ABSTRACT
Following the gentlemanly laws of nineteenth century warfare they were informed an hour earlier when the Confederate batteries would open fire. This was the opening of the American Civil War, a conflict that would cost the lives of as many as eight hundred and fifty thousand people and fundamentally changed the United States of America. The 1860 presidential election was a bitter four way fight that put a new political party in the White House within six years of its formation. The role of the central government is probably the most often cited reason for the Civil War given by those trying to avoid the slavery issue. No abolition society existed south of Virginia and no serious anti-slavery legislation was mentioned in the Deep South. The abolitionist movement faced a number of setbacks in the days of the early Republic. Race, of course, was also an important part of the proslavery argument.
