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EDUCATION
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A nation divided
Secession
Headline in the Charleston Mercury the
day after South Carolina seceded. |
The election of Abraham Lincoln signaled the end of the Union. Within weeks of the election, South Carolina seceded, or left, the Union. South Carolina was soon followed by Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. Together they formed the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as their President. Many southerners believed that the states had freely joined the Union and could freely leave it.
In Lincoln's first inaugural address he suggested he would not interfere with slavery in the states, but he wanted to hold the Union together. Lincoln and many northerners believed that the United States was one nation and could not be separated or divided. Lincoln would oppose all attempts at secession, but believed there was no need for bloodshed. "We must not be enemies," he said.
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