Secession and War
Secession
Main Idea: Fearing that President Lincoln would not protect Southern rights, first South Carolina and then other states voted to leave the Union
- With the Democrats divided between Douglas and Breckinridge, Lincoln won the majority of the electoral votes
- The Republicans promised not to disturb slavery where it already existed, yet South Carolina voted to secede from the Union
- Southerners justified secession with the theory of state's rights
This cartoon was created in 1861, just before the outbreak of the Civil War. Secession was breaking up the United States.
1. What do the men in the cartoon represent? 2. Looks at each person's expression. How would you describe their expressions? 3. What does the cartoonist think will result from the men's action? |
"In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, are the momentous issues of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourself the aggressors....We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Through passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."
- Abraham Lincoln, on reconciliation
Fort Sumter
Main Idea: The Civil War began when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
- Jefferson Davis ordered his forces to attack fort Sumter before the Union supplies could arrive
- Fort Sumter surrendered
- Lincoln called for troops
- Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas voted to join the Confederacy
- The Civil War had begun