1. Election of 1860 Results Factory Owners Southern Plantation Owners
*Based on role play
Factory Owners
Southern Plantation Owners
Western Farmers
Northern Factory Workers
Bell 0 
Breckenridge 16
Lincoln 6  0 11 19 36
Douglas  1 2 3

2. Election Results of 1860
Class B
Class F
Class D
Total
Bell  1 1  4 6
Breckenridge 1 2
Lincoln 12 7 14 33
Douglas 3  8  13
*Based on Preservation of the Union
Keep in mind what happens after Lincoln is elected.
States secede and we fall into the Civil War
Civil war does not mean the Union is preserved!

3. The Impending Crisis

4. The Secession Movement
For Southerners: Lincoln’s victory places their region in in the hands of a hostile party (Republicans).
Fundamental shift in power, southerners now feared their future.
Seven states secede initially
South Carolina (1st)
Declaration of the Immediate Causes of Secession
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas
All seven secede by February 1861
Lincoln takes office March 4, 1861

5. The Secession Movement
Then, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina secede by May 20, 1861

6. President Buchannan Denies states have a right to secede
Also says the Federal Government cannot intervene
Crittenden Compromise: Attempt to save the Union
Guarantees slavery in current states
Extended MS Compromise Line to Pacific Ocean
Lincoln rejects the plan

7. Lincoln on the Crittenden Compromise
“We have just carried an election on principles fairly stated to the people. Now we are told in advance that the government shall be broken up unless we surrender to those we have beaten, before we take the offices…” Lincoln’s Willingness to Compromise A constitutional amendment forever protecting slavery. Enforcing the Fugitive the Slave Act Accepting New Mexico as a slave state

8. New Confederacy New President of the Confederacy: Jefferson Davis
Single six-year term
Cabinet members could sit in Congress
Confederate Constitution: similar to the U.S. except it explicitly guaranteed slave property in states and future territories.
Davis said cornerstone of the Confederacy is:
“the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.”

9. Fort Sumter Crisis President Lincoln is looking for your advice.
There is a fort in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina that is surrounded by Confederate forces.
This fort (Fort Sumter) will run out of supplies soon.

10. Actual Fort Sumter Crisis

11. Fort Sumter Crisis
Lincoln’s Dilemma: What will you do about the soldiers running out of supplies in Charleston Harbor at Fort Sumter?
List at least three possible scenarios for resolving the issue
What are potential consequences of each action?
Cannot make the North look like aggressors against the South. More states could join the rebellion.
Risks looking weak and legitimizing the Confederacy if he pulls the soldiers out of Fort Sumter.

12. Fort Sumter Crisis
Each person should find their own opinion first, write it down on their notes.
Should the fort be evacuated or sustained?
Send only supplies or additional troops?
Take action in secret or advise Confederate officials beforehand?
Make sure to write down the consequences of your actions for the Union and Confederacy.

13. Fort Sumter Crisis
Now work with your cabinet members to find the best way to advise Lincoln.
Then as a group discuss and see if you can find unanimity.

14. Actual Fort Sumter Crisis
Initial opinions in Lincoln’s cabinet:
William Seward: Avoid conflict (stay put)
Montgomery Blair: Resupply the soldiers
Gideon Welles: Resupply the soldiers
Caleb Smith: Surrender the fort (avoid war)
Salmon Chase: Resupply the soldiers
Edward Bates: Surrender the fort

15. Lincoln’s Response
Lincoln notifies the governor of S.C. that he is going to resupply the soldiers there because the soldiers are running out of food.
Jefferson Davis orders the batteries to open fire hoping to convince the Upper South (Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Arkansas, and Missouri) to join the Confederacy.

16. The Resolution
Lincoln’s strategy to resupply the troops works is a success.
The Union does not look like an aggressor or appear weak.
The Confederacy looks like an aggressor
While some states in the Upper South eventually join the Confederacy, Maryland, Delaware, and Kentucky are slave states that stay in the Union.
These states are essential to the success of the Union winning the war.
The Confederacy must also deal with the fact that they fired on a ship attempting to peaceably resupply Fort Sumter.

17. The Resolution
The Union also does not look like an aggressor to foreign countries such as Great Britain and France that could potentially aid the Confederacy.