Secession of the Southern States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the motivation and circumstances that led the South to believe it could successfully break away from the Union and established itself as an independent nation. The paper discusses the history from ten years before the war and continues through most of the war years. It also looks at foreign affairs at the time and the role they played in the secession of the Southern states.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Decade before the Secession Crisis
Motivation/Circumstances that Led to Secession
The Role of Foreign Affairs in the Secession Issue
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"It would take four bloody years of Civil War and the deaths of men, women and children on both sides of the battles fought to bring the Southern states back into the Union, including Abraham Lincoln, the president who healed the wounds of the US and brought slavery to an end. While few would argue that slavery, by its very nature is immoral and should not exist, the secession of the Southern states, in retrospect, is an excellent example of political and social uprising and the possibility of people who disagree with the establishment being able to rise up and oppose it. This, perhaps, is the most important point to take away from this research, for without opposition to what one sees as an undesirable situation, no human progress can take place."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Chesebrough, David B. Clergy Dissent in the Old South, 1830-1865. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996.
• Gale, Robert L. A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1850s in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.
• Wakelyn, Jon L., ed. Southern Pamphlets on Secession, November 1860-April 1861. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
• Why the Civil War Came. Ed. Gabor S. Boritt. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

More papers on Secession of the Southern States:

• Dissertation or Thesis # 6874 : "The Causes for the Southern States to Secede From the Union"
• Essay # 14017 : "Secession Of Southern States"
• Essay # 67635 : "The Secession of South Carolina"

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