THE NEW REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT Supporters of William H Seward the radical abolitionist from New York thought they had the nomination locked up However backers of Abraham Lincoln the moderate former congressman from Illinois packed the hall and were making deals By custom candidates did not appear in person at the convention Supporters of both Lincoln and Seward worked feverishly to convince delegates from key states to commit votes to their candidate Lincoln backers whispered Southerners would never vote for Seward in the general election His views on slavery were too extreme Lincoln opposed slavery but he had promised not to uproot it in states where it already existed Lincoln supporters promised was the man who could deliver the presidency to the Republican Party The crowd in the Wigwam was fired up When Michigan delegates seconded the nomination of Seward the New Yorkers jumped to their feet and cheered so loudly the rafters trembled When Ohio delegates seconded Lincoln's nomination one spectator said the noise was louder than a thousand steam whistles and ten acres of hotel gongs After the first round of voting Seward was ahead But on the second ballot Lincoln closed to within four votes The Ohio delegation had its own candidate in the running Salmon Chase Chase Ohio's former US senator and governor
did not stand a chance of winning the nomination but the Ohio delegates would not relinquish their block of votes without getting something in return Just before the third ballot was cast a Lincoln supporter whispered to an Ohio delegate if Ohio threw its votes to Lincoln and Lincoln won the presidency Salmon Chase could have anything he wants Four Ohio delegates switched their votes to Lincoln The ballots were counted and the Wigwam exploded Lincoln was the Republican nominee for president of the United States In the campaign that followed Lincoln repeated his pledge not to interfere with slavery in states where it already existed Abraham Lincoln's rugged facial features and exceptionally long limbs caused many to make fun of his ungainly appearance
Southerners did not believe him but because the Democratic Party had split over the issue of slavery proslavery factions could not rally enough support behind one candidate On November 6 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president Even before the results were announced states of the Deep South prepared to secede from the United States THE PRESIDENT OF THE NEW REPUBLIC South Carolina was the first state to go On December 20 1860 its representatives voted to secede and they called for other Southern states to hold a convention to create a new national government When this convention met on February 4 1861 Mississippi Florida Alabama Georgia and Louisiana had already seceded with Texas soon to follow On the afternoon of February 10 1861 Jefferson and Varina Davis were pruning rosebushes in the garden of their Mississippi plantation A slave handed Mr Davis a telegram As he read silently his wife said He looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family Perhaps Davis looked stricken because his distinguished career in the US government had just ended The telegram informed Davis that delegates from the seceding states had chosen him to be president of the Confederate States of America Davis was inaugurated on February 18 1861 He used the Declaration of Independence to justify secession If the government harms the people it was
created to protect then the people have the right to abolish that government he asserted The new Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens was blunter He said the Confederacy was founded on the principle that the Negro is not equal to the white man The crowd at the inauguration cheered FIRE EATERS Southern extremists known as fire eaters fanned the flames of secession after Lincoln was elected president An editorial in an Atlanta newspaper bellowed Whether the Potomac is crimsoned in human gore and Pennsylvania Avenue is paved ten fathoms deep with mangled bodies the South will never submit to the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln GUNS OF WAR March 4 1861 was cold and blustery in Washington DC when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated Cannons guarded the grounds of the unfinished capitol and sharpshooters lined the roofs of nearby buildings A tense crowd listened as Lincoln reaffirmed his pledge to not interfere with slavery He also stated that secession was unconstitutional and he was legally bound to hold occupy or possess government property However Lincoln vowed not to strike the first blow The government will not assail you he told Southerners You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors Lincoln believed the secession crisis was directed by a small elite group of Southern planters He was confident that if he took a firm but calm stance no more slave states would
