Section 4 – pg 373 The Coming of the Civil War Chapter 10 Section 4 – pg 373 The Coming of the Civil War

Pg 373 The Nation Divides As the election of 1860 drew near, Americans felt a sense of crisis The long bitter debate over slavery left the nation divided

Election of 1860 Pg 373 Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln as Presidential candidate His debates with Douglas had made him popular in the north Slavery in the new territories split the Democrat party Northern Democrats chose Stephen Douglas Southern Democrats chose the current Vice President, John Breckinridge of Kentucky

Some Southerners still wanted the North and South to become Pg 373 Some Southerners still wanted the North and South to become unified again Formed the Constitutional Union Party Nominated John Bell of Tennessee who promised to protect slavery and keep the nation together Stephen Douglas was sure that Lincoln would win the election Believed that Democrats must try to save the Union Pleaded with southern voters to stay with the Union no matter who was elected However, when he campaigned in the South he was pelted with eggs and rotten fruit

Pg 374 The election showed how fractured the Union was Lincoln won every free state Breckinridge won all slave states except 4 Bell won Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia Douglas won Missouri Although Lincoln got only 40% of the popular votes, he received enough electoral votes to win the election Pg 374

Southern States Secede Pg 374 Southern States Secede When Lincoln was elected many southerners felt like they no longer had a voice in the national gov’t Believed that the President and Congress were set against their ways of life – especially slavery One southern paper wrote, “a party founded on the single sentiment….of hatred of slavery, is now controlling power”

South Carolina was the first southern state to secede from the Union Pg 375 South Carolina was the first southern state to secede from the Union When news of Lincoln’s election reached the state, legislature called for a special convention December 20, 1860 passed a declaration that “the union now subsiding between South Carolina and the other states, under the name of the ‘United States of America’ is hereby dissolved”

The Confederate States of America 6 more states followed South Carolina out of the Union Not all southerners favored succession but their opponents were hard to control In February, leaders from the 7 seceding states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a new nation called the Confederate States of America By the time Lincoln took office in March, they had already written a constitution and named former Senator Jefferson Davis as their president Pg 375

The Civil War Begins Pg 375 March 4, 1861, Lincoln takes office In inauguration speech assured seceded states that he meant them no harm “I have no intentions…to interfere with the institution of slavery where it exists” Also warned them that their actions may provoke a war The seceded states responded by taking over post offices, forts, and other federal property within their borders

Pg 375 Fort Sumter Fort Sumter: located on an island in the harbor of Charleston, South Carloina The fort’s commander would not surrender to the Confederates South Carolina authorities decided to starve the fort’s 100 soldiers into surrender Cut off supplies in December and the soldiers could not last much longer

Lincoln did not want to give up the fort, but feared sending troops would cause more states to secede Announced he was sending food to the supply ships would carry no troops or guns Confederate leaders decided to capture the fort before the supply ships arrived April 12, Confederate artillery opened fire on the fort After 34 hours, with the fort on fire, the US troops surrendered Pg 377

Pg 377 Why War Came Fort Sumter was the beginning of a long civil war (a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country) “Both parties condemned war, but one of them would make war rather than let the union survive, and the other would accept war rather then let it perish, and the war came” – Abraham Lincoln