United Again
In 1858, three years before he became President, Abraham Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all states, old as well as new, North as well as South".
Although Lincoln was personally opposed to slavery, he did not campaign for its abolition when running for President because he recognized at that time that the South had the Constitutional right to slavery. But he did campaign against the spread of slavery to the western territories, which angered the southern slave states. Southern radicals threatened to withdraw from the Union if Lincoln was elected. At his inaugural address, President Lincoln denied that he had any intention of interfering with slavery in states protected by the Constitution. But two weeks after his inauguration on March 4, 1861, ten of the southern states seceded, declared the Union dissolved, and formed a new government which they called the Confederate States of America. They seized Federal Forts within their boundaries. President Lincoln became the instrument to lead the nation in resolution of his own prediction.
The Civil War was a struggle between two entirely different ways of life. From the nation's beginning there were big differences between North and South in climate, land, natural resources, life styles and ways of thinking. The North had developed into cities and industries, the South into farms, agriculture and great plantations.
Armed conflict started in April 1861. Families broke apart. Brother fought brother and fathers fought sons as political convictions overcame the strength of family ties. Each side fought bravely and well for what they believed was right. When the war was over, 525,000 men had been killed in action or died of wounds, disease or starvation. It was the greatest loss of lives of any war in American history, more than World War I and II combined. Many parts of the beautiful South were left desolate, many fine homes destroyed, trade and agriculture were nearly destroyed.
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his southern army to General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of William McLean's house at Appomattox, Virginia. General Grant arrived half an hour after General Lee, walked into the parlor, and they shook hands. This dramatic moment marked the end of four years of bitter warfare. Many in the North wanted to punish the southern rebels for leaving the union, but President Lincoln questioned whether they had ever left. Under his guidance, surrender terms were very lenient. Soldiers of the South were to simply lay down their arms and go home. General Lee asked General Grant if the men could keep their horses, they would be needed for spring plowing. General Grant agreed. But bitterness between North and South lingered on for many years.