The Civil War. It was the bloodiest we’d ever seen. What had brought the rich, powerful, and growing United States to such a pass? The reasons were many. In the early 1800’s the Northern states, especially those in New England, turned from farming to manufacturing. But in the South, farming remained the most important way of making a living. Southern planters found cotton and tobacco to be their most profitable crops, and they used black slaves to work their fields.

Slavery was introduced into what is now the United States in 1619, when a Dutch merchant ship brought 20 black Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, and sold them to the colonists. For years the whole country practiced black slavery, but it soon disappeared in the North. One reason was that the Africans could not stand harsh winters in the North. Another was the high price of slaves. A sturdy field hand cost up to $1,800, and small landowners, in both the North and South, could not afford to keep slaves. Finally, as the North turned toward industry, mechanics rather than farmhands were needed.

Conditions were different in the South. To meet a rising worldwide demand for cotton and tobacco, the planters farmed large areas of land. Slave labor seemed best suited for producing these crops, and the number of black slaves increased.

Slavery Becomes an Issue

As slavery spread, sentiment against it began to grow. People felt it was morally wrong for one human being to own another. In 1808 the United States Government passed a law forbidding the slave trade. This meant that captains of ships could no longer haul cargoes of black Africans to Southern ports in the United States and sell them at auction.

However, this law did not affect slaves already in the country, and slavery continued to flourish in the South. But by the 1840’s a movement to abolish slavery had taken root in the North. The people who supported this movement were called abolitionists.

Not only slavery but also the question of states’ rights had long caused problems within the United States. Did the federal government have the power under the Constitution to control the states in all matters?

“No!” roared the South.

The Nation Moves Closer to War

Thus, because of slavery and states’ rights, a wide rift developed between North and South. The situation worsened in October, 1859, when John Brown and a devoted band of followers captured the United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown called on the slaves in the surrounding countryside “to rise up and destroy” their masters.

Brown’s uprising was crushed by United States marines under Colonel Robert E. Lee. Brown was convicted of treason against Virginia and was hanged. But John Brown’s cause did not die with him. Abolitionists began to sing that although “John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave, His soul is marching on.” They hailed Brown as a hero, while Southerners regarded him as a villain. The nation was more divided than ever.

The Election of 1860

In 1860 the Republican Party picked as its candidate for president a lanky lawyer from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln.

Although he was not an abolitionist, Lincoln had spoken against the spread of slavery into the territories. Since it was known that Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery, Southerners looked upon Lincoln as an enemy.

But slavery supporters found no comfort in the Democratic candidate, Stephen Douglas, who also objected to the extension of slavery into the territories. As a result, Southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for president. Leading Southerners announced that they would demand secession from the Union if Lincoln won the election. On November 6, 1860, the voters chose Abraham Lincoln to succeed James Buchanan in the White House.

Secession

Secessionists proved true to their threat. South Carolina seceded in December, 1860. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed South Carolina in leaving the Union. These states claimed to have a legal right to secede from the Union. They had voluntarily joined it, and the Constitution did not specifically prohibit withdrawing from the Union. They established a new nation, the Confederate States of America, with its capital at Montgomery, Alabama. (The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia, in May, 1861.)

On February 4, 1861, delegates met in Montgomery to draw up a Confederate constitution and appoint a president and a vice president. The convention chose Jefferson Davis for president and Alexander Stephens for vice president.

The original Confederate states were later joined by Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, while in the border states of Kentucky and Missouri, Unionists and Secessionists fought for control.

The Firing on Fort Sumter

As each state seceded, it seized all federal properties within its borders. Most United States military establishments surrendered without resistance. But in December, 1860, Major Robert Anderson, commanding Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina, refused to give in. Instead he moved his military post, which included only 68 fighting men, to nearby Fort Sumter, a more defensible position in Charleston’s harbor. After long negotiations, the War Department decided that Fort Sumter must hold out as long as possible.

Anderson held grimly to his post in the face of growing Confederate forces. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861. Five weeks later he sent ships to supply Anderson with rations since the fort’s food supply was almost gone. The relief fleet was due to arrive at Charleston on April 12. Just before it reached the harbor mouth, the Confederates opened fire and forced Anderson’s surrender.

The Confederates had committed an act of war that Lincoln could not ignore. The President of the United States took immediate action. He called 75,000 men into service and ordered a blockade of Southern ports. If the South wanted war, it would have it.