Confederate States.-On February 4 delegates from the seceding States met at Montgomery, Alabama, and organized a new government, under the name of the "Confederate States of America." Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. In March a constitution was adopted for the Confederacy, one of whose sections forbade forever any attempt to emancipate the slaves.

The Government Paralyzed. This decisive action of the South paralyzed the government. Southern leaders

were leaving Washington, Southern officers giving up their commissions, materials of war being confiscated, and United States forts and arsenals being seized by the South, and yet President Buchanan took no action. He was surrounded by Southern advisers, and though he did not believe in the right of secession, he did not think he had the right to use force to keep any State in the Union. Compromises were offered in Congress, a Peace Conference was held in Washington, with ex-President John Tyler as chairman, and other steps in the direction of conciliation were taken. But none of these proved acceptable, and the people anxIously waited until the 4th of March should bring a new President and a new policy.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

When that time came the government possessed only three fortifications in the South,-Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, Fort Pickens at Pensacola, and Key West, all the others having been seized. Of these, Fort Sumter was vigorously threatened, the Confederates having erected earthworks, abundantly mounted with artillery, for its

reduction, gathered a force of several thousand men, and taken possession of the other forts in the harbor. Meanwhile, President Buchanan did nothing towards its defence other than to send an unarmed steamer, the Star of the West, with men and supplies. This was fired upon and driven back. Thus the year 1861 drifted on toward the critical date of March 4, and the coming into office of a Republican administration.

Preservation of the Union.-The problem about to be solved by the strong hand of war was not that of the abolition of slavery. This, the instigating cause of secession, had fallen into the background before a greater and more vital question, that of the preservation of the Union. Should there be a United States or a group of two or more republics? Should our strength be converted into weakness, our unity into disunion, our harmony into hostility? This was the problem which the government had. to face. The Union must and shall be preserved! Such was the sentiment that united the North as no war based on the slave question could have united it. President Lincoln strongly declared himself in favor of this purpose, and the emancipation of the slaves, when it came, was but an incident of the war, a measure of military expediency; though in the end it removed the cause which threatened the permanence of American institutions.

In the following account of the war we speak of North and South not in the sense of section arrayed against section, but in that of the nation fighting for its existence, the supporters of the old flag combating the forces of disunion. Fortunately for both, the Union of the States was preserved, and to-day our united country is the pride of American hearts, alike north and south, east and west.

PART IX.

THE CIVIL WAR.

1. Lincoln's Administration.

Lincoln in Office.-The 4th of March, 1861, found President Lincoln.' in Washington, prepared to take the oath of office and enter upon the difficult

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

duties to which he had been called. So dangerous was the situation that it was not deemed safe for him to travel openly to the capital, and he made a secret night journey through Maryland, a State which, holding slaves, had many sympathizers with the Confederacy.

The President's Policy.-In his inaugural address the new President indicated clearly his proposed policy.

"I have no purpose, directly or indirectly," he said, “to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it

1 Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky in 1809, but resided during most of his life in Illinois. His parents were very poor and his education was meagre. He worked at boating, store-keeping, surveying, and other avocations, diligently studying at every opportunity, and finally studied law in his spare hours, and gained admission to the bar. As a lawyer he rose to distinction. Entering early into politics, he became a member of the Illinois legislature at twenty-five, and in 1846 was elected to Congress, where he served one term. His fame as a

exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." But he declared also that it was his purpose "to preserve, protect, and defend" the Union of the States. He did not propose to begin war, but he did propose to retake the forts and other national property which the Confederacy had seized.

Lincoln Takes Action.-To avoid war, in the temper of the South, was impossible. No inclination was shown to yield the national property, and the preparations to attack Fort Sumter continued. For a month Lincoln remained silent. Run down by office-seekers, and perhaps in hope that the hostile attitude of the South would weaken, he waited and studied the situation. On April 8 he acted. The governor of South Carolina was notified that men and provisions would be sent immediately to Fort Sumter.

The Assault on Fort Sumter.-On hearing this, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, sent orders to General Beauregard, at Charleston, to demand that Fort Sumter should be evacuated. If not, he was to open fire

political orator, and a man of unusual ability, grew, and in 1858 he became for a second time a candidate for United States Senator, his opponent being Stephen A. Douglas. It was the reputation gained in his debate with Douglas that afterward brought him the nomination for the Presidency. Lincoln was tall, awkward in manner, and lacking in social culture, but possessed of unusual common sense and powers of statesmanship. He was re-elected in 1864, and died by assassination April 15, 1865.

1 Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky in 1808, and in 1828 graduated from the West Point Military Academy. He was elected to Congress from Mississippi in 1845, served with distinction in the Mexican War, and in 1847 entered the United States Senate, where he became a strong pro-slavery member. He was Secretary of War under President Pierce, entered the Senate again under Buchanan, and withdrew from that body January 21, 1861, to join the Confederacy. He survived the war for many years, dying in 1889.

on it. His Secretary of State, Robert Toombs, opposed this as unwise, saying, "The firing upon that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than any the world has yet It puts us in the wrong; it is fatal."

seen.

But the orders were given; Major Anderson, in command at the fort, refused to evacuate; the assault began. On the morning of April 12, 1861, the first shot was fired. For thirty-four hours, from nineteen batteries, shot and shell were poured upon the walls. Then Major Anderson, being nearly out of ammunition and food and the fort in a state of ruin, lowered his flag and the firing ceased. Not a man had been killed on either side. On the 14th he left the fort with his men, carrying their flag with them.

Result of the Bombardment of Sumter.-President Davis, as Toombs had predicted, had committed the country decisively to war. Hitherto the general feeling in the North had favored peaceful measures. There had been a strong desire to meet the South half-way in its demands. But as the news of this act of war spread through the country a wide-spread revulsion of feeling took place. The United States flag had been fired upon! The stars and stripes had been dishonored! Excitement and indignation everywhere prevailed. A warlike passion suddenly blazed out. On all sides the government was called upon to avenge the insult to the flag.

Troops Called Out.-The President did not wait for the public demand. The moment the news of the fall of Sumter reached him he saw clearly that war could not be avoided, and on April 15 he issued a proclamation for seventy-five thousand troops to serve for three months. Few people then foresaw the magnitude of the coming conflict, and it was thought that a strong show of military force would quickly bring the threatened war to an end.