Transcript The Election of 1860 & Secession

The Election of 1860
What part did sectionalism play in the election of 1860?
Why did most of the South secede following the Republican
Party victory in the election of 1860?
What was the northern response to secession? Why?
Politics 1854-1860
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Whig party dissolution (split 1854, no candidate
1856)
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Democrats on brink of separation (sectionalism)
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Southern
Northern
Formation of the Republican Party (1854)
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Southern (proslavery), mostly former Whigs
Northern (anti-slavery), nativists
Platform: free-soil, expansionist
“grab bag” of party remnants
Many believed that a civil war was inevitable—
“the irrepressible conflict”
Interesting twists in 1856-1857…
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79% of all voters cast ballot in 1856!
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John Brown’s Raid (1859) of Harper’s Ferry
Arsenal
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Most voters (N & S) favor politicians who claim to
speak for national, rather than sectional interests
(Buchanan, Fremont)
North had decided that threat posed by slavery
expansion > threat posed by new immigrants
(nativism subsides)
Also had a role in “Bloody Kansas”
Caning of Charles Sumner (1856)
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
The Candidates, 1860
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Southern Democrats:
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Northern Democrats:
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Nominated John Breckenridge (three DIFFERENT nominating
conventions due to sectionalism)
Platform called for slave code (protection) for territories
Nominated Stephen Douglas
Platform endorsed Freeport Doctrine
Republicans:
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Nominated Abraham Lincoln (despite early favor of Seward)
Platform denounced slavery but also Brown’s raid (get rid of “radical”
image)
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Also promotes tariffs, homestead act, internal improvements (railroads)
Did not believe South would secede, even if Lincoln won
Constitutional Union party (S. Whigs/border-state nativists):
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Nominated John Bell
Platform built on nativism and compromise on slavery
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One of the first American Political magazines, Harper’s Weekly (A Journal of
Civilization), was one of the first magazines that published political cartoons. One of
the most popular and important political cartoons was named “The Political Quadrille:
Music by Dred Scott”, released in the Weekly in 1860.
“The Political Quadrille: Music by Dred Scott” was a very complex political
cartoon. Center and most importantly, sat Dred Scott playing the fiddle.
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In the upper right hand corner, republican Abraham Lincoln dances with an African
American woman which signified his party’s alignment with abolitionists.
The upper left corner shows democrats John Breckinridge and James Buchanan dancing
together.
The lower left corner shows Stephen Douglas dancing with an old, worn-down Irishman
which implied that Douglas was Catholic and backed Irish Immigrants.
Finally, in the bottom right corner, the cartoonists John Bell dances with a Native American
which implied the Bell was interested in the relationship with the Indians.
So what does this cartoon tell us about the 1860 election? Dred Scott, sitting center
and playing a fiddle, was used in this political cartoon to show the impact of the Dred
Scott decision on the 1860 election. The Dred Scott decision of 1857 ruled that
slavery could not be prohibited by the federal government or the territorial
governments. This played a major role in the election, which is the reason why the
cartoonists placed Dred Scott in the middle of all the candidates. By drawing the four
major candidates of the 1860 election dancing and placing them around Dred Scott,
the cartoonists implied that whoever was going to win the election was going to win it
with how they viewed slavery and African Americans.
In the end, Abraham Lincoln proved to be victorious. The Journal of the Abraham
Lincoln Association says that Lincoln was able to win by "fusing anti-slavery
nationalism to the interest of free society." Thus, his views on slavery helped win him
the election.
Source: http://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/5023
The Election of 1860
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Republicans focused on
corruption in Buchanan
Administration
Southern Democrats
spread rumors of slave
uprisings
Douglas spent last weeks
of campaign in South,
warning against secession
Lincoln won without
receiving any Southern
votes
Secession
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80% average approval of
secession in state conventions
Declarations made it clear
slavery was underlying cause
Defense of secession based
on 2 arguments:
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State sovereignty preceded
national sovereignty
Right of revolution
The Fire-Eaters: Edward Ruffin, Robert
Barnwell Rhett & William Lowndes Yancey
Secession: Why 1860?
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South believed that they would no longer be
represented equally because new Republican
gov’t did not support their way of life (slave
system)
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“The only hope for its preservation…is out of the
Union.”
SC, AL, MI had committed to secession if
Lincoln won the election
State convention held in SC Dec. 1860 leads
other states (MI, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX) to secede
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Why not all South? Division between W/E parts of
states
Northern Responses
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Buchanan denounced secession as unconstitutional, but
said it couldn’t be stopped by force
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Lincoln said revolution was only a “moral right when
exercised for a morally justifiable cause”
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Blamed it on Republicans’ refusal to compromise
Called for obedience to Fugitive Slave law, amendment to
protect slavery & annexation of Cuba
Refused calls to compromise on slavery
Rejected proposals to let the seceding states leave the Union
Refused to give up federal powers over military forts in South
(which CSA needed to become a nation)
Radical Republicans preferred peaceful separation to
any further compromises
The Confederate
States of America
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Constitutional convention met in
Montgomery, Ala. Feb. 4, 1861
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Mostly copied U.S. Constitution
Emphasized states’ rights
Guaranteed protection of slavery
Provisional government
established:
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Jefferson Davis named President
Alexander Stephens named Vice
President
Last-Ditch Compromise Attempts
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Crittenden Compromise in Senate offered
6 unrepealable amendments
House proposed 3 compromises:
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Admitting New Mexico as slave state
Resolution calling for obedience to Fugitive
Slave law & repeal of personal liberty laws
13th Amendment to guarantee slavery against
any future interference
The War Begins
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Lincoln’s decision to resupply Ft. Sumter was
stroke of genius
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Davis decided to take fort before resupply ships
arrived
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Fulfilled Inaugural Address pledge to hold federal
property in rebel states
Forced rebels to make decision to start war
Beauregard shelled fort April 12-13, 1861
Anderson surrendered April 13
Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down
rebellion on April 15
VA, NC, TN & AR seceded & joined CSA