Was The South Justified In The Civil War Essay

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The Civil War was one of the most infamous wars in American history, with a country divided in two, Southerners fighting Northerners. The North, or the Union, eventually defeated the Southern Confederacy, but the question of who was justified in their actions is still debated today. The South was clearly politically justified due to Northern provocation and support from the Constitution. Specifically, the North harbored slaves and caused violence, and the South had the constitutional right to respond to these threats.
The South had significant reasons for dissolving their connection with the Northern states. One of the most prominent instances was that every Northern state breached the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution. This clause, …show more content…

This qualified as both invasion and imminent danger. To invade is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “to enter in order to take control by military force” (Merriam-Webster). The South was also put in imminent danger because armed Union soldiers were set to attack their own soldiers and civilians. Therefore, the Southern states had the right to form a compact with each other and separate from the Union.
Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 also says that no state may “keep Troops or Ships of War…or engage in War” unless, once again, they are invaded or put in imminent danger. This justifies the Confederate States of America engaging in war with the United States. Additionally, it counters Northern accusations that the South committed treason by waging war.
Not only did the South have reason to secede and wage war on the North, but they also were justified in the legality secession and war itself. Their constitutional right to form a compact and wage war in the face of imminent danger stands as clear legal evidence. In contrast, the North threatened the rights and well-being of the South sparking a disastrous war that divided the very union they claimed to maintain. It is critical that this truth not be ignored, because as philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

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