honor. They could no longer tolerate Northern state attitudes that regarded slave ownership as a great sin and Northern politicians who insisted on stopping the spread of slavery. Another bloc of Southerners resented Northern criticism of slavery and restrictions on slavery but opposed secession as dangerous and unnecessary. However, the "conditional Unionists" also hoped that when faced with secession, Northerners would stifle anti-slavery rhetoric and accept pro-slavery rules for the territories. It was that group that prevented immediate secession in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas when Lincoln took office on 4 March 1861. He took no action against the secessionists in the seven "Confederate" states but also declared that secession had no legal validity and refused to surrender federal property in those states. (He also reiterated his opposition to slavery anywhere in the territories.) The standoff continued until mid-April, when Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered Confederate troops to bombard and capture Fort Sumter. Lincoln then called for troops to put down rebellion, which wiped out the possibility that the crisis could be resolved by compromise. Nearly all "conditional Unionists" joined the secessionists. The Virginia convention and the reconvened Arkansas convention both declared secession, as did the legislatures of Tennessee and North Carolina; all four states joined the Confederacy. See also 1860–61 United States House of Representatives elections 1860–61 United States Senate elections American election campaigns in the 19th century Electoral history of Abraham Lincoln First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln John Hanks History of the United States (1849–1865) History of the United States Democratic Party History of the United States Republican Party Third Party System Notes References Further reading Decredico, Mary A. "Sectionalism and the Secession Crisis," in John B. Boles, ed., A Companion to the American South (2004) pp. 231-248, on the historiography of Southend motivations Fite, Emerson David. The Presidential campaign of 1860 (1911). online, classic narrative. Franson, Melissa. "Wide Awakes, Half Asleeps, Little Giants, and Bell Ringers: Political Partisanship in the Catskills of New York during the Elections of 1860 and 1862." New York History 102.1 (2021): 149-171. excerpt Fuller, A. James, ed. The Election of 1860 Reconsidered (Kent State Univ Press, 2013); 288 pp; essays by scholars; online Thomas E. Rodgers, “Saving the Republic: Turnout, Ideology, and Republicanism in the Election of 1860,” in The Election of 1860 Reconsidered ch 6. Gabrial, B. "The Democrats Divide: Newspaper Coverage of the 1860 Presidential Conventions." in In The