CHAPTER 15 • SECTION 3 Southern States Secede Connecting History KEY QUESTION How did seven Southern states justify their decision to secede? Federalism Even before the election, Southerners had warned that if Lincoln won the Many Southerners presidency, Southern states would secede, or withdraw, from the Union. claimed that their fight The Confederate States of America Southerners based their arguments Teach for independence from the federal government on states’ rights, the idea that states have certain rights that the federal gov- Southern States Secede was an echo of America’s ernment cannot overrule. They argued that since the states had voluntarily fight to separate from joined the Union, they could voluntarily leave it. British tyranny during the On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. Revolutionary War. Reader, Recorder, Reporter Other states in the Deep South, where the economies depended on slavery • In what key ways did the Confederate and cotton production, also considered secession. Shortly after, Mississippi, Constitution differ from the U.S. Constitution? Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas joined South Carolina. (It supported states’ rights; it protected slavery In early February 1861, the states that had seceded met in Montgomery, in the Confederacy, including any territories the Alabama. They formed the Confederate States of America. The convention Confederacy might acquire.) named Jefferson Davis president of the Confederacy. The convention then drafted a constitution. The Confederate Constitu- • Categorize Have students create a chart tion was modeled on the U.S. Constitution. But there were a few important categorizing Southern and Northern arguments differences. For example, the Confederate Constitution supported states’ regarding secession. (Southern arguments: rights. It also protected slavery in the Confederacy, including any territories states had the right to leave the Union, since it might acquire. they voluntarily joined it; an abolitionist Having formed its government, the Confederate states made plans to president would threaten their slavery- defend their separation from the Union. Some believed that war between dependent economies; the Northern majority the states could not be avoided. But everyone waited to see what the Union would force the South to abolish slavery. government would do in response. Northern arguments: secession went against Detail of secession The Union’s Response Northerners considered the secession of the South- the Constitution; secession would weaken the banner with tree ern states was unconstitutional. President James Buchanan argued against representing South secession. He believed that the states did not have the right to withdraw Union; Southerners were simply unwilling to Carolina live with the election results of a democratic from the Union because the federal government, not the state governments, was sovereign. If secession were permitted, the Union would become weak, election.) like a “rope of sand.” He believed that the U.S. Constitution was framed to prevent such a thing from happening. In addition to these issues, secession raised the issue of majority rule. Connecting History Southerners complained that Northerners intended to use their majority to force the South to abolish slavery. But Northerners responded that Southern- Federalism ers were not willing to live with the election results. As Northern writer James Why do you think that Southerners Russell Lowell wrote, “[The Southerners’] quarrel is not with the Republican compared themselves to American colonists Party, but with the theory of Democracy.” in the 1770s? (Possible Answer: Southerners The Failure of Compromise With the states in the lower South forming a saw their fight as a struggle against new government, some people continued to seek compromise. Senator John economic and political policies of the Union J. Crittenden of Kentucky proposed that slavery should be protected south that were threatening their freedom.) of the line established in the Missouri Compromise, that Congress should not abolish slavery in a slave state, and that the federal government should compensate the owners of fugitive slaves. The Crittenden Compromise was presented to Congress in early 1861, but it was defeated in the Senate. More About . John J. Crittenden of Kentucky 502 Chapter 15 Crittenden considered himself a Kentucky man through and through. Born there, he DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION returned to his home state after graduating from law school and working as territorial attorney general in Illinois. He was a Struggling Readers Inclusion Kentucky state legislator before being elected to the U.S. Senate. Later he served Confederate Map Secession Time Line as Kentucky’s governor. When his famous To help students understand the way Have students create a time line of key Crittenden Compromise was defeated in the Southern secession divided the country, events, such as Senate by a narrow margin, he turned his have them create a map. On a blank attention to keeping his state from joining • South Carolina’s