The origins of the American Civil War were rooted in the desire of the Southern states to preserve and expand the institution of slavery. Historians in the 21st century overwhelmingly agree on the cen
Battle of Fort Sumter, the first hostilities of the war, as depicted by Currier and Ives
President Andrew Jackson viewed South Carolina's attempts to nullify the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 as tantamount to treason.
Picking cotton in Georgia
Slaves working in the fields, on the Confederate $100 bill, 1862–63. On the left is John C. Calhoun, on the right Columbia.
A United States presidential election was held on November 6, 1860. The Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged victorious.
Origins of the American Civil War
…and its various and multifaceted discontents were the primary cause of disunion, it was disunion itself that sparked the war." Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election as an opponent of the extension of slavery into the U.S. territories. His victory triggered declarations of secession by seven slave states of the Deep…
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Former Representative Abraham Lincoln from Illinois
Senator William H. Seward from New York
Senator Simon Cameron from Pennsylvania