After Lincoln got elected on November 6th, he had the power to appoint people to hold federal offices. This terrified southerners, as Lincoln might appoint an abolitionist. White Southerners feared loosing money and their way of life. By 1860, the South had the 4th largest economy in the world, and could not afford to loose their slaves or their business with cotton.
At this time, cotton was a gold mine. people were addicted to cotton because it was so valuable. Everybody wanted it. The south was dependent on slaves for cotton. Mississippi during this time had more slaves than free people in their state. Cotton was the engine that drove Mississippi's economy.
Slavery became a very emotional issue, as some people thought it was a horrible thing to own slaves. Most folk who who defended slavery were justifying it on christianity. Using the bible verse "Slaves obey their masters". Slavery started to tear the nation apart. Wealthy southerners were afraid if Lincoln freed their slaves, it would be a financial disaster. Lincoln said he would reimburse the slave owners for the labor they would loose, but they weren't interested in that. It was a slap in the face to their way of life, they did not want to give up their slaves.
In 1860, Jefferson Davis was Mississippi's senator and believed that the states were sovereign and should be allowed to leave the union fo they chose. The North was mad, and so a war was coming. They called a secession convention and gathered delegates from every county in Mississippi were they argued for or against slavery. Not every Mississippian was for secession. They worried about the impact the loss of slavery would have if a war came and the war did not go they way they would like it to go. After confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter, Lincoln called up 75,000 union troops to reoccupy US properties, thus began the civil war.
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