Editing American Civil War (section)

=== Secession crisis ===
{{Main|Ordinance of Secession}}
[[File:US Secession map 1861.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|{{center|'''Status of the states, 1861'''}} {{legend|#A40000| Slave states that seceded before April 15, 1861}} {{legend|#EF2929| Slave states that seceded after April 15, 1861}} {{legend|#FCE94F| Border Southern states that permitted slavery but did not secede (both KY and MO had dual competing Confederate and Unionist governments)}} {{legend|#204A87| Union states that banned slavery}} {{legend|#D3D7CF| Territories}}|alt=Map of U.S. showing two kinds of Union states, two phases of secession and territories]]

Lincoln's election provoked [[South Carolina in the American Civil War|South Carolina]]'s legislature to call a state convention to consider secession. South Carolina had done more than any other state to advance the notion that a state had the right to [[Nullification crisis|nullify]] federal laws and even secede. On December 20, 1860, the convention unanimously voted to secede and adopted [[South Carolina Declaration of Secession|a secession declaration]]. It argued for states' rights for slave owners but complained about states' rights in the North in the form of resistance to the federal Fugitive Slave Act, claiming that Northern states were not fulfilling their obligations to assist in the return of fugitive slaves. The "cotton states" of [[Mississippi in the American Civil War|Mississippi]], [[Florida in the American Civil War|Florida]], [[Alabama in the American Civil War|Alabama]], [[Georgia in the American Civil War|Georgia]], [[Louisiana in the American Civil War|Louisiana]], and [[Texas in the American Civil War|Texas]] followed suit, seceding in January and February 1861.<ref name="NegativesPrints" />

Among the ordinances of secession, those of Texas, Alabama, and Virginia mentioned the plight of the "slaveholding states" at the hands of Northern abolitionists. The rest made no mention of slavery but were brief announcements by the legislatures of the dissolution of ties to the Union.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ordinances of Secession of the 13 Confederate States of America |url=http://www.civil-war.net/pages/ordinances_secession.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040611023102/http://civil-war.net/pages/ordinances_secession.asp |archive-date=June 11, 2004 |access-date=November 28, 2012}}</ref> However, at least four—South Carolina,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Confederate States of America – Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220121942/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp |archive-date=February 20, 2019 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |website=The Avalon Project}}</ref> Mississippi,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_missec.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010225636/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_missec.asp |archive-date=October 10, 2014 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |website=The Avalon Project}}</ref> Georgia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Confederate States of America – Georgia Secession |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_geosec.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714154731/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_geosec.asp |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |website=The Avalon Project}}</ref> and Texas<ref>{{Cite web |title=Confederate States of America – A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_texsec.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811013053/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_texsec.asp |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |website=The Avalon Project}}</ref>—provided detailed reasons for their secession, all blaming the movement to abolish slavery and its influence over the North. Southern states believed that the [[Fugitive Slave Clause]] made slaveholding a constitutional right. These states agreed to form a new federal government, the [[Confederate States of America]], on February 4, 1861.{{sfn|McPherson|1988|p=24}} They took control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, with little resistance from outgoing president [[James Buchanan]], whose term ended on March 4. Buchanan said the [[Dred Scott decision]] was proof the Southern states had no reason to secede and that the Union "was intended to be perpetual". He added, however, that "The power by force of arms to compel a State to remain in the Union" was not among the "enumerated powers granted to Congress".<ref name="Buchanan1860" /> A quarter of the U.S. army—the Texas garrison—was surrendered in February to state forces by its general, [[David E. Twiggs]], who joined the Confederacy.{{sfn|Winters|1963|p=28}}

As Southerners resigned their Senate and House seats, Republicans could pass projects that had been blocked. These included the [[Morrill Tariff]], land grant colleges, a [[Homestead Acts#Homestead Act of 1862|Homestead Act]], a transcontinental railroad,<ref>{{Cite web |year=1865 |title=Profile Showing the Grades upon the Different Routes Surveyed for the Union Pacific Rail Road Between the Missouri River and the Valley of the Platte River |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4608/ |access-date=July 16, 2013 |publisher=[[World Digital Library]]}}</ref> the [[National Bank Act]], authorization of [[United States Note]]s by the [[Legal Tender Act of 1862]], the end of [[District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act|slavery in the District of Columbia]], and a ban on slavery in the territories.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/freeterr.htm | title=Emancipation in the Federal Territories, June 19, 1862 }}</ref> The [[Revenue Act of 1861]] introduced [[income tax]] to help finance the war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Abraham Lincoln imposes first federal income tax |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-imposes-first-federal-income-tax |access-date=June 12, 2021 |website=History.com|date=November 16, 2009 }}</ref>

