The election of 1860 reflected the increasingly bitter and sectional conflict between Northerners and Southerners. Lincoln emerged from a new political party, the Republicans. His party elected him because his only real competitor was William Seward, governor of New York and he was viewed as too radical on the issues of slavery. Lincoln personally condemned slavery but otherwise viewed the issue as states rights versus national rights. Lincoln was opposed to

The Confederate States of America named Jefferson Davis as their president. Most people, including Lincoln, believed that southern unionism would eventually fail and the seceded states would rejoin the Union on their own. Furthermore, Lincoln worried that if he reacted too harshly to the secession of these seven states, the other slave states would secede as well. In the meantime, South Carolina began to resent the federal troops that guarded arsenals in Charleston harbor. Fort Sumter was lost and now a possession of the confederates. Lincoln realized he might be faced with more than a small insurrection. News of Sumter's surrender solidified Unionist support in the North, and as Lincoln had feared, many of the slave states that had remained in the Union to this point now seceded. Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, Delaware, and most of Virginia (the Unionist districts in northwest Virginia broke off to form their own Union state, West Virginia.

But, originally the Emancipation Proclamation was only a wartime condition. Louisiana and Arkansas would have reestablished slavery if Lincoln didn't stop them. Lincoln began pushing for the 13th Amendment, which would abolish slavery everywhere in America making America the ideal model for democracy across the globe. He received support in congress from Radical Republican's Stevens and Sumner and had support from a wide array of abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison to Frederick Douglas who was the first black invited to the White House until the 20th century. Years later Douglas wrote, "In all my interviews with Mr. Lincoln I was impressed with his entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race." The 13th Amendment was passed and ratified. Lincoln became America's symbol of freedom. But the passage of the 13th Amendment exemplifies a leaders acknowledgment of what is best for humanity. He acts as a servant to humanity and enacts legislation that is moral and just. Thus, Lincoln gains the new nickname the "Great Emancipator". This was a true moment of development as a president and as a humanitarian.

There was no doubt that Lincoln would have to capitalize on the unions better resources in order to assert union dominance. From early on, Lincoln assumed a very hands on roll in the wartime decisions. He announced to congress that he would have full emergency powers and he would be able to exercise powers usually reserved for the legislative branch of the government. He had no military experience so he began reading military strategy manuals when he had any free time. He appointed George McClellan as the head of his army and called for the conscription of 100,000 soldiers under three year terms. Jefferson Davis called only for 1-year enlistments, a mistake that would cost him later. McClellan constructed a powerful and well-trained army that far outnumbered that of his opponents; he refused to take the offensive, claiming that he was not yet fully prepared. He was very strong-minded but did not show the president his due respect. He was quoted as calling Lincoln a "baboon" and "a well-meaning baboon." Lincoln, losing political favor with each day of inaction, begged McClellan to take his army into battle. He was taking tremendous heat from the press for keeping the extremely hesitant McClellan. Lincoln told the press he would keep McClellan if he paid off in the battlefield. Lincoln pushed for full-blown frontal assaults and McClellan wasn't providing them. He inspired such dedication among his troops that even when he failed to produce victory, they remained dedicated to him and fiercely opposed to any attempt by Lincoln to replace him. Despite McClellan ineptness, the Union was scoring victories to the West with U.S. Grant in command. Grant proposed to cross the Mississippi south of Vicksburg; once on dry land he would march north to attack the city from the inland side. Eventually the Union gained control of the entire Mississippi.

Lincoln knew that

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Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)