The practical maintenance of slavery was requiring an expansion of federal power and Southern "slave states", while advocating states rights, demanded federal intervention in support of slavery. ... Therefore his election victory created a crisis, as many southern Democrats feared that it would be only a matter of time before Lincoln would move to kill slavery in the South. ... This meant that Lincoln, even before being sworn in as president, was faced with the rebellion of 7 southern states who left the Union to form the Confederate States of America, and later four more who joined as host...

• Word Count: 1215
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

He eventually raised an army and navy of nearly 3 million northern men to face a southern army of over 2 million soldiers. In battles fought from Virginia to California (but mainly in Virginia, in the Mississippi River Valley, and along the border states) a great civil war tore the United States apart. ...

• Word Count: 627
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy. ... The main debate between the North and the South on the eve of the war was whether slavery should be permitted in the Western territories recently acquired during the Mexican War (1846-1848), including New Mexico, part of California, and Utah. ...

• Word Count: 748
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate