The rapid loss of political influence in the 1850's led to secession.

wausaubob

Colonel
Member of the Month
Joined
Apr 4, 2017
Location
Denver, CO
The South did not participate in a major way in the rapid rise of immigration which began in 1840 and accelerated in the 1850's. Non native born percentages as low as 1 or 2 % existed in some southern states by 1860, while some northern states had %'s as high as 25-35%.
This meant that the northern states were gaining electoral power based on both natural increase and immigration.
But in the South, most of the working class consisted of disenfranchised African-Americans. Under the taxation compromise adopted at the time of the Constitution, these people counted on as 3/5ths of a citizen for taxation and electoral purposes.
That means the South was losing about 4/10ths times 2/5ths of its growth at apportionment time.
The South was growing more slowly than the North, and was not getting the full advantage of its growth.

The move toward secession gained momentum after 1850, at the same time the anti-immigrant Know Nothing party made a brief appearance. Both Southerners and Know Nothing advocates were aggrieved by the fact that immigrant families and communities were changing the make up of the United States, and generally adding a further egalitarian substance to the ideals of freedom.

But the final push came when the Southern fire eaters isolated Stephen A. Douglas from their wing of the party and the 1860 presidential election gave a fair reading of the strengths of the various regional parties.
In that test it was demonstrated the South was going to have to function as a subservient part of the Democratic party from that point onward. Once the loss of political power, from the time of Andrew Jackson and James Polk, to the time of Abraham Lincoln, was demonstrated, the deep South states seceded.

Did they feel oppressed? Sure. They had been politically dominant, and in 1860 they were not dominant and the loss of power was due to trends that were accelerating.

Although the Civil War partially solved this problem, by counting all citizens of the South as whole persons,
the list of Southern presidents is a list of special circumstances.

Slavery, by itself, could not have caused the Civil War. Slavery could be modified and abolition could be gradual. The problem was that the Northern states had the power to impose a solution on states which had a very high percentage of slaves, and those states were going to be the most impacted by the solution with having only partial control over how that process was going to take place.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top