With the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the Civil War began Many in both the North and the South believed that a short, decisive confrontation in 1861 would settle the question of the Confederacy.

The election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860 proved to be a watershed event. While it did not cause the Civil War, it was the culmination of increasing tensions between the proslavery South and the antislavery North.

Fort Sumter — a fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, where the Union garrison came under siege by Confederate forces in an attack on April 12, 1861, beginning the Civil War. Confederacy — the new nation formed by the seceding southern states, also known as the Confederate States of America (CSA). habeas corpus — the right of those arrested to be brought before a judge or court to determine whether there is cause to hold the prisoner. Crittenden Compromise — a compromise, suggested by Kentucky senator John Crittenden, that would restore the 36°30′ line from the Missouri Compromise and extend it to the Pacific Ocean, allowing slavery….