What did the South think would happen to the Western territories they seceded from the union?

Question

If there had been no war and they had been allowed to secede did they plan on claiming some of the land in the west or would the have been content with what existed in the seceding states. Did anyone even think about it at the time? Did the South know that the North would fight a war to preserve the union?

Answer 1

Well, it was the reality of the Western lands that prompted the crisis in the first place. The South had worked the Constitutional convention and made sure that any treaty required 2/3 majority vote in the Senate. If you look at the original 13 states that means to block a 2/3 majority (also known as a "super majority") all the South needed was 5 states to vote against a treaty. How many slave holding states were there at the time: 1) South Carolina, 2) Georgia, 3) North Carolina, 4) Virginia, 5) Maryland

Thus the South could block any trade treaty that threatened the economic viability of the plantation/slavery system.

When new states came into the union (starting with the Louisiana Purchase) the balance of slave states to free states must remain or the South was in danger of losing their ability to block a treaty in the Senate.

Now, couple this reality with the fact that the plantation system had reached its geographic limits and you have a real problem if you are a pro-slavery southern person.

There is no reason for any of the new western states to be slave states since the plantation system will not work in their type of geography. So any new state made from the West will only be slave states because the South forces it to be a slave state. They cannot rely on these "forced slave states" to vote in the solid block necessary to stop anti-slavery trade treaties.

Thus, the South did not want anything to do the future movement West. They neither wanted or cared what happened to the western provinces after they succeeded, since they would not naturally be slave territories and part of the plantation system.

Remember, slavery was a means to an economic end (the plantation system). Even if Kansas was a slave state, they could never be part of the plantation system and thus would be an unwanted appendage on the Confederate States of America had they won the war.

As for the last part: Did the South think the North would fight? The leaders thought it likely that the North would make a show of force, but they never believed that the North would expend much blood and treasure over the battle. Remember, the States Rights arguments were about the right to have slaves. They never believed that there was enough passion in the North to fight a bloody war to free the slaves. In fact, Lincoln stayed far away from that rhetoric himself. He called it a war to preserve the union and only after the North was fully committed the war effort, did he break out the Emancipation Proclamation and change the moral tenor of the war rhetoric.

Hope this helps,
Good luck!

Answer 2

You had a policy at the time that allowed each state that became a new state, after the early 1850s, that basically said that each new state could determine if they wanted slavery or not. this was called the Missouri Compromise. Western area was, had no desire to Have slavery, they did not have plantations or large farms to speak off, and when Nebraska said NO to slavery, and Kansas was split, the Missouri Comprise tried to set boundaries with in the laws, this openned a big can of worms,. as to did the south think about futre expansion, the truth is not really, the West was considered to frontier, not very habitable, and a vast mostly wasteland, and that is what is was until the late 1800s for the most of it, with just small ranch "cities" but very few people living in each future state. No the south did not plan much for the future, they where engrossed in the present, and locked in the past, they could not agree as states on much more than going to war, there was no long term plan.

Answer 3

if the South was able to secede they would of acted just as Hitler did, for they would not of been content with what they had at the time. Knowing that there was a vast amount of land lying to the West to be scooped up by whomever wanted that land the most. Once the Southern States controlled the Western Territories, they could dominate the North into doing as the South demanded.

Answer 4

If the South had seceded there would have been no America. I presume all the southern states and territories would have become a separate entity with their own government. The South did know that the North wanted to preserve the union so America could maintain her strength.

Answer 5

I don't think the South really thought it out. South Carolina didn't like the tariff and they were afraid of Lincoln so they just left. Too bad they fired on Fort Sumpter. The South didn't think the North had the guts to fight and they found out differently,

Answer 6

Your question and any answer to it may be too complicated to handle here. you will hit upon an intensive answer in Bruce Catton's, " Civil conflict: 3 Volumes in a million: Mr Lincoln's military, Glory street, A Stillness at Appomattox." Bruce Catton supplies you an extremely finished and considerate rationalization with reference to the financial, social and political aspects that lead as much as the conflict.