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THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Secession
When Lincoln came into office he found a disordered government. Six Southern states had seceded and elected Jefferson Davis President. They had taken possession of the United States Treasury at New Orleans, robbing the government of five hundred thousand dollars. Major Anderson had been bottled up at Fort Sumter and a vessel sent to his aid had been fired on by the rebels.
Sedition was rife everywhere. The Southern States had armed troops with guns taken from the government during Buchanan's administration.
On April 14, 1861, Fort Sumter was captured by the Confederates and on the next day President Lincoln called for the enlistment of seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend Washington.
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