States Choose Sides

• Lincoln disliked slavery, but his main goal was to keep Union together

  • allowed slavery to remain, but not spread

• Steven Douglas (other Presidential Candidate) favored popular sovereignty

  • so, he was supported by South

    • if Lincoln won, every subsequent state joining would be free, eventually overpowering South in Federal Government

• Election of 1860: Lincoln won

  • South angered; South Carolina secedes, and the Confederacy forms

• Confederacy joined by Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida

• Jeff Davis was chosen as President of the Confederacy

  • thought they could live side-by-side with the Union

  • Meanwhile, Lincoln said it was unconstitutional, so he ignored the secession and considered South still part of the Union

• Lincoln’s inaugural speech said Union was unbroken

  • it was a gentle invitation to rejoin, but South saw it as a threat

• Many forts were in the South, and numerous mail services were there as well

  • Most forts joined the Confederacy, but Fort Sumter refused, so South Carolina refused to give food to Fort Sumter

  • Lincoln sent supply ships, but they turned away due to Confederacy guns

• Led to Firing on Fort Sumter (Apr 14, 1861)

  • Marked the start of the Civil War

• After CW started, 4 more states seceded (Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Virigina)

  • Maryland, Delware, and Kentucky stayed in Uion since they could keep slaves

    • Also, they’re on the border, so if they jioned the Confederacy they would border the enemy, and all the warfare would be in their lands

• In Missouri, sentiment was divided, and a mini civil war (like Bloody Kansas) happened

  • they ended up staying loyal to the Union

• Western Virginia didn’t have many salves and didn’t want to leave Union, so they broke off and became West Virginia)

Civil War North Vs South

• Robert E Lee wanted to keep the Union together but did not want to fight his family (in Virginia)

• Emancipation of enslaved people threatened Southerners, as there would be more competition in the job market (economic turmoil)

• Many thought the South might win

  • they had more experienced generals, knew the land, and knew how to live off the land

  • South had time to prepare defense

    • Shorter supply lines + communciation lines (makes them faster)

    • However, North had more railroads + telegraph lines

• South was less centralized

• South lost England as an ally after the Emancipation of Proclamation, since it exposed South as pro-slavery and England was not

• Southerners were hunters, farmers, gatherers

  • being hunters prepared them for being marksmen in war

• North had edible food, while South mainly grew cotton, tobacco, indigo, and grains

• Norht had more exports, leading to more money

• North had more states

  • they could tax more and had more state militias

• South created new currency, confederate dollars

  • was time consuming and expensive

  • they needed mints, printing, etc. (needed to convert everything)

• South had to start their own army and navy (lacked ships + infrastructure)