Civil War
The national experience during the 70 years following ratification of the Constitution
in 1788 had not convinced all Americans to support strong national power and goals. As
early as 1798, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolution that argued that the
Constitution was a "compact" (or agreement) among states. The states, therefore, had the
right to declare laws of Congress unconstitutional. John C. Calhoun in 1828 also asserted
that a state could terminate membership in its compact with the other states and secede
from the U.S. During the next 30 years, some Southerners continued the talk of secession
as a last resort in the sectional disputes of the time. Over time, as the disputes became
very heated, the act of secession was contemplated by more and more Southerners. The
talk of secession became a reality when, in late 1860, Southern states began voting to
secede.
Southern secession was sparked by the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in
1860. Southerners strongly objected to Lincoln because he and fellow members of the
Republican Party were adamantly opposed to the extension of slavery into the territories.
With Republicans in power, the South believed that Southern power in the federal
government would weaken and Southern interests would be ignored. Rather than face
such a fate, Southern states, led by South Carolina in December of 1860, began seceding
from the Union. Within two months the seceding states formed their own national
government -- the Confederate States of America and chose Jefferson Davis as their
president.
Lincoln did not view Southern secession as legal. When Confederates demanded that
the U.S. remove its soldiers from Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Lincoln refused. On April
12, 1861, Confederate forces began to bombard the fort. The Civil War had begun.
Determined to preserve the Union, Lincoln called U.S. troops into action. Each side
had advantages that caused them to think that their side would win the conflict. Spirited
Confederate troops, brilliantly led by General Robert E. Lee, frustrated the Union's hopes
for an early victory. It became clear that both sides were very determined and that this
would be a long, hard-fought war with many casualties and much destruction of property.
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed
slaves in states that had rebelled. This made emancipation an official aim of the war,
although it was really a political gesture. Lincoln also searched for an effective
commanding general. He finally found one in General Ulysses S. Grant. Under Grant's
leadership, the Union army was more successful and General Lee was forced to surrender
on April 9, 1865.
Unfortunately, President Lincoln had little time to appreciate the successful
preservation of the Union. On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, "the Great
Emancipator," was assassinated.