Transcript The Election of 1860

The Missouri Compromise
When did it go into
effect?
It was adopted by Congress in 1820
Number of Free States
Eleven free states
Number of Slave States
Eleven slave states
How did it help the
North?
1. No slavery in any new state that is above
Missouri’s southern boundary
2. Maine enters the Union as a free state.
How did it help the
South?
1. All new state’s south of Missouri’s
Southern border would be slave states.
2. Missouri enters the Union as a slave state.
The Compromise of 1850
When did it go into
effect?
It was adopted by Congress in 1850
Number of Free States
There were 15 free states.
Number of Slave States
There were 15 slave states.
How did it help the
North?
1. California enters the Union as a free state.
2. Slave trading is ended in Washington, D.C.
3. Texas agrees not to annex New Mexico
How did it help the
South?
1. Residents in Washington, D.C. could keep
their slaves.
2. Congress would pass the Fugitive Slave
Act
3. New Mexico and Utah would decide for
themselves if they want to allow slavery.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
When did it go into
effect?
It was adopted by Congress in 1854
Number of Free
States
There were 16 Free states.
Number of Slave
States
There were 15 Slave states.
How did it help the
North?
It did not help the North. The North was upset
because the new law changed the Missouri
Compromise.
How did it help the
South?
All new states would decide for themselves if
they want to allow slavery.
States’ Rights



States’ rights: Belief that the state’s interests
take precedence over interests of national
government
Northern states believed that all states should
abide by laws made by the national
government
Southern states believed that states had right
to govern themselves and decide what would
be best for their own situation
Nullification

Those who favored states’ rights believed
that states had the right to nullify any law
they found unconstitutional (such as the
tariff imposed by Congress in 1828 which
hurt the South’s economy by requiring
them to pay for items they imported from
other countries).
Antebellum Georgia Politics
Democrats and Whigs were two major
political parties
 Democrats supported states’ rights;
took strong stand for slavery
 Whigs mainly from upper social classes;
favored moderate protective tariff and
federal help for the South
 Most governors were Whigs; most
legislators were Democrats

Know-Nothing Party




Leading Georgians formed two new political
parties; one party favored the Compromise of
1850 (Georgia Platform) while the other did
not
A secret party, the Know-Nothing party, did
not want immigrants to become citizens or
anyone not born in the United States to hold
political office
Members answered all questions, “I don’t
know”
By 1856, Democrats were dominant party;
Dem. Joseph E. Brown, elected governor in
1856, served during the Civil War
Click to return to Table of Contents
The Georgia Platform
Encouraged Georgians to accept the
Compromise of 1850 even though it gave
free states a majority in the Senate.
 Led by Alexander Stephens and Robert
Toombs.
 Necessary for Georgia to remain a part of
the Union.
 Some believed Georgia should not accept
the compromise until Congress agreed to
protect slavery and states’ rights.

The Election of 1860
The Republican Party





Republican Party formed in 1854 in free
states
Antislavery Whigs and Democrats joined
Nominated Abraham Lincoln of Illinois as
their candidate in 1860
Southern and Northern Democrats split over
slavery issues and nominated separate
candidates
Southerners angrily viewed the plans of the
Republicans as non-beneficial to the South
Republicans supported:
A protective tarrif
 A plan to give free western lands to
settlers
 Construction of a transcontinental railroad
with one end in the North

Georgia and Lincoln’s
Election




Georgians were, for the most part, for the
Union; however, they were strongly for states’
rights
Despite lawmakers’ strong debates for and
against secession, a Secession convention
began in January 1861 in Milledgeville, the
capital
A secession ordinance (bill) passed 208-89
The Southern states who seceded met in
Montgomery, Alabama in February, 1861;
they formed the Confederate States of
America
Georgians in Leadership
Robert Toombs named Secretary of
State of the Confederate States of
American (CSA)
 Alexander H. Stephens (Whig) named
Vice-President (was originally against
secession and gave a speech against it)
 Governor Joseph E. Brown favored
secession and used his terms as
governor to prepare Georgia for war

Click to return to Table of Contents