Politics of the War: 1861–1865

Politics of the War: 1861–1865 — page 1
4 Politics of the War Introduction While the fighting went on politics in the North continued much as normal The Republicans and the Democrats vied for power In the South on the other hand political parties were banned At the heart of the Civil War was a political question what should happen about slavery When war began however few politicians mentioned slavery In the North President Abraham Lincoln said that he was fighting to hold together the Union In the South Confederate politicians said that the war was necessary to uphold the rights of the states Lincoln came from the new Republican Party which opposed any spread of slavery The party was barely seven years old when the Civil War began Thanks partly to the North’s victory in the war it would dominate U S politics for some 70 years Lincoln managed to gather people with a range of political opinions and get them to work together for the Union cause Confederate Vice President Alexander H Stephens spent much of the war criticizing President Jefferson Davis