Essay On South Carolina's Response To Secession

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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 …show more content…

After the election of Lincoln, the Deep South states held conventions that issued ordinances stating why they were seceding and longer statements telling why. At the South Carolina Secession Convention on December 24th, 1860, the “Declaration of the immediate causes which induce and justify the secession of the South Carolina from the Federal Union” declared the immediate reasons for South Carolina’s secession from the Union. This also served as a model for other states as they began to leave the Union. This document began with South Carolina’s 1852 threat to secede, which gave reasons such as, “the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States by the Federal Government of this Union, especially in relation to slavery.” This sentence referred to states’ rights, but then takes a turn. It emphasizes the independence of each state before and during the period when the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation. This declaration provides a view that says, “The law of compact,” claiming that each party can decide on “his own judgement” whether the other has lived up to its terms; if not, the state can do what it wants. South Carolina declared that the Federal Government had violated the Constitution, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the

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