Topics:

"Recognizing the Independence of the Confederacy" and "The Emancipation of Enslaved People"

 

Topic summary: 

Topic A:

     In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States of America. This election would start what would become the deadliest war ever fought on US soil. The southern states did not approve of the values that the 16th president was proposing, fearing that his ways of leadership might affect their ways of life and work, so the southern states, detached from the Union, and formed the Confederacy. Southern leaders also worried that the growing population of the North would dominate Congress and pass laws against Southern interests. The aim of the Confederacy to detach from the Unions was keeping slavery legal, since it was what kept their agricultural system, and their social order in place. Now, the senators will have to decide whether to allow the Confederacy to detach from the Union, or to fight for the unity and preservation of the Union, and end the division between the north and south. 

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Topic B:

      On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This declared that all enslaved people in the “Rebellious States” were legally free, and would be allowed to join the Union army. While this did not immediately free all slaves, it fundamentally changed the spirit of the war, from not just preserving the Union but to also abolishing slavery across the US. The question of emancipation raised economic concerns, as the South was heavily dependent on cotton exports to fuel its economy, but it was also a moral concern, with heavy consequences for enslaved people. Senators have to decide, should the war remain keen on ensuring the sovereignty of the Union, or should it also aim to abolish slavery?