ntion, which met
at Chicago, nominated him as its candidate for President, and a few months
later he was elected to that office.

The agitation over slavery was growing more and more bitter, and when
Lincoln was elected some of the Southern States threatened to go out of
the Union. They claimed that it was their right to decide for themselves
whether they should secede. On the other hand, the North declared that no
State could secede without the consent of the other States.

Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern States had carried
out their threat to secede, calling themselves the Confederate States of
America.[A] The excitement everywhere was intense. Many people regretted
that a man of larger experience than Lincoln had not been chosen to be at
the head of the government. They were anxious lest this plain man of the
people, this awkward backwoodsman, should not be able to lead the nation
in those dark and troubled days. But, little as they trusted him, he was
well fitted for the work that lay before him.

[A] Jefferson Davis was chosen president and Alexander H. Stephens
vice-president. The seven cotton States hoped that they would
be joined by the other eight slave States, but only four of
these eight seceded. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and
Missouri remained loyal to the Union.

His inauguration was but a few weeks over when the Civil War began. We
cannot here pause for full accounts of all Lincoln's trials and
difficulties in this fearful struggle. During those four fateful years,
1861-1865, his burdens were almost overwhelming. But, like Washington, he
believed that "right makes might" and must prevail, and this belief
sustained him.

Although his whole nature revolted against slavery, he had no power to do
away with it in the States where it existed, for by his office he was
sworn to defend the Constitution. "My great purpose," he said, "is to save
the Union, and not to destroy slavery."

But as the war went on he became certain that the slaves, by remaining on
the plantations and producing food for the Southern soldiers, were aiding
the Southern cause. He therefore determined to set the slaves free in all
the territory where people were fighting to break up the Union, just as
far as it was conquered by Union troops. "As commander-in-chief of the
Union armies," he reasoned, "I have a right to do this as a war measure."
The famous state paper in which Linc