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Why did Lincoln's election spark the Civil War ?
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Wiregrass Willie
May 13, 2012, 11:30:31 AM5/13/12
to
We all probably know the answer to that. But every time it's
discussed, there are those that seem to think the Southerners feared
Lincoln and his government would move to abolish slavery. Despite
Lincoln's personal promise to his old friend Alexander Stephens.
I'm reading a very good book entitled "Plain Folk and Gentry in a
Slave Society". By J. William Harris.
On page 73, Harris gives the shortest -- most accurate reason for the
Secession being blamed on Lincoln. And it was not because the
slaveholders feared Lincoln. They feared their working class
neighbors.
The first paragraph gives the background -- the second tells what
planters feared.
"Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society". By J. William Harris.
page 73
--------------------------
Helper proposed a detailed plan for nonslaveholders to organize
politically and make sure that "no slavocrat should, in the future, be
elected to any office whatever." The new parties would proscribe
slaveholders socially and would immediately lay a tax of $60 on every
slave, which would be used to colonize blacks in Africa, Central
America, or the West. Helper suggested an immediate convention of
nonslaveholders to organize their party." His shrewd coupling of
abolition and colonization was designed to appeal precisely to men
such as John Pool, who despised both slaveholders and slaves.
Helper's argument seemed potentially effective to some southerners. In
1860, on the eve of Abraham Lincoln's election, the New Orleans Daily
Delta editorialized that should a Republican be elected to the
presidency, his party would soon have "followers and sympathizers" in
every southern state, and "the arguments of Helper's infamous book"
would be "reproduced in the South.... Let us beware of the day when
the struggle shall be transferred to our own land; when the slavery
question shall ... become a domestic question; armies of our enemies
shall be recruited from our own forces."
-------------------------------------
I thought it very concise and interesting.
discussed, there are those that seem to think the Southerners feared
Lincoln and his government would move to abolish slavery. Despite
Lincoln's personal promise to his old friend Alexander Stephens.
I'm reading a very good book entitled "Plain Folk and Gentry in a
Slave Society". By J. William Harris.
On page 73, Harris gives the shortest -- most accurate reason for the
Secession being blamed on Lincoln. And it was not because the
slaveholders feared Lincoln. They feared their working class
neighbors.
The first paragraph gives the background -- the second tells what
planters feared.
"Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society". By J. William Harris.
page 73
--------------------------
Helper proposed a detailed plan for nonslaveholders to organize
politically and make sure that "no slavocrat should, in the future, be
elected to any office whatever." The new parties would proscribe
slaveholders socially and would immediately lay a tax of $60 on every
slave, which would be used to colonize blacks in Africa, Central
America, or the West. Helper suggested an immediate convention of
nonslaveholders to organize their party." His shrewd coupling of
abolition and colonization was designed to appeal precisely to men
such as John Pool, who despised both slaveholders and slaves.
Helper's argument seemed potentially effective to some southerners. In
1860, on the eve of Abraham Lincoln's election, the New Orleans Daily
Delta editorialized that should a Republican be elected to the
presidency, his party would soon have "followers and sympathizers" in
every southern state, and "the arguments of Helper's infamous book"
would be "reproduced in the South.... Let us beware of the day when
the struggle shall be transferred to our own land; when the slavery
question shall ... become a domestic question; armies of our enemies
shall be recruited from our own forces."
-------------------------------------
I thought it very concise and interesting.
Hugh Lawson
May 14, 2012, 9:08:27 AM5/14/12
to
Wiregrass Willie <wiregrass_...@yahoo.com> writes:
> We all probably know the answer to that. But every time it's
> discussed, there are those that seem to think the Southerners feared
> Lincoln and his government would move to abolish slavery.
This seems to pose only two possibilities:
> We all probably know the answer to that. But every time it's
> discussed, there are those that seem to think the Southerners feared
> Lincoln and his government would move to abolish slavery.
1. The Republicans try to achieve immediate abolition.
2. The Republcans do nothing scary at all.
But there were many things the Republicans might do short of immediate
aboliton that might head slavery toward its "ultimate extinction",
Lincoln's stated goal.
For example: exclude slavery from the federal territories, a founding
principle of the Republican party.
To get an idea of the things they were thinking about, read Eric Foner's
short book, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men.
HankC
Jun 1, 2012, 10:44:39 AM6/1/12
to
On May 14, 8:08 am, Hugh Lawson <hu.law...@gmail.com> wrote:
Freehling's excellent analysis makes 2 compelling points:
1) as the slave population drops to 5% of the population, the movement
to abolish the peculiar institution accelerates. the border south
states, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, were moving toward this number,
primarily due to immigration and the selling of slaves farther south.
At the 5% point, emancipation occurs.
2) presidential patronage will result in local republicans (however
many) being appointed to positions across the south. patronage, being
what it is, will swell local republican numbers, generally leading to
1) above...
1) as the slave population drops to 5% of the population, the movement
to abolish the peculiar institution accelerates. the border south
states, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, were moving toward this number,
primarily due to immigration and the selling of slaves farther south.
At the 5% point, emancipation occurs.
2) presidential patronage will result in local republicans (however
many) being appointed to positions across the south. patronage, being
what it is, will swell local republican numbers, generally leading to
1) above...
Hugh Lawson
Jun 2, 2012, 5:00:05 PM6/2/12
to
Congress, short of constitutional amendment. Congress has the power to
regulate interstate commerce, to levy and collect taxes, and to make
uniform bankruptcy laws. A high-school American-government student can
imagine ways to use these powers to make things harder for slavery.
What follows is inspired by Gavin Wright. See his Political Economy of
the Cotton South, and Old South--New South.
The slave-price bubble of the 1850s would pop. This in turn would
likely crash the southern banking system, a big part of whose business
was making loans against the security of slave property.
With creditors holding notes secured by depreciated property, a
form of compensated emancipation might come into view. (Consider the
housing market today.)
Scamp
Jun 7, 2012, 1:55:58 PM6/7/12
to Mike Campbell
"Southerners feared
Lincoln and his government would move to abolish slavery."
History shows they were right.
Lincoln and his government would move to abolish slavery."
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