The Secession Crisis History of the American People to 1877

In this lecture, Dr. Totten argues elite white southerners reacted to the election of Abraham Lincoln by pushing for secession. This was a rash decision, considering Lincoln never threatened slavery where it already existed. In addition, elite white southerners still held considerable congressional power and controlled the Supreme Court. Despite this, elite white southerners embraced secession despite widespread dissatisfaction with it. Seven deep southern states seceded after conventions were held, but these conventions never submitted secession for a popular vote, due to widespread resistance. The border states would never secede and the upper South only seceded after the firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for volunteers to put down the rebellion. Thus, the Confederacy was on shaky foundation, as many southerners rejected its very legitimacy. This dissatisfaction with secession would be largely forgotten, as a Lost Cause emerged after the Civil War and Reconstruction, which portrayed a united South.


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