IV. Road to Ft. Sumter part III

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IV. Road to Ft. Sumter part III

• Secession

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A. Election of 1860
Rep- Abraham Lincoln (IL) Platform Slavery is
morally wrong, internal improvements,
transcontinental RR
So. Dem- John C. Breckinridge (KY) Platform
protection of slavery
No. Dem- Stephen Douglas (IL) Platform Popular
sovereignty
Constitutional Union Party- John Bell (TN)
Platform Alcohol/Immigrants
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• Strategies in the election
• Democrats spent time attacking each other
• This split the democratic vote
• Republicans spent time on populous and
  mid-western states

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Results of the Election

• Electoral Vote
• Lincoln 180 (every northern state ex NJ)
• Breckinridge 72 (most of the south
• Bell 39 (TN, VA, KY)
• Douglas 12 (MO, NJ)

• Popular Vote
• Lincoln 39.9
• Douglas 29.5
• Breckinridge 18.1
• Bell 12.5

Other 3 candidates received 1 million more votes
than Lincoln- Lincoln did not appear on 10
southern ballots
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Reactions

• Northern
• Pleased with the results the prospect of ending
  slavery

• Southern
• Powder keg has been ignited
• Lincoln did not need the south to win the election

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B. Secession (Separate)

• History of Secession
• 1776 US Separates from Great Britain
• 1803 New England contemplates secession over
  admission of LA
• 1814 The Hartford Convention- New England tries
  to secede from US over War of 1812
• 1845 New England wanted to secede over the
  admission of Texas

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Legality of Secession

• Northern Argument
• The South entered to union under a contract (the
  Constitution
• Lincolns Inaugural address
• Secession was not legal
• States still part of the Union
• Lincoln would not assail the south
• Govt control federal property

• Southern Argument
• The contract was breeched
• Declaration of Independence
• 10th Amendment

-Declaration of Independence
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C. South Secedes

• December 20, 1860
• 129 delegates of S.C. met in Charleston
  unanimously voted to secede from the Union
• Reasons for secession
• Each state was sovereign independent
• Entered the union voluntarily
• 10th amendment allows them to leave
• South Carolina held its breath, waiting for the
  other southern states to secede
• Absolutely nothing happened

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Order of Secession

• South Carolina Dec 20, 1860
• Mississippi Jan 9, 1861
• Florida Jan 10, 1861
• Alabama Jan 11, 1861
• Georgia Jan 19, 1861
• Louisiana Jan 26, 1861
• Texas Mar 2, 1861

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D. Confederate Constitution

• Est. and ratified Mar 11, 1861
• Same as the US Constitution with 4 major
  differences
• The words promote the general welfare are taken
  out of the preamble and each state acting in its
  sovereign independent welfare is added
• Explicitly guarantees slavery in state
  territory- outlaws IST
• Prohibits protective tariffs for internal
  improvements
• Limits the president to one 6 year term

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The Confederate States of America is Born

• Jefferson Davis is elected President of the CSA

• Alexander H. Stephens is elected Vice-President

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E. Crisis in Charleston

• Dec. 26, 1860, six days after SC seceded, Maj.
  Robert Anderson relocated his men from Ft.
  Moultrie to a more defensible Ft. Sumter
• The fort was about 90 complete at the time
• Anderson only had a garrison of about 85 men
• The South took this as a hostile move

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• 1st attempt to re-supply Ft. Sumter
• Buchanan sends help
• Jan. 9, 1861 The Star of the west was sent from
  New York to Ft. Sumter to bring necessary
  supplies
• Orders were sent by mail and were never received
  by the fort
• WHY?
• Cadets from the Citadel were manning guns in the
  harbor
• The Cadets fire on the ship and turn it around

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• Lincoln attempts to re-supply Ft. Sumter
• April 4 Lincoln informs SC governor Francis
  Perkins of his intension to re-supply the fort
• April 10 Perkins notifies Jefferson Davis, who
  orders PGT Beauregard to demand the evacuation
  and surrender of the fort.
• April 11 Beauregard sends aides under a flag of
  truce to deliver his ultimatum- Anderson declines
• April 12, 1861, 320am Aides revisit the fort
  and make one more request for surrender- Major
  Anderson refuses again. He is told the CSA will
  open fire in 1 hour

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F. Fort Sumter

• April 12, 1861, 430am Cpt. George S. James
  orders a tracer shot over the fort. This tracer
  shot signals the firing to begin
• First shot was fired from Ft. Moultrie
• Union returned fire at daybreak
• Bombing from Ft. Moultrie ignited a fire in the
  officers quarters threatening the main powder
  magazine
• After 34 hours of bombing, Major Anderson
  surrenders leaving the fort in CSA control

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G. Captains Report

• Major Robert Anderson
• 0 casualties

• Gen PGT Beauregard
• 1 casualty
• CSA horse