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15.4 secession and war
 Objectives: At the end of the lesson each
student must be able to
 Describe how the 1860 election led to the
breakup of the union
 Explain why secession led to outbreak of
the Civil war
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15.4 secession and war
 Points in time
 1860 – Lincoln is elected president;
south Carolina secedes
 1861(February) – Southern states
form the Confederates States of
America
 1861(April) – Confederates Forces
attacks Fort Sumter; civil war begins
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Election of 1860
 Democrats (Loyalists) – Stephen A.
Douglas; popular sovereignty
 Democrats (Southern) – John
Breckinridge; neither congress nor
territorial legislature…
 Republicans – Lincoln; Slavery is
illegal in any territory
 Constitutional Union Party – John
Bell; no stand on slavery
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Election of 1860
 Lincoln won; 180 of 303 electoral
votes, 40% popular vote, swept N
states
 Douglas; 30% popular vote, won Mo
and 3 out 7 electoral votes from NJ
 Breckinridge swept the southern
states
 Bell took most border states
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The south secedes
 December 20, 1860, South Carolina
voted to secede
 secession – withdrawal from the
union
 Sen. John Crittenden, KY; proposed
to protect slavery south of the 36° 30’
N latitude
 Republicans called it unacceptable
 Southern leaders rejected the plan
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The confederacy
 February 1st, 1861; SC, LA, TX, MS,
AL, FL, GA, formed the CSA
 Sen Jefferson Davis, MS - chosen
president
 cited the “states right” as justification
to the secession
 Nat’l government’s refusal to enforce
the FSA; denial of equal rights in the
territories for the southern states
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reaction to secession
 Many Southerners welcomed it
 Some southerners were alarmed
 Robert E. Lee; “ I see only that a
fearful calamity is upon us.”
 Some Northern abolitionists; “Let
them leave in peace.”
 Most Northerners; “The union must
be preserved.”
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reaction to secession
 Lincoln; in a free government does
the minority have the right to breakup
the government whenever they
choose
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Presidential Responses
 December, 1860; Buchanan; “The
southern states had no right to
secede.” But I have no right to stop
them from doing so.”
 Lincoln; “The president’s duty is to
enforce the law to preserve the
gov’t.”; warns, no state can lawfully
get out of the union
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Presidential Responses
 March 4, 1861, Lincoln was
inaugurated
 Secession not permissible; will hold
federal property in the south; will
enforce the laws of the US
 Pleaded for reconciliation with the
south
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Fort Sumter
 Fort guarding the Charleston Harbor
 Confederate soldiers demands its
surrender
 Lincoln to Gov Francis Pickens; an
unarmed expedition with supplies for
the fort.
 April 12,1861, Jefferson Davis and his
advisers ordered Confederate forces to
attack Fort Sumter
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Fort Sumter
 Union Capt. Abner Doubleday, a
witness of the attack
 Held out for 36 hours; surrendered
April 14
 Lincoln called for 75,000 troops
 VA, NC, TN, AR, voted to join the
Confederacy
 Civil war began
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