiar institutions created a divided nation between the north and the south regions of the United States. The north became dependent on the system of railroads in order expand industry while the south was primarily dependent on cotton, slavery and agrarianism. Slavery being an issue that was affecting society and politics at the time came to bring a connection that was also seen as a profitable business entity. There is a clear connection between slavery and the economic effects it had in the market revolution of the nation.
In the 1860 presidential election, Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, opposed the expansion of slavery into United States' territories. Lincoln won, but before his inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to secede had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, a total of 48.8% for the six. Outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincoln's inaugural address declared his administration would not initiate civil war. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession. Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy. A peace conference failed to find a compromise, and both sides prepared for war. The Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on "King Cotton" that they would intervene; none did and none recognized the new Conf...
Abraham Lincoln (12 Feb. 1809-15 Apr. 1865) the 16th president (civilwar.org) of the United States of America was one of the main public persons that influence the civil war in many aspects. Even though the civil war may have been the last resource the nation had, it could be argue that Lincoln’s governments try its best to find a different solution. The civil war was a conflict that destroyed the nation; it perhaps could have been avoided if the second party had work for a solution. But it is true that maybe both parts could have looked out for the benefits of the people as a whole instead of their personal benefits. Lincoln principal positive effect on the civil war was actually before and during the war when Lincoln’s government had many attempts to prevent the confrontation, and when this one began he took the right decisions to win the war. One of the biggest effects on the civil war was the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which gave the slaves their liberty. Many would agree is that Abraham’s Lincoln effect on the civil war was positive but Lincoln made many mistakes or misjudgments during the war as well. Perhaps the biggest mistake Lincoln did was underestimating the South what caused many unnecessary deaths. He also did had misjudgments that cause many causalities. Since the beginning of time humanity has fought for what they thought was right. In April 12 of 1861(civilwar.org) The US would begin a fight for civic and moral rights, a civil war that perhaps was the last option for a country to reunite its values. Abraham Lincoln was the president of the time and the person the influence the most the course the war took. I strongly believe that Lincoln’s decisions influence or had more positive effects on the country. Being the president at times like the civil war is without doubt it is one of the toughest jobs, and one way or another there is going to be correct and incorrect decisions but I can agree president Lincoln did what he thought it was the best at that moment.
In 1860 Southern states were furious when Abraham Lincoln was elected president. Lincoln was very anti-slavery and he made that very clear. After Lincoln was elected seven southern states formed the Confederate States of America, with four more joining once the civil war started. Even though Lincoln’s views on slavery were very clear, his intentions with the war weren’t to end slavery but to bring America back together. Eventually the only way to do that and to end the war was to try and end slavery with the 13th amendment, also known as the emancipation