Which best characterizes Abraham Lincoln's belief on the eve of the Civil War?
A) Lincoln refused to recognize the southern states' secession as valid and maintained his focus on restoring the union
B) Lincoln fired on Fort Sumter in order to provoke a strong southern response and justify Union occupation of the South.
C) Lincoln planned to exclude secessionist leaders from government positions in order to punish them for their treason.
D) Lincoln viewed the South's secessionist mood as an opportunity to advance his own anti-slavery beliefs.

severe criticism from Democrats in the Northern Hemisphere, many of whom opposed the war and emancipation. By the late 1850s, the Democratic Party was split over the issue of slavery. Northern Democrats generally opposed slavery's expansion while many Southern Democrats believed that slavery should exist across the United States. In the presidential election of 1860, the Democratic Party split in two, with Stephen Douglas running for the Northern Democratic Party, and John C. Breckinridge representing the Southern Democratic Party. Two other political parties competed in this election as well. One of these parties was the Republican Party, with Abraham Lincoln as its candidate. Lincoln and the Republican Party opposed slavery's expansion. The other party was the Constitutional Union Party. The party's candidate, John Bell, hoped to compromise the differences between the North and South by extending the Missouri Compromise line across the remainder of the United States. Slavery would be permitted in new states established south of the line, while the institution would be illegal in new states formed north of the line. The Northern and Southern Democratic Parties only officially existed in the election of 1860.

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