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Explain Why The Confederate States Seceded

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Explain Why The Confederate States Seceded
Why the Confederate States Seceded
Henry Blackburn
ITT Technical Institute Knoxville
Professor Clark

Introduction
This paper sets out to define or shed some light on the possible reasons of the separation of Confederate states from the Union. The North believed the highest power belonged to the federal government while the South believed that each state governed itself, and the question of slavery should be decided by the states not by the federal government. By examining these two points we may be able to get a clear understanding of popular opinions and mindsets that would cause a nation to war against itself. With the election of Abraham Lincoln on November 6, 1860 South Carolina saw the only recourse was to secede from the …show more content…
There were several other occasions the South cried for secession but none took the charges seriously. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 gave the North a cause that would join the different anti-slavery groups under one umbrella. This act allowed the people in the territories to decide for themselves whether slavery would be allowed within their borders. The South felt they should be able to share in the newly acquired territories. “The day may come”, charged Governor Thomas Brag of North Carolina, “when our Northern brethren will discover that the Southern States intend to be equals in the Union, or independent out of it!” CITATION Dor05 \l 1033 (Goodwin, 2005)
The Tariff of 1828, was a supposed protective tariff that was passed by Congress. To date this was the highest tariff in U.S. history. It enacted a 62% tax on 92% on all imported goods. It was enacted to protect northern industries, which was driving northern industries out of business. Dr. Thomas Cooper declared, “we shall, before, long, be compelled to calculate the value of our union.” CITATION Syd48 \l 1033 (Sydnor, …show more content…
The debate over who should make decisions pertaining to each state, the states themselves or the federal government. The southern states believed the questions of slavery should be each states decision and not the federal government. The states would decide if slavery would be allowed or omitted.
With the adoption of the Missouri Compromise in 1820 they felt they had found their solution. The Compromise established lands west of the Mississippi and below latitude 36 degrees 30’ as land permitting slavery and all lands north of that line to be free, (this did not include Missouri). There had to be an equal number of slave states in the South as non-slave-holding states. Also, the two regions had to have equal representation in the Senate.
The United States continued to grow, and with the addition of new territories the balance of slave-states verses free-states became threatened. There were several attempts to reach a peaceful conclusion through debates, The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 set the whole question on its
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