1. What were the causes of the
Civil War?
2. Was the Civil War
preventable? Give an
argument why or why not.
«He was what
Beethoven was in
music, Dante in
poetry, Raphael in
painting, the Christ
in the philosophy
of life…»
Leo Tolstoy
 Born February 12th, 1809
 In a log cabin near Hodgenville,




Kentucky
Son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks
Lincoln
Moved to Indiana at age 7
Mother dies in 1818 from milk
sickness
Father remarries to Sarah Bush
Johnston
 Lincoln loved to
read
 Preferred
reading to
working in the
fields
 Led to difficult
relationship
with his father
 Borrowed books
from neighbors
 The Lincolns moved again in 1830
 Illinois
 Lived in New Salem, Illinois until
1837
 Worked odd jobs – store clerk,
surveying, and postmaster
 Impressed residents with his
character
 Earned nickname “Honest Abe”
Henry Clay was
Kentucky's most
prominent
nineteenth-century
politician. He was
Abraham Lincoln's
political idol.
 Met Mary Todd in
Springfield, IL in 1839
 Married her in 1842
 Next eleven years 4
children
 Robert, Edward,
William (Willie), and
Thomas (Tad)
Abraham Lincoln's
wife, Mary Todd
Lincoln, was from
Lexington, Kentucky.
She was one of the
best-educated women
of her era, and her
support,
encouragement, and
vast political
knowledge helped
Lincoln become our
nation's sixteenth
president.
Lincoln reportedly wept when his brother-in-law, Ben Hardin
Helm, was killed while fighting for the Confederacy. Lincoln's
family, like the nation, was divided during the Civil War.
 1832 – Lincoln unsuccessful in run for Illinois
legislature
 1834, 1836, 1838, 1840 – won these races for Illinois
legislature
 Member of the Whig party (remained a Whig until
1856)
 Studied law in spare time, became lawyer in 1836
 “The probability that we may fall
in the struggle ought not to deter
us from the support of a cause we
believe to be just; it shall not
deter me.”
 Speech on the Sub-Treasury, IL
House of Representatives 12-261839
 1846 – Lincoln elected to the House of Representatives
 Opposed the Mexican War
 Opposed slavery
 After his term was over, he returned to Illinois to
practice law
 Made unsuccessful
attempt for seat in
the Senate in 1854
 1856 – received
support for
Republican VicePresidential
nomination
 Opposed the Dred
Scott decision
 1858 – Lincoln challenges Stephen Douglas
(Compromise of 1850) for Illinois US Senate seat
 Debated Slavery
 Stephen Douglas
 Abraham Lincoln
 “The Little Giant”
 Little known lawyer
 5’ 1” tall
 Abolitionist
 Freeport Doctrine –
 6’ 4” tall
slavery decided by
popular sovereignty
 Slavery was not
morally wrong
 Slavery was morally
wrong
1. Expansion of slavery
2. Popular sovereignty
3. Dred Scott decision
4. Freeport Doctrine
5. African-American
Citizenship
 “A house divided against itself cannot
stand. I believe this government cannot
endure permanently half-slave and halffree. 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 the one thing
or all the other.”
 House Divided Speech in Springfield, IL
3-4-1858
 Lincoln is thrust into the national spotlight as a
abolitionist leader
 Leading Republican
 4 Major Candidates (including Lincoln)
John Breckinridge
(KY) – Southern
Democrat
Stephen Douglas
(IL) – Northern
Democrat
Sen. John Bell
(TN) –
Constitutional
Unionists (Whigs)
 Abraham Lincoln, IL—turned out had strongest
hand:
 was former anti-slavery Whig in a party full of these
 had reputation as a moderate
 had opposed Know Nothings
 had reputation for integrity and honesty
 embodied ideology of upward mobility
 came from crucial state
 Nominate Abraham Lincoln (R – Illinois)
 Unique in American history because came down to two separate
races: Lincoln vs. Douglas in the North and Breckinridge vs. Bell
in the South
 in 10 southern states, Lincoln did not even have a ticket and in 5
remaining slave states received 4% of popular vote
 Lincoln won by carrying northern states plus OR and CA—
purely sectional victory with less than 40% of popular vote
Photograph showing March 4, 1861 inauguration of
Abraham Lincoln in front of U.S. Capitol, which was
undergoing construction
 Leave the Union
 Southern State Legislatures vote to pass “Articles of
Secession”
 7 states secede before Lincoln’s Inauguration








12/20/1860 – SC
1/9/1861 – MS
1/10/1861 – FL
1/11/1861 – AL
1/19/1861 – GA
1/26/1861 – LA
2/1/1861 – TX
3/4/1861 – Lincoln is Inaugurated
 On December 20, 1860, South
Carolina became the first state to
secede.
 They were followed by Mississippi,
Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, and Texas.
 The eleven states that had
seceded formed the Confederate
States of America.
 They named Jefferson Davis as
president.
 They wrote a new Constitution
which made slavery legal.
 Government similar to the Union
 Constitution nearly identical, except:
 State Sovereignty
 Slavery as a right of whites
 President limited to one six year term
 President had “Line-Item” veto
Army of N. Virginia Battle Flag. Became the symbol of
Confederacy and included all states in it as stars.
Question: What does this flag represent to you?
Jefferson Davis
Alexander Stephens
Jefferson Davis, the
President of the
Confederacy, was
also born in
Kentucky. Before the
Civil War, he was a
planter, soldier,
politician, and U.S.
Secretary of War. He
died in 1889.
 North
 Factories
 Population
 South
 Great Leaders (Robert
 Railroads (70%)
 Telegraph
 Money
 Navy






E. Lee, “Stonewall”
Jackson)
Home Field
Advantage
Southerner’s believed
in the cause
Defensive War
Indian Tribes
Did not have to win,
only tie
Cotton and Tobacco
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Increased
Sectionalism
Tariffs
State’s Rights
Preservation of the
Union
Westward
Movement
Slavery
Election of 1860
 Was the Civil War about slavery? Why or why not?
 How did the election of 1860 lead to the separation of
the South from the North?