After the election of Abraham Lincoln, despite his efforts to maintain the Union,
Southern states began seceding and joining the new Confederate States of America. The United
States was divided geographically between the sides, but the loyalty of states in between established Northern and Southern territory was not clear. Lincoln and the Union needed these states to remain loyal for transportation of Union supplies and troops back and forth between enemy territory. Maryland was an especially important border state because it surrounded
Washington, D.C. However, Confederate sympathies in the area made Union activity difficult, and the potential dangers were verified in the Pratt Street Riot. In this incident, Northern reinforcements were traveling to protect the capital when they were attacked by a pro-South …show more content…
Lincoln desperately needed to protect the important state from Confederate interference. He decided to do so by suspending the writ of habeas corpus between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., for the same reasons he would later do it elsewhere; any resistance in the situation could severely damage the Union cause, and
Southern states began seceding and joining the new Confederate States of America. The United
States was divided geographically between the sides, but the loyalty of states in between established Northern and Southern territory was not clear. Lincoln and the Union needed these states to remain loyal for transportation of Union supplies and troops back and forth between enemy territory. Maryland was an especially important border state because it surrounded
Washington, D.C. However, Confederate sympathies in the area made Union activity difficult, and the potential dangers were verified in the Pratt Street Riot. In this incident, Northern reinforcements were traveling to protect the capital when they were attacked by a pro-South …show more content…
Lincoln desperately needed to protect the important state from Confederate interference. He decided to do so by suspending the writ of habeas corpus between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., for the same reasons he would later do it elsewhere; any resistance in the situation could severely damage the Union cause, and