-- A private from Indiana records his observation of Atlanta after it fell to Yankee troops, 1864.
Southern States Secede
Secession
fever hit the South after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The
South considered Lincoln's Republican party victory in the 1860
presidential election as a sign that the North was now going to end the
"peculiar institution" of slavery. For the South, the time of talk and
compromise had ended. In December, 1860 South Carolina became the first
state to secede from the Union. Secession of the rest of the states that
would make up the Confederate States of America occurred in two waves.
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Abraham Lincoln Elected to his Second Term as President
November 8, 1864
On this day in 1864, Abraham Lincoln was elected to his second term as president of the United States.
This was one of the few elections in world history held in the middle of a civil war. As the country’s president and with the circumstances of the ongoing Civil War, Lincoln might have tried to cancel or postpone the election until the war was over. Instead, Lincoln said, "If the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us."
Barnes&Noble: Tried By War  Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief Though Abraham Lincoln arrived at the White House with no previous military experience, he Quickly established himself as the greatest commander in chief in American history. James McPherson illuminates this often misunderstood and profoundly influential aspect of Lincoln’s legacy. In essence, Lincoln invented the idea of commander in chief, as neither the Constitution nor existing legislation specified how the president ought to declare war or dictate strategy… |
The Confederate Army had recently advanced so close to Washington, D.C., that by standing on top of a parapet with field glasses, Lincoln was able to watch a battle. On July 30, 4,000 Union soldiers were killed in a disastrous attempt to invade Petersburg, Virginia. The army needed 500,000 more soldiers, Lincoln would probably have to call for another draft, and the war debt was becoming unsustainable. On August 23, Lincoln wrote a memo to his cabinet saying, "This morning, and for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected." As the presidential election day drew near, President Lincoln’s hopes for a second term were fading. The Democrat Party had as its candidate former Union general George B. McClellan, and its platform was based on ending the war. But, this turned out to be a huge mistake when news arrived in early September that the Union Army had captured Atlanta and Mobile. Suddenly, the Democrats looked like the party of surrender … as Union forces were starting to win battles, and the war. |
Lincoln won the election with 2,330,552 votes to challenger George B. McClellan’s 1,835,985 votes. Lincoln had 212 Electoral College votes to McClellan’s 21 votes. Lincoln carried every state except New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky.
Suggested Posts to Learn More...
- Slavery
- Andrew Johnson Drunk at Lincoln's Second Inaugural
- Civil War Casualties
- St. Albans Raid
- Clara Barton
- William Tecumseh Sherman
- Civil War Re-enactors Settle Battle
- Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
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