The Super Summary of World History - Alan Dale Daniel [113]
Southerners argued northerners should pay slave owners to set the slaves free. Emancipation by purchase was a practical idea, but the abolitionists refused to pay because they thought the institution was ungodly, cruel, and immoral. And there was another rub; the Constitution, as we have discussed, told the government to pay for property it took and southerners said slaves were property. The southerners thought the Constitution was clear—the North must pay for any slaves it forced them to free. The abolitionist also thought morality was clear—no man had the callous right to own another. Because the two societies existed side by side, and the one would not leave the other alone, the problems failed to subside.
The ultimate problem: the Constitution stood silent on a state departing the Union. Many in the South thought, as a legal matter, that if a state could vote to join the Union it could vote to leave the Union. In the North many feared a Union split up would significantly impair the nation and argued no state could leave without the consent of Congress. As southern congressional power declined, they considered the ultimate solution: leave the Union.
The stage was set for an armed conflict to decide if a state had the right to leave the Union. This was the true issue of the war. Slavery along with vast cultural, economic, and emotional issues may have caused secession; however, none of that was directly at issue. The one issue to be decided as the war began was whether a state could separate from the Union without Congressional approval. Abraham Lincoln refused to debate the issue. After the South seceded, he called up the troops and immediately moved to force the secessionists’ states back into the Union. Blood spilling over countless battlefields would now answer the political question.
The Republican Party, founded in 1854, was a reaction to the Kansas-Nebraska Act expanding slavery to the new territories. The new party opposed any expansion of slavery to the territories; however, many thought it also stood for abolishing slavery, but this was not an immediate goal. In 1860 its candidate for president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, won the election because he received the most electoral votes. The fact that the southern vote was split actually gave the Republicans the white house. Worst of all, the vote was split along northern and southern lines. The election displayed the extent of the national split. Even though Lincoln was not going to abolish slavery, he would stop its expansion to the territories. The South knew they would soon be a minority in the Senate. Lincoln’s election triggered the immediate secession of seven Deep South states followed later by the relatively moderate Border States. As Lincoln entered office the secession was underway. From his first moments as president he faced the crisis of the Civil War.
The time line to war:
Dec 20, 1860: South Carolina secedes
Jan 1861: Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida secede; Texas secedes Feb 1, 1861
Feb 4: The seven seceding states meet in Montgomery, Alabama to draft a Confederate Constitution
March 4: Lincoln’s inaugural address. Lincoln states he will not end slavery in states where it already existed; however, seven (7) states had by now seceded from the Union. The ones that will later secede (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas) would be some of the most powerful in the Confederacy, but they were still with the Union after Lincoln spoke. Some would, in fact, vote to stay prior to April 15.
April 12: Ft Sumter shelled (April 14, surrenders).
April 15: Lincoln calls up 75,000 troops—each state to contribute troops. This move outrages Virginia and the other southern states still with the Union.
Apr 17: Virginia secedes (8th state) on a vote of 88 to 55. Prior to the assault on Ft Sumter, secession was voted down 89 to 45 (April