EOTO Reaction/Analysis

 

During our EOTO I was able to learn about a range of topics during the antebellum era. One of the topics that I had the privilege to learn about was the secession of South Carolina. After
observing some of the facts mentioned in the presentation, I think that it’s fair to say that this momentous occasion was the catalyst for the later events that followed in the both illustrious and animated history of the United States. 

To be able to understand why South Carolina performed the actions that took place it’s important that we take a look at the history of the state a bit. So, with that said, South Carolina was settled in the year 1670 by English settlers and was the eighth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1788. The early economy of the state was very much made up of its agricultural prowess. Famers during this time and in this place heavily relied on the production of slaves by way of the slave trade in order to maximize their margins. By the year 1730 African people made up about two thirds of the colony’s population. 

With all of that said, in order to come to the realization of why South Carolina seeded from the Union, we must also take a look at the political climate during the antebellum era. During this time period, we saw a president take hold of the executive office who was a republican. Now this was before the “party switch” so this particular president, Abraham Lincoln, was against the institution of slavery as it stood. His campaign was largely centered around taking power away from the south and allocating that power so that it was then spread at least semi evenly amongst
the states as a whole. The idea that they would lose power and wealth because of Lincoln’s lack of support for slavery obviously upset the premise of a path forward in the union for South Carolina. So, South Carolina then decides that they’re better off without the union and that they can run the government better as a collective south rather than allowing the northern states, the union, to have a say over what they could and couldn’t do. 

This “we can do it on our own” mindset then spread to the other southern states which then led to their subsequent secessions as well. The Union however did not agree with this obviously, and waged war on this newly formed confederacy. The reason why I truly do believe these specific moments to be pivotal in, not just this time period, but even today’s time, is because the events and mindset still is engrained in modern society. The very policies that the south was so adamant in maintaining affect us as a nation. This way of thought still allows certain
groups of people to be disenfranchised in order for other groups to rise or more importantly, maintain a stronghold of power that is not to be shared with the rest of the general population under any circumstance. This idea, this institution, this stream of thought, presents itself in a way that is almost invisible to the naked eye but if brought into the light with the right context shows a pattern of certain groups of people being used to help other groups climb the so called “social ladder”, if you will, and then pulling out that very ladder the second one group gets to the top.