Why did the south secede what was the catalyst for this?

Answer 1

Southern States seceded due to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was a federalist, a political viewpoint that the central US government was more powerful than the states. Many southern states believed in each states own political and economic power superseding that of the federal government. They were afraid of losing this power if Lincoln took office. Lincoln only won 31% of the popular vote. This dispute of federal power versus state power still goes on in the US in the early 21st century with the rise of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party.

In the mid nineteenth century, each state were more like semi-independent countries with their own currencies unlike today. The reason for our current federal government was due to the Union winning the US Civil War, or as some call it, the War Between the States. The latter name is due to the nature of the country at that time, many states against many states. Each state sent their own army to fight in the war, some states sent army's to both the Union and the Confederate side.

Slavery is often considered a cause, but is more like a symptom. Abolitionists during and especially after the war tried to make it a war against slavery but this is not supported by the historical evidence. Lincoln's own public and private writings indicate that although he was against slavery he was not an abolitionist (a political force that tried to ban the evil institution of slavery). It was not until 1865 that slaves were freed and then only by default. Some northern states allowed slavery including Delaware and those in that state were not freed until December 1865.

The Emancipation Proclamation in 1864 is President's Lincoln's ordering of slaves being freed only in states that did not join the Union. Those states in the union were not effected. The purpose of this was to encourage slaves to rise up against the slave owners and to weaken the Confederate States. It failed. There were no mass uprisings of slaves against their "owners" during the war or even before. In fact, there were a number of slaves who volunteered to fight on the Confederate side.

In the Union, men who were formerly slaves or descended from slaves were not allowed to fight in the army until late in the war and were not trusted by the Union Army. One Negro battalion fought on the Union side, with some distinction, but only Caucasians were allowed to be officers.