How Did The Constitutional Government Formed After Revolutionary War Dbq

Secession is when a territory or state withdrawals from a larger territory. It is significant in this chapter because

The American Civil War has caused many debates amongst a wide range of historians resulting in many different views being formed on all aspects of the War. The argument whether slavery has been overemphasised is one of great debate. Some historians like Michael F. Holt concur that the slavery issue was nearly the only reason and cause of the American civil war. Others disagree, Joel H. Silbey agrees that this is a reason but not the only one other ideas to need to be looked at to the cause of the outbreak of war in America. I will look at this issue and others which caused the beginning of the civil war.

Throughout history, people have gone to extreme lengths to secure their economic well being. The people in the Southern states were no different in this regard, and for this reason we affirm the resolution that the South was justified to secede from the Union. Before going any farther, we must define key terms in the resolution. The South refers to the 11 states who became the Confederate States of America. The Union was the United States in 1860. Lastly, justified means done for a legitimate reason, in this case in the context of the political and economic circumstances of the time. We support our affirmation with the following contention: that the South’s economic interests were in such danger that they took the only path available to them

1. The southern commissioners, politicians and committees made many arguments to try to justify secession. The southerners tried to argue that allowing colored people to participate in their government would lower their standards and affect them. Charles B. Dew elaborates on what the southerners said, “Our fathers made this a government for the white man,” Harris told the Georgians, “rejecting the negro, as an ignorant, inferior, barbarian race, incapable of self-government, and not, therefore, entitled to be associated with the white man upon terms of civil, political, or social equality.” An argument made to justify secession was that allowing colored people to be free would disgrace white people and affect their social rankings.

To begin with, immediately after the election and inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, the newly-established Republican Party’s presidential nominee, eleven states of the South seceded from the Union. These events marked the beginning of the Civil War and the war was a result of many political tensions that had emerged between the North and the South in the prior decades, all of which were associated with the institution of slavery installed in the Southern United States. President Lincoln began the Civil War with the South in response to states’ secession from the Union, and therefore, the war was not solely concentrated over the issue of slavery in American society. The North fought to preserve the Union while the Confederacy fought to

The South fought this war as the Second American Revolution. The cause of the South was equated to that of their forefathers who had fought and won their freedom from Great Britain less than 100 years earlier. If it was a war to set men free, it was the Southern farm boy that wanted his freedoms guaranteed under the original constitution. The Northern states' politicians were aggressively attempting to implement a monarchial form of government, which was precisely what the early colonists had fought against in the American Revolution. The Northern states were taking advantage of their superior numbers in the federal government and were using their advantage to implement unfair tariffs against the South. Enormous amounts of money were taken from the South and funneled into the Northern states. Most of the revenue taken from the Southern states was used to run government programs. This brought about the argument of "State's Rights" and a weaker central government by the South.

Every effort the North made to pacify the South and/or to help the Blacks was blatantly rejected by the South. If the North declared one law, the South would find a loophole and thus the country was a mess of disunity and debate over Constitutional changes (?) (Doc. A and B). This tug-of-war is also anther reason for why no social changes resulted from constitutional changes from 1860 to 1877. Even if the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were wholeheartedly radical and revolutionary constitutional changes, social changes, never mind developments, were not in any way possible because of strong Southern resistance (Doc. G).

Throughout the course of history, one of the most pivotal points was the American Revolution. The independence the colonies gained from England allowed for the creation of the way we live today. However, it is important to know that while some aspects of our country today are based on rules set during the revolution, America, as we know it today, was shaped drastically by the Civil war. The Civil war acted as a second revolution in our country, pushing us closer to how society is now. Historians have wondered what caused the Civil War, was it a matter of slavery? Politics? Or another underlying issue? Historians such as James McPherson, William Gienapp, and Susan-Mary Grant have explored events that occurred before the Civil war and ultimately describe why the South succeeded.

Though Abraham Lincoln didn’t win the vote of any southern states, the south feared that if Lincoln was to become president, then slavery would be abolished completely. So, before he even became president, the southern states seceded. This being the final event that fully tipped the “cup” over the edge and shattered it. In the southerner’s minds, it was like they were going to have laws against their “culture” forced upon them by a nonnative power they didn’t agree to, but was still democratically correct.

One of the key factor contributing to the Civil War was States Rights. This refers to the struggle between federal government and individual states over political power. One side argued for greater state’s rights and those arguing felt that the Federal Government needed to have more control over states. The states felt they should have the right to decide if they were willing to accept certain federal acts. Meaning that states had the right to rule federal acts unconstitutional. The federal government denied states this right. When nullification would not work and states felts that they were no longer respected, they moved towards secession from the Union. The southern people were viewed as democratic and depended slaves for the plantations, they were devoted to agriculture and shipped cotton up north and favored low tariffs.

One main argument that came from Stephens ' speech was the affirmation that African American slavery, or the peculiar institution, was the direct cause of the Confederacy’s secession. He states, “The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us the proper status of the Negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution (Stephens)”. Slavery defined the South and it caused many problems between the slave states and the free states. Because of slavery, the new government for the South change immensely. Stephens said that the new government was based on the reality of natural inequality.

Slavery was one of the main factors sending the north and south into a raging war. There was more to than just slavery being abolished. Slavery being abolished to the south was like the government was taking abilities and money from them. Thus making them feel as if they were being done wrong. Also a majority of southerners were plantation owners needing slaves to work the farms so they could earn

The Civil War was fought from 1861-1865.(Masur,L 2011) One of its main components was slavery. Many northern states fought to end slavery, while the southern states wished to fight to keep slavery and protect its rights.(civilwar.org) The Southern states economy was dependent on cotton which to them made slavery a necessity, while the North was becoming a more industrialized economy.(Masur,L 2011)The separation in economic needs helped to create a divide between the two sections.(ushistory.org) In addition to the economy, southern states pushed for nullification. They did not believe that the Federal Government should impose its will on the states. (Masur,L 2011 pg4) The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 did little to reassure the south that their rights to own slaves would be upheld and was basically a final straw for many southern states. (civilwar.org) There were a total of eleven states that would secede from the Union from 1860-1861 prior to the start of the Civil War. These states in order of secession were

Before the Civil War started, the North and the South argued on two main topics: slavery and state rights. In my opinion, it was because of slavery that state rights were argued. When Western territories were annexed from Mexico, they were admitted to the Union with the condition that that slavery be banned through the Wilmot Proviso (History.com). Because of this, slave states felt they were unfairly treated and outnumbered. The religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening also gave way to new ideology. Combined with the growing abolitionist sentiment, Northern states began taking action against Southern states. Because their rights as

During the time around 1850, tensions were rising on the issue of slavery between the North and the South. New states were being admitted to the United States, but the decisions to make them a free state or a slave state were what really mattered. As an example, California was admitted to the Union as a free state, and this angered the south very much because slavery was a very important factor to the South's economy. The Compromise of 1850 was developed to help soothe the tensions on each side. This Compromise had several provisions: California was admitted to the Union as a free state; the territories of New Mexico and Utah were created without restrictions of slavery; the slave trade was abolished in Washington, D.C.; Congress passed a stricter fugitive slave law. This compromise showed just how important slavery was to each side, and it gives us a good idea of why it could be important as one of their goals during the Civil War. With slavery in mind, it brought about ideas of succession to the South. Because the South was scared of Lincoln abolishing slavery, they thought it would be a wise decision to secede from the Union. In fact, Lincoln had no plans of abolishing slavery, but stated that it should not spread to the territories. The South basically misunderstood and decided to secede anyway. The reason slavery was so important to the South, and lead them to break apart from the Union was that it