ABSTRACT
In Charleston, South Carolina, the news of Lincoln’s election was met with great rejoicing and “long continued cheering for a Southern Confederacy.” January of 1861 came without hope, and with little possibility of the cessation of unrest. Occasionally the newspapers scoffed at the recommendation of the Richmond Inquirer that an armed force proceeding from Virginia or Maryland should invade the District of Columbia and prevent the peaceful inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, dismissing it as the “exaggeration of political rhetoric.” “Since the election of Lincoln most of the leading Northern Abolition papers have essayed the herculean task of reconciling the Southern People to his Presidential rule,” observed the New Orleans Daily Crescent. The home folks whom Lincoln had bade an affectionate farewell three weeks before were among the most anxious of the unseen audiences. Whereas they spoke only for themselves at the time of the tearful departure, they were now ready to speak for the nation.
