USA: the Southern States secede!

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One of the most momentuous events in US history is the breakout of civil war on April 12, 1861. The reason for the conflict was an argument between the Northern and Southern states about the institution of slavery.

 

Historical overview

 

Political division over slavery was temporarily resolved by the Compromise of 1850 which sought to divide new territories between slave and free states . However, the status of Kansas was left unresolved, producing bloody clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers. In 1860, the election of Abraham Lincoln as President on a program of limiting slavery led to the secession of Southern States and the outbreak of the US Civil War. Although Lincoln initially disclaimed any intention to interfere with slavery, the progress of the war produced the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in Southern states still in revolt, and ultimately the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in December 1865, which ended slavery in the United States .[1]

 

Debate over slavery

The Northerners objected to the injustice of slavery and tried to limit its expansion to new states, while the Southerners became fearful for their livelihoods based on the use of slave labour. The Southerners felt that Northern interference was making the slaves restless and that slave uprisings could occur, resulting in the deaths of their families and way of life. Making the situation more tense was the act of one man. On October 16, 1859, a Northern man, John Brown, organised a group of freedmen and carried out a raid at Harpers Ferry in West Virigina with the intention to start a slave uprising in the south. While Brown was apprehended and hanged, his act resulted in growing tensions. In the election of 1860, the divisive issue of slavery gradually developed into a threat to the Union itself. The nomination of Abraham Lincoln

to become the candidate of the Republican party on May 10, 1860 was a clear signal that some change was likely. Lincoln was both a nationally recognised opponent of the expansion of slavery and a staunch advocate of the preservation of the Union.

 

Period of interest

It is the events in late 1860 and early 1861 that are of interest here. Earlier, the break out of Civil War in April 1861 has been studied.[2]

 

 

Tensions over slavery increase

With the onset of the Mercury major period in April 1852, the debate over slavery had begun in the national life. However, it seemed for most of the decade that the North was reconciled for the continuance of slavery in the South. The major tension revolved around containing it there and now allowing it to expand to the West, as the country did.

 

Secession

In the Moon and Mars sub-periods the debate took shape, also as the Presidential election of 1860 approached. Many felt it would be decisive in settling the debate. In May 1860, the Republican Party, nominated Abraham Lincoln, who had campaigned against the expansion of slavery beyond the states in which it already existed. After the election of Abraham Lincoln on November 6, 1860, many southern states perceived a threat to their slave system that Congressional compromise could not pacify. Between December 20, 1860 and February 1, 1861, seven Southern states declared their secession from the Union .

 

 

 

South Carolina (December 20, 1860)

 

Mississippi (January 9, 1861)

 

Florida (January 10, 1861)

 

Alabama (January 11, 1861)

 

Georgia (January 19, 1861)

 

Louisiana (January 26, 1861)

 

Texas (February 1, 1861)

 

 

The feelings of southerners were expressed in the following terms. “The incessant and violent agitation of the slavery question had produced its malign influence on the slaves. Many a matron throughout the South retires at night in dread of what may befall herself and her children before the morning... no political union, however fraught with blessings and benefits could endure if the necessary consequence be to render the homes and firesides of nearly half the parties to it habitually and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later the bonds of such a Union must be severed.â€[3] The secession movement that developed in South Carolina was explosive. “Leaders mobilized citizens and held torch light processions. Fiery speeches by prominent Carolinians complemented the fireworks and rockets that were set off. While many Unionists in the upper

South attempted compromise, South Carolina politicians fanned the flames of ‘popular excitement’ over secession. On November 10, South Carolina senator James Chesnut resigned, followed by Senator James H. Hammond. Governor William H. Gist called for ten thousand volunteers to form a militia.â€[4]

 

On December 20, 1860, the secession convention called by the South Carolina legislature voted unanimously, 169-0, to secede from the United States . The convention declared "that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states under the name of the ' United States of America ' is hereby dissolved."[3]. This made South Carolina the first Southern state to secede.

Some South Carolinians were hesitant that the Palmetto State was acting too swiftly and might be isolated. It soon became clear that six other Southern states, including Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , Louisiana , and Texas , would each hold secession conventions. Few who supported secession in South Carolina hesitated to act. Francis W. Pickens, who became South Carolina 's new governor in December, announced the state's secession on December 24.

 

The separation begins

James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States , though a lame duck at the time, still had more than two months in office. Both the outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations rejected secession, considering it rebellion. Many Southerners in Buchanan's cabinet resigned, and his administration was thrown into disarray. Hasty cabinet replacements were no help, and the administration fell apart. The tension increased sharply at the end of 1861, with rumours circulating at the highest levels of government and in the incoming Lincoln cabinet that there was a plan afoot by southern states, notably Virginia and Maryland, to seize the capitol, Washington, DC, and its institutions of power, thereby paralyzing the political and military capacity of the Union.

 

Criticism of initial response

It is widely believed that Buchanan mishandled the secessionist forces and acted in ways that were seen to not deter the states from seceding. Both the outgoing President Buchanan and incoming Secretary of State, Seward, tried to assuage the Southern states, but many felt it just encouraged the states to move more decisively to secede, which they did. In his annual message to Congress, President James Buchanan repudiated any state's right to secede but blamed the South Carolina secession movement on the "long-continued and intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery." Buchanan tried diplomacy to keep South Carolina from seceding. The two sides could not reach an agreement. On December 26, Buchanan ordered Major Robert Anderson to move from Fort Moultrie to the more isolated Fort Sumter in

Charleston harbor. South Carolina forces moved into Moultrie and other federal installations. On January 5, 1861, Carolinians fired on a ship sent to re-supply Fort Sumter , but Buchanan refused to respond with force. Buchanan deferred to Congress, which refused to authorize military action. The President gratefully acquiesced. Unless attacked or starved, he would leave the Fort Sumter situation to President-elect Abraham Lincoln. Buchanan's indecisiveness and willingness to compromise with the secessionists appalled Northerners, and South Carolina 's example encouraged more states to rise. When Buchanan took office, there were thirty-two states in the Union ; when he left there were only twenty-five.

