Revolution occurs when two popular forces occupying one area lose reality of their relation to each other. The same can be said for the American Civil War and the leading events that amounted into turmoil. The Southern way of life was trampled over and forgotten by the manufacturers, abolitionists and westward expansionist of the North. However, these people did not move alone, there was a present constitutional and social upheaval that turned the North against South and their way of living delegitimize as “American”. From the social status of African Americans, to the economic devastation in the South that came with the Civil War, America came out a much different nation than previously conceived by the end of 1877 which would have impacts …show more content…
For two hundred years, the idea of states’ rights and the benefits of federalism reigned supreme in the South. According to Document B and the justifications of secession are to be thought, “It has been the principle of states rights, that bad sentiment that has elevated state authority above national authority, the main instrument by which our government is sought to be overthrown.” The South had its social issues that cannot be denied, but there were also constitutional and economic changes that left the South in the late colonial era while the North moved towards the future. The North began to embark on the long and prosperous road of manufacturing and industry, manifesting a wedge between the agrarian South and the industrial North, further dividing the nation. In addition, the North began to use the constitution and the political climate to restrict the expansion of slavery and the Southerner’s way of life. From the efforts of self-determination to the multiple geographic borders to separate slave from free states, the Northern politician attempted to eradicate slavery long before the Civil War began in order to secure more political power for himself. According to Document A, the Southerners believed that the national government had no jurisdiction to demand these actions as it argues, “…the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to any states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the
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Show MoreOn the question as to whether states’ rights was the cause of the Civil War, Dew references a speech made by Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, during his inaugural address as one that “remains a classic articulation of the Southern position that resistance to Northern tyranny and a defense of states’ rights were the sole reason for secession. Constitutional differences alone lay at the heart of the sectional controversy, he insisted. ‘Our present condition…illustrates the American idea that governments rest upon the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish governments whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established’”(13).
From the start of the American Civil War, 1860, until the end of the Reconstruction, 1877, the United States of America endured what can be considered a revolution. Prior to the year 1860, there was a lack of union because of central government power flourishing rather than state power. Therefore, there was a split of opposite sides, North and South, fighting for authority. One major issue that came into mind was of slavery. At first, there were enactments that were issued to limit or rather prevent conflict to erupt, such as the numerous compromises, Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. They did not fulfill the needs of the states, South states in particular; therefore, in the year 1860, the Civil War had commenced. There was the issue of inequality of Blacks in suffrage, politics, and the use of public facilities. However, much constitutional and social advancement in the period culminated in the revolution. To a radical extent, constitutional development between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution because of events like the Emancipation Proclamation, Civil Rights Act, the amendments that tried to change African Americans lives in American Society and contributed to get the union together. There is the social developments as well that to a lesser extent had amounted to the revolution because of organizations like the Klu Klux Klan, Freedmen’s Bureau lacking, and discrimination against African Americans that caused progression of violence and white supremacy.
Both constitutional and social developments greatly changed the United States to a revolutionary proportion between 1860 and 1877. The new amendments and the fight for civil rights altered the previous way of life and forever changed American society. Inequality, fear, and corruption sent the United States into turmoil that would transform the country and lead to a revolution of change.
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.
The Southern and Northern states varied on many issues, which eventually led them to the Civil War. There were deep economic, social, and political differences between the North and the South. These differences stemmed from the interpretation of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, all of these disagreements about the rights of states led to the Civil War. There were reasons other than slavery for the South?s secession. The manifestations of division in America were many: utopian communities, conflicts over public space, backlash against immigrants, urban riots, black protest, and Indian resistance (Norton 234). America was a divided land in need reform with the South in the most need. The South relied heavily on agriculture, as opposed to the North, which was highly populated and an industrialized society. The South grew cotton, which was its main cash crop and many Southerners knew that heavy reliance on slave labor would hurt the South eventually, but their warnings were not heeded. The South was based on a totalitarian system.
In the early American colonies, the south and the north developed into two distinctly different colonies. Although their origins were both from Europe, their customs and living habits became so different that it would play a major role in America’s history. There are many reasons why these differences occurred but only a few major reasons stand out. Religion, greed and the composition of the colonies are some of the major reasons why the north and south grew to be so different in the late 1600’s. Different religions in specific colonies varied, but the people from the New England region were generally more devoted to their religious beliefs, whereas people from the south felt religion wasn’t as important. Children from the north are taught from The Bible as soon as possible and this instills high moral values into the people. In the south only the wealthiest families could afford education, causing the common population to be ignorant and un-educated. The people of New England were willing to work together and help each other for the sake of the community because they felt that they were working under God’s will. (Doc. A) The south on the other hand worked to better themselves through the Headright System, which ended up pitting the people against each other instead of working with each other. The people of Massachusetts agreed: "We whose names are underwritten, being by God’s providence engaged together to make a plantation…" (Doc. D) This shows that reli...
