Furthermore, it was prompted that the government who should’ve protected them became the one who would destroy them. The source also affirmed that Georgia was a free and independent state who could secede whenever she wanted to, this shows that the South did feel as though they would want secession soon. Additionally, similar to sources A and B, there was no obvious remark on secession.
Source E also supports the assertion when it says that there were a few hotheads in the South but Lincoln assumed the majority would bring them down. Other than that, it states that there was a secessionist movement started by South Carolina, although it failed but it shows there was still an attempt from the South to secede. Later on, John Crittenden proposed that the Missouri Compromise line remained so that slavery would still be allow below it. Lincoln later shut down the proposal. This would not only anger the South but at the same inflict the thought of seceding. At the same time, Source E also challenges when it says that the Upper Southern states didn’t want to secede because those states would have to be the battleground if a war was to occur. Also, due to the lack of Southern unity it was obviously hard for the South to cause an armed conflict therefore the assertion could be wrong. The New Orleans Daily Crescent in 1860, a slave state in the South, wrote source A. The origin of this source solidifies the assertion because it shows the Southern point of view although it is biased. While source C is one of the resolutions on secession from Floyd County, Georgia a state, which was named free and could secede whenever she wanted to. Source E is an analysis of Lincoln’s election as President of the United States by a modern historian thus this source might not be true because this source was written based solely on the facts given to them and they weren’t in that time of incident.
Sources B and D. Source B agrees that the South had always been wrong and hoped that wrongs be redressed in the union. It also states that the majority of the South still wanted to be in the union because they believed that a decent government would come out of the conflict and there was still a sense of hope for them. And just like the previous sources, there was no hint of secession nor armed conflict. Although, they still hoped that their rights still be maintained. Just like stated in source B, source D also convinces us that the South still wanted to be in the union because Senator Crittenden said the South should hold on to the Union as it was the only way to redress their wrong doings. Even though the congress had made a misconception on the South, he still believed that holding on to the Union would be a wise thing to do as it affected their safety. Despite that, this source also shows a hint of support to the assertion as the Senator had to reassure in an urgent manner to hold on to the Union as he already thought the South was on their way of seceding. Alexander Stephens, who challenged the assertion, wrote source B in 1860, later became the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America. This shows that the South actually seceded and that the will of the majority also changed in the end because by then Lincoln was already elected as President. Source D, a source written by Senator Crittenden from a slave state, Kentucky was a final plea for peace. This shows that the South was really desperate to stay in the Union as they didn’t want to secede.
In conclusion, none of the sources directly mentioned secession or armed conflict therefore the assertion should have been Lincoln’s election caused divergence between the South and the North.
