A Look at the Events That Led to the First Battle of Bull Run
by The first event that led to the First Battle of Bull Run was Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential election. Had his Democratic opponent won there might have been a greater opportunity to avert the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was committed to the abolition of slavery, which the Confederate States were unwilling to accept.
The first event that led to the First Battle of Bull Run was the election of President Abraham Lincoln to the White House. Had his Democratic opponent won there might have been a greater opportunity for the American Civil War been averted. Abraham Lincoln was committed to the abolition of slavery, which the Confederate States would not accept without it being forced upon them.
The issue of slavery and whether it should be retained or abolished was a major cause of the American Civil War. The Southern states had felt so strongly about retaining slavery that they broke away from the United States leading to the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln winning the election in 1860 had prompted the formation of the breakaway Confederate states, but the outbreak of civil war had seemed likely for a long while as in the long term neither side was willing to compromise or give in.
Abraham Lincoln due to his strong religious convictions and partly because of his own ascent to the presidency from ill-educated poverty wanted to help the enslaved black population gain their freedom and become full citizen of the United States. Lincoln had campaigned for abolition for many years, for instance opposing the Kansas -Nebraska Act that favoured the slave states whenever the country expanded to the west or to the south.
As relations between the remaining Union States and the Confederate States worsened throughout the early months of 1861 both sides started to build up their armies. In theory the Union forces should have been far superior to their Confederate counterparts. The Union forces consisted of the bulk of the regular United States army, whilst the Confederate States had to grab what military resources from the federal army they could within their own territories. From the start the Union forces would have a greater number of men, weapons, and materials to fight with.
The military commanders of the Union forces such as Irwin McDowell and George B. McClellan were under political pressure from Washington D.C. to make their advantages in soldiers, weapons, and material count with a rapid victory that would reincorporate the Confederate States into the United States.
On the other hand the leading confederate States commanders such as Pierre Beauregard, T. J. “Stonewall” Jackson, and Robert E. Lee had a more straightforward objective, carry on fighting against the odds.
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