DK - The American Civil War

LINCOLN PREVAILS

Lincoln’s second inaugural address, on

March 4, 1865, stressed that Reconstruction

of the defeated Confederacy should be

undertaken with national healing in mind.

LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION

President Lincoln served only four months

of his second term. On April 14, just days

after Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Grant

at Appomattox 316–17 ❯❯, Lincoln was

assassinated 320–21 ❯❯. Eight months

later, on December 18, 1865, the 13th

Amendment to the Constitution 308–309

❯❯, abolishing slavery in the United States, was

officially enacted.

more attractive as the man
to bring the fighting to an
end in a manner that would
satisfy both South and North.
In August, the Democrats
held a convention in Chicago.
They, too, were divided over
the war. The more moderate
Peace Democrats advocated
a negotiated peace on terms
favorable to the Union, while
the Copperheads declared the
war a fiasco that should be
immediately terminated. The
convention sought to bridge
the divide by nominating McClellan,
a pro-war moderate, while adopting
a sweeping peace platform—which
McClellan deplored.

A two-horse race
Frémont saw the Democratic platform
as tantamount to “Union with Slavery,”
and withdrew his candidacy. Winning
the war was, to him, more important

than winning the presidency. That left

Lincoln and McClellan to battle it out.

Across the North, campaign ribbons and

bunting vied with fall leaves for color.

People sported their candidates’ badges;

broadsides (newspaper bulletins) and

cartoons endorsed one nominee and

decried the other. In camps and trenches,

troops of both North and South huddled

around grimy newspapers. Depending

on the camp or trench, the

news of General William T.

Sherman’s taking of Atlanta

or General Philip Sheridan’s

clearing of the Shenandoah

Valley was met with either

cheers or curses. As the tide

of Union victories planned by

Grant finally rolled in, it began crushing

the hopes of the Confederacy. November

8 was Election Day. After the ballots

were counted, Lincoln had won by

over 400,000 votes, securing an

overwhelming majority in the Electoral

College. His soldiers had given him over

70 percent of their support. For the

president and his commanding general,

the scent of victory was in the fall air.

AFTER

An anti-McClellan broadside

To the left, Lincoln stands for “Union and

Liberty,” shaking hands with free labor.

To the right, McClellan, personifies “Union

and Slavery,” shaking hands with Jefferson

Davis, a slave auction in the background.

Grant at the White House

Peter Rothermel’s 1867 painting The Republican

Court in the Days of Lincoln depicts the reception

at which Lincoln welcomed Grant to Washington

as the army’s new general-in-chief. It still hangs in

the White House.

LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURATION

“God gave us Lincoln and

Liberty, let us fight for both.”

ULYSSES S. GRANT, IN A TOAST DURING THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN, FEBRUARY 22, 1863