and always considered that the states in rebellion were part of the Union even when unrepresented in Congress, and in arms against her powers.

219. We are now about to enter upon the history of the War of Secession. The

causes of this war will

be apparent to the student who carefully considers the events unfolded in preceding chapters of this book. The election of Lincoln was the occasion, not the cause, of the rupture between the North and the South. Many things contributed to array the two sections in rivalry against each other, and to develop in each interests, opinions, politics, customs, and institutions antagonistic to those of the other. Climate fostered this diversity. The laws of migra tion favored it. Long ago the manufacturing interests of New England came in conflict with the agricultural interests of the South; hence the bitter opposition of the South to the tariff.

William H. Seward.

Slavery, as we have seen, existed for a time in all the colonies. In the North, it was gradually given up, partly because slave labor could not be profitably employed, partly because of conscientious scruples. Many of the people in the South thought slavery to be the proper condition of the black man. The culture of the great southern staples-tobacco, rice, sugar-cane, and especially cotton-made the employment of slave labor exceeding

219. State the causes of the civil war.

ly profitable. It was, indeed, the chief means of wealth. The Calhoun doctrine of state rights grew with the growth of the Southerners, and was bone of their bone. They honestly believed that they owed allegiance first to their own state, then to the United States. The principle of absolute state rights applied to the maintenance of slavery led to disunion.

From the time of the adoption of the Federal Constitution forward the subject of slavery was agitated. After the War of 1812, it became a subject of very frequent discussion, especially by the political press. The Missouri Compromise was thought to have averted disunion. The annexation of Texas and the Mexican war were events mainly growing out of slavery. The debate on the admission of California to the Union without slavery almost led to war; that on the admission of Kansas did bring local war. In the presidential campaign of 1856, the two great political parties were definitely opposed to each other on the slavery question. The tide of emigration from Europe to the North gave that section the ascendency; and the South could not compete with her in settling new territories. The slave states saw the growing preponderance of the free states, and knew that if they did not stop or equal such rapid growth, their power at Washington, and the institution of slavery at home would be in danger of extinction.

The Kansas war, the John Brown raid, the split of the Democratic party, the triumph of the Republicans, only served to fan into full blaze a fire that had been smoldering for years. The South, anticipating war, had prepared for it. During Buchanan's administration, the southern leaders had seized nearly all the custom-houses, forts, arsenals, ships, and army stores within their borders. They had also organized and trained their militia for action. A large quantity of arms and munitions had been quietly collected for the probable emergency of war.

The Secessionists saw the vast importance of securing

What preparation had the South made for probable war?

OF THE

Virginia, and the other slave states which had not yet thrown off allegiance to the Union, as members of the Southern Confederacy. Something had to be done to prehostilities.

cipitate

"I will tell you," said Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia, in a speech at Charleston, "what will put Virginia in the Southern Confederacy in less than an hour-strike a blow! The very moment that blood is shed, Virginia will make common cause with her sisters of the South. It is impossible that she should do otherwise." South Carolina had initiated disunion, and therefore it was fit that

Jefferson Davis.

she should strike the first blow of the war. On April 10th, 1861, P. G. T. Beauregard (bō're-gard'), general commanding at Charleston, received orders from the Confederate Secretary of War to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter, and, in case of refusal, to reduce it.

Sumter was one of the few southern posts which had not yet been seized by the Confederates. It was under command of Major Robert Anderson. The surrender of the fort was demanded on the 11th, and declined. Again, on the same day, Beauregard made another demand, to which Major Anderson replied, that, if unmolested, he

What state struck the first blow in the war? What occurred at Charleston, April 10, 1861? Who was Beauregard? Where is Fort Sumter? Who was in command of it at this time? What did Beauregard do on the 11th? How did Anderson reply? What message did Anderson receive or the 12th?

would evacuate the fort at noon on the 15th, should he not receive, prior to that time, controlling instructions. from his government or additional supplies. A peaceful departure was not what was thought politic. The Confederates wished to commit themselves, and at twenty minutes past three o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1861, Major Anderson was notified that fire would be opened on the fort in an hour.

GENERAL QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS.

Of

Of

Prepare a chronological table of the dated events given in this chapter. Compile a sketch of the life of Fillmore. Of Pierce. Of J. P. Hale. Douglas. Of Buchanan. Of John Brown. Of Lincoln. Of Davis. Seward. Of A. H. Stephens. Give the history of the Federalist party. Of the Whig party. Of the Democratic party to the time of the Charleston convention. Of the Free-soil party. Give the history of slavery in the

CHAPTER FIFTEENTH.

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR OF SECESSION TO THE PRESENT TIME.

1861-1872.

A

T twenty minutes past four o'clock on the morning of April 12, 1861, the first shot of the Civil War in America crashed against the solid granite wall of Fort Sumter. It was fired by Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, a white-haired old man who had been a personal and political friend of Calhoun. The bombardment was continued, without intermission, for twelve hours, the garrison steadily returning the fire. At dark the firing from the fort almost ceased, but it was renewed early the next morning. Beauregard's batteries kept playing all night. The buildings in the fort were ignited by red-hot balls showered upon them, and the ammunition was in so much danger that all the powder but four barrels was thrown into the sea. Deprived of the means of defense, and unable to quench the spreading flames, Major Anderson at length displayed a signal of distress, and soon afterwards surrendered. No lives were lost on either side.

QUESTIONS.-220. Describe the bombardment of Fort Sumter. When did it occur?