Why wouldn't the South give Lincoln a chance (1860) ?

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Carlos E

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Ok, he was a Northerner and they were worried. I understand that. But why did the South seek succession from the Union before he even took office? Couldn't they wait until if and when Lincoln did something intolerable?
 
the south was plitting even before the war. the nothern states weren't for slavery and the south was. there was some slavery in the nothern states but they we're ussually paided. but they know that lincoln was an ambolish person so they plit.
 
The Southern states didn't 'succeed', they seceded. The reason WE seceded from the Union was due to states rights. The Constitution specifically enumerates the powers delegated to the federal government. The powers not specifically given to the Federal government are retained by the respective states. That's how the framers designed it. So the States would be a counter balance to the central government. When the Feds overstep their powers to an injurious point, the states could leave the union and set up a government more suited to their needs. When Mr. Lincoln was elected, he wasn't even carried on the ballots of most of the Southern states. The republican party of 1860 was about as radical as any you can imagine. They were made up of the remnants of the old Whig Party who believed in what they called "the American System" which was really the old British mercantilist system of government subsidized internal works. Government controlled banks, government bailouts of failing businesses and internal improvements all paid for by the taxpayers. The republicans also had a large 'radical abolitionist' contingent. There were abolition societies in the South before the war, but the northern abolition groups encouraged slave uprisings that would have left hundreds of whites dead. The uprisings on the island of Jamaica in 1802 which decimated the islands white population were still vividly recalled by most Southerners. They had asked the government to help them prevent the northern abolitionists from passing out pamphlets (yes, some of the slaves could both read and write) and attempting to stir up racial strife in the South. When Mr. Lincoln was elected, they felt the radicals finally had the upper hand and if they remained in the union as it was, it would only be a matter of time before the radicals actually incited a riot. Some prominent abolitionists such as Henry Ward Beecher openly advocated that the Southern population should be exterminated and the region colonized by northerners. When seven Southern states left the union, Mr Lincoln called on the remaining states to supply 75,000 troops to force the states back into the union. When that happened, four more Southern states seceeded in protest of Mr. Lincolns abuse of power.
 
What was intolerable was that the administration would not leave the south alone. They wanted STATES rights and wanted the government to butt out. So it wasn't Lincoln who caused them to secede.

Ft. Sumter was fired upon and because tension was already high, they fired back and the war was started.
 
They were worried, because he was an avowed abolitionist. They didn't have to wait for the election to know he might do something intolerable.
 
They knew that Lincoln was against slavery and they thought that he would abolish it. Slavery was one of their main sources of income and they felt that Lincoln was a threat to how they money so before they left him "get that chance" they succeeded.
 
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