Transcript Secession and Military Stalemate Election of 1860

Secession and Military
Stalemate
New Jersey split
 Original 13 colonies controlled less than
50% of vote


Lincoln did not
have a mandate.
Election of 1860
Lower South secedes
 Buchanan declares secession illegal

◦ But claimed federal gov’t lacked authority
South Carolina demands surrender of
Sumter
 Buchanan refused support for supply
ships
 Demands Congress compromise

I. Secession Crisis

Prior Compromises had worked…
◦ 1787-Constitution-3/5
◦ 1821-Missouri slave/Maine free
◦ 1850-Territories/Calif Free/Fugitive Slave

KY Senator Crittenden
◦ Constitut. Amend to protect slavery where it
existed (accepted)
◦ Extension of MO compromise line to Calif
Border (Rejected by Rep/Lincoln)
Crittenden Compromise

Which documents
show Lincoln’s
culpability?


Are there other
Repub. that would
support Crittenden?
Are there others
who support
Lincoln?
Steps: 1)Paste doc.
2) Write inference
3) Note necess.
Background info.
1974 DBQ Crittenden Proposal

The last resort compromise, Crittenden’s
proposal was rejected primarily because of
the influence of the President-elect Lincoln.

The culpability of President Lincoln for the
rejection of the Crittenden Proposal is
negligible because he was not yet president,
Southerners and Democrats were not
committed to compromise, and ultimately the
Republican Party rejected the proposal.
Possible Theses: 1974 DBQ

I have no purpose, directly or indirectly,
to interfere with the institution of slavery
in the States where it exists. I believe I
have no lawful right to do so, and I have
no inclination to do so.
Lincoln’s 1861 Inaugural

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellowcountrymen, and not in mine, is the
momentous issue of civil war. The
Government will not assail you. You can
have no conflict without being yourselves
the aggressors. 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."
Lincoln: March 1861

South must return to Union or face war

April 1861:Lincoln sends ship to resupply
Fort Sumter
◦ Confederate forces open fire
◦ Union defenders surrendered

Lincoln calls for an army
◦ Republican and No. Democrats support the
cause: state gov’t send troops
II. Upper South Chooses Sides

Secondary Sources: Infer divisions
Whites in Middle & Border Must
Choose
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8 States: NC, TN, AR, MO, KY, VA, DE, MD
2/3 of whites lived there
¾ of manufacturing from South occurred
there
½ the food of the South produced there
Upper South had many of the best
military men
Geographically strategic
Upper South Chooses Sides

Union
◦ Hold areas where few
Whites held slaves
◦ Secure railway fr.
Wash. To Ohio River
Valley
◦ Control of Missouri
and Mississippi Riv.
◦ Mobilize German
Union sympathizers
◦ Use milit & political
persuasion to hold
border states

Confederacy
◦ Estab. Government in
Richmond
◦ Estab Consitut.protect slavery
◦ Renounce expansion
◦ Re-inforce White
superiority
◦ Defend borders of
south
III. Setting War Objectives

Union thrusts
toward Richmond
◦ Divide Confederacy
◦ General McDowell
+30k men
◦ Bull Run
◦ No “picnic”
◦ McClellen replaces
McDowell


Lee Moves North
◦
◦
◦
◦
Humiliate Lincoln
Lee joins Jackson
2nd Battle of Bull Run
Antietam
 Sept 1862
 Single bloodiest day
 4800 dead/3000
Jackson heads to
Wash.
Devising Strategies

Attack from North

Attack from South

Heavy casualties

Union secured
crucial transport
routes
Battle of Shiloh
War in the Mississippi Valley

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. (Lincoln-1858)
Lincoln’s foreshadow of War