Changes

==Beginnings==

==Beginnings==

Seven southern states seceded from the [[United States of America]] over the winter of 1860-61 and joined together as the "Confederate States of America" to protect their sovereignty and economic status.  They saw that the antislavery forces in the North were gaining strength, typified by the election as president of [[Abraham Lincoln]] in 1860. The political future for slavery and for Southern commerce was bleak, as the South was losing relative strength in Congress.  Arguing that their Constitutional [[states' rights]] protected the extension of slavery into America's western territories, they saw that issue rejected in the North. The Union government rejected the claims that a state had a right to secede.

Seven southern states seceded from the [[United States of America]] over the winter of 1860-61 and joined together as the "Confederate States of America" to protect their slaveholding interests.  They saw that the antislavery forces in the North were gaining strength, typified by the election as president of [[Abraham Lincoln]] in 1860. The political future for slavery and for Southern commerce was bleak, as the South was losing relative strength in Congress.  Arguing that their Constitutional [[states' rights]] protected the extension of slavery into America's western territories, they saw that issue rejected in the North. The Union government rejected the claims that a state had a right to secede.

When fighting began in April Lincoln called on all states to send troops; at this point four more states broke away and joined the Confederacy, Virginia, North Cariolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.

When fighting began in April Lincoln called on all states to send troops; at this point four more states broke away and joined the Confederacy, Virginia, North Cariolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.