American History

Chapter 6.3The Union Dissolves

Election of 1860

Democrats

• The Northern Democrats supported Stephen Douglas and popular sovereignty.

• The Southern Democrats nominated Breckinridge.

Republicans• Republicans nominated

Abraham Lincoln.• He won NO Southern states,

but he still won the election.

Whigs

• Whigs started a new party and chose their own candidate.

Result?• South Carolina seceded from

the Union.• Six other states in the Lower

South followed.

Secession*

* To withdraw or pull out

Many Southerners thought secession was like the American Revolution –they had to stand up for their rights.

Confederacy

• Lincoln was elected in November.

• 7 states in the Lower South seceded in February.

AKA The Confederate States of America

Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederacy

Fort Sumter

1st Battle of the Civil War

• A U.S. base in Charleston, South Carolina

Confederates demanded that the U.S. surrender the fort to the Confederacy.

CSA bombarded for 33 hours until the U.S. commander gave up.

Result: 4 more states (Upper South) seceded.

Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers.

Richmond, Virginia

Capital of the Confederate States of America

Lincoln’s Dilemma*Hanging on to the Border States

• The Lower South had committed acts of treason by firing at Fort Sumter and seceding from the Union . . .

BUT if he sent troops, he would anger the Border States –they had slaves but had not seceded.

*caught between 2 sides

The Border States’ Dilemma*

*a problem: caught between 2 sides

• Many people in the Upper South really didn’t want to secede . . .

BUT they also didn’t want to fight other Southern states

• SO . . . 4 more did secede after Fort Sumter

Lincoln’s Dilemma (cont.)

Washington, D.C.

IF Maryland (a slave state) joined the Confederacy, the capital of the Union would be surrounded by the South.

Martial Law*

After angry mobs in Maryland attacked federal troops, Lincoln imposed . . .

Military rule

Maryland stayed in the Union.

The Border States

MissouriKentuckyMarylandDelawareand West Virgina

They remained in the Union, but they still had slaves.