CHAPTER 8 SECTION 3 THE UNION DISSOLVES Fort Sumter

THE UNION DISSOLVES I.The Election of 1860 A. The Democrats Split 1. Abraham Lincoln was the Republican Nominee. 2. Stephen A. Douglas was the Democratic Nominee. 3. John C. Bell was the candidate from the Constitution Union Party. 4. John C. Breckinridge was the candidate from the Southern Democratic Party.

THE UNION DISSOLVES B. Lincoln is Elected 1. Republicans tried to persuade voters they were more than just an antislavery party. 2. The Republicans denounced John Brown’s raid and reaffirmed the right of Southern states to preserve slavery within their borders. 3. The Republicans supported higher tariffs, a new homestead law for western settlers, and a transcontinental railroad. 4. Republican policies greatly angered many Southerners. 5. Lincoln wins the election by sweeping the Northern States. For the South, the election of a Republican president represented the victory of the abolitionists. For many Southerners, there was no choice but to secede.

THE UNION DISSOLVES C. Secession Begins 1. South Carolina was the first state to secede on December 20, By February 1, 1861, six more states on the Lower South – Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas – had voted to secede. 3. The secessionist seized all federal property in their states, including arsenals and forts. Only island strongholds such as Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and Fort Pickens in Florida remained in Union hands. 4. Kentucky senator John J. Crittenden proposed several amendments to the Constitution to avoid a civil war. 5. The Crittenden’s Compromise would guarantee slavery where it already existed and the reinstatement of the Missouri Compromise. 6. The compromise was rejected.

THE UNION DISSOLVES D. Founding the Confederacy 1. The Confederate States of America was founded in Montgomery, Alabama in February, The Confederate Constitution was largely based on the U.S. Constitution with the exception that each state was declared independent and the guarantee of slavery in their territory. The Southern plan of government also banned the import of slaves and protective tariffs and limited the presidency to a single six-year term. 3. Jefferson Davis from Mississippi was chosen as president of the Confederacy.

THE UNION DISSOLVES II. The Civil War Begins A. Fort Sumter Falls 1. In April, 1861, Lincoln announced that he would resupply Fort Sumter which caused a dilemma Confederate President Jefferson Davis. If the Confederates attacked the fort, it would undoubtedly lead to war with the United States. 2. After the fort’s commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused to surrender to the Confederates, Fort Sumter was attacked on April 12, Fort Sumter surrendered after 33 hours of bombardment. 4. The attack on Fort Sumter ignited the Civil War.

THE UNION DISSOLVES B. The Upper South Secedes 1. After the fall of Fort Sumter, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve in the military for 90 days. 2. Virginia seceded in April, By early June of 1861, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee had also seceded. 4. The Confederates moved the capital to Richmond, Virginia.

THE UNION DISSOLVES C. Hanging On To The Border States 1. With the Upper South gone, Lincoln was determined to keep the slaveholding border states of Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland from seceding. 2. To prevent Maryland from seceding from the union and Washington D.C being surrounded by Confederate territory, Lincoln imposed martial law on Baltimore. 3. Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus (protects citizens from illegal imprisonment without evidence) fearing that Confederate agents in Washington D.C. were plotting against the Union governments.. As a result, Union Army Officers imprisoned dozens of suspected secessionists leaders and held them without trial. 4. Kentucky and Missouri both remained in the Union although there was opposition to the Union in both states. 5. Lincoln had been willing to take political, even constitutional, risks to preserve the Union.

REVIEW QUESTIONS 1.Who were the candidates and what parties did they represent during the election of 1860? 2.Why was Lincoln chosen by the Republican Party during the Election of 1860? How did Lincoln win the Election of 1860? 3.What was the first state to secede form the Union after the Election of 1860? 4.What did Senator John J. Crittenden propose? 5.What did secessionist states call their new government? How was their Constitution different from the U.S. Constitution? Who was chosen as the president of this new government? 6.Where were the first shots fired in the American Civil War? 7.What were the border states? 8.What is martial law? Why did Lincoln place Baltimore under martial law? Why did Lincoln suspend the right of habeas corpus?