The American Civil War
Presidential election of 1860
In 1860, Stephan Douglas and Abraham Lincoln ran against each other again, this time for president.
Lincoln had become well known from their debates about slavery.
This time, Lincoln won, becoming the 16th president.
Southern States secedeLincoln received no support in the South
because they believed he wanted to end slavery. Since there were so many more people in the North, he won the election anyway.
As soon as Lincoln won the election, the South started to secede. This means the South split from the Union. They no longer wanted to be part of the United States.
Supporters of secession based their arguments on the idea of states’ rights. They said they had voluntarily joined the union, so they could leave when they wanted.
Confederate States of America
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede.
They were followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
The eleven states that had seceded formed the Confederate States of America.
They named Jefferson Davis as president.
They wrote a new Constitution which made slavery legal.
Civil WarA civil war is a war between people of the same country.
There have been many civil wars, but one of the worst happened in America.
The American Civil War was fought to keep the South from leaving the Union.
Slavery was the major issue that separated the North from the South.
The Civil War began at Fort Sumter.
Fort Sumter was in the South, and the Union had a hard time defending the fort.
There were 23 states in the Union (North) at the beginning of the war.
There were 11 states in the Confederacy (South) at the beginning of the war.
North’s Advantages
The North some many advantages. They had many more people and also had more factories, which could be used to make weapons
The Union also had many more miles of railroad tracks.
South’s AdvantagesThe South’s main advantage was that they were
fighting at home.This would mean that they would be closer to
their supplies.They also would fight harder because they were
protecting their homes.The Confederacy also had superior generals and
better trained soldiers.The South was also being supplied by England at
the beginning of the war. England wanted to keep trading for the South’s cotton.
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