Election of 1860
• Lincoln (Rep.) vs. John Breckenridge (Southern Dem.) vs. Douglas (Northern Dem.)
• Lincoln elected
• On news of Lincoln's election, South Carolina secedes
• This marked the inauguration of a strategy favored by secessionists called separate-state secession
• Opponents of the Union hoped South Carolina’s secession would induce others to follow as well
Confederate States of America
• Following South Carolina, six other states immediately secede
• In Feb. 1861, a meeting in Alabama is held and the Confederacy is formed
• Jefferson Davis is chosen as their President
• South divided over question of secession
1. Political elite favored secession
2. People were not all as enthusiastic
3. Enlistment problems led to Southern draft (1862)
• Confederacy was a weak national government
1. Favored states' rights
2. Some states failed to collect taxes or enforce draft
The attack of Fort Sumter
• Lincoln notified South Carolina to tell them that he was sending a ship to resupply the fort
• South Carolina wanted to obtain a surrender from the union or it would attack the fort
• After two days of heavy bombardment, the federal garrison finally surrendered
• The Civil War had begun
Congress without the south
• More efficient
• Passed national development plans
1. Homestead Act (1862)
2. Morral Act (1862)
a. Created public trust lands
b. School land - land grant colleges
3. Intercontinental railroad finished
• Financial Development
1. National Bank Act (1863)
a. Created new central bank
b. Made up of state banks holding federal deposits
2. Income Tax (1861)
3. Paper Money
Draft instituted March 1863
• First time the U.S. had used a draft