The Great Conspiracy, Volume 2

This volume traces the consolidation of a Southern secession movement after the 1860 election, recounting intense congressional debates, defiant speeches by Southern legislators, and the resignations of federal officers. It documents state secession conventions and gubernatorial proclamations, efforts to seize federal forts and munitions—including attacks on relief vessels and demands for surrender—and divisions within the presidential cabinet and administration. It follows proposals for peaceful compromise and their rejection, plotted attempts to obstruct inauguration and occupy the national capital, and the rapid arming and mobilization that converted political crisis into open rebellion.