Lincoln argued with great power
against the spread of slavery into the new States, and although he lost
the election, he won such favorable notice that two years later a greater
honor came to him. In 1860, the Republican National Convention, which met
at Chicago, nominated him as its candidate for President, and a few months
later he was elected to that office.
The agitation over slavery was growing more and more bitter, and when
Lincoln was elected some of the Southern States threatened to go out of
the Union. They claimed that it was their right to decide for themselves
whether they should secede. On the other hand, the North declared that no
State could secede without the consent of the other States.
Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern States had carried
out their threat to secede, calling themselves the Confederate States of
America.[A] The excitement everywhere was intense. Many people regretted
that a man of larger experience than Lincoln had not been chosen to be at
the head of the government. They were anxious lest this plain man of the
people, this awkward backwoodsman, should not be able to lead the nation
in those dark and troubled days.
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