Click on the link, below, to each section of the essay.

1. Social Upheaval – A discussion of the social and political changes affecting the United States of the 19th century.

2. The Nation Fractures – A chronology of the major events leading up to the 1860 election, from the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions to the John Brown raid.

3. Election and Secession – The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the secession of South Carolina.

4. "Shall It Be Peace, or a Sword?" – The political and military crisis that developed from December, 1860 through to the "point of no return", the firing on Fort Sumter in April, 1861.

A. References – A list of references used to write the essay.