Chapter 14 Summary In spite of political leaders' last-minute efforts to find a compromise over slavery that would preserve the Union, the election of Lincoln, followed by the secession of six southern states, pushed the country into war. The North had twice the resources of the South, and the...

"I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me." Abraham Lincoln to Albert G. Hodges April 4, 1864 (Donald page1) Abraham Lincolns only motive when he first took office, as president on February 23, 1861, was to preserve the broken Union. He ...