 The maze before the War of Independence were a series of loosely connected communities strung along the Atlantic Sea Coast. The economy was cruel, communications were slow, education poor, and commerce. Under such conditions there were wide differences between the individual colonies. The first real sign of unity was the bold declaration of independence from colonial rule. But once independence had been won, the problem of establishing a government began. Some states wanted a strong national government, while others were reluctant to give up any part of their new one sovereignty. The Constitution represented a great compromise, leaving with the states and to the people all rights not specifically granted to the national government. The new Constitution had been clear on one point. True freedom derives its just powers from the consent of the government. This was a daring new experiment in government, and the people were proud and jealous of their rights as they set out to build their nation. In the early years of the new century, economic progress was slow. But the concept of free men working in a free society was a powerful inspiration. Yet all men were not free. The institution of slavery still remained as it remained in many other parts of the world. Many of the new settlers had to sell their freedom for a period of years in return for their passage. There were slaves too, yet the forward-looking men who established the new government recognized that slavery, as old as history, was coming to an end. As the 18th century drew to a close, slavery in the new world seemed doomed. The 13 new states had been built on a foundation of freedom. In the northwest territory, the vast new area to the west just opened for settlement, slavery was prohibited. And as the 19th century began, the importation of slaves to the new world was also banned. Louisiana purchased from France in 1803, added nearly a million square miles to the territory of the United States. And according to the term, slavery was to be permitted only where it already existed within the new territory. Or slavery was considered an outmoded institution, which in the near future would die away. Yet in most of the southern states where cheap farm labor was an economic necessity, slavery was not dying. The south as the century began was already largely a one-crop region, divided into huge plantations, all producing cotton for the growing world textile market. The cotton gin, a fateful invention, was largely responsible for the one-crop economy of the south. In the north, textile mills processed the cotton. Other centers of manufacturing sprang up to produce a largely industrial society, in contrast to the agricultural economy of the south. New regions were opening in the west as Americans and new arrivals from Europe sought fresh opportunities in virgin lands. The new frontier settlements were free of slavery and ambitious for expansion and economic development. As the century wore on, the developing cities of the frontier were being populated by farmers, merchants, and mechanics, who were settling in increasing numbers. They would form the group that was to become the backbone of a booming America, the small landowner. Through the first half of the 19th century, the plantation economy of the south flourished. The economic system, the educational system, and the culture of large rested in the hands of no more than 5,000 families. Relatively few people were slave owners. In the rough frontier towns of the Midwest, the situation was very different. Here, the economy rested on a broad base of simple, hard-working farmers and traders. It was an ideal spawning ground for the intellectual growth of a young man destined to become the giant of the century. Young Abe Lincoln was interested in history and law. He loved the land and saw a glorious future for a nation united without sectional differences and with a common goal. And yet the young Lincoln was slowly becoming aware of the problem that in the years ahead was to divide the land he loved. Could a nation dedicated to freedom countenance the existence of slavery? Could one section of that nation dictate the economic pattern of another section? Sooner or later, the problem must be squarely faced. Arguments over conflicting sectional interests grew more frequent. Heated debates arose over the question of tariffs. The North demanded high protective tariffs. The South considered high tariffs a direct attack upon their economy. When South Carolina threatened to secede, President Andrew Jackson himself a southerner took a strong stand for the Union. But this was only one of a long series of crises that were to erupt in the next 30 years. And behind the arguments and the impassioned oratory was the fundamental question of whether the rights of the people were best served by the sovereignty of the individual state or by the sovereignty of the Union. Daniel Webster of New England sounded a rallying cry when he said in Congress, It is, sir, the people's constitution, the people's government made for the people, made by the people, answerable to the people. In 1851, a new story appeared in print to inflame the emotions of the two sections. Uncle Tom's Capital, a book attacking the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery. The story appeared at a time when the problem of slavery and the debate over its continuation was reaching serious proportions. There was strong sentiment in many parts of the North for the abolition of slavery and equally strong pro-slavery sentiment in the South. An organized effort to help fugitive slaves escape to freedom had even been established and nicknamed the Underground Railroad. As new states were admitted to the