secession map of the United States, have students with the Confederacy. His passionate stand • the secession of six other states label the states and territories as on the issue is considered a key factor in they existed in 1861. Then have them • the formation of the Confederacy and Kentucky’s ultimate decision to remain in create a key consisting of two colors: naming of a president the Union. one representing the Union and one • the drafting of the Confederate Unit 6 Resource Book representing the original Confederacy Constitution • Connect to Today, p. 35 (before the start of the war). Then have Remind students to look for signal words them color the states according to the such as first, then, and after. key, using information from the text. 502 • Chapter 15 With the election of 1860, it was clear that attempts at compromise had CHAPTER 15 • SECTION 3 failed. The issue of slavery had pulled the nation apart. Every Congressional attempt to reach a compromise only served to enrage one section of the country or the other. The following chart shows how the events and laws of these years brought the nation closer to civil war. CONNECT to the Essential Question What issues and events shattered the CONNECT to the Essential Question nation’s unity and led to civil war? Ask students what they have learned so far What issues and events shattered the nation’s unity that can help them answer this question. and led to civil war? Use the graphic on page 503 or display the transparency. EVENT NORTHERN REACTION SOUTHERN REACTION Unit 6 Transparency Book 1846 War with Mexico fear that slavery would expand into the desire to extend slavery into territory taken • Essential Question Graphic, TT5 territories won from Mexico from Mexico • Remind students that in addition to the information on the chart, the economies Wilmot Proviso support for Wilmot Proviso Southerners fear that more free states will 1846 proposes that slavery be created and upset the balance of power. of the North and South were also founding of Free-Soil Party dedicated be outlawed in territory Southern senators prevent passage of developing differently. to stopping expansion of slavery taken from Mexico. Wilmot Proviso • Ask: How might differences in two regions’ economies also divide the Compromise of 1850 relief that California would relief that Congress would be a free state not ban slavery from territories won regions politically? (Possible Answer: from Mexico with the exception of People may vote based on what is in their 1850 outrage over Fugitive Slave Act California economic interest, which may not be in satisfaction with Fugitive Slave Act another’s best interest.) Uncle Tom’s Cabin is The novel becomes highly popular. Southerners believe the book gives a false CRITICAL THINKING ANSWER 1852 impression of the South and slavery. published. Causes and Effects Each of these laws and events pleased one section Kansas–Nebraska Act anger over repeal of Missouri support for popular sovereignty, which Compromise, which banned slavery in allowed people to vote for slavery in of the nation while angering the other. 1854 some territories territories where Missouri Compromise had This caused an ever-widening rift banned it between North and South, which made compromise seemingly impossible and Whig Party splits over 1854 Northern Whigs join other groups to Southern Whigs join Democrats. eventually broke the nation apart. Kansas–Nebraska Act. form antislavery Republican Party. 1860 Election of 1860 satisfaction with election of Republican Seven Southern states secede from Union. candidate Abraham Lincoln CRITICAL THINKING Causes and Effects Why did this series of laws and events shatter the unity of the nation? Teacher-Tested Activities Jim Sorensen, Chippewa Middle School, Des Plaines, Illinois A Nation Breaking Apart 503 Students find it fun to picture themselves as a first-person eyewitness to history as it unfolds DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION: TIERED ACTIVITIES in this chapter. • Students write a journal entry in their diaries that details their feelings and thoughts OBJECTIVE Compare and contrast two events from the chapter that contributed to the toward the events of the day: What are your nation’s breaking apart by 1861. hopes and fears for the future? What advice Basic On Level Challenge would you give to the leaders? Where do you stand on the issues of the day? Assign pairs of students Have students form three Have students work • Students select a person from the chapter two events discussed in groups. Have the first group individually to write essays to begin their diary. People they can choose the chapter. Then have compare and contrast events comparing and contrasting from include Alexis de Tocqueville, Emily them list the differences from Sections 1 and 2; the two events from the chapter Edmondson, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson and similarities between second group, events from that played a role in the Davis, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dred Scott, the events using a graphic Sections 2 and 3; the third break up of the United and Mary Boykin Chesnut.