9 Chapter 6 Civil War

Chapter 6 Civil War Lincoln was in trouble before he even took office. The slave states hated him. Almost no one in the South had voted for him. As soon as the news came of his election, seven states seceded

from the Union. They said they were no longer part of the United States. Lincoln was not their president. Soon, four more states joined them. They called their new country the Confederate States of America. They elected Jefferson Davis as their president. JEFFERSON DAVIS

In his brief inauguration speech, Lincoln spoke to a huge crowd gathered in front of the capitol. He told them he would not let the nation become two countries, no matter what. He avoided talking about slavery. He had a good reason for this. Four states where slavery was legal—Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri—had not left the Union. Lincoln didn't want to anger these states and lose them, too. But despite Lincoln's wishes, the country was soon torn in two. A month later, on April 12, 1861, Southern soldiers fired on Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The Civil War had begun.

FORT SUMTER FREDERICK DOUGLASS

FREDERICK DOUGLASS WAS A SLAVE WHO ESCAPED AS A YOUNG MAN. HE BECAME An INSPIRING LECTURER And AUTHOR. DOUGLASS BELIEVED In FREEDOM And EQUALITY FOR ALL PEOPLE, INCLUDING WOMEN. HE DID NOT ALWAYS SUPPORT LINCOLN. HE BELIEVED LINCOLN WAS MUCH TOO CAUTIOUS ABOUT ENDING SLAVERY. AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, DOUGLASS BEGAN TO THINK BETTER OF THE PRESIDENT. ONCE THEY MET, HE WAS COMPLETELY WON OVER. DOUGLASS SAID LINCOLN TREATED HIM EXACTLY AS HE WOULD HAVE TREATED ANY MAN, DESPITE THE DIFFERENCE In THEIR SKIN COLOR.

More than eighty years earlier, the American colonies, north and south, had united to break away from England and become a new country. Now Americans would be fighting Americans. Families were divided—even Lincoln's own family. His wife, Mary, had relatives in the South who owned slaves. They fought on the other side.