Union, there was always controversy over whether they would permit or ban slavery. But by this time, pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces had begun to agitate in the territories and outbreaks of violence became frequent. Riots and fighting erupted in the western territory of Kansas, and more than 200 men and women were killed before the Free Soilers won out. In Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was beginning to attract attention with his strong but reasonable arguments for a united country. He was about to give up his law business to enter the political arena. His target was the Senate seat occupied by Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas, like Lincoln, was a moderate. But Lincoln disagreed that a strong union could exist when the nation was split on the question of slavery. A house divided against itself cannot stand, he said in his acceptance of the nomination. The campaign and the resulting Lincoln-Douglas debates attracted national attention. Douglas won the election, but Lincoln was building a powerful reputation. By 1859, the tides of impending strife were growing. John Brown, whose fanatical murders in Kansas had introduced him to history, believed he was commissioned by God to free the slaves. After a wild raid on the U.S. arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, he was captured, tried for treason, and hanged. Almost at once, he was hailed as a martyr by the anti-slavery forces, and his name was to become a battle cry. The year 1860 saw the surprise election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency. South Carolina saw in the election of Lincoln the doom of their doctrine of state's rights, and the state legislature voted to secede. News of the secession spread like a brush fire, and within 40 days, six other states followed the example of South Carolina. The new sovereign states, Meditman, Gummary, Alabama, deformed a confederacy and select Jefferson Davis, its first president. A fateful hour had struck. The house was divided. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas were no longer in the Union. In Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln said farewell to his home and prepared to go to Washington to take up the terrible burden of the presidency. In his farewell to his townspeople, he asked their blessing and the help of God to take him through the dark days he foresaw. He was destined never to see Springfield again. Lincoln took his oath of office with the unfinished dome of the new capital at his back. He made a final appeal for reconciliation and peace. Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? But it was 1861 and the loyalty of the people was divided. The great question had become not whether men should or should not own slaves, but whether the state or the national government had first claim on the honor and the duty of the individual. It was a soul-searching choice. Many a southerner opposed a slavery could not find it in his heart to bear arms against his mother state. Others remembered the Declaration of Independence and the dream of a great free nation and swore their allegiance to that ideal. It was to be a war of brother against brother. The South mustered its men. The aristocracy of the plantations was to join forces with the common farmer to fight for the cause they had chosen. They began the war with high hearts. Soon after the first shots were fired, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina joined the Confederacy, bringing the total of sea seating states to 11. The war had begun. There was no turning back. The Union forces were as confident as the Confederates. The first volunteers were called for only 90 days. Few dreamed they would be needed for any longer time. They drilled and waited impatiently for their chance to smash the rebels. But the military strength of the Confederacy was not to be taken lightly. The nation's greatest military leader, Robert E. Lee, had refused command of the Union Army because he could not bring himself to bear arms against his native state, Virginia. Now Lee and his lieutenants were to make the Southern armies among the most brilliantly led forces in history. Realizing most of the war would be fought on Southern soil, they had a determination that alone would have made them strong. The Union forces, hastily trained and likely disciplined at first, were further handicapped by indecisive leadership. They marched to their first campaign, however, sure of their strength and confident of a quick victory. But green troops were unpredictable. Unlike their opponents, many of these men came from shops and mills, had never handled a gun, knew nothing of the terrible shock of pitched battle. They learned overnight in their first battle with Confederate troops. Both sides fought hard and with valor. The tide turned against the raw Union troops. They broke and retreated, their forces shattered. The dreams of a short war were over. It was to be a bloody war. And through 1861 and 1862, the pattern of that first battle recurred again and again. The Confederate armies inflicted terrible losses on the men of the North. The Southern tide was rising. Through the first two years of the war, the battle raged over a wide area in the south and in the west. Names were finding their way into history. Names that spelled victory, defeat, gallant and disaster. Chickamauga, Seven Pines, the Peninsula, Fort Henry and Fort Donalcy, Highland number 10, Shiloh, New Orleans, Second Bull Run. The Army of Northern Virginia under General Lee had been forged into a fighting unit whose fame was spreading around the world. The hope the Confederacy lay in that fame. Without industry, the South