Secession

1. Secession Standard 4.3

2. Slave labor • Since the English introduced slave labor back in the 1600s, SC’s agricultural society became increasingly dependent on slave labor. • This created a “way of life” that the elite wanted to protect. • Cotton production brought in a lot of money to SC.

3. ….continued • Slavery became accepted as a way of life by all South Carolinians even though all South Carolinians did not own slaves. • Even the middle class aspired to be like the elite and own lots of slaves.

4. Abolitionism • There were many people for and against slavery. • Abolitionists – people who spoke out against slavery and wanted to end slavery. • Abolitionists were a small group – these were people who wanted to completely abolish slavery. • Although some northerners wanted to do away with slavery, they didn’t necessarily want freed African Americans living in their community.

5. SC saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to their way of life. • They would not allow abolitionist newspapers into SC. • People feared that abolitionists would spark slave revolts, too. • Abolitionists often helped escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad.

6. Westward expansion • As new states began to come into the Union, more talk began over if the new states should be slave or “free” states. • For a while, there were equal numbers of “slave states” and “free states” and so both sides were equally represented in government. • The south was afraid that if the new states were free states that they would become outnumbered and slavery would be abolished.

7. States’ rights • States’ rights is the idea that each state has the right to decide whether or not they should obey national laws. • This did not really conform to the idea of the Constitution of the United States. • SC felt it was their right to make their own decisions about slavery, no matter what national law said. • http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/statesrights.html

8. Abraham Lincoln • Abraham Lincoln was not an abolitionist. He never said that he was going to end slavery. • He did propose to end the advancement of slavery to the new territories. • In essence, he did not want to end slavery, but he did not want new states to become slave states. • The south saw this as a big threat. They did not believe that Lincoln would not end slavery, even though he continued to say so.

10. When Lincoln was elected in 1860, SC decided to secede from the Union. They basically wanted to make the first move before Lincoln could do anything. • It was very premature and not very logical. • To secede meant that they were no longer part of the United States. SC was the first state to secede from the Union. Many states followed. • This was also their way to hold onto slavery and their way of life.

12. Confederate states/Union states