Secession
Issues over how to explain secession quickly became important for framing historical narratives around the Civil War. The legality of secession, and a State's right secede from the Union, were central the the argument that the war was over issues of State's rights and soveriegnty. If States were truly within their rights to withdraw from the United States, than it was the North who acted aggressively in perpetrating the war. If secession was only a percieved right by some and unfavorable to most, soveriegnty and protecting States' rights falls apart as a valid justification, and therefore it is the South which should be held responsible as the aggressors of the conflict.
Susan Pendleton Lee, New School History of the United States, (Johnson Series. Richmond, Va.: BFJohnson, 1900) 253.
Oscar H. Cooper, History of Our Country :A Text-Book for Schools, (Texas ed. Ginn & Company, c1908) 342.
In addition to arguments over if the Southern States had the right to secede--and just as controversial--were the descriptions of why the Southern States seceded. Were they seeking to protect themselves and their rights, or was the issue of slavery perhaps more central to the cause?
Thomas Francis Donnelly, A Primary History of the United States: For Intermediate Classes, (American Book Company, 1919) 166.
Charles Hallan McCarthy, History of the United States for Catholic Schools, (American Book Company, 1919) 166.
David Henry Montgomery, The Leading Facts of American History, (Ginn and Company, 1899) 290.