The Social Contract and Secession

Why did the North feel the South had broken its contract? What did John Locke say about the relationship between government and the people? Why did the North feel the South had broken its contract? Why did the South feel the North had broken its contract?

What is a contract?

What is a contract? an agreement between two or more people or groups often they are legal documents.

John Locke (1632–1704) philosopher Government is essentially a contract between the people and the ruler; thus, if the government ever breaks its side of the contract, the people have the right to overthrow it. John Locke, 1632–1704, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004672071/

Turning Points John Brown’s Raid Abraham Lincoln’s win in the 1860 election South Carolina’s secession Confederates firing on Fort Sumter Lincoln’s call for volunteers

John Brown’s Raid John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, caused many Southern slaveholders to fear more attempts by Northern abolitionists to incite violence among slaves. David Hunter Strother, John Brown, Pierre Morand Memorial, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.

Abraham Lincoln Was Elected During the months following Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860, white Virginians discussed the future of the Union. Some people endorsed secession or offered their services to the governor in the event of war. Others vigorously denounced secessionists and disunion. Still others spoke of the necessity to find a compromise to save the Union and preserve the peace.

South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860. Detail from Johnson's North and South Carolina. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g390 0.np000152 By February 23, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had seceded. Representatives of the seceded states met and on February 4 and formed a provisional government for the Confederate States of America.

Confederates fired on Fort Sumter On April 12, 1861, Confederate artillerists in Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter after U.S. ships attempted to resupply the garrison there. One day later the commander of the fort surrendered, and the U.S. forces evacuated Fort Sumter on April 14. Detail from Fort Sumter South Carolina, 1860 (Map) The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Series 1. General Correspondence. 1833–1916. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers Detail from “United States volunteers. The ‘Union guard,’ accepted by the Secretary of War, July 26th, '61.” Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbpe.12302400 After Fort Sumter was attacked, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers from all over the country to suppress the rebellion. Virginians had a new decision to make: fight with the United States against the Confederate States or fight with the Confederacy against the United States.

Callie Anthony 21 years old in 1860 Lived in Campbell County, Virginia Photograph (possibly of Callie Anthony) in Anthony Family Papers, 1785–1952, Acc. 35647, 35648, Library of Virginia. Unidentified cousin to Callie Anthony, November 13, 1860 [from page 4], Anthony Family Papers, 1785–1952, Acc. 35647, 35648, Library of Virginia.

Resolutions of Rockbridge County Working Men Workingmen, farmers, and mechanics meeting in Lexington on December 19, 1860, condemned antislavery agitators and Southern radicals for putting both slavery and the Union in jeopardy and recommended that workingmen throughout the Union join them in advocating a peaceful, constitutional resolution of political differences.

John Brown Broadside supporting John Brown’s beliefs John Brown's Raid On the night of October 16, 1859, John Brown led a group of radical abolitionists against the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, Virginia, with the purpose of arming and inciting a slave rebellion. Brown and many of his co-conspirators were captured and some were killed when U.S. Marines under Colonel Robert E. Lee surrounded and stormed the engine house where Brown's men had been trapped. John Brown and his men were taken to Charles Town where they were tried and Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859.

Campaign poster for Lincoln Printing of Lincoln’s Inaugural Address from March 4, 1861

The order and dates on which the Southern states seceded South Carolina Dec. 20, 1860 Mississippi Jan. 9, 1861 Florida Jan. 10, 1861 Alabama Jan. 11, 1861 Georgia Jan. 19, 1861 Louisiana Jan. 26, 1861 Texas (convention voted to secede) Feb. 1, 1861 Virginia (convention voted to secede.) April 17, 1861 The order and dates on which the Southern states seceded A political cartoon satirizing the secession movement

The bombing of Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861 After South Carolina seceded, troops were stationed around Charleston harbor. They prevented the United States Army commander of Fort Sumter from resupplying the fort from shore. On April 12, 1861, before the Virginia convention's delegation could confer with Lincoln about his policies toward the seceded states, Confederate artillerists in Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter after Lincoln attempted to resupply the garrison there. One day later the commander of the fort surrendered, and the U.S. forces evacuated Fort Sumter on April 14.

The Virginia Ordinance of Secession April 15, 1861 Proclamation Calling 75,000 Militia “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed.” The Virginia Ordinance of Secession

Who broke the contract? Choose a turning point to illustrate your argument. Use the primary source readings to explain whether the North impeded the rights of the South and broke the contract, or whether the Southern states, by the Constitution, did not have the right to secede and should have used other methods to resolve their differences.