Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics History Roundtable Sesquicentennial of War For Southern Independence

Posted at 9:45 AM ET, 02/22/2011
Brag Bowling: Why did South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas choose to secede?

By Brag Bowling
Director of the Stephen D. Lee Institute

During the early 19th century, the framework of the United States was held together by a series of concessions and compromises by men and women who viewed the continuance of the Union as primary above sectional and economic differences. People such as Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Jefferson Davis and many others from both North and South worked diligently to patch over problems which seemed unsolvable. By the 1850’s, compromise became much harder. The 1856 formation of the Republican Party, viewed strictly as a northern regional party, put into policy what many shuddered at, a party whose essential purpose was inimical to Southern economic interests and institutions (i.e. Slavery). Simple compromise would be much more difficult as the Republicans gained power and influence.

The ticking time bomb went off in 1859 with the John Brown raid on Harper’s Ferry. When it was discovered that this criminal invasion was funded basically by wealthy abolitionists from Massachusetts, Southerners truly began questioning whether there was a place for them in the Union. Even moderates felt there was no longer a hope or prospect for reconciliation between the two sections on a basis of reasonable mutual concern.