9781422278956

The Politics of the Civil War

United States; people looked at the Roman and British Empires and wondered why the United States had so singularly failed to remain a cohesive unit. What seemed to be the answer was the fact that most of the rest of the world had abolished slavery, or had at least restricted it, but the United States had expanded it instead. Buchanan’s ditherings in the last months of his presidency had not helped; in fact he had OPPOSITE: President Lincoln (left) and General George B. McClellan in the general’s tent during the Battle of Antietam in 1862. ABOVE: President Abraham Lincoln (1809–65), the 16th president of the United States. RIGHT : James Buchanan.

failed to act as the Southern states threatened secession before taking the ultimate step. Few truly believed that Abraham Lincoln was up to the job and many

hope the Union would survive. Disastrous defeats piled huge pressure on him as each successive commanding general failed him in the field. But as this was happening, the political system continued to operate. There were congressional, state and local elections in 1862 and a

thought he would follow Buchanan in his failure.

In the early months of the Civil War all Lincoln could do was

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