A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 2: Westward Expansion and Civil WarPart 16: The Path to Civil War (III)

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

• In 1860, just two years after winning his election to the Senate, Abraham Lincoln ran for election as the Republican candidate for the Presidency.

• With the Democrats split on the issue of slavery, split between the Douglas faction and the Buchanan faction of the party, Lincoln won a landslide victory.

• Despite Lincoln’s protests to the contrary, the southern states feared that an abolitionist President would attempt to abolish slavery nationwide.

CIVIL WAR BEGINS

On December 20, 1860, before Lincoln had even been sworn in, South Carolina declared that it would secede (withdraw) from the Union and no longer be a part of the United States of America.

THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA

Six more states seceded in January and February 1861, weeks ahead of Lincoln’s inauguration ceremony. They included Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA

On February 4, these states formed a new nation with aspirations of independence: the Confederate States of America. On February 8, the CSA adopted a provisional Constitution modelled on the old one, and on February 18 the CSA elected a new President.

JEFFERSON DAVIS

• President of the Confederate States of America until 1865.

• Formerly a distinguished soldier who fought in the Mexican-American War and served as Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce. Also a slaveowner.

• Argued against secession from the Union, but agreed that all states had the right to secede.

• Sworn in as Confederate President two weeks before Lincoln was sworn in.

LINCOLN’S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS

• When he was sworn in on March 4, 1861, Lincoln began his inaugural address by quoting from one of his own earlier speeches: “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.”

• Promised that he would not interfere with slavery in the Southern states and argued that secession was akin to anarchy.

LINCOLN’S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS

• Suggested that secession was also illegal because it was a violation of the Constitution:“I hold that in contemplation of… the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. … [I]n 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was ‘to form a more perfect Union.’ But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.”

LINCOLN’S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS

• Concluded by asking the Southern states to maintain peace and tranquility: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA

The objective of the Confederate States of America was to secure international recognition of independence and sovereignty.The objective of the United States was to prevent this recognition.

THE BATTLE OF FORT SUMTER

• War began on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter, outside the port of Charleston, South Carolina.

• Earlier, after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the Governor ordered all United States Army personnel to leave the state. All federal property, including forts, was to be taken over by the state government.

• When some U.S. Army troops retreated to Fort Sumter, the state militia of South Carolina placed the fort under siege.

THE BATTLE OF FORT SUMTER

• The fort’s supplies quickly began running out. In April 1861, shortly after his inauguration, Abraham Lincoln sent a ship to resupply it.

• The Governor of South Carolina responded by ordering the removal of all federal forces from Fort Sumter. The federal forces remained in place.

• In the early morning of April 12, the South Carolina forces began bombarding Fort Sumter.

THE BATTLE OF FORT SUMTER

• The bombardment continued for almost three full days, until April 14, 1861.

• The federal forces abandoned Fort Sumter, and the new Confederate flag was raised.

• No-one on either side died during the conflict, although one Union soldier was injured and died afterwards.

• Lincoln responded to the loss by immediately calling for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months in a federal militia.

A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 2: Westward Expansion and Civil WarPart 16: The Path to Civil War (III)