Douglas was nominated by the northern wing, and Breckenridge by the southern wing. This division in the Democratic party resulted in the election of Lincoln to the presidency, in November, 1860. During the fall and winter, seven southern states left the Union, and set up a government called the "Confederate States of America." They had their government all in running order before Lincoln left Springfield. [Sidenote: =Bound for Washington=] [Sidenote: =At Independence Hall=] In February, 1861, Lincoln said good-by to the people of Springfield, and started for Washington to take his seat as president. The people were bound to see him and hear his voice and shake his hand. Along the route there were cheers, bonfires, and military parades with miles of marching men. At Philadelphia he raised a flag over Independence Hall. He made a touching speech in regard to the men of the Revolution who had sat in that hall, and pledged himself to abide by the principles of the Declaration of Independence. [Sidenote: =The inauguration=] On March 4, with soldiers guarding the capitol, Lincoln read his inaugural address and took the oath of office which all presidents before him had taken. This speech was listened to with the greatest interest. It was now plain to everybody that Lincoln meant to fight, if fighting were necessary to save the Union. In April Confederates fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. After awful hardships, Colonel Anderson and his men surrendered the fort to the Confederate troops. [Sidenote: =The call for men=] Lincoln immediately sent forth the call for seventy-five thousand men. He made it a call to save the Union which Jackson, Webster, and Clay had done so much to save. War had come--civil war, the most dreadful kind of war. Four more states left the Union, and joined the Confederate States. But the slave states of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri remained with the Union. [Sidenote: =Blockade of Confederate States=] While the Union troops were gathering and drilling in Washington, Lincoln declared a blockade of the ports of the Confederate States. He saw that if he closed the ports of the South he could prevent the shipment of cotton to Europe and so keep the Confederacy from getting supplies in exchange for the cotton. This was a heavy blow to the Confederates. [Sidenote: =The "Merrimac" and the "Monitor"=] The South depended on the _Merrimac_ to break the blockade. The _Merrimac_ was a wooden war vessel which had been covered with a double coat of iron. It had a great iron beak with which it could ram wooden vessels. The _Merrimac_ moved to attack the Union fleet, which was stationed in Hampton Roads. The shot fired from the Union vessels and from the shore batteries had no more effect on the iron coat of the _Merrimac_ than hail on a tin roof. She sank one wooden war vessel and set another on fire. What was to hinder her from going up the Potomac and bombarding Washington?