Near the end of the Antebellum Era, tensions and sectionalism increased as the states argued over what was constitutional. The South had later seceded from the United States and had become the Confederacy of America while the North had remained as the Union. The South had fully supported states’ rights while the north had strongly disapproved it. However, westward expansion, southern anger with the abolitionists, and the secession of the South that had destroyed the feeling of unity in the country because of the disagreement over slavery had been the main factors to the cause of the Civil War. Therefore, since slavery was the primary reason for the discontent in the country, it had been the primary cause of the Civil War.
Beginning in the 1850’s, Southern states of the United States began to demand their rights as slave owners and felt as though the institution of slavery was being threatened. The secession of the Southern states began in the year of 1860. Each state which wanted to secede from the Federal Union wrote documents declaring their secession and the reasons which prompted their decision to secede. Within these written documents, it is made clear that the South was unhappy and believed the North was not protecting their rights associated with slavery. They stated their disapproval towards the anti-slavery actions and attitudes of the North. The South’s reasons for seceding were centered around the protection of slavery, which they felt was being threatened
From the beginning of the Civil War all the way up to the end of Reconstruction, the United States endured a similar type of revolution than it had dealt with in the previous years. In this time, many social and constitutional advancements brought about great change and discord in the country. However, some of these constitutional developments ended up causing conflict such as the civil rights bills and Emancipation Proclamation, in addition to the social developments such as the Black Codes, Ku Klux Klan, and the Freedman’s Bureau. All together, these important events helped put the country into a revolution.
In The article “Slavery, the Constitutional, and the Origins of the Civil War”, Paul Finkelman discusses some of the events that he believes lead the United States to have a Civil War. He discusses how both the North and the South territories of the Untied States did not see eye to eye when it came to ab...
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.
The South believed that it was their right to sustain slavery whether or not they please to as the government was built on the sovereignty of states. They believed that their rights were and the idea of popular sovereignty were being violated because of the supremacy of the constitution applied by the North. In document I, Stephen Douglas states, “This government was made upon the great basis of the sovereignty of the states, the eight of each state to regulate its own domestic institutions to suit itself; and that right was conferred with the understanding and expectation that, inasmuch as each locality had separate interests, each locality must have different and distinct local and domestic institutions, corresponding to its wants and interests.” According to Douglas, the South believed the constitution benefited only the north and this created tensions and sectional
Based on the constitution, we must consider what and who was considered Americans. Which means all people, not giving thought to any struggle in the past. [1] A revolution is a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. As stated before, society changed, but social structure of the society did not. When observing historical context, this can be a revolution because social structures either reverted back to the old ways then changed to an extent . In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was in fact “proclaimed” there still was slavery in a new name. Just because, slavery was no longer permitted, it did not eliminate the ability for sharecropping to exist. The Emancipation Proclamation did not even free all slaves, meaning slaves on the borderline states were not free.The only slaves that were free, were the slaves that were in the states that went against the Union. However, it can be observed that there was a technological and medical revolution. [2]“Never before have had women had such power to be on a battlefield. Persons’ along with Clara Barton influenced the beginning of a medical revolution. In a society where women didn’t have the same equal opportunities as men. Although, some may believe that the civil war was a second revolution, others may also believe that the civil war was indeed the first modern war. For the first time, technology had transformed warfare. “Neither the soldiers nor their officers were prepared for the way technology had transformed warfare.” The civil war was the first major conflict in which the railroad transported troops. This provided the instance for a railroad junction. The civil should be considered the first modern war because until Abraham Lincoln, presidents didn 't get involved as much. Lincoln proclaimed a naval blockade on the South. This was a part of the Anaconda
Secession is the withdrawal from the Union of eleven Southern states from 1860 to 1861, which brought on the American Civil War.1 To those who maintain the justice of the separation of the Confederate States of America, it is important to be assured that the right of a State to secede from the Union with the United States of America, whenever the State felt fit to exercise that right. It was beyond the power of denial from any source. At the time of the adoption of the United States Constitution, each state was a sovereign and independent State, and acted as such in adopting the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence proclaims the States to be “free and independent States”. The Articles of Confederation of 1778 declared that “each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence…”2 President Lincoln felt that secession was unlawful, but the secessionists claimed that, according to the Constitution, the States had every right to leave the Union. There were multiple events, such as the Missouri Compromise (1820), Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831), Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), and Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), that led to the secession of the Southern states and the Civil War.3 With the end of the war came the end of slavery, secession and nullification by the states.
The term revolution simply means a complete change. At the time of the Civil War Era, which has come to be know as the fight over states rights, many events like the constitutional amendments, the rise in hate crimes and the very well known black land rights have all had a major contribution to the changes that have been brought throughout the country during this time period.