1. Secession and the Start of the Civil War

2. Objectives
Compare the candidates in the election of 1860 and analyze the results of the election.
Analyze why southern states seceded from the Union.
Assess the events that led to the outbreak of war.

3. Terms and People
Jefferson Davis – Mississippi senator who became president of the Confederacy
John C. Breckinridge – southern Democrat nominated for president in the 1860 election
Confederate States of America – government of southern states that seceded from the United States and fought against the Union in the Civil War
Crittenden Compromise – proposed constitutional amendment allowing slavery in western territories south of the Missouri Compromise line
Fort Sumter – federal fort in Charleston, South Carolina, where the first shots of Civil War were fired

4. How did the Union finally collapse into a civil war?
Despite repeated attempts at compromise, disagreement between the North and the South over the issue of slavery deepened.
With the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency, the crisis came to a head.

5. Issues leading up to the election of 1860
Uncertainty about whether Kansas would be a slave state or free state
Northern anger over the Dred Scott decision and Fugitive Slave Act
Concern over whether slavery would be allowed in the territories
With ill will running so deep between the North and the South, it was hard to imagine that either side would accept a President from the other region.

6. Four candidates sought election in 1860.
John C. Breckinridge
Southern Democrat
Kentucky
Platform: The federal government must protect slavery.

7. Stephen Douglas
Northern Democrat
Illinois
Platform: When territories become states, the issue of slavery should be decided by popular sovereignty.

8. Abraham Lincoln
Republican
Illinois
Platform: Slavery must not be allowed in the territories.

9. John Bell
Constitutional Unionist
Tennessee
Platform: The federal government should support slavery and also defend the Union.

10. With no national candidate dominating the campaign, Lincoln won with just over half of the electoral votes needed and 40 percent of the popular vote.

11. However the South, which overwhelmingly voted for Breckenridge, felt it no longer had a voice in the national government.
It seemed there was no way to bridge the gap between the North and South.
The vote for Abraham Lincoln was mostly a vote for moderation toward the issue of slavery and a vote for the Union.

12. South Carolina was the first southern state to leave the Union
South Carolina was the first southern state to leave the Union. At a state convention held on December 20, 1860, legislators voted to secede. It was a unanimous vote. X

13. Many of the states with the largest enslaved populations seceded.

14. Outgoing President Buchanan lamented the breakup of the Union.
However, he made no serious effort to resolve the crisis.
Within weeks, six other Southern states followed South Carolina and established the Confederate States of America.
These states were: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas

15. The constitution of the Confederate States of America
closely resembled the U.S. Constitution.
stressed the independence of each state.
implied that states had the right to secede.
forbid importing new slaves from other countries.

16. Jefferson Davis, former senator from Mississippi, became president of the Confederate States of America.

17. Some politicians sought to keep the Union together.
The Crittenden Compromise proposed to allow slavery in western territories south of the Missouri Compromise line.
This constitutional amendment was voted down by a narrow margin of senators.

18. President Lincoln urged peace between the Confederacy and the Union
President Lincoln urged peace between the Confederacy and the Union. He decided to try to hold on to the Union forts the Confederacy claimed, such as Fort Sumter.
However, Confederate forces attacked and
captured the Fort Sumter in defiance of Lincoln.

19. After Fort Sumter fell, Lincoln declared that insurrection existed.
Four more southern states immediately joined the Confederacy.

20. A Nation Divided by Civil War
The issue of slavery had long divided the nation, even at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
The economic sectional differences in the mid-1800s also greatly contributed to the national division.
Predictions were the Civil War would be short, but it lasted for four terrible years.