3.3 Political climate leading to secession

As tensions over slavery and states' rights escalated, the political climate in Alabama and the South became increasingly volatile. The Compromise of 1850 and Kansas-Nebraska Act failed to quell the growing divide between North and South.

Key events like John Brown's raid and the Dred Scott decision further polarized the nation. Lincoln's election in 1860 sparked secession, with Alabama joining other Southern states to form the Confederacy and prepare for war.

Conflicts Over Slavery and States' Rights

Debate Over Federal vs State Authority

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• States' rights doctrine asserted that individual states had the power to nullify federal laws they deemed unconstitutional
• Nullification crisis (1832-1833) arose when South Carolina declared federal tariffs void within its borders, testing the limits of state sovereignty
• Compromise of 1850 temporarily eased tensions by admitting California as a free state, strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act, and allowing popular sovereignty in new territories
• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) repealed the Missouri Compromise, reopened the issue of slavery in new territories, and led to violent conflict in "Bleeding Kansas"

Impact of Slavery on Political and Legal Institutions

• Dred Scott decision (1857) ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in territories, further polarizing the nation
• Slavery became a central issue in national politics, with the Republican Party committed to preventing its expansion and Southern Democrats defending it as a property right
• Disputes over the extension of slavery into new territories acquired through westward expansion (Mexican-American War, Gadsden Purchase) repeatedly tested the balance of power between free and slave states

Escalating Tensions

Violent Flashpoints

• John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859) attempted to spark a slave rebellion, alarming Southerners and making him a martyr for abolitionists
• Confrontations between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas (Sacking of Lawrence, Pottawatomie massacre) foreshadowed the violence of the Civil War
• Fugitive Slave Act (part of Compromise of 1850) required Northerners to assist in capturing escaped slaves, sparking resentment and resistance

Political Realignment and Secession

• Election of 1860 featured a divided Democratic Party and the victory of Republican Abraham Lincoln without any Southern electoral votes
• Lincoln's election triggered the secession of seven Deep South states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas) before his inauguration
• Secession conventions in Southern states (Alabama secession convention, 1861) debated and ultimately voted to leave the Union, despite Unionist sentiment in some areas (North Alabama)

Formation of the Confederacy

Establishing a New Nation

• Confederate States of America officially formed in February 1861 with the adoption of a constitution and election of Jefferson Davis as president
• Confederate constitution closely resembled the U.S. Constitution but explicitly protected slavery, limited the central government, and enshrined states' rights
• Confederacy eventually grew to include 11 states as Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded after Lincoln's call for troops to suppress the rebellion

Key Figures in Alabama's Secession

• William Lowndes Yancey, known as the "Orator of Secession," played a leading role in Alabama's secession convention and the walkout of Southern delegates from the 1860 Democratic convention
• Yancey served in the Confederate Senate and as a diplomat seeking European recognition and aid for the Confederacy
• Other prominent secessionists in Alabama included Thomas H. Watts (16th governor) and Robert Jemison Jr. (member of secession convention and Confederate Congress)