Transcript Abraham Lincoln and the secession of the Southern states The Life

Abraham Lincoln
and the secession of the Southern states
The Life of Lincoln
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The child of uneducated farmers
Never really fit in
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By adulthood, he was 6’4
Mostly self-educated
Refused to hunt because he believed killing any kind of
animal was wrong
Unsuccessfully ran for the Illinois General Assembly
at the age of 23
Two years later, he ran for the state legislature and
won (four times in a row!)
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Began teaching himself law at age 25
The Life of Lincoln
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Even without a formal education, Lincoln
became one of the most successful lawyers
in Illinois
At age 28, he protested against slavery for
the first time, not because he viewed African
Americans as equals, but because it was
“founded on both injustice and bad policy”
Five years later, Lincoln married Mary Todd
and fathered 4 children (though only one
lived to see adulthood)
Mary Todd
The Life of Lincoln
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1846: Successfully ran for the U.S. House of
Representatives
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“God of Heaven has forgotten to defend the weak
and innocent, and permitted the strong band of
murderers and demons from hell to kill men,
women, and children, and lay waste and pillage
the land of the just.” - Lincoln
His speech tarnished his reputation so he didn’t
run for reelection
Practiced law for the next 12 years
The Life of Lincoln
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In 1858, he lost against
Stephen Douglas for a
seat in the U.S. Senate
Finally, in 1860, after
28 bumpy years in
politics, Lincoln was
elected as the 16th
president of the United
States of America
Winner
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Winner of the Popular Vote: Abraham Lincoln
Runner up: Stephen Douglas
Winner of the Electoral College: Abraham
Lincoln
Runner up: John Breckinridge
Lincoln Becomes President
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Southerners threatened to secede from the Union
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Most Northerners viewed secession as illegal
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Secession: The act of withdrawing a state from the Union
“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is
the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you....
You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government,
while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend
it.” Abraham Lincoln
Southerners viewed secession as legal through state’s
rights (the belief that every state has rights that the
federal government cannot overrule—every state chose
to join the Union, therefore, they could leave it)
Secession Begins
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Dec. 1860: South
Carolina became the
first state to secede
from the Union
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Mississippi
Florida
Alabama
Georgia
Louisiana
Texas
By 1862, eleven states
seceded from the Union
Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland were the five slave states
that remained part of the Union (United States).
Confederate States of America
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Modeled after the United
States of America with
several exceptions
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Slavery was legal in any
state or territory that
wanted it to be legal
States were given more
rights
Elected Jefferson Davis
as president
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Mismanaged almost every
aspect of the government
and war effort
The Final Straw
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The Crittenden Compromise: An attempt to
settle the differences between the North and
the South
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The bill was defeated in the Senate
Various other attempts to settle the dispute only
succeeded in angering both sides
Attack on Fort Sumter
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South Carolina attacked Fort Sumter to prevent the
Union from shipping war supplies into the South
Began the American Civil War
Why attack?
Fort Sumter