In 1860, the Republican Party on an antislavery platform nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. He ran against Douglas, a northern Democrat; John C. Breckinridge, a Southern pro-slavery Democrat; and John Bell, the nominee of the Constitutional Union Party. Because of this division in the Democratic ticket, Lincoln won becoming the 16th president, despite not getting the most popular votes. As a result of Lincoln's winning the election, South Carolina seceded from the Union on Dec. 20, 1860 by Inauguration Day seven states had seceded, and four more seceded after he issued a summons to the militia. The Civil War erupted when Fort Sumter was attacked on Apr. 12, 1861. On Sept. 22, 1862, 5 days after the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln announced that slaves in territory then in rebellion would be free Jan. 1, 1863, the date of the Emancipation Proclamation. It is usually said that Lincoln handled the many problems of the Civil War with skill. Besides handling the war, he faced......
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