The Growing Crisis III - The Election of 1860

1. Southern factions

   1. Southern Rights faction - demanded a Federal guarantee of slavery in the territories

   2. Fire-Eaters

      1. Committed to secession long before 1860

      2. No compromise on slavery

      3. Welcomed thought of Republican victory, for that would help secessionist cause

2. Democratic Convention(s)

   1. Met originally in Charleston

   2. North-South split

      1. South - Favored Federal protection of slavery in the territories

      2. North - Favored Supreme Couth deciding the issue

   3. Stephen Douglas

      1. Clear front runner, but South would not support him

      2. Got convention to adopt a popular sovereignty platform

         1. Deep South delegates walked out

         2. For them, pop. sov. was no longer enough - demanded guarantee of slavery in the territories

   4. Convention adjourned without nominee, reconvened in Baltimore

      1. Douglas able to secure the nomination

      2. More Southern delegates walked out

   5. Southern Democrats nominate John Breckenridge of Kentucky

      1. Would run on platform of federal guarantee of slavery in the territories

      2. Democrats now split into Northern and Southern halves (not the last time this would happen)

3. Constitutional Rights Party

   1. Made up of conservative Whigs and some Know-Nothings

   2. Nominated John Bell of Tennessee

   3. Took no explicit stance on slavery expansion, promoted some kind of sectional compromise

4. Republicans

   1. Sought a moderate candidate, someone who could win Northern states Buchanan won in 1856

   2. Lincoln wins on third ballot

   3. Platform

      1. No slavery in the territories

      2. States have no right to secede

      3. Condemns John Brown

      4. No interference with slavery where it already exists

      5. Not just about slavery - economics, too

         1. High protective tariff for industry and commerce

         2. Free homesteads in the West - appealed to poor and lower class

   4. Many in South threatened secession if Lincoln won

5. The Campaign

   1. Essentially two separate campaigns

   2. Lincoln vs. Douglas in the North

   3. Breckenridge vs. Bell in the South

6. The Vote

   1. Lincoln - 1.866 million or 40% - 180 electoral votes

   2. Douglas - 1.375 million or 29% - 12 electoral votes

   3. Breckenridge - 848,356 or 18% - 72 electoral votes

   4. Bell - 592,906 or 13% - 39 electoral votes

   5. Breakdown by section

      1. North - Swept by Lincoln. Possible to win presidency with no Southern states

      2. Deep South - Swept by Breckenridge

      3. Border states

         1. Maryland - Lincoln

         2. Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia - Bell

         3. Missouri - Douglas (also got some of New Jersey votes)

      4. Far West (California and Oregon) - Lincoln

   6. Significance

      1. Shows polarization of country

      2. Shows division in South (and North, where Douglas did moderately well)

      3. Lincoln will be a minority President (but got overwhelming majority of Northern votes)