Brooke Bassett

2/2/19

Bicentennial Project Part 1

As America approached the Civil War in the 1850s-1860s, the public widely considered the

nation as split into Unionists in the North and Confederates in the South. However, many historians

now say that approximately 100,000 inhabitants of the Southern region joined the Union army1,

showing a picture much more complex than its preceding image. Though Alabama was the fourth

state to secede from the Union by January 11, 18612, many journalists of the era showed the

clashing views of those in support and opposition of secession.

Many secessionists in Alabama, mostly in the southernmost region of the state, declared

that secession was a right of all citizens as they separated themselves from an unjust government to

maintain their rights and prosper. It was, as secessionist leaders claimed, “a fundamental part of the

Democratic Creed”3. The outcome of secession was aimed at peace4, allowing the South to improve

economically off of the system of slavery that they supported. The “Calhounites” in Alabama

strongly supported the views of South Carolina’s John C. Calhoun for secession and believed that

uniting with the Union would deprive Southerners of all their interests and potential to improve the

economy. This group’s leader, Montgomery attorney William Lowndes Yancey, gained quick

support for his ideas of protecting Southern rights (which they believed included slavery) across

Alabama after the approval of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Dred Scott v. Sanford Decision, and

other political candidates in the state quickly followed suit5.

1 Zac Cowsert, “The South Needs to Commemorate Its Southern Unionists,” Civil Discourse, 25 August
2017, http://www.civildiscourse-historyblog.com/blog/2017/8/21/we-need-monuments-to-southern-
unionists-and-uscts.
2 “Alabama History Timeline,” Alabama Department of Archives and History, 3 February 2019,

https://www.archives.alabama.gov/timeline/al1861.html.
3 “The Right of Secession,” Anti-Secession Banner (Camden, AL), 1 July 1851.
4 “Secession and Revolution,” Independent Monitor (Tuscaloosa, AL), 3 July 1851.
5 J. Mills Thornton III, “Secession,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, 2 October 2011,

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3148.
 However, Alabama’s documented history has identified its Unionists, many of whom

defended their position through newspapers. The Independent Monitor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama

branded secessionists as “fire-eaters”—a term used for those prone to fighting—who set up a

façade of harmony while only electing into office Confederate officials and Union officials who they

can sway into supporting secession6. To many Unionists, secession was a form of revolution

because it required weaponry, prevented progress, promoted conflict, and superfluously wasted

money and blood7. If it failed, secession would come at too great of a cost. One Unionist named

Charles Christopher Sheats was elected as Alabama’s representative in the 43rd Congress and

refused to sign an ordinance calling for secession. After giving a motivational speech to Unionists

soldiers, he was arrested for “treason” by Confederate soldiers8. Yet many Republican leaders

supporting the Union followed his beliefs, such as Tuscaloosa’s 1862 mayor Robert Lacey9. The

anti-secession call to “form a more perfect union” (as stated in the Constitution) with the North

spread through Alabama just as far as the secessionist movement.

Though the Civil War was split directly between the Northern and Southern regions of the

United States, not all inhabitants in each state agreed on the side they supported. In Alabama (as

well as many other states), secessionists argued for the protection of Southern rights and interest in

an effort to promote Southern prosperity. Unionists within the same area claimed that an action as

unconstitutional and dangerous as secession would prevent progress and instead put the region at

a great risk for loss. Yet both sides’ views helped shape the outcome of the Civil War and

encouraged Americans to examine and weight the costs and benefits of the actions they were

willing to take.

6 “A Game that won’t Win,” Independent Monitor (Tuscaloosa, AL), 11 September 1851.
7 “Secession and Revolution,” Independent Monitor (Tuscaloosa, AL), 3 July 1851.
8 Joseph Danielson, “Christopher Sheats,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, 19 November 2008,

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1868.
9 Donna Causey, “Tuscaloosa, Alabama was not united in the War Between the States,” Alabama

Pioneers, 3 February 2019, http://www.alabamapioneers.com/tuscaloosa-alabama-was-not-united-in-

the-war-between-the-states/.
Anti-Secession (and anti-slavery) Cartoon

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-8321

Anti-Secession Cartoon

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-7627
 Bibliography

Cowsert, Zac. “The South Needs to Commemorate Its Southern Unionists.” Civil Discourse. 25 August

2017. http://www.civildiscourse-historyblog.com/blog/2017/8/21/we-need-monuments-to-

southern-unionists-and-uscts.

“Alabama History Timeline.” Alabama Department of Archives and History. Accessed 3 February 2019.

https://www.archives.alabama.gov/timeline/al1861.html.

“The Right of Secession.” Anti-Secession Banner (Camden, AL). 1 July 1851.

“Secession and Revolution.” Independent Monitor (Tuscaloosa, AL). 3 July 1851.

Thornton III, J. Mills. “Secession.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 2 October 2011.

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3148.

“A Game that won’t Win.” Independent Monitor (Tuscaloosa, AL). 11 September 1851.

“Secession and Revolution.” Independent Monitor (Tuscaloosa, AL). 3 July 1851.

Danielson, Joseph. “Christopher Sheats.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 19 November 2008.

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1868.

Causey, Donna. “Tuscaloosa, Alabama was not united in the War Between the States.” Alabama Pioneers.

Accessed 3 February 2019. http://www.alabamapioneers.com/tuscaloosa-alabama-was-not-

united-in-the-war-between-the-states/.