Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - American History LincolnThe American Civil War LincolnThe American Civil War Lincoln's election upset the south enormously. A majority of republicans found freeing the slaves to be necessary. Southern economy was largely dependent on slavery. Southerners believed it was their constitutional right to secede. Lincoln did not have the wartime experience that all other presidents had. North favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution - wanted to give the federal government increased powers. Which side, union or confederate, the border states would support. Who would the other powers of the world support. Would England support the Confederacy. Would France support the Confederacy. All Union forts in the south would be taken over by the secessionists. France would most likely support the Confederacy because of interests in Mexico. Lincoln's election provoked southern secession and plunged the nation into the greatest crisis in its history. There was much skepticism about Lincoln. However, when a majority of the Republicans party came around to view that freeing the slaves was necessary to the war effort, Lincoln found a way to comply with their wishes while minimizing disenchantment of the conservative minority. Lincoln's election provoked the secession of seven states in the deep south, but did not lead immediately to armed conflict. By the time of his inauguration, seven states had seceded, formed an independent confederacy, and seized most federal forts and other installations in the deep south without firing a single shot. In his inaugural address, Lincoln called for a cautious and limited use of force. Shortly after taking office, Lincoln was informed that Fort Sumter could not hold out much longer and that he would have to decide whether to reinforce it or let it fall. Initially, the majority of Lincoln's cabinet opposed efforts to reinforce or provision Sumter on the grounds that it was indefensible anyway. But, On April 4, 1861, Lincoln ordered that an expedition be prepared to bring food and other provisions to the beleaguered troops at Fort Sumter. Confederate authorities then decided that the sending of provisions was a hostile act and proceeded to attack the fort. The battle lasted 40 hours, and on April 13, Union forces surrendered. Lincoln had made sure that if the south was really determined to fight for it independence, it would have to begin by taking an aggressive action. On April 15, Lincoln proclaimed that an insurrection against federal authority existed in the deep south and called on the militia of the loyal states to provide 75,000 troops for a short-term service to put it down. Within the next five weeks, four more states seceded, making the total now 11 seceded states. The South had began inducing major foreign powers to recognize its independence and to intervene on the Confederate side. The hope that England and France could be convinced stemmed from the fact that these nations depended on the south for a majority of their cotton supply. England recognized the Confederacy as a belligerency and thus the Confederacy sent 2 envoys to England. On their way, however, a Union warship captured the 2 envoys. England threatened war with the United States if they did not release the two. After a few weeks, Lincoln allowed the two envoys to proceed to their destination. The two envoys reached England, but never managed to gain full recognition for the Confederacy. Meanwhile, Napoleon III, emperor of France, favored the southern cause, mainly because he was trying to set up a puppet government in Mexico and wanted to trade French support for Confederacy recognition of his regime south of the border. However, Napoleon was unwilling to risk war with the United States unless the British would co-sponsor his plan. The British would not go along with these plans, largely because the south had failed to win a clear victory at Antietam and was retreating. The last two and a half years of the struggle saw the implementation of more radical war measures. The most dramatic and important of these was the North's effort to follow through on Lincoln's decision to free the slaves and bring the black population into the war on the Union side. The tide of battle of battle turned in the summer of 1863, but the South continued to resist valiantly for two more years, until finally overcome by the sheer weight of the North's advantages in manpower and resources. Bibliography: Word Count: 725
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