Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
President-elect Lincoln continues trying to assure southerners that he will not interfere with the affairs within their states, at the same time downplaying the notion that the South might actually leave the Union.
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln end their Chicago trip and head back home to Springfield.
President James Buchanan got an alarming request from Major Robert Anderson to send military reinforcements for the Federal garrison in Charleston Harbor.
Abraham Lincoln meets his vice president-elect for the first time as they discuss organizing the incoming administration in Chicago.
As the secession frenzy intensified in Georgia, it began rapidly spreading into other southern states as well.
President James Buchanan looked to his cabinet for advice on the secession crisis, but like the country itself, the cabinet was hopelessly divided.