8.3

What caused the Democrats to Split?

-debate over slavery in western territories

-North-wanted to support popular sovereignty

-South- wanted to uphold the Dred Scott decision & endorse a federal slave code

Who was the northern Democrats' nominee (election of 1860)?

-Stephen A. Douglas

-Supported popular sovereignty

Who was the southern Democrats' nominee (election of 1860)?

-John C. Breckinridge

-Vowed to uphold slavery

What party was formed by moderates from the North and South (election of 1860)?

-Constitutional Union Party

-nominated John Bell

-They had no position on slavery, but campaigned on upholding the Constitution & the Union.

Who was the Republican nominee (election of 1860)?

-Abraham Lincoln

What was the Republican platform (election of 1860)?

-Slavery should be left undisturbed where it existed, but it should be excluded from the territories

What did Southerners fear (election of 1860)?

-That a Republican victory would encourage slave revolts

Who won a clear majority of electoral votes (election of 1860)?

-Abraham Lincoln

The vote was along what kind of lines (election of 1860)?

-Sectional lines

How many Northern states did Lincoln win (election of 1860)?

-Every Northern state

The dissolution of the Union began with what state?

-South Carolina voted to secede from the Union

-Many southerners believed secession was in the tradition of the American Revolution & that they were fighting for their rights

What did Senator John Crittenden propose?

-A series of amendments to the Constitution

Crittenden's Compromise?

-Protecting slavery south of 36º 30' N latitude in all territories now held or hereafter acquired

How did Republicans feel about Crittenden's proposal?

-They rejected it

-They didn't want slavery to be extended in any territories

By February 1861, which 6 states joined South Carolina?

-Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia

-Their new nation was called The Confederate States of America

-Their president was Jefferson Davis

How did Southerners justify secession?

-With the theory of states' rights

How did Southerners view the Constitution?

-As a contract among the independent states

-The states had voluntarily chosen to enter the Union

What did Southerners feel was happening to their "contract"?

1. The national government violated that contract by refusing to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act

2. The national government denied the Southern states equal rights in the territories

How did Southerners take news of secession?

-Some welcomed it

-Others were alarmed

How did Northerners take news of secession?

-Some abolitionists preferred to allow the Southern states to leave

-Most Northerners believed that the Union must be preserved

What did Lincoln say in his inauguration speech?

-Secession would not be permitted

-He vowed to hold federal property in the South (forts and military installations)

-He vowed to enforce the laws of the United States

What message did Lincoln receive the day after taking office?

-A message from the commander of Fort Sumter on an island guarding Charleston harbor

-The message warned that the fort was low on supplies and the Confederates demanded its surrender

What did Lincoln tell Governor Francis Pickens of South Carolina?

-That he was sending an unarmed expedition with supplies to Fort Sumter

What did Lincoln promise him?

-That the Union forces would not fire unless they were fired upon

What did Jefferson Davis decide to do?

-He ordered his forces to attack Fort Sumter before the Union supplies could arrive

When did the South open fire?

-April 12, 1861

When did the fort surrender?

-April 14, 1861

What were the casualties?

-There was no loss of life

What did Lincoln issue?

-A call for troops and volunteers quickly signed up

What states in the Upper South succeeded?

-Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas

-After Fort Sumter fell, Lincoln called on all states to send him troops

-This forced states to choose a side—the Union or the Confederacy

-"Upper South" states, including Virginia and North Carolina, chose to secede and join the Confederacy

-Richmond, Virginia became the capital of the Confederacy

Why were the border states of Maryland, Kentucky & Missouri important to the union?

-Border States—formed the border between the North and South that had slavery but had not seceded

-Lincoln was desperate to keep the border states from seceding, especially Maryland

-If Maryland seceded, Washington, D.C. would be surrounded by Confederate states (Maryland and Virginia)

Martial law

-Suspension of many civil rights

Keeping the Border States?

-To keep Maryland, Lincoln imposed martial law

-Marylanders who spoke of secession were put in jail without a trial

-Many felt Lincoln violated the Constitution to keep Maryland