The South Secedes Lincoln had insisted that he would not change the slavery that was happening in the south. Yet he had said had that slavery could not expand and would eventually die out completely. People in the south had believed that their economy and way of life would be destroyed without slave labor. “The delegates considered secession,or formally withdrawing from the Union. They had then pointed out that each of the original states had voluntary joined the Union by holding a special convention that had ratified the Constitution.
The Union believed that both the Confederacy and Union had to agree before the Confederacy could secede, due to the binding Constitution. Although, the North violated the agreement which would give the South full permission to leave the Union. In the Constitution, it states, “No person held to service or labor in one state… be discharged from service or labor, but shall be delivered up, on claim of the [person] to whom such service or labor may be due… [The North States] have enacted laws, which [nullifies] the Act of Congress … Thus the constituted compact has been deliberately broken… ,” (Document E).
“This is a union of equal states, and no state can force another state either to remain in it or withdraw from it. ”(C) I hold that… the Union of these States is perpetual… No state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union. The argument between whether a state could leave the US without permission was one of the main reasons that the Civil War began.
Many other states followed forming the Confederacy. Document Seven describes a message to Congress by Lincoln. He states that the southern states have created a clever deception, that states could peacefully withdraw from the Union without their consent. He goes on to say that many of the states succeeding have never been a state outside of the Union. Thus by them asserting a claim of state rights, without never being a state outside the Union is blasphemy and is just another attempt to destroy the Union.
Even after the civil war, the balance of power between the federal government and state governments was greatly debated. South Carolina, for example, stated in their declaration of secession “...certain duties were imposed upon the several states… which necessarily imperiled their continued existence as sovereign states.” (doc. 1 ) This was written to the federal government to explain why South Carolina was seceding from the Union.
States Rights are when a state makes decisions on items not covered by the Constitution. In 1861, Texas wanted to secede from the United States because they wanted to keep slavery. In Document C, an editorial from the Texas State Gazette states, “This is a Union of equal states, and no state can force another state either to remain in it or withdraw from it.” Abraham Lincoln disagreed with this. He felt that slavery was wrong and wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.
The Civil War began in the United States in 1861, after many years of infuriated pressure amid Northern and Southern states over slavery, states rights and Westward expansion. The acclamation of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, generated seven Southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon united with them. In addition to the disagreement over slavery, many Southern states were convinced that the laws of the individual states should overrule the laws of the federal, or national, government. These Southerners didn’t want the federal government to interfere in their state affairs. They believed that the states reserved the right to reject any federal laws they did not like.
Even though the South was a part of the Union, and was bound by a contract, the South had every right to secede from the Union. Many states of the North has broken the Constitution, therefore the agreement that keeps the Southern states from seceding is broken. The North has also gained overwhelming power over the South in Congress, therefore the Southern states are not equally represented in the Union anymore. According to the tenth Amendment, the rights that are not listed in the Constitution are reserved for the states, and the right to secede is not in the Constitution.
The Texas State Gazette wrote, “ This is a Union of equal states, and no state can force another state either to remain in it or to withdraw from it.” (Document C) This document states that every state has equal rights, and that no state has more power than another state. Also from Document C, Abraham Lincoln stated, “No state upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union.” What Abraham Lincoln meant by this is that no state can just say they are out of the Union.
In the 1860’s South Carolina decided to secede from the union. This caused an uprising of many other states that decided the United States was not working out for them and many others decided to secede too. President Lincoln felt that this violated the Constitution and felt that it was not the states choice whether or not they were part of the union. On the contrary, the states felt that if they joined the union they should be able to leave it, no questions asked.
e Constitution, there are several rules and regulations that are clearly stated that allow the government to know exactly how to rule the country. However, the creators of the Constitution also left somethings out so that future leaders could determine and interpret laws in a way where they were not really restricted to doing something one specific way. This helps a lot when it comes to the changing of times because the time during in which the Constitution was drafted and ratified, the environment of the nation was much different from what it currently is today. The Constitution, from then to now, has barely been changed which truly shows how well thought out it was compared to say the earlier government called the Articles of Confederation,
The free and slave states both shared the power, therefore creating an equal balance in government. But if another state was to enter the Union, it would upset the balance between the states, which could have potentially led to war. In 1850, John C.Calhoun, describes to Congress how by admitting California to the Union the balance between free and slave states will not remain equal. Calhoun states, “With the intention of destroying, irretrievably, the equilibrium between the two sections,” (Document C).
“By use of their power in the federal government have striven to deprive us of an equal enjoyment of the common territories of the republic.” (Declaration). Some states claimed to stay attached to the union in hopes that something would change but since they hadn’t that they would as well secede. “This hostile policy of our Confederates has been pursued with every circumstance of aggravation which could arouse the passions and excite the hatred of our people.”
One of the reasons that the South wanted to be separated from the North was because they wanted individual state rights so that they could abolish the federals that they do not agree with. The federal government along with the Northern states were not happy with this. I would support the Union in this situation because if the federal government would have no control over the state right, then what is the point to having a government at all. I also feel that the Southern governments do not have a valid enough reason to pull themselves from the federal government just because they are unhappy with the abolishment of slavery and the newfound president Lincoln who was a foe of the slavery
The Southern states even threatened to secede because of the differences in opinion on slavery. To prevent this, Congress passed the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Missouri joined the Union as a slave state, but in exchange, Maine was admitted as a free state. In addition, all states and lands north of the 36°30’ parallel would be free (except for Missouri). This ‘compromise’ somehow managed to hold America together, but no one was really satisfied.
