Election of 1860 and Secession

Period 5 | 1844-1877 Election of 1860 and Secession AP Learning Objective H: Describe the effects of Lincoln’s election. 1.​ The Emergence of Lincoln a.​ Given the growing sectional crisis, the congressional elections of 1858 took on increasing importance. b.​ In June 1858, Lincoln was chosen as the Illinois Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. c.​ That evening, at the convention, Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” speech in which he put the issue of sectionalism and slavery front and center. The Illinois race soon captured the nation’s attention. It pitted Stephen Douglas, a prominent Democrat against Abraham Lincoln, a largely unknown Republican at that time. d.​ To increase his visibility, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of seven debates in July 1858, which came to attract enormous crowds and media attention. These have become known as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. e.​ At the heart of these debates was the basic difference on the issue of slavery. In the debates, Douglas took no moral stand on the issue. He instead stated even in spite of the Dred Scott decision, which effectively declared territories open to slavery, the territories would instead have to pass and enforce laws to protect slavery. This has come to be called the Freeport Doctrine (because he made the statement in Freeport, IL). On the other hand, Lincoln made clear arguments against the expansion of slavery into the territories. f.​ While Lincoln ultimately lost the election, he emerged with a growing following both in Illinois and around the nation. Moreover, in the election of 1858, the Democrats lost their majority in the House. 2.​ The 1860 Nominations a.​ Two years later, the nominating conventions of the presidential Election of 1860 revealed deepening and solidifying divisions. b.​ At the Democratic Convention, Southerners protested the nomination of Stephen Douglas, who was considered a traitor because of his Freeport Doctrine. It soon became clear that the party would not be able to nominate a single candidate, so the party split, and Northerners nominated Douglas, while Southerners chose John C. Breckenridge. c.​ The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, with a platform based on free soil, a protective tariff, immigrant rights, a transcontinental railroad, and homesteads for citizens in the west. d.​ Lastly, over the course of the campaign, Southern Democrats warned that they would leave the Union if Lincoln were elected, so some Whigs and moderates broke off and formed the Constitutional Union Party, which nominated John Bell as their candidate to prevent secession. The stage for the presidential Election of 1860 was set… 3.​ The Election a.​ In the Election of 1860, Lincoln secured 40% of the popular vote, 18 free states, and 180 electoral votes. b.​ Breckenridge carried the South with 11 slave states, but only 72 electoral votes. Bell captured 3 border states for 39 votes. c.​ Douglas won only one state (Missouri) and scattered votes from New jersey, for a total of 12 electoral votes. d.​ With Lincoln as the president-elect, secession appeared inevitable. 4.​ Secession & War a.​ As soon as the results of the election became known nationally, the South Carolina legislature declared its intention to secede [separate] from the United States on December 20th, 1860. b.​ This was followed by the rest of the lower South: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana in January and Texas in Feb. c.​ In February 1861, their representatives adopted a constitution closely resembling the US. Constitution and establishing the Confederate States of America. The following day, they elected Jefferson Davis as the President of the Confederacy. d.​ Southerners couched their reasons for secession in the idea that the Republicans would bring in an end to slavery in the South (this was, it should be noted not an intention of Republicans) and thus was a threat to states’ rights. e.​ At his inaugural address on March 4th, 1861, President Lincoln tried to reassure southerners that their rights, especially their right to hold slaves, would be protected, saying, “I have no purpose to directly or indirectly interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists,” while also stating that acts of force to support secession were insurrectionary. f.​ In April 1861, Fort Sumter, a fort belonging to the U.S. government located in South Carolina, began to run low on supplies. Lincoln sent a relief expedition. Confederates, in response, bombarded the fort for two days until it was surrendered to the Southerners on April 14th, 1861. The Civil War had begun. g.​ Shortly thereafter, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded by May 1861. The four remaining slave states—Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri—remained in the Union (but as slave states). h.​ Those in western Virginia more strongly supported the Union, and they voted to form a new state, West Virginia, which would become a state in December 1862, on the side of the Union. i.​ The battle lines were officially drawn. 5.​ Key Takeaways a.​ Abraham Lincoln’s victory on the Republican’s free-soil platform in the presidential election of 1860 was accomplished without any Southern electoral votes. b.​ After a series of contested debates about secession, most slave states voted to secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War. Key Vocabulary [highlighted throughout PowerPoint and Lecture] Pink: fundamentally important [1] Emergence of Lincoln Lincoln-Douglas Debates “House Divided” Speech Freeport Doctrine Green: Very important Yellow: Somewhat important (“nice to know”) [2] 1860 Nominations [3] The Election [4] Secession & War Abraham Lincoln Election of 1860 South Carolina Secession Republican platform Confederate States of America Constitutional Union Party Fort Sumter