SOUTHERN SECESSION SOUTHERN SECESSION Southern states believed they
SOUTHERN SECESSION
SOUTHERN SECESSION • Southern states believed they had the right to secede (states’ rights) • Many Southerners supported secession (breaking away from the Union) and believed they were justified in doing so • To them, the government broke the contract they had (Constitution) and therefore, the South was free to leave
ATTEMPTING TO PREVENT • Crittenden Compromise: Senator John Crittenden’s last ditch effort to save the Union • Included protection of slavery in the South • Rejected by North and South
SECESSION • First Wave: South Carolina begins secession, 6 other states follow (Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Louisiana) • Second Wave: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee join after the Siege of Fort Sumter. • These states come together to form the Confederate States of America (CSA) (think Articles of Confederation type government) • Border States: slave states that remained in the Union
FORT SUMTER • Fort Sumter: Union fort in Charleston, South Carolina • Confederacy demanded the forts surrender • The fort was low on supplies and needed help from Lincoln, which he sends • Jefferson Davis (Confederate President) orders troops to attack and take the fort • They succeed and force Lincoln to issue a call for troops from the Union to go to war
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