9781422274200

the rebellion. Most of the northern states answered the call by drafting soldiers, but four additional southern states—Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas—joined the Confederacy. The American Civil War was underway. JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THE WAR The Fire Eaters and other Confederate leaders claimed that their states had the right to leave the United States at any time. Once they seceded, the states withdrew their representatives from the US Congress and declared their allegiance to the new Confederate government. They no longer considered themselves bound by

A white overseer on horseback observes black workers picking cotton. By 1860, there were approximately 4 million black slaves in the southern states. Concerns that the slave system might be abolished led southern leaders to attempt to secede from the Union.

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A Broken Nation