Between 1860 and 1877, the citizens and politicians of the United States were presented with many social and constitutional problems, which had been lingering for decades. The Civil War and other events brought each of these issues to a crisis point. This created the need for a resolution. This amounted to a revolution of America’s social and political landscape. Undoubtedly, the Union’s victory also brought resolution to many social problems. Since slaves were now free, they needed the same rights as other citizens, which the government gave them. African American citizens petitioned the Tennessee legislation to grant them equal rights, and showed how important this cause was to the black community. The federal government set up agencies like the Freedmen’s Bureau to help new Freedmen, or newly freed slaves. In addition, once slaves were freed, states questioned the federal government’s authority in creating civil rights or giving freed blacks the …show more content…
Occasionally, states tried to nullify laws from the federal government that were viewed as unfavorable. These acts of rebellion came to a breaking point when South Carolina seceded from the Union. This created a constitutional conflict because it was a completely new situation. No one knew if the states could leave the union, and the constitution provided no guidelines for it. However, South Carolina’s secession was successful and they did not have to deal with Northern and Federal policies that caused them to secede. South Carolina’s Declaration of Causes of Secession stated that “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states.” Thankfully, the issue was solved through the Union’s victory in the Civil War that ensued. As a result, the federal government was stronger, as states could not legally nullify laws or
Overall, this move proved to cause more conflict than it did resolve, as this fueled the rebellious South Carolina in the latter years into more intense emotions of wanting a secession. This was a big event, due to the fact that it showed how strongly the South believed in their own rights, by disregarding the Federal Government they show early acts of treason, and they could not predict how many lives would be lost in the conflict between the two regions, and how impactful the war would be, changing the nation for the rest of the
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.
Secession is the means to withdraw one’s self from a federal union or other affiliated group. The southern secession was the separation of 11 states moving from the Union to the Confederate States Popular sovereignty helped the Union and the Confederates compromise by allowing the right to vote for or against slavery knowing that the popular vote would be to be against slavery, aiding in the final decision. The motive to use the
The Civil War maintained the union and freed the slaves. Reconstruction excluded the political focus on certain areas. However slaves were freed. They gained civil liberties and lost long term racial action. The union needed to effectively bring the south back to position, and the interest in the economy.
In President Jackson's Proclamation Regarding Nullification, Jackson states, “And, finally, the said ordinance declares that the people of South Carolina will maintain the said ordinance at every hazard, and that they will consider the passage of any act by Congress abolishing or closing the ports of the said State, or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress of vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of the Federal Government to coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harass her commerce, or to enforce the said acts otherwise than through the civil tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union; and that the people of the said State will thenceforth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate government, and do all other acts and things which sovereign and independent States may of right do.” (1832). Jackson threatened South Carolina, in a way of taunting or daring them to secede, which struck fear into them. A compromise was made for nullification, and the topic of secession was closed for a while. This was thirty years prior to the Civil War.
In the months following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, seven southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. This was done primarily as a response to Lincoln’s election, as Lincoln did not support the institution of slavery, a crucial aspect of Southern society. Secession from the United States meant that these states would form a separate country from the United States with its own government and military. Some have speculated that secession was failure in democracy, that democracy should have prevented such a large part of the United States to be so unhappy with its government that it would form a new country. However, it was the American system of democracy that laid
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.
The two out four questions that I choose are to 1.) Discuss the causes of the civil war. Cite as many facts as possible to back up your analysis. And answer 2.) If the enduring vision of America is embodied in the Declaration of Independence's statements about equality and universal rights to justice, liberty, and self-fulfillment, how much progress toward those ideals had blacks and women made by 1877?
In response, Southerners threatened to succeed from the union due to their view that this infringed on their individual rights and damaged the backbone of their livelihood. Additionally, the regional economies impacted views on westward expansion and whether new territories or states should permit the institution, such as California This resulted in a major increase in the stress between the regions due to each region wanting equal representation. Although members of the government attempted to compromise to even out the number of slave and non slave states, such as the Compromise of 1850, there were countless times that the two regions struggled over the laws of slavery and the territories that it should be permitted, further increasing the ideological and political divide and leading to the secession of the Southern states.
The South has had many problems but I believe many of them could have been solved faster if we were allowed to secede. The North stopped us from seceding though, so we will never know. Secession has been around for centuries but when the South tried to do it, it was seen as unconstitutional. The South had many good reasons to secede. For example, it would have benefited both the North and the South, it would have stopped the Civil War from happening, and even though many people say the South wasn’t at a place to make its own decisions I think we would have been fine.
‘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 .
The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865 to 1877. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendment were created during the twelve years of rebuilding the country. All of the amendments were made to protect former slaves and their rights but on paper they did not have any rights. The reconstruction period had its successes and failures.
Another issue that comes up around the American Civil War is the issue of state sovereignty. Specifically the 10th amendment reserves the powers not specifically given to the federal government to the state or the people. Since control over the slave trade is not specifically mentioned in the constitution, it is natural to conclude that the states where free to decide for themselves whether they would be free or slave holding. However abolitionist states tried to push legislation through congress to ban slavery.
“The lack of… nationality, I believe, is one of the great evils of the times…” Senator John Sherman stated on February 10, 1863. The United States had been split into sections from the beginning, and it created a lack of unity and togetherness. In Document A, the reader can acquire from the reading that South Carolina (and later many other states) seceded from the Union because of states’ rights. Document A states that an amendment (specifically the
Our economy, politics, and society was changing and developing through that hundred year period time difference. Our government emerged and developed, the United States’ economic power increased, and life of African American slowly started to change. Between 1776 and 1870 the United States’ experienced numerous political changes. For instance, one significant political change during this period was the emergence of a strong central government. In 1776, the United States was composed of 13 colonies ruled by the British.