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Unit 6 Learning Objectives
Chapter 20 Girding for War: The North and the South
Chapter 19:
Highlight the issues in the election of 1860, the sectional divisions it revealed, and explain why Lincoln won:
During the nomination process the democrats failed to unite behind a single candidate and thus split into three camps,
with two of them running as democrats and a new party formed from them called the Constitutional Union Party.
Those favoring popular sovereignty selected Stephen A. Douglass. The deep south cotton people chose John C.
Breckinridge, their platform favored the extension of slavery into the territories. The third candidate was running for
the newly formed Constitutional Union Party (the moderate John Bell) whose supporters feared disunion.
Abraham Lincoln won the Republican nomination because the strong favorite going in, William Seward, had
alienated many voters with his denunciations against southern culture. Times had changed and talk like that was
making it harder to keep southerners from wanting to secede, which all moderate folks stringently wanted to avoid.
Thus, Lincoln won the 1860 election without winning a single electoral point from the South because the North was
united behind one candidate (see map page 426).
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Chapter 19:
Describe the movement toward secession, the formation of the Confederacy, and the failure of the last
compromise effort:
The most annoying and tragic aspect of secession is that when Abraham Lincoln was elected neither house of
Congress were controlled by Republicans, which meant that a Constitutional Amendment to abolish slavery was not
even possible. Despite this political reality, South Carolina led the charge to secede just 4 days after Lincoln “that
Illinois baboon” was elected president. Ten other states later joined them (all in the South). The Border states of
Deleware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri (all slave states) thankfully did not secede. Once the
secession occurred, they nominated Jefferson Davis as their Confederate president, and hoped to “cast aside their
generations of vassalage to the North.”
Vassal – a dependent landholder in feudal society, somebody who gave loyalty and homage to a feudal lord and
received the right to occupy the lord's land and be protected by him.
Other reasons leading to secession: 1) the political balance seemed to always be tipping to the North, 2) they
saw the new Republican Party as a “sectional party”, meaning it was formed just to oppose slavery, which is only
partially true. 3) They were tired of free soil criticism and abolitionist nagging. 4) They were angry at northern
interference in things like the Underground Railroad, and don’t forget, they were upset about the martyring of John
Brown.
Martyr = somebody who chooses to die rather than deny a strongly held belief, especially a religious belief.
During the lame duck session president Buchanon and later Abraham Lincoln waited patiently for the 11
southern states to return to their senses and return to the Union, violence was deeply unwanted. The last frantic
attempt at compromise was the Crittenden Amendment, which would have protected slavery in the south
permanently, and thus was flatly rejected on moral grounds.
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Chapter 20:
Explain how the firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops galvanized both sides for war:
Context: By the time Abraham Lincoln took office in March of 1861, seven southern states had already seceded.
In his inaugural address he said there would be “no conflict unless the South provoked it.” He declared that
secession was “wholly impractical” because the two sides were geographically linked.
Despite Lincoln’s calls for moderation, southern states began seizing federal government property within
their borders, like forts and mints (places where specie/hard currency was made). Fort Sumpter in Charleston harbor,
South Carolina is where the trouble began. Federal troops operated the fort and were surrounded by hostile southern
forces that were demanding their surrender. With the men inside Fort Sumpter running dangerously low on food and
vital supplies, the union would need to re-supply Fort Sumter or they would be forced to surrender. In a brilliant
decision under heavy pressure from his advisors, Lincoln notified the South that a union ship would be sent to Fort
Sumter to resupply them only, no soldiers or weapons would be sent in. Lincoln knew that if a war began it was
vital that the North possess the moral high ground from the start.
The South indeed gave Lincoln what he needed, their president Jefferson Davis ordered the fort to be fired
upon as the reinforcement ships drew near. After 34 straight hours of bombardment, the men inside Fort Sumpter
surrendered the garrison. Though the loss of Fort Sumter was a defeat for the North, it electrified a significant
number of Northerners to volunteer to fight. They rallied behind Lincoln's call for all states to send troops to
recapture the forts and preserve the Union. The abrupt increase in northern militia aroused the South to unite, and the
Civil War had begun.
Chapter 20:
Indicate the strengths and weaknesses of both sides as they went to war.
North - Strengths:
 Economy: The North’s population was larger than the South’s as they had more immigrants and employment
opportunities due to their industrial economy. Thus, their economy was its greatest strength as the Yankees had
about three-fourths of the nation’s wealth. Immigrants from Europe continued to pour in even during the war and
most of them enlisted in the Union forces.

Transportation: They had three fourths of thirty thousand miles of railroads. Their powerful navy enabled them
to exchange huge quantities of grain, munitions, and supplies with Europe. They also established a blockade,
which soon choked off Southern supplies and shattered Southern morale. The North had a manpower population
of 22 million to the South’s 9 million.
Weaknesses:
 To win they had to invade the vast territory of the Confederacy and drag it back to the Union. The ordinary men
of the North were much less prepared than their Southern counterparts for military life and less confident in their
higher commanders.
South - Strengths:
 Geography: The South could fight defensively behind interior lines. They would win their independence if they
merely fought the North to a draw and stood firm.
 Military: They had the most talented officers the nation had to offer. They had top cadets from West Point, such
as the South’s most important general Robert E. Lee who was superior in military strategy compared to all others
around him. The ordinary males of the South were bred to fight and accustomed to managing horses and bearing
arms from boyhood, resulting in excellent cavalrymen and foot soldiers.
Weaknesses:
 Economy/Transportation: Their economy was its greatest weakness. Handicapped by the scarcity of factories,
there were shortages of shoes, uniforms, and blankets. The soldiers were hungry because of these supply
problems and their lack of a decent transportation system. After the North blocked them from trading with
Europe, they hardly had any way to get supplies needed to keep the war going.