THE UNION DISSOLVES Chapter 8 Section 3

Presidential Election of 1860 Problems in Democratic Party help Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, win election Democrats, split over slavery, supported 2 candidates: John Breckinridge and Stephen Douglas John Bell presidential candidate for Constitutional Union party

1860 Election (cont.) Republicans tried to persuade voters not just antislavery party Denounced John Brown’s raids, reaffirmed right of Southern states to preserve slavery within borders Lincoln’s win represented to South victory for abolitionists South felt had no choice but to secede

Election of 1860 Political Cartoon

Secession Begins South Carolina state legislature calls for convention after Lincoln’s election Unanimously voted for Ordinance of Secession By Feb. 1, 1861, six more states in Lower South – MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX – vote to secede Secessionists in South seize all federal property

Founding the Confederacy Feb 1861 seceded states form new nation – Confederate States of America (CSA), also called Confederacy Drafted constitution based on U.S. Constitution Declared each state independent, guaranteed slavery Banned import of slaves from other countries, limited presidency to single six-year term

Confederacy (cont.) Delegates of convention chose Jefferson Davis, MS senator, as president of CSA

Civil War Begins Lincoln sends supply ship to Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor, SC Jefferson Davis, to avoid war, decides to capture Ft. Sumter before supply ship arrives Deadline set for handover from US control to Confederacy morning of April 12, 1861, deadline passes Cannons reign fire for 33 hours on Ft. Sumter, killing nobody, Major Robert Anderson and men surrender; CIVIL WAR BEGINS