As slaves began to multiply in population, Slavery became a problem that alarmed the people. The founding fathers had to put new laws into the constitution about slavery, in effort of forming an American Union. Nevertheless, the founding fathers wanted to slowly abolish slavery but the southerners would not allow that to happen. Slavery was very important in the south because slaves were the laborers on plantations. The South had the most population of slaves and based their economy on slavery. On the other hand, there was less slavery in the North. Most Northerners believed that slavery should be abolished. Most Northern states were free states, while most Southern states were considered slave states. The North and the South were developing their economy based on different bases. With the opposing views between the North and the South, it was hard for the American Union to form
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other," said by Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 President Abraham Lincoln swore to keep slavery out of the territories, as a result the states in the south seceded and founded a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The government and most of the northern states refused to recognize the validity of their secession. They feared that the United States was going to drift apart and not be unified. They wanted to preserve the union at any cost. The civil war began
The election of Lincoln, secession of the southern states and the Confederate States of America Constitution set the stage for the bloodiest and saddest war in American history. Before the Civil War even began the nation was divided into four very distinct regions; Northeast, Northwest, Upper south and the Southwest. With two fundamentally different labor systems, slavery in the south and wage labor in the North, the political, economic and social changes across the nation would show the views of the North and the South. The civil war was based on the abolitionists' ideas of emancipation and liberation of slavery the North wanted the war in order to create a society without slavery. The North's aggression to control the south lead to the where were it was no longer tolerable for the South. With the election of the anti-slavery Republican Abraham Lincoln, the southern states decided they had to take drastic action in order to protect their own interests. The south had been waiting for an excuse to secede form the union, the election of Lincoln by the North was their chance. The Northern abolitionists' states were mainly responsible for the Civil war in many political, social and economic aspects.
The compromise caused an unbalance between Free states and slaveholding states. Many events such as Nat Turner’s Rebellion, Dred Scott decision, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, John Browns Raid, caused a sectional difference in the U.S colonies. The south depended on slaves for their cotton production, freeing the slaves would decrease the amount of cotton being produced in the south. “In 1807, the number slaves totaled 1 million and cotton production about fifty million pounds; thirty years later the number of slaves doubled and cotton production had multiplied ten times (Aptheker, page 4).” When President Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860, the south seceded fearing the abolishment of slavery. The Civil War started in April of 1861, slavery being the leading cause (Aptheker page 1-8; History.com Staff Web).
The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues, a major one being slavery. The south argued that the slaves were necessary to support the southern economy. According to document A, the south were angry that the north was creating taxes that hurt the southern economy, thus increasing the need for slavery since they had to make up for the expense of the taxes. The south felt that the north was able...
As the country began to grow and expand we continued to see disagreements between the North and South; the Missouri Territory applied for statehood the South wanted them admitted as a slave state and the North as a free state. Henry Clay eventually came up with the Missouri Compromise, making Missouri a slave state and making Maine it’s own state entering the union as a free state. After this compromise any state admitted to the union south of the 36° 30’ latitude would be a slave state and a state north of it would be free. The country was very much sectionalized during this time. Thomas Jefferson felt this was a threat to the Union. In 1821, he wrote, ”All, I fear, do not see the speck on our horizon which is to burst on us as a tornado, sooner or later. The line of division lately marked out between the different portions of our confederacy is such...
...ld not protect the interest of the Southern states. Coupled with the hostilities, lack of votes for Lincoln from the South and disregard for the constitutional protection of slavery is a justifiable reason from the Southern leaders to secede from the Union.
The Secession of the United States was the cause of thr Civil War. The Southern Confederates were furious that the Northern Union for trying to abolish slavery. When Lincoln was elected president, he tried to once and for all abolish slavery in the North as well as the west. He tried to contain slavery to its geographical area to keep it from spreading anymore north, but the South erupted in rebellion and eventually went to war against the North in the Civil
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.
During the 1800’s, if the states are sovereign then they have the right to secede from the Union (A...
Political turmoil expanded throughout the United States as the North and South developed separate ideals and beliefs regarding slavery and social equality. As this agitation between geographical regions of the country developed, the two areas divided into the Union, the North, and the Confederacy, the South. The Union, in an attempt to abolish slavery throughout the nation, caused Southern states to succeed from the American government entirely and form the Confederacy:
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.
...om’s Cabin in 1852, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859, and the outcome of the Presidential Election of 1860—created conditions where Southerners felt the need to secede from the United States (they felt that their “way of life” was being threatened), as well as created conditions where the Northerners decided to go to war against the Southern Confederacy in order to maintain the Union. It is not surprising, however, that the Civil War occurred; since the Industrial Revolution, the Industrial North had always been different than the Agricultural South. If each region paid more attention to resolving the issues that separated them, instead of trying to prove themselves right, they could have stopped the bloodiest battle in American history (even though this is using hindsight knowledge).
Southern states seceded from the union because they thought Abraham Lincoln and Northerners were going to abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln was a politician who ran for president in 1860. Lincoln wanted peace between the North and South. Lincoln also stated in his inaugural address that he would not attack his dissatisfied countrymen. Even though peace was offered, Southern states threatened to secede from the Union if Abraham Lincoln became president. Southerners thought Lincoln was an abolitionist trying to destroy the South’s way of life. Abraham Lincoln never stated he wanted to end slavery, but stated slavery would eventually die off. Slaves were workers who did labor in the South. Slaves were treated very poorly as shown in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Northerners believed slavery was wrong, which made them want to end slavery. However, if the South did not have slaves, they would have trouble producing
Crisis struck in 1820, when the North/South balance in the Senate was threatened by the application of Missouri to join the Union as a slave state. Southerners, aware of their numerical inferiority in the House of Representatives, were keen to maintain their political sway, in the Senate. The North feared that if Southerners were to take control of the Senate, political deadlock would ensue. Compromise was found in 1820 when Maine applied to join as a free state, maintaining the balance.