Union Sucession

5 Pages 1268 Words

The breakup of the Union was inevitable. The south was always going to secede; it was just a question of when. The southern and northern states varied on many issues. There were deep economic, social, and political differences between the north and the south. All of this was a different interpretation of the United States Constitution on both sides. In the end, all of these disagreements led to the Civil War.
There were reasons other than slavery for the south’s secession. The south relied heavily on agriculture, as opposed to the north which was highly populated by factories. The south grew cotton, which was its main cash crop. Many southerners knew that heavy reliance on agriculture would hurt the south, but their warnings were not taken into serious consideration.
Constitutionally the north favored a loose interpretation of the United States Constitution. They wanted to grant the federal government increased powers. The South wanted to reserve all undefined powers to the individual states. The south relied upon it for their economic well being. The north’s economy was not reliant on such labor. This issue overshadowed all others.
Southerners compared slavery to the wage-slave system of the North. Southerners believed the slaves received better care than the northern factory workers did. Many southern preachers proclaimed that slavery was sanctioned in the Bible. Thomas Dew, a professor from William and Mary, said that all of the patriarchs of the bible were slaveholders. Abraham had more than three hundred.
After the American Revolution slavery died in the North, just as it was becoming more popular in the South. By the time of 1804 seven of the northern most states had abolished slavery. During this time a surge of democratic reform swept the North and West. There were demands for political equality and economic and social advances. Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person. When new te...