Transcript The Secession Convention

The Secession
Convention
Third Grade Social Studies
2/16/09
North vs. South
During the Antebellum
period, there were major
differences between the
north and south.
• The south supported
slavery as part of their
way of life since the
southern economy was
dependent on slave labor.
• The south supported
slavery as part of their
way of life since the
southern economy was
dependent on slave labor.

North vs. South
North and South were
also divided over the
issue of states’ rights.
 This was an idea
supported by John C.
Calhoun. It was the
idea that the state
had the right to
decide whether or not
to obey national laws.

State Vote
Yes
No
Maybe
The Election of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United
States in 1860.
 Southern states feared that Lincoln would end slavery.
 This would change the way of life in the south
dramatically.
 Lincoln wanted to stop the spread of slavery to the
western territories, but he was not an abolitionist.
He did not want to end slavery in the south.
 South Carolina and other states were trying to hold onto
their way of life, and they defended their action with the
argument of states’ rights.

WEST
Abraham
Lincoln
Secession

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As a result of the election of
Abraham Lincoln as president,
a Secession Convention was
held in Columbia, and then
moved to Charleston in
December, 1860.
At this convention, South
Carolina decided to secede, or
break away, from the rest of
the United States.
Almost all members of the
convention voted to secede.
The U.S.
South
Carolina
Secession
At the Secession
Convention, the
members signed the
Ordinances of
Secession.
 South Carolina was
the first state to
secede from the
Union, even before
Lincoln was sworn in
as president.

The Confederate States of America

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Soon, other states joined
South Carolina and formed a
new country, The
Confederate States of
America, also known as the
Confederacy.
They wrote a constitution and
elected a president, Jefferson
Davis, in January, 1861.
The Confederacy began to
form an army and to take over
forts and other property
located in the south.
What do you remember?
Name two factors that contributed to the
secession of South Carolina.
 Where and when was the Secession
Convention held?
 What important decision was made at the
Secession Convention?

A+