Charlie Gorichanaz #7

History page 436

Discussing Main Ideas 1-5

Thinking About History

Discussing Main Ideas

1. In April 1860, the Democrats held meetings for nominating presidential candidates. Some of them had different views on slavery than the others. These disagreements caused the Democrats to split up. Lincoln won the election with 180 electoral votes. This stunned the South, since Lincoln was not on Southern ballots. The South thought that this was going to be a threat to their interests, since for previous presidents, the South had a great influence.

2. Social and cultural differences divided the North and the South. North ministers attacked slavery while South spoke for it. Some churches split into Southern and Northern branches. South and North tried not to rely on each other for anything if possible. Northerners believed in hard work and thrift. They saw Southerners as lazy. The South disagreed and saw North as money-grubbing liars.

3. The Southern Constitution was based on the original Union’s constitution, except that; it guaranteed the right to own slaves and required the government to pass proslavery laws. It stressed state government and limited to central government. This made for a loosely governed nation that was very unstable.

4. Crittenden wanted to extend the line of the MO compromise all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Lincoln feared that slavery would then spread to Cuba and Puerto Rico. Also, Lincoln was greatly opposed to the spread of slavery. He wanted to contain it and then, if possible, get rid of it. Therefore he objected to the plan.

5. Fort Sumter was important to the Confederacy because of its location on the Charleston Harbor. It was a strong base, and this made it important to the North. Although it was in the Confederacy, the North controlled it.

Thinking About History

I don’t think that the Southern states should have been allowed to secede. The original founders of this nation would not have wanted us to break up. They do not call it the United States for nothing! If the South did leave, the Union would have far less farming areas. There would be less crop and more factories than we need. The North needs to depend on the South, and vise versa. If both sides work together, the nation is stronger than if both sides did not.