Transcript Election of 1860

Republican Party – (new party) political party
formed united under the belief that “no man
can own another man...that slavery must be
prohibited in the territories…that all new
states must be free states…that the rights of
our colored citizens…must be protected.”

Lincoln – the challenger

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
Douglas – the incumbent (already a senator)

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decries “Southern plot” to extend slavery
promises to work for slavery’s extinction
casts slavery as a moral problem, not just political
accuses Lincoln of favoring equality
Lincoln loses election, gains national reputation
“THE FIGHT MUST GO ON.”
Election of 1860:
Main Candidates
Abraham
Lincoln
(Republican)
John
Breckinridge
(Southern
Democrat)
Stephen
Douglas
(Northern
Democrat)
John Bell
(Constitutional
Union)
* Lincoln won the election.



Lincoln wins with just 40% of the votes
10 southern states did not put his name on the
ballot
The South realizes that they have no power left
in the government and that ending slavery
would be a goal of the new president.


Possibility of secession.
A Senate committee was formed to work out a
compromise and save the Union
December 20, 1860 Interview with Lincoln
 Promised not to interfere with slavery in the
South.
 He would support the enforcement of the
Fugitive Slave Law.
 Under no circumstance would he allow slavery
to spread into the new territories.
December 20, 1860

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In response to Lincoln’s victory, the southern states seceded from the
Union, (the same day as his interview) eventually forming the Confederate
States of America (or the Confederacy).
States in order of their secession:

South Carolina – Dec. 20, 1860

Mississippi – Jan. 9, 1861

Florida – Jan. 10, 1861

Alabama – Jan. 1, 1861

Georgia – Jan. 19, 1861

Louisiana – Jan. 26, 1861

Texas – Feb. 1, 1861

Virginia – Apr. 17, 1861
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Arkansas – May 6, 1861
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North Carolina – May 20, 1861
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Tennessee – June 8, 1861
“Henceforth, the watchword of
every uncompromising abolitionist,
of every friend of God and liberty,
must be, both in a religious and
political sense — 'NO UNION
WITH SLAVEHOLDERS‘”
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government
will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being
yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in
heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the
most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it.“
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must
not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must
not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of
memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave
to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land,
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched,
as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.