Abraham Lincoln, the Election of 1860, and Secession

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Abraham Lincoln, the Election of 1860, and
Secession
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"A House Divided"

• In his House Divided speech, Abraham Lincoln
  addresses how the election of President Buchanan,
  the Nebraska Bill, and the Dred Scott decision
  will affect the unity of the Nation.
• In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis
  shall have been reached, and passed. A house
  divided against itself cannot stand.'' I believe
  this government cannot endure permanently half
  slave and half free. I do not expect the Union
  to be dissolved ---I do not expect the house to
  fall ---but I do expect it will cease to be
  divided. It will become all one thing, or all
  the other.
• Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the
  further spread of it, and place it where the
  public mind shall rest in the belief that it is
  in course of ultimate extinction or its
  advocates will push it forward, till it shall
  become alike lawful in all the States, old as
  well as new---North as well as South. Have we no
  tendency to the latter condition?

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1860 Election Banners
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South Carolina's Causes for Secession from the
Union

• The election of 1860 has left many on edge in the
  South, particularly South Carolina.
• The fear that a Republican President would take
  actions to limit states' rights has led them to
  take drastic action.
• In this declaration, South Carolina outlines
  there reasons for secession from the Union.
• The people of the State of South
  Carolina.declared that the frequent violations
  of the Constitution of the United States, by the
  Federal Government, and its encroachments upon
  the reserved rights of the States, fully
  justified this State in then withdrawing from the
  Federal Union but in deference to the opinions
  and wishes of the other slaveholding States, she
  forbore at that time to exercise this right.
  Since that time, these encroachments have
  continued to increase, and further forbearance
  ceases to be a virtue.

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Constitution of the Confederate States of America

• When the framers of the Confederate Constitution
  set out to draft the document they were set on
  forming a document that was fundamentally
  different form the one they opposed.
• The framers wanted a document that not only
  represented their ideological differences, but
  their governing differences as well.
• Ironically, in the end, the only difference that
  can be found between the two documents is in the
  ideology.
• The government that was set up by the Confederate
  Constitution is practically identical to that of
  the United States.

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Confederate President - Jefferson Davis

• Jefferson Davis served as the provisional
  president of the Confederacy until elections
  could be held.
• On February 18, 1861 he delivered his inaugural
  address.
• In this address, the causes for southern
  secession and the differences between their
  government and that of the Union are explained.
• We have changed the constituent parts, but not
  the system of our Government. The Constitution
  formed by our fathers is that of these
  Confederate States, in their exposition of it,
  and in the judicial construction it has received,
  we have a light which reveals its true meaning.

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Crittenden Compromise

• On March 4, 1861, a Peace Convention was held in
  Washington.
• This convention was called to order by the state
  of Virginia.
• Virginia, on the verge of secession, was looking
  for a way they could compromise with the federal
  government before making the final decision.
• The outcome of the Peace Convention was the
  Crittenden Compromise.
• This compromise proposed six amendments to the
  Constitution and four resolutions. The amendments
  and resolutions were centered around slavery,
  slave trade, and fugitive slave laws.

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A Cure for Republican Lock-Jaw

• This cartoon depicts congressional efforts to
  pass the Crittenden Compromise.

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Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

• In his first Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln,
  addresses the issue of South Carolina seceding
  from the Union.
• In doing so, he also outlines how he will handle
  the situation as President of the United States.
• The picture is of the crowd gathered to see
  Abraham Lincoln delivering his first inaugural
  address.

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Lincoln's July 4 Message to Congress

• On July 4, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln
  addressed a special session of Congress.
• In this address, he announced that a war has been
  declared on the states that seceded from the
  Union.
• He also calls on Congress to make available the
  funds and man power needed for a short war.
• It is now recommended that you give the legal
  means for making this contest a short, and a
  decisive one that you place at the control of
  the government, for the work, at least four
  hundred thousand men, and four hundred millions
  of dollars