FOA 3/7/16 – The Election of 1860 Questions: Quote #1: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.” Quote #2: “If Lincoln wins, it will be our duty to leave the Union.” Questions: Who do you think might have said this? (You can be general or specific) and why? What was he/she trying to say? Who do you think he/she was saying it to?

VOCABULARY Confederate States of America – Jefferson Davis – Fort Sumter – Robert Anderson – Secede –

Label Your Notes “The Election of 1860” Your notes today will be underlined or circled in yellow

And the story continues. . . The Compromise of 1850 admitted California into the Union as a free state, but the North and South did not get everything they wanted. The North is especially angry with the passage of Fugitive Slave Act. The creation of the Nebraska territory set off a wave of anger when border ruffians cross over the border to vote illegally. This led to a civil war in Kansas called Bleeding Kansas. John Brown is executed for instigating a slave rebellion. When he is hanged the North weeps, the South rejoices. The Supreme Court rules that a slave named Dred Scott is NOT free even though his master took him to a free state. The court rules that slaves are property and no western territory can exclude slaves. A new political party emerges called the Republican Party. The Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln debates Stephen Douglas for a Senate seat. Lincoln loses but his name is known across the country.

The Democratic party splits in two and chooses two candidates. In 1859, the Democratic party held their national convention to choose a candidate to run for President. The Southern Democrats wanted a candidate who supported slavery in the territories. The Northern Democrats wanted western settlers to vote on the slavery issue (popular sovereignty). The Democratic party was so divided on the slavery issue that they could not decide on a candidate. In the end, the Democratic party split in two!

Besides the split in the democratic party, another new party was established called The Constitutional Union Party which took no stand at all on the slavery issue. Instead its only goal was to keep the Union together by finding more compromises between the North and South. The party chose John Bell of Tennessee, a Whig, to run for President. He received support from only a few southern border states where the effects of a civil war would be particularly devastating.

No spread of slavery in West. No popular Sovereignty. Wants to avoid secessionism over the slavery issue. Believes in popular sovereignty. Supports protecting slavery.

When the votes were counted, Lincoln had swept the North and won the election. Southern voters did not affect the outcome of the presidential race at all. Interestingly, Lincoln’s name was not even on the ballot in ten southern states. Northerners outnumbered southerners and outvoted them!

Lincoln’s election as President was devastating news to the South Lincoln’s election as President was devastating news to the South. Many Southerners believed they would no longer have a voice in national government and that the President and most of Congress were now set against their interests – especially with regards to the slavery issue Before the election results were in, South Carolina’s governor had written to other southern governors. “If Lincoln wins,” he wrote, “it will be our duty to leave the Union.”

After Lincoln’s election, Senator John Crittenden of Kentucky hoped to keep the South from leaving. He made a last effort to save the Union. In December 1860, he introduced a bill to extend the Missouri Compromise line all the way to the Pacific. He also tried to get support for an “unamendable” amendment to the Constitution to forever guarantee the permanent existence of slavery in the states south of the compromise line.

The Compromise Bill received very little support because the south no longer saw slavery in the West as the issue. Instead, many Southerners believed that the North had put an abolitionist in the White House. With a President and most of Congress anti-slavery, the South felt that secession, to leave the United States, was their only choice. The bill also received little support from most Republicans because they were unwilling to surrender what they had won in the national election.

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina voted for secession On December 20, 1860, South Carolina voted for secession. It was the first state to leave the Union. South Carolina proudly proclaimed, “The state of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the world.” By late February, 1861, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas has seceded.

The seven states that had seceded held a convention in Montgomery, Alabama. There, the southern states formed a new nation. They called themselves the Confederate States of America.

Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was named the first president of the Confederacy. Most southerners felt confident they had made the right choice to leave the United States. They believed the Founding Father’s would have stood on their side of the debate. They quoted from the Declaration of Independence saying, “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish” a government that denies the rights of its citizens. Lincoln, they believed, would deny white southerners their right to own slaves.

When Abraham Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861, he faced a national crisis. The North was eager to hear his inaugural address (and read it sometime after) hoping he would rise to be the leader they needed during this national calamity. Crowds gathered in Washington D.C. to hear him take the presidential oath of office.

In his Inaugural Address, President Lincoln assured Americans that he had two goals: Maintain the Union Avoid WAR! On the first goal, preserving the Union, Lincoln would not compromise. Seceding from the Union, he said, was unconstitutional. Lincoln believed that his duty as President was well defined, he must at all costs preserve the United States of America.

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. At the same time, however, Lincoln tried to reassure the South that the United States did not want war. He stated that a war would not start unless the southern states started one. “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.”

Confederate troops The Confederacy The Confederate States of America Union troops The Union The United States of America

Grab a textbook, you will probably only have 2 per group Open textbook to page 444-445 Read both primary sources Each group member needs to answer #1-3 in your composition book For question number 3, write 2-3 sentences

Before Lincoln had even been sworn into office, the Confederacy had already started seizing federal forts in the South. Fort Sumter is the most famous of these forts. It is a manmade island only 2.4 acres in size, located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. It is named after South Carolina native and Revolutionary War general Thomas Sumter. The fort had been under construction, (the outer walls had only been completed) when South Carolina seceded from the Union in 1860.

By April 1860, Confederate troops controlled nearly all the forts, post offices, and other federal buildings in the South. U.S. Major Robert Anderson occupied the unfinished fort Sumter and held his ground so the Confederates could not occupy it. Major Anderson was told by the Confederacy to surrender Fort Sumter. He refused, and by March 1861, there were over 3,000 southern militia troops surrounding his garrison. 

Fort Sumter guards the mainland of Charleston South Carolina. The Union held only three forts off the Florida coast and Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Fort Sumter was important to the Confederacy because it guarded Charleston Harbor.

Lincoln knew that Anderson and his men were running out of supplies Lincoln knew that Anderson and his men were running out of supplies. He faced a difficult decision. Should Lincoln let the Confederate take over the fort, which was federal property (owned by the United States)? If he did, he would appear weak and send a message that states had the right to leave the Union. On the other hand, if he sent troops to hold the fort, he might start a civil war and lose the support of the eight slave states that had not seceded from the Union.

If you had just been elected President of the United States, and the first month on the job you realize your actions toward Fort Sumter could start a civil war, what would you do?

Lincoln decided to notify the governor of South Carolina, Francis Pickens, that he was going to ship food to the fort, but promised not to send troops or weapons. He made his statement clear, that he intended to send three unarmed ships to re-supply Fort Sumter.

Governor Pickens consults with Jefferson Davis about the 3 supply ships arriving. Jefferson declares that any attempt to resupply the fort would be seen as an act of war and orders an attack on Fort Sumter before the ships can arrive. Confederate General Beauregard opens fire on Fort Sumter on April 12th. After a 34-hour exchange of artillery fire and with no fresh supplies, Anderson had no choice but to surrender the fort on April 13th. 

When Confederate troops shelled Fort Sumter, people in Charleston had gathered on their rooftops to watch. No one knew at the time that they were witnessing the beginning of a bloody civil war that would last four terrible years.