general s of a new party, the republican party. seizing the opportunity of one term congressman, lauper, from the midwest. abraham lincoln. the rail splitter from illinois would grant nomination and presidency but by the time he arrived at the white house seven states had left the union. for lincoln succession was not an option. the war was on. he took over a divided country did. he actually know what he was getting into. i don t think so but lincoln knew the law and he knew the constitution backwards and forwards. and so he realized after fort sumter happened and a lot of the country wasn t accepting him as president. correctly diagnosed union, union, union keep the country together. and then the abolition of slavery two grand causes of the civil war. brian: as for frederick douglass lincoln s win was all about hope. when he didn t immediately free the slaves, frederick seized. the whole story is that