Good Example Of Participation 6 Essay

While the Civil War came about as a result of a variety of factors, the one tangible event that directly led to the South attempting to secede from the Union was the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in the Election of 1860. When Lincoln won the election, the South decided definitively that Lincoln would not be looking after their interests (i.e. maintaining slavery). The Cotton Kingdom in particular was very threatened by the potential of Lincoln’s resistance to the use of slavery in Southern industry, and saw a sea change on the horizon with regards to federal tolerance of the practice. Furthermore, it also demonstrated the newfound rule of the Republican Party, which was adamantly opposed to slavery and fuelled antislavery sentiment in the North. Since the Republicans were now in power, the Democratic Deep South realized they would no longer have political power, putting their very way of life at risk. Slave owners in the South thought themselves to be oppressed by the Lincoln-era Republican desire to abolish slavery, which would irrevocably change their way of life. No longer was the North concerned with reconciliation or appeasement; now that they had the power of the federal government, they wanted to take steps to abolish slavery. Directly after Lincoln’s election, seven Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America (Fomer 530). Despite efforts after the fact to ease tensions between the North and the South, the election of Abraham Lincoln convinced Southern leaders that the North was against them politically and socially, and felt the need to secede in order to preserve their way of life.

Works Cited

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. 3rd ed. W.W. Norton & Company, 2011.