What led the Southern States to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861? As the United States had just finished ratifying the Constitution and establishing democracy in the late 1700’s. Tensions between the North and South of the country began to rise as differences between the two were boiling over many issues both political and economic. Such issues were dealing with the laws regarding slavery and where certain jurisdictions would lie in those cases. The Southern states seceded from the Union in 1860 and 1861 due to the North’s reaction to the enforcement of the fugitive slave act, the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the election of 1860. There were many factors that ultimately led to the causes for the South to secede in 1860 and 1861. One very impactful event was …show more content…
Many anti-slavery protesters in the North viewed the passing of the act as cowardice as they gave into the demands of the slave owners. It was once addressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a transcendentalist writer known professionally as an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century in an address regarding the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, he wrote “As soon as the constitution ordains an immoral law, it ordains disunion.” (Document D) As the South viewed the enforcement of the act as a solution that would end the escape of many slaves through the Underground Railroad. Ultimately it failed in stopping the runaways as they hoped it would when persuading Congress to pass the act. Also in response to this many states passed personal liberty laws “which forbade the imprisonment of runaway slaves and guaranteed that they would have jury trials.” (Danzer 310) The North demonstrated that they wouldn’t be afraid to fight back and also demonstrated the power of state