When Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States in 1861, he faced the most severe crisis the nation had ever experienced. The Southern states had broken from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, challenging the authority of the president and threatening the young nation. When Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Lincoln called for volunteers to defend the Union. The war between the states — the Civil War — had begun. Abraham Lincoln: Defender of the Union tells the story of the remarkable man who lead the nation through its bloodiest conflict. Discover how a boy who was born in a one-room log cabin grew up to be a lawyer and later a president. Explore the fight to end slavery and see how Lincoln's bold Emancipation Proclamation changed the course of the war and the nation. Meet the leader determined to preserve the Union, who sought to bring "a new birth of freedom" to all Americans.