Download The Road to Civil War Part 5

The Road to Civil War
Part 5
The South Breaks Away
John Brown’s Raid and Trial
More bloodshed helped push the North and
South further apart.
In 1859, John Brown and some of his
followers raided a federal arsenal (gun
warehouse). They were hoping to start a
slave revolt.
Troops stepped in and captured Brown, and
killed some of his followers.
Many people in the North and the South
thought Brown was crazy. However, at his
trial and when he was sentenced to death,
he appeared quite sane and calm.
Some northerners thought he was a hero,
and on the day he was hanged, church bells
rang out throughout the North. Southerners
were furious when they found out about
this.
The Election of 1860
Thousands
of people swarmed into
Chicago for the Republican convention.
Would the Republican nomination go to
William Seward of New York, or to
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois?
Lincoln won the nomination.
Many people are worried this will lead to
war.
The
Democratic convention in
Charleston, South Carolina was chaotic.
The party couldn’t agree on slavery, and
broke into northern and southern
branches.
The northerners choose Stephen
Douglas, while the southerners chose
John Breckinridge of Kentucky.
A
moderate party who was still seeking
compromise was formed.
The Constitutional Union Party
nominated John Bell of Tennessee.
Lincoln’s name was not even put on the
ballot in 10 southern states.
However, he won enough support in the
northern states that outvoted the South,
and he won the election.
The Union is Broken
A South Carolina women described what
happened after hearing Lincoln won:
“The excitement was very great. Everybody
was talking at the same time. One,…more
moved than the others, stood up—
saying…’The die is cast—No more vain
regrets—Sad forebodings are useless. The
stake is life or death—’…No doubt of it.
To many Southerners, Lincoln’s election
was the last straw. They believed that the
President and the Congress would be totally
against them.
Many leaders had already decided that if
Lincoln did win the election it was their
duty to leave the Union.
Secession
Some
congressional leaders made efforts
to keep the country together, but failed.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina
was the first state to secede.
By February 1, 1861, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Texas had all voted to leave the union.
The
seven states held a meeting in
Montgomery, Alabama.
They formed a new nation called the
Confederate States of America.
They felt they had a right to leave.
Their constitution was similar to that of
the United States.
They didn’t think the North would fight
to keep them in the Union.
The War Starts
When
Lincoln took the
oath of office in March
of 1861, he faced a
dangerous situation. He
said, “no state can
lawfully get out of the
Union.”
However,
he
pledged that
there would
be no war
unless the
South started
it.
Federal Forts in the South
The Confederacy started seizing federal
buildings like post offices and military forts
because they considered the United States
to now be a “foreign” power.
Lincoln must act very carefully. He doesn’t
want to appear weak, but he doesn’t want to
start a war. By April, the South has
occupied all but 4 forts.
Opening Shots at Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter guarded the entrance to
Charleston, South Carolina, one of the
South’s most important cities. There was
no way it could remain under the Union.
On April 12, the fort was asked to give up,
but its commander refused. The fort was
then attacked, and the surrendered on April
13 after running out of ammunition.
Luckily, no one was injured in the attack.
No one knew that the “fireworks” marked the
beginning of a terrible war that would split
the country apart for four years.
President Lincoln immediately called for
75,000 volunteers to put down the “southern
rebellion”.
After Lincoln’s call Arkansas, Tennessee,
North Carolina, and Virginia secede.