When Lincoln was president, seven states had seceded from the Union to become the Confederate States of America. They took control of all forts and other government property in these areas, but two they were not able to immediately acquire--Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Fort Pickens in Florida.
John J. Critenden of Kentucky attempted to draw up a compromise know as the Critenden Compromise. Its provisions were that slavery would be permitted in the Confederate States and that the boundaries set forth by the Missouri Compromise would be reestablished (to the north slavery would be prohibited and to the south it would be permitted). …
