Secession

Through thought-provoking essays, primary source historical documents, maps, illustrations, and photographs, this portfolio traces the causes of the most important survival crisis the U.S. has faced: the failed attempts of leaders from North and South to hold the Union together, the role of slavery in the South's decision to form a separate government, and the impact of the Civil War on the nation. The United States was formed from thirteen separate colonies that developed an overriding common interest, which was the need to become independent of Great Britain. The thirteen states voluntarily formed a union, but only slowly and reluctantly surrendered many of their powers of self-government to the new central authority. Between 1789 and the onset of the Civil War in 1861, various states considered withdrawing from the union because they objected to certain federal laws. The crucial test of the right of states to secede arose when eleven southern states withdrew from the Union and formed their own government; The Confederate States of America. The result was the Civil War. The final outcome was the preservation of the Union. This portfolio includes a Study Guide with reproducible student activities and a timeline of events between 1607 and 1870. 6 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * What Is Secession? * The Right of States to Secede from the Union * Slavery: An Issue That Divided the Union * "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand" * The Significance and Consequences of the Civil War * Comparison of the United States and Confederate Constitutions 12 Primary Source Documents: * U.S. map illustrating seceding and border states, 1860-1861 * Newspaper article on South Carolina's secession from the Union, New York Daily Tribune, December 1860 * Secession gallery: 17 annotated illustrations and photographs of the times and turmoil, 1852-1867 * Ulysses S. Grant's letter to Frederick Dent on the coming war and slavery, April 1861 * Letter from Robert E. Lee to his sister about his decision to join the Confederacy, April 1861 * Jefferson Davis' inaugural address and rationale for secession and establishment of the Confederacy. February 1862 * Letter and list of slaves from a former slaveholder, May 1862 * Abraham Lincoln's letter to Horace Greeley describing Lincoln's policy concerning the war and slavery, August 1862 * Certificate of Freedom for slave "Augustus," September 1862 * Testimony from former slaveholder to Freedman's Inquiry Commission, November 1863 * Letter from James Herney, a black soldier, to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, May 1866 * Secession and Civil War Personalities: Pictures and descriptions of 14 famous and important people during secession and the Civil War