LINCOLN 



3441 



LINCOLN 



that "in the history of our government, down to 

 this hour, no experiment so rash has ever been 

 made as that of elevating to the head of affairs 

 a man with so little previous preparation for 

 his task as Mr. Lincoln." And Wendell Phil- 

 lips asked, "Who is this huckster in politics? 

 Who is this country advocate?" Lincoln de- 

 clined to make an active canvass, a course 

 which was justified by the result. Lincoln and 

 Douglas divided almost the entire vote of the 



North, Breckinridge and Bell almost the whole 

 of the South. For the first time since the 

 founding of the republic a President was 

 elected without an electoral vote from a slave 

 state. Lincoln had 180 electoral votes to 72 

 for Breckinridge, 39 for Bell and 12 for Doug- 

 las. The popular vote was 1,866,452 for Lin- 

 coln, 1,375,157 for Douglas, 847,953 for Breck- 

 inridge and 590,631 for Bell. Lincoln was nearly 

 a million short of a majority. 



The Administration of Lincoln 



The Crisis. The events between Lincoln's 

 election and his inauguration were the open- 

 ing steps in the War of Secession (which see). 

 In October South Carolina had sent circulars 

 to the governors of the other Southern states, 

 and in November, immediately after the elec- 

 tion, herself seceded. It was the purpose of 

 the Southern leaders to confront Lincoln, at 

 his inauguration, with a confederacy in actual 

 existence. On February 8, 1861, a constitution 

 was adopted by delegates at Montgomery, 

 Ala., and on the following day Jefferson Davis 

 was elected President. On February 9 Lincoln 

 started from Springfield, 111., for Washington. 

 He made frequent speeches on the way until 

 he reached Harrisburg, Pa., where his plans 

 were suddenly changed by evidence of a plot 

 to assassinate him in Baltimore. The re- 

 mainder of the trip Lincoln made hurriedly 

 and in secret, reaching Washington on the 

 morning of February 23. In spite of some 

 threats and fears, the inauguration passed with- 

 out disturbance. Seated near Lincoln on the 

 platform were James Buchanan and Stephen 

 A. Douglas, and the oath of office was admin- 

 istered by Chief Justice Taney, the author of 

 the Dred Scott decision. 



On the day following his inauguration Lin- 

 coln learned that Fort Sumter must soon fall if 

 not reenforced. Notice was sent to General 

 Beauregard, then commanding the Confederate 

 forces before the fort, that provisions would 

 be sent to the besieged, if possible. On April 

 11 Beauregard demanded the surrender of the 

 fort, which was abandoned after a slight bom- 

 bardment. The capture of Fort Sumter was 

 the beginning of war, and filled both North 

 and South with excitement. The military 

 events of the next four years are given in de- 

 tail elsewhere (see WAR OF SECESSION), and 

 they will be mentioned here only incidentally. 



The Lincoln Cabinet comprised chiefly de- 

 feated candidates for the Republican nomina- 



216 



tion for President. William H. Seward, as 

 Secretary of State; Salmon R. Chase, Secretary 

 of the Treasury; Simon Cameron, Secretary of 

 War; and Edward Bates, Attorney-General, 

 were its leading members. The variety of 

 views held by these men added to the strain 

 on Lincoln. 



During the next four years the one thing 

 uppermost in the minds of the people of the 

 United States was war. The conduct of the 

 government was subordinated to one purpose, 

 the successful prosecution of the war. The 

 Battle of Bull Run, on July 21, 1861, was the 

 first great shock which Lincoln and the North 

 had to endure. The Federal army not merely 

 failed in its attack, but was defeated and 

 hurled back to the Potomac. The North was 

 in despair; the South, all confidence and joy. 

 After the battle General McClellan was given 

 command of the Army of the Potomac, and 

 while McClellan drilled the army Lincoln kept 

 up the fight for the conciliation of the border 

 states and the solidarity of the North. In the 

 late summer of 1861 Lincoln was troubled by 

 the action of General Fremont, who crowned 

 his exploits in Missouri by a proclamation con- 

 fiscating property and liberating slaves. This 

 action the President disapproved; he would 

 permit no step toward emancipation, except for 

 those who were doing military service in the 

 Confederate armies. 



Mason and Slidell Incident. Another epi- 

 sode which threatened serious trouble was the 

 Mason and Slidell episode. Mason and Slidell 

 were Confederate envoys to Great Britain and 

 France, respectively. They ran the blockade 

 at Charleston, went to Havana, and sailed from 

 there on the British steamer Trent. Captain 

 Wilkes, of the United States sloop San Jacinto, 

 took the envoys off the Trent, to the intense 

 joy of the North. But the British government 

 demanded an apology and the release of the 

 two men, and made preparations for war. As 