 

Lincoln assumes power

Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861 and within six weeks, the civil war broke out. On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries began shelling Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor , and the American Civil War began.[5] After Lincoln called for troops on April 15, four more states declared their secession:

 

 

 

Virginia (April 17, 1861; ratified by voters May 23, 1861)

 

Arkansas (May 6, 1861)

 

Tennessee (May 7, 1861; ratified by voters June 8, 1861)

 

North Carolina (May 20, 1861)

 

Astrology of the events

The Mercury - Mars period began on October 19, 1860, right before the election of Lincoln. This period would signify strong martian qualities in the Union chart and the national life of the USA. However, we also know that transits can take precedence over the trend influences of the period. In late 1860 and in early 1861, transit 8th lord Saturn became stationary at 17° 30' Leo /H2 under close afflicting aspect from natal Rahu at 17° 47' Aries/H10. It is no accident that the first seven States seceded from the Union at that time. The weakness of the 2nd lord Sun in transit while passing through the sign Libra/H4, Sagittarius/H6 and Aquarius/H8, that winter did not help. This development represented a grave situation and setback to the Union. The Union forces, however, under the

leadership of Lincoln showed quiet determination to not let it stand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun

Jupiter

Saturn

Rahu

Ketu

 

10.7.1859

25°Ge16'

14°Ge54'

20°Cn12'

28°Cp55'

28°Cn55'

 

9.8.1859

23°Cn56'

21°Ge27'

23°Cn58'

28°Cp25'

28°Cn25'

 

8.9.1859

22°Le53'

27°Ge10'

27°Cn44'

28°Cp19'D

28°Cn19'D

 

8.10.1859

22°Vi17'

1°Cn23'

1°Le01'

27°Cp08'

27°Cn08'

 

7.11.1859

22°Li10'

3°Cn19'

3°Le19'

24°Cp18'

24°Cn18'

 

7.12.1859

22°Sc29'

2°Cn22'R

4°Le10'

21°Cp08'

21°Cn08'

 

6.1.1860

23°Sg02'

29°Ge01'R

3°Le22'R

19°Cp28'

19°Cn28'

 

5.2.1860

23°Cp33'

25°Ge14'R

1°Le19'R

19°Cp15'D

19°Cn15'D

 

6.3.1860

23°Aq46'

23°Ge20'R

28°Cn58'R

18°Cp53'

18°Cn53'

 

5.4.1860

23°Pi31'

24°Ge16'

27°Cn28'R

16°Cp57'

16°Cn57'

 

5.5.1860

22°Ar46'

27°Ge41'

27°Cn27'

13°Cp45'

13°Cn45'

 

4.6.1860

21°Ta37'

2°Cn50'

28°Cn57'

11°Cp06'

11°Cn06'

 

4.7.1860

20°Ge15'

8°Cn59'

1°Le40'

10°Cp08'

10°Cn08'

 

3.8.1860

18°Cn54'

15°Cn34'

5°Le09'

10°Cp09'

10°Cn09'

 

2.9.1860

17°Le47'

22°Cn04'

8°Le57'

9°Cp37'

9°Cn37'

 

2.10.1860

17°Vi05'

27°Cn54'

12°Le34'

7°Cp21'

7°Cn21'

 

1.11.1860

16°Li54'

2°Le26'

15°Le30'

3°Cp58'

3°Cn58'

 

1.12.1860

17°Sc09'

4°Le53'

17°Le17'

1°Cp32'

1°Cn32'

 

31.12.1860

17°Sg41'

4°Le34'R

17°Le30'R

0°Cp52'D

0°Cn52'D

 

30.1.1861

18°Cp13'

1°Le39'R

16°Le09'R

0°Cp48'

0°Cn48'

 

1.3.1861

18°Aq30'

27°Cn48'R

13°Le52'R

29°Sg40'

29°Ge40'

 

31.3.1861

18°Pi20'

25°Cn20'R

11°Le45'R

26°Sg58'

26°Ge58'

 

30.4.1861

17°Ar41'

25°Cn31'

10°Le45'R

23°Sg58'D

23°Ge58'D

 

30.5.1861

16°Ta35'

28°Cn15'

11°Le18'

22°Sg09'D

22°Ge09'D

 

29.6.1861

15°Ge14'

2°Le52'

13°Le15'

21°Sg38'D

21°Ge38'D

 

Thor

 

References

[1] Slavery in the United States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery#Slavery_in_the_United_States

[2] SAMVA USA chart: the Moon's nodes and the start of the Great Depression

http://cosmologer.blogspot.com/2007/12/samva-usa-chart-moons-nodes-and-start.html

[3] James Buchanan and the secessionist movement

http://deadpresidentsdaily.blogspot.com/2007/12/december-20-1860-james-buchanan-and.html

[4] South Carolina secedes from the Union

http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/events/12_20

[5] Confederate States of America

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America

 

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