Civil War: Why Did The South Secede?

*Why did the South secede? Would the North have acquiesced in peaceful coexistence if the South had not fired on Fort Sumter? Today everyone says the reason the South left the Union was; Slavery. Slavery was not the only factor that led the South to secede. In fact, some of the wealthiest slaveholders opposed secession. They believed, for good reason, that slavery would actually be safer in the Union than out of it. Most people aren’t aware that, even as president, Lincoln supported a proposed constitutional amendment that would have guaranteed slavery’s continuation forever. Lincoln mentioned his support for this amendment in his first inaugural address. Another factor that led to the South seceding was the way the North Republicans and the way they voiced their feelings towards the south. I believe the North would have put up a protest towards the South, but nothing as big and bloody and unnecessary as what initially ended up happening between the states. …show more content…
The Anaconda plan, proposed by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, was strategically simplistic and of course tactically difficult to implement. It included controlling the Mississippi (which would split the Confederacy) and blockading the South to prevent exports (which would be used to pay for weapons). The main southern strategy was to defeat the attacking Union forces and force the northern states to negotiate. Later in the war, a slightly altered strategy was to take a major northern city, in order to force the north to negotiate terms favorable to the south. This led to the Battle of