Transcript Events that lead to the Civil War: 1860

Events that lead to the Civil War:
1860 & 1861
The Election of 1860: 4 Candidates for Pres.
The Republicans picked Abe Lincoln as their candidate
Democrats split over the issue of slavery in the West:
Southerners wanted the party to support it while
Northerners refused.
Southern Democrats chose John Breckinridge
Northern Democrats chose Stephen Douglas
Some Americans tried to heal this split by creating a new
political party The Constitutional Union Party, and they
picked John Bell.
Lincoln won the North and the Election
Northerners outnumbered & outvoted southerners
• With Lincoln’s election many southerners felt that
they no longer had a voice in the national
government.
• Believed that the entire govt. was set against
their interests, and their only choice was to
secede.
• 1st state to secede was South Carolina: Dec.
1860
• 6 more will join them and in Feb. 1861 they form
the Confederate States of America
• Lincoln opposed secession
• Warns that there will be no war unless the South
starts it
• Confederates began taking over federal
property: forts, post offices, etc.
• Lincoln’s problem: should he let Confederates
take over federal property?
• If he did he was admitting they had the right
leave while sending troops might start a war.
• By April the Confederates had control of nearly
all of the forts in the South.
• The Union held only 3 forts in Florida and Fort
Sumter in South Carolina, which guarded
Charleston harbor
• On April 12th the Confederates asked for
Fort Sumter’s surrender.
• The Union commander refused and the
Confederates opened fire on the fort
• On April 13th having run out of ammunition
the Union forces surrender the fort.
• No one was killed, but this event marked
the beginning of the Civil War