needed help from abroad. All of Europe showed growing concern about the war. In Great Britain, some people hoping to trade in cotton sympathized with the South. But most Britons strongly opposed slavery and Great Britain did not intervene. As 1862 drew to a close, Lincoln took a step he had long considered. His first concern had always been to reunite North and South. But his strong disapproval of slavery as an institution could no longer remain unexpressed. With his emancipation proclamation, Lincoln made his stand clear to the world and served notice that this was not merely a struggle to suppress rebellion. As it moved into 1863, had developed a pattern. The South defending their own soil, one victory after victory. People were beginning to lay the blame on faulty Union generalship. Lincoln, in a desperate search for a commander, changed generals again and again. Now as the summer of 63 began, Lee was about to invade the North. The Union army met the Southern onslaught in Gettysburg, in one of the decisive battles of world history. At last, the Southern army was forced to retreat. Gettysburg was the high water mark of the Confederacy. With their defeat in that battle, the fate of the Southern cause was sealed. Speaking at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, Lincoln uttered immortal words. From these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and the government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth. By 1864, the tide had turned, but the war was far from over. Lincoln, up for reelection, was being attacked on all sides. Men were talking of peace and blaming the president for not having ended the war. So bitter were the attacks, so strong the feeling of discouragement that Lincoln himself despaired of reelection and privately conceded that McClellan, one of his ousted generals, would be his successor. The issue lay in the hands of the people of the nation. The people who Lincoln believed were the only valid source of government. The people expressed their will. Lincoln, re-elected, said at his second inauguration, fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. As the people listened, they heard a plea for compassion, as Lincoln said, with malice toward none, with charity for all. The war continued to its inevitable future. Lincoln had found his general in Ulysses S. Grant. The final phase of the war was the bloodiest of all. Using his superior manpower, Grant fought unrelentingly. The world had never before seen such savage and bloody warfare. The casualty toll mounted day by day, and the South knew more of the terrible destruction and desolation of war than Americans had ever known. But at long last the slaughter ended. Richmond, the Confederate capital, fell, and Lee's army, starving and exhausted, was surrounded. Grant set a simple message. General, the result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, with heavy heart Lee consented to listen to surrender terms. Long war was over. After four years of fighting, the man in the ranks could look forward to a life of his own, an end to long, exhausting marches, an end to dreary waiting, an end to separation from home, an end to killing and being killed. At Appomattox Courthouse, Grant gave Lee generous terms. They met a defeated and a victorious general, two Americans who recognized the aching need for reconciliation among all Americans, too long divided by hatred. But hatred was still abroad in the land. And like the third act of a great tragedy, there was one more scene to be played. On the night of April 14, 1865, just five days after Lee's surrender, Abraham Lincoln went to Ford's Theater in Washington to see the performance of a popular comedy. As he watched the stage, the unguarded door of the presidential box was opened. But everyone saw the half-crazed actor leap from the box in escape. Before dawn, the president was dead. The nation mourned the leader who had brought them through the greatest crisis in their history, only to die at the moment of victory. As the funeral train crawled through a breeding countryside, bringing the dead president back at last to his home in Springfield, every person along the way must have echoed the quiet eulogy spoken at the deathbed. Now, he belongs to the ages. Then the war had ended, the Southleigh prostrate, as devastated as any land after a war could be. Its currency was ruined, its crops spoiled, what industry it had wrecked. And among the ruins, as always, there was bitterness and the acid taste of defeat. Among the victors, some wanted the South punished and treated as a conquered province. Others wanted to follow the plans of Lincoln and reunite the Confederate states with the Union as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Rebuilding the ruined economy of a nation is a painful and exhausting job. But it's no more than a job, and the relief of hard, honest labor after the destructiveness of war can be a healthy occupation. Rebuilding the Union and settling the differences that had existed from its very birth was another matter. The recovery and industrial development of the South was to take some 50 years. The assimilation into a free society of the liberated Negro would take a far longer time and would engage the minds of men of goodwill in both North and South, even to the present day. As the nation bound up its wounds, it could look forward to a bright future as a strong, united country. And it could look back, too, with pride at the spiritual source of its new one strength, the compassionate words of its wartime president, with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, to strive on to finish the work we are in, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.