Question

Historians agree that the South seceded to protect the institution of slavery. Even though the majority of Americans in the northern states were not abolitionists, why did Southerners fear the election of Abraham Lincoln?

Answer 1

It was only a month after the win of the White House in November 1860 by Abraham Lincoln that the frayed ties that held the country together finally broke loose. South Carolina, increasingly furious at the battle over slavery and incensed at the election of an anti-slavery president on December 20, defiantly declared that she was leaving the Union. A month later six more states followed and, by June, a total of 11 southern states were no longer part of the country. The secessionists argued that they had the right to leave the Union, in compliance with the Constitution, but Lincoln strongly denied that assertion.

He offered many reasons, including his conviction that secession was unconstitutional, the fact that states were physically unable to split, his concerns that secession would bring down the weakened government into chaos, and his strong belief that all Americans would be friends with each other rather than enemies. But it may have been the last point he found the most significant to his argument: Independence would kill the only democracy in existence and show for all time-to future Americans as well as to the world-that a people 's government could not endure.

He had good reason to raise the question, for if you were to travel the earth in 1860 and visit every continent and country, you would have found many examples of monarchies, dictatorships and other forms of authoritarian rule. But all over the world, you'd only found one great democracy: the United States of America. During the 18th century, democracy had been tried in just one other nation-France-and the results have not been successful.

However, with the United States breakup in 1860, it appeared that the thorn was eventually eliminated. Monarchists were delighted and many parties were organized to mark the end of democracy. Lincoln understood this well so the words were not idle when he described America as "the last best hope in the world." Lincoln truly believed that if the Civil War were lost, it would not only have been the end of his political career, that of his party, or even that of his nation – the hope of humanity everywhere for "government of the people, of the people, of the people" would have ended for ever.