Essay on Confederate States Of America

The American Civil War has become a point of controversy and argument when discussing key events in shaping America. The arguments that arise when discussing the war tend to focus on whether the Confederate was constitutionally justified in seceding, or whether the North had the right to prevent the secession. However, when discussing the America Civil War and the idea of separation, it is important to be mindful that separation did not simply end at the state level. Letters written by Jesse Rolston, Jr. and Jedediah Hotchkiss portray two significantly different attitudes toward the war, despite the fact that the writers both fought for the Confederate States and give accounts of the same battle, one of which ended in the Confederate’s favor. When examining the documents, both writers express different viewpoints on life on and off the battlefield. This significant difference represents a division amongst the Confederate army.

The southern states although far less populated and without initial means to manufacture war supplies did have the strengths to be very competitive. Strong, experienced Confederate leadership in their practiced military, and the overall will power to protect their way of life would prove to be their greatest assets. Jefferson Davis became the president of the Confederacy and was a model leader. He developed a distinguished political career with many years served in the senate, he was a West Point graduate, the former Secretary of War, and a veteran of the Mexican American War. He was the ideal candidate for a president in war times. He had the advantage of having General Robert E. Lee commanding his army after Joseph Johnston was injured in The Battle of Bull run. Robert E. Lee due to strong respect, character and performance in the Mexican American war was Lincoln’s first choice as the Union general but Lee’s patriotism to his home state

As President of The United States, Lincoln wanted to keep these seceding Southern states to remain a part of America. He felt that the union was not just an arrangement to govern over the states, but it indeed symbolized the future of American freedom where slavery would be abolished for good and protected the rights of every human being. When the Confederates decided to attack Fort Sumter, a Union fort, in April of 1861, the peace broke. This attack was known to have started the American Civil

     The South seceded in part out of growing awareness of its minority in the nation. The Union held twenty-three states, including four border slave states, while the Confederacy had eleven. Ignoring

Tensions between the North and South had grown steadily since the anti slavery movement in 1830. Several compromises between the North and South regarding slavery had been passed such as the Nebraska-Kansas and the Missouri act; but this did little to relieve the strain. The election of President Lincoln in 1861 proved to be the boiling point for the South, and secession followed. This eventually sparked the civil war; which was viewed differently by the North and the South. The Northern goal was to keep the Union intact while the Southern goal was to separate from the Union. Southern leaders gave convincing arguments to justify secession. Exploring documents from South Carolina’s secession ordinance and a speech from the Georgia

In 1861, Davis reluctantly, along with Mississippi left the Union. In his farewell address to the Senate, Davis stated the North’s interference with southern social institutions caused Mississippi’s succession from the Union.13 Davis was then elected as President of the Confederacy in 1861. During his time as President, Davis suffered from

Then on December twentieth, 1860 South Carolina, after a special state assembly, declared that the state would secede from the union. In January to June nine other states joined them; Mississippi

“The Union was formed for the benefit of all” (Edward Livingston). For South Carolina, the crisis involved both the divisions within the state during the crisis and the apparent isolation of the state as the crisis was resolved. By 1860, the state was more internally united than any other southern state, when South Carolina became the first state to secede. Andrew Jackson was a moderate when it came to these issues. “I rely with equal confidence on your undivided support in my determination to execute the laws-to preserve the Union by all constitutional means-to arrest, if possible, by moderate but firm measures” (Edward Livingston). The nullification crisis made President Jackson almost a hero to many nationalists. However, Southerners were made more mindful of their minority position. The issues of nullification and secession stirred the first motions that would eventually lead to the American Civil

The secession of seven southern states. After Lincoln was elected southern states were furious. The reason why they were furious was that they never voted for him. They felt that their votes did not matter to them. Some states threatened to secede from the union. Secession was declared unconstitutional, but the states did not care. Lincoln argued that “The government was a union of people and not of states.”. He could of of helped the states or let the states go and let the United States look weak and apart. He picked the second choice, eleven states seceded, South Carolina was the first to go. The states were Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee,

Lincoln said his paramount object was to save the Union, and if he could accomplish that by not freeing any slaves, he would free none; "if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by

Democrats), John Breckinridge (S. Democrat), John Bell (Constitutional Union Party), Abraham Lincoln (Republicans). The election showed just how fragmented the nation had become. Lincoln won all the free states, Breckinridge won all slave states except four, Bell won Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, and Douglas won Missouri. This can seem in Document D, showing the popular votes earned by the candidates. Though it was a close race with popular votes, Lincoln managed to get enough electoral votes to win the election. This shocked many southerners, letting them believe they had no voice in the national government. So the South threatened to secede from the union. And just had Lincoln predicted ”I do expect it will cease to be divided” (Document c, From "Speech to the Republican Convention" by Abraham Lincoln, 1858). The first seceding states were South Carolina, and later six other states, forming the Confederate States of America. Along with leaving the Union, the seceding states took over federals property within their border. One of the property was Fort Sumter, which lead to the beginning of the Civil

In the year 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected to the office of the President of the United States. Many of the southerners believed that the government was gaining too much power so, many of the southern states decided to secede. These secessionists believed that according to the Constitution, the states had the right to separate themselves from the Union. Lincoln knew that they did not have that right. Lincoln made a wise decision when denying the peaceful secession of the South because physically the states cannot be separated, secession is unlawful, and a government that allows secession will become weak. Secession would have destroyed the government that America tried so desperately hard to build.

Washington D.C., summer 1862. The Civil War had been going on for over a year, and it was not going well for Abraham Lincoln. 11 of the 15 southern states where slavery was legal had formed the Confederate States of America (CSA) and were waging a war to break free from the United States. Lincoln was determined that the nation was not going to fall apart on his watch. During the first year of the civil war, the Confederate Army had won the majority of important battles. When Lincoln became president, he had had no intention of abolishing slavery. Though he personally despised slavery and had won the presidency on an anti-slavery platform, he would gladly have given up any chance of ending slavery in the South if it meant that the Confederate states would rejoin the United States.

The election of Lincoln in November 1860 was the final trigger for secession.[74] Efforts at compromise, including the "Corwin Amendment" and the "Crittenden Compromise", failed. Southern leaders feared that Lincoln would stop the expansion of slavery and put it on a course toward extinction. The slave states, which had already become a minority in the House of Representatives, were now facing a future as a perpetual minority in the Senate and Electoral College against an increasingly powerful North. Before Lincoln took office in March 1861, seven slave states had declared their secession and joined together to form the Confederacy.

This illegally increased the size of the army, which was also a power only reserved for the Congress, and authorized illegal voting methods for the Union border states. Congress had generally supported all of these decisions, but Lincoln further justified them by claiming that desperate times called for the measures he took.He also later promised to obey the Constitution once the war was over.