A Short History of the United States Part 46

Why?

_b_. What candidates were named? What policy did each uphold?

_c_. How had the demands of the Southerners concerning slavery increased?

_d_. What third party was formed? By whom? What does the name show?

---- 372, 373.--_a_. What was the result of the election?

_b_. What was there peculiar in Lincoln's election?

_c_. Were the Southern states in any particular danger?

_d_. Why should the Southerners have felt so strongly about this election? What was their hope in threatening secession?

----374, 375.--_a_ Give arguments for and against secession. In what other question similar to this had South Carolina led?

_b_. Were the people of the South generally in favor of secession?

_c_. What compromise did Buchanan suggest? What do you think of the wisdom of the plan?

_d_. Explain carefully the points in Crittenden's plan. Discuss its value.

---- 376, 377.--_a_ Could one state dissolve the Union? _b_. What other states followed South Carolina?

_c_. What government was formed by them? What two points were especially emphasized in their const.i.tution? Why these?

---- 378, 379.--_a_. What statement did Davis make as to Lincoln? Was it true or false? Give your reasons.

_b_. Why did Davis advocate war on Northern soil?

_c_. Why was there such hesitation in the North? State the opinions of Scott, Greeley, and Buchanan.

_d_. What would Jackson probably have done had he been President?

GENERAL QUESTIONS

_a_. Was the South justified in thinking that the North would yield?

Give ill.u.s.trations to support your view.

_b_. Were the years 1857-61 more or less "critical" than the years 1783-87? Why?

_c_. How was the South dependent upon the North?

TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK

_a_. Comparison between the North and the South.

_b_. Any invention mentioned in this part.

_c_. Some writer of this period.

_d_. The condition of your own state (or town or city) in 1860.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER

The first chapter of this part should be taught very slowly, and at each point the contrast between the North and the South should be pointed out.

In Chapter 36 the changed att.i.tude of the Southern politicians should be noted and their demands clearly set forth. The fact that the slave owners while a minority in the South dominated public opinion should be pointed out.

In considering the question of secession it will be well to review the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the Hartford Convention, and the Nullification episode. The weakness of Pierce and Buchanan may be contrasted with the strength of Jackson, and will serve as an introduction to the study of Lincoln's character.

XIII

THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 1861-1865

Books for Study and Reading

References.--Dodge's _Bird's-Eye View_; Scribner's _Popular History_, IV and V; McMaster's _School History_. chap, xxix (the cost of the war); Lincoln's _Inaugurals_ and _Gettysburg Address_.

Home Readings.--_Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_ (composed largely of articles that had previously appeared in the _Century Magazine_; Whittier's _Barbara Frietchie; _Coffin's _Winning his Way_ and other stories; Soley's _Sailor Boys of '61_; Trowbridge's _Drummer Boy_ and other stories; Read's _Sheridan's Ride_; Champlin's _Young Folks' History of the War for the Union_).

CHAPTER 37

THE RISING OF THE PEOPLES, 1861

[Sidenote: Lincoln's inaugural address, March 4, 1861.]

380. Lincoln's Inauguration.--On March 4, 1861, President Lincoln made his first inaugural address. In it he declared: "The Union is much older than the Const.i.tution.... No state upon its own motion can lawfully get out of the Union.... In view of the Const.i.tution and the laws the Union is unbroken ... I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states." As to slavery, he had "no purpose ... to interfere with the inst.i.tution of slavery in the states where it exists." He even saw no objection to adopt an amendment of the Const.i.tution to prohibit the Federal government from interfering with slavery in the states. But he was resolved to preserve, protect, and defend the Const.i.tution of the United States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SLAVERY AND SECESSION.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "OLD GLORY" AS USED IN THE CIVIL WAR.]

[Sidenote: Fort Sumter. _Source-Book_, 299-302.]

[Sidenote: The call to arms, April 15, 1861.]

381. Fall of Fort Sumter, April, 1861.--The strength of Lincoln's resolve was soon tested. When South Carolina seceded, Major Anderson, commanding the United States forces at Charleston, withdrew from the land forts to Fort Sumter, built on a shoal in the harbor. He had with him only eighty fighting men and was sorely in need of food and ammunition. Buchanan sent a steamer, the _Star of the West, _to Charleston with supplies and soldiers. But the Confederates fired on her, and she steamed away without landing the soldiers or the supplies.