what was the south called during civil war

It was the “fire-eater” Robert Rhett, a southern journalist and Confederate congressman, who prodded South Carolina into fast action and is often called the “Father of Secession.” They had voluntarily entered into the Union which they could lawfully leave whenever they wished. Secession was justified, according to the convention members, under the ancient “compact theory” that individual states were sovereign. 13, the legislature authorized the calling of a state convention. News of Lincoln’s election had reached the Palmetto State by Nov. Southern “fire-eaters” persuaded the deep South states to leave the Union before they heard Lincoln’s inaugural remarks in March of 1861. The Election of 1860 served to emphasize how deep the line of cleavage between the sections had become.įew presidential elections have aroused the intense interest that touched every section of the country during the entire year of 1860. The campaigning of 1860 and Abraham Lincoln’s election caused the South to hit the wall. In fact, threats of secession had been the last resort of the minority to protect its interests under the Constitution and had been constantly present from the American Revolution to the American Civil War.

The slavery question emerged after the Mexican War and the compromise of 1850.īoth the North and South showed threatening signs of seceding during the first half of the 19th century. Adams term of office, and the tariff issue of 1832 during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. That was followed by the Cherokee land crisis in Georgia during John Q. Threats of separation from the Union by the South were made as early as the Compromise of 1820.

What was the south called during civil war