[[File:President-Jefferson-Davis.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|[[Jefferson Davis]], [[President of the Confederate States of America]] (1861–1865)|alt=Middle-aged man in a goatee posed standing in a suit, vest and bowtie]]

In December 1860, the [[Crittenden Compromise]] was proposed to re-establish the [[Missouri Compromise]] line, by constitutionally banning slavery in territories to the north of it, while permitting it to the south. The Compromise would likely have prevented secession, but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected it.{{sfn|McPherson|1988|pp=252–254}} Lincoln stated that any compromise that would extend slavery would bring down the Union.{{sfn|McPherson|1988|p=253}} A [[Peace Conference of 1861|February peace conference]] met in Washington, proposing a solution similar to the Compromise; it was rejected by Congress. The Republicans proposed the [[Corwin Amendment]], an alternative, not to interfere with slavery where it existed, but the South regarded it as insufficient. The remaining eight slave states rejected pleas to join the Confederacy, following a no-vote in Virginia's First Secessionist Convention on April 4.{{sfn|McPherson|1988|pp=234–266}}

On March 4, Lincoln was sworn in as president. In his [[inaugural address]], he argued that the Constitution was a ''[[Preamble to the United States Constitution|more perfect union]]'' than the earlier [[Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union]], was a binding contract, and called secession "legally void".<ref name="Lincoln1861" /> He did not intend to invade Southern states, nor to end slavery where it existed, but he said he would use force to maintain possession of federal property,<ref name="Lincoln1861" /> including forts, arsenals, mints, and customhouses that had been seized.{{sfn|McPherson|1988|p=262}} The government would not try to recover post offices, and if resisted, mail delivery would end at state lines. Where conditions did not allow peaceful enforcement of federal law, U.S. marshals and judges would be withdrawn. No mention was made of bullion lost from mints. He stated that it would be U.S. policy "to collect the duties and imposts"; "there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere" that would justify an armed revolution. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union, famously calling on "the mystic chords of memory" binding the two regions.<ref name="Lincoln1861" />

The Davis government of the new Confederacy sent delegates to Washington to negotiate a peace treaty. Lincoln rejected negotiations, because he claimed that the Confederacy was not a legitimate government and to make a treaty with it would recognize it as such.{{sfn|Potter|Fehrenbacher|1976|pp=572–573}} Lincoln instead attempted to negotiate directly with the governors of seceded states, whose administrations he continued to recognize.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=William C. |date=Winter 2000 |title=The Hampton Roads Peace Conference: A Final Test of Lincoln's Presidential Leadership |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.2629860.0021.104 |journal=Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=30–61 |doi=10.5406/19457987.21.1.04 |issn=1945-7987 |hdl=2027/spo.2629860.0021.104|hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Complicating Lincoln's attempts to defuse the crisis was Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]], who had been Lincoln's rival for the Republican [[presidential nominee|nomination]]. Embittered by his defeat, Seward agreed to support Lincoln's candidacy only after he was guaranteed the executive office then considered the second most powerful. In the early stages of Lincoln's presidency Seward held little regard for him, due to his perceived inexperience. Seward viewed himself as the de facto head of government, the "[[prime minister]]" behind the throne. Seward attempted to engage in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed.{{sfn|Potter|Fehrenbacher|1976|pp=572–573}} Lincoln was determined to hold all remaining Union-occupied forts in the Confederacy: [[Fort Monroe]] in Virginia, [[Fort Pickens]], [[Fort Jefferson (Florida)|Fort Jefferson]], and [[Fort Taylor]] in Florida, and [[Fort Sumter]] in South Carolina.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardyman |first=Robyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D11iDwAAQBAJ |title=What Caused the Civil War? |year=2016 |publisher=Gareth Stevens |isbn=978-1-4824-5180-1 |page=27}}</ref>