"I'd dance with Abe Lincoln himself tonight!"

[cash]

Originally Posted by samgrant

Those are Scarlett O'hara's words, but of course taken in context, one can detect the contempt that the South had for Lincoln before the war.

I've never understood the threat they perceived from Lincoln, not an abolitionist per se. In his 1st innaugural speech, he practically begged the South to reconsider their actions and offered no offensive threat.

Was it just because he was a "Republican", and that was enough?

Lincoln was antislavery, and that was enough. He was against the expansion of slavery into the territories, and that was unacceptable to the south. He was the head of an antislavery party that would have the patronage in its hands, allowing them to build an antislavery party in the south by appointing antislavery men to government positions in the south, and that was unacceptable to the slaveocracy.

Regards,
Cash

[cash]

Originally Posted by larry_cockerham

I suspect the Southern folks who had watched Lincoln discovered early on that he was a politician. They were looking for truth and leadership.

Absolutely wrong. The exact opposite was true. They were afraid he would give them truth and leadership. They were afraid he would cut off expansion of slavery like he said he was going to do. They were afraid he'd provide leadership to antislavery men throughout the country, including the south. They were afraid that he was telling the truth about his moderation and that such an approach would gain converts in the south, creating an "enemy within" to slavery.

Regards,
Cash

[whitworth]

Clearly, Lincoln had been elected without the support of the southern states, and the South's support for candidates was too fragmented.

The South was losing power in the Congress and any threat to slavery was seen as absolute.
In fact, Lincoln never would have the power in his time in office to ever get an amendment to the Constitution, ending slavery.
Only secession and war would end slavery. A fact few southerners realized and appreciated in 1860.

Southerners overestimated the power and influence of Lincoln and paid dearly for such an error in the next five years.

The paranoia clearly exceeded fact. But in the South everything seemed to exceed fact, especially paranoia.

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by samgrant

Those are Scarlett O'hara's words, but of course taken in context, one can detect the contempt that the South had for Lincoln before the war.

I've never understood the threat they perceived from Lincoln, not an abolitionist per se. In his 1st innaugural speech, he practically begged the South to reconsider their actions and offered no offensive threat.

Was it just because he was a "Republican", and that was enough?

Now I will contrdict myself and expose the threat Lincoln made to the disunionists:


"The conclusion of all is, that we must restore the Missouri Compromise. We must highly resolve that Kansas must be free! We must reinstate the birthday promise of the Republic; we must reaffirm the Declaration of Independence; we must make good in essence as well as in form Madison's vowal that "the word slave ought not to appear in the Constitution;" and we must even go further, and decree that only
local law, and not that time-honoured instrument, shall shelter a slave-holder. We must make this a land of liberty in fact, as it is in name. But in seeking to attain these results--so indispensable if the liberty which is our pride and boast shall endure--we will be loyal to
the Constitution and to the "flag of our Union," and no matter what our grievance--even though Kansas shall come in as a slave State; and no matter what theirs--even if we shall restore the Compromise--WE WILL SAY
TO THE SOUTHERN DISUNIONISTS, WE WON'T GO OUT OF THE UNION, AND YOU SHAN'T!!!" -Widely accepted end to Lincoln's Lost Speech of May 29, 1856


-

[OpnDownfall]

Lincoln and the Republican Party were direct threat to the institution of slavery. The very existence of the Republican Party was due to it's opposition to the expansion of slavery and Lincoln's resurgence in politics was based on his articulation of that opposition.
Make no mistake, Lincoln and the Republican Party were direct threats to the very existence of slavery.
Sooner or later slavery was to be eradicated and if Lincoln and his party had their way, it would be much sooner rather than much later.



P.S. If slavery was the sum of your existence, the south was probably correct in their assumption that there was no safety for slavery under the Constitution any longer. Unfortunately they chose the one remedy for their problem that guaranteeed slavery ended even sooner than even Lincoln or the Republican Party had hoped.