CivilWar
CivilWar
Evenafter the civil war in the United States, there is still disagreementon what the Southern States were seceding. It is asserted it iseither for the issue of states’ right, issue of slavery, or for theissue of tariffs and taxes. As some historians urge, the southernstates seceded over the states’ rights. The Confederate statesalleged they seceded for the states’ right, though no state, inparticular, claimed it. In 1860, the South Carolina delegates adopteda declaration for their main cause of secession. It noted that thenorthern states did not fulfill their constitutional obligationbecause it interfered with the return of fugitive slaves to bondage.In addition, it noted there was a high rate of hostility in thenon-slaveholding states. Therefore, slavery birthed the civil war,and not the states’ rights. Further, New York never allowed slaverytransit, and this did not please South Carolina. The South Carolina’sdelegates were against the New England States for allowing the blackmen to vote, as well as tolerating abolitionist societies. Accordingto them, citizens did not have rights to assemble and speak freely,especially if they were threatening slavery.
Onthe other hand, the southern states did not secede for slavery sincethey did not own slaves. In fact, most southern families had noslaves, unlike in Mississippi where more than half of the familiesowned one or more slaves. Nevertheless, most Southerners did notsupport secession in areas with few slaves. Two ideological factorscaused the southerners to defend slavery. Firstly, the southernerswere optimists and always eager to raise their standards. Forinstance, subsistence farmers always aimed to become large-scalefarmers hence, slave-owners. Secondly, white supremacy beliefsoffered a rationale for slavery. Most white southerners could notimagine life in the states with black-majority unless they were theirslaves.