Lincoln & America's Social Revolution James McPherson,

Having defined "revolution" in a number of ways, McPherson makes clear that dramatic and often sudden political change is indeed one form of revolution. Therefore, the election of Abraham Lincoln himself is the first way in which the Civil War era can be considered as such. Southern Democrats had dominated the national government for two generations. With sectional differences at an all time high, Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, put a halt to the Democrats' election streak. Before Lincoln was even elected, seven southern states had seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy (McPherson 28). This major political power shift indicated an air of revolution and it was noted as such by the southern states that, as McPherson earlier points out, realized the impending social and economic structure changes that would occur when he freed the slaves. To echo modern day strategists, the South acted "preemptively" by seceding even before Lincoln took office, to avoid a revolution, when the reality is that their ac