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June 1861 West Virginia is born
Residents of the western counties of Virginia did not wish to secede along with the rest of the state. This section of Virginia was admitted into the Union as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863.Despite their acceptance of slavery. Southern victory and a chaotic retreat toward Washington by federal troops. -
March 4 1861 Lincoln is president
Lincoln And Douglas held series of debates about the expansion of slavery. Lincoln argued that slavery shouldn’t be expanded. Douglas argued that voter in each territory should decide the slavery issue for themselves. -
April 12, 1861 Fort Sumter
March 5, 1861day after his inauguration as president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln received a message from Maj. Robert Anderson. Commander of the U.S. troops holding Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The message stated that there was less than a six week supply of food left in the fort -
April 14, 1861 Lincoln calls out the Militia
The secession crisis in the winter of 1860–1861 forced all Americans to make decisions about their nation's future. Central to American identity as a result of its role in founding the United States, Virginia played a critical role during that crisis. States in the lower South began seceding from the Union in December 1860, but Virginia, with the most diversified economy and the largest population of the slave states, remained part of the Union. -
June 1861 -- Four Slave States Stay in the Union.
Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri did not join the Confederacy. Although divided in their loyalties, a combination of political maneuvering and Union military pressure kept these states from seceding. Fort Sumter eventually was surrendered to South Carolina -
1861 Choosing sides
In 1861, Americans were preoccupied by the question of which states would join the secession movement and which would remain loyal to the Union. Virginia was already a confederate state, however, the western part of the state, whose sympathies lie with the Union, had not yet broken away from the rest of the state to form West Virginia. Missouri had declared that she would remain an armed and neutral state. -
Advantages of the North
The primary advantage that the North had over the South was manufacturing capability. The North had already had an industrial revolution and had the ability to produce better weapons and more weapons. Obviously, this was a huge advantage for the North! The South was still dependent on slavery and this hindered their ability to industrialize. -
Advantages of the South
During the first part of the 1800's the North and the South grew in different ways. In the North, cities were centers of wealth and manufacturing. There were many skilled workers. -
Anaconda Plan
Anaconda Plan
The first military strategy offered to President Abraham Lincoln for crushing the rebellion of Southern states was devised by Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott. From April 1 through early May 1861 Scott briefed the president daily, often in person, on the national military situation; the results of these briefings were used by Scott to work out Union military aims. About 3 May Scott told his protégé, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, that he believed an effective "Blockade" of -
King Cotton
It is impossible to overstate the importance of cotton to the South during the antebellum period, or its contribution to the chain of events that resulted in the Civil War. As the major export of the South – perhaps the United States – cotton economically supported the South. As a crop that required extensive labor, cotton’s role in the slavery culture that grew in the South loomed large
