Why was Abraham Lincoln able to win the 1860 election? (Recap) 2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877

4. Why was Lincoln able to win the 1860 presidential election? FLIP LEARNING TASK: Create a top trump card for each of the 1860 candidates; Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, Abraham Lincoln and John Bell Summarise what happened during the Democratic and Republican convention Who was William Yancey? 4. Why was Lincoln able to win the 1860 presidential election? Last lesson you were set the following tasks to complete for your independent learning. We are now going to see what you have come up with:

Why was Abraham Lincoln able to win the 1860 election? Good learning: Recapped our understanding of the events leading up to the 1860 election. Great learning: Explained why Abraham Lincoln was able to win the 1860 election Even better: Evaluated what impact this had on relations between the North and South Key Words: Fire-eaters Lower South

Democratic convention vs. Republican convention For you homework you were asked to summarise what happened during the two conventions. Using your independent learning, complete the mind map in as much detail as possible with a particular focus on the questions Democrat convention: What were the issues for the Democrats coming into the convention? What happened in Charleston? What impact did William Yancey have? What happened at Baltimore? What impact did this split have on the party? Republican Convention: What happened at the Republican convention? What were the issues with William Seward’s candidacy? What was the appeal of Lincoln and how did he claim the candidacy? How confident was the Party in going forward and winning the the presidency? 1860 Election Constitutional Unionist Party: Why were they created? Who was their candidate? What did they stand for? Highlight the key differences between the 3 sides?

What impact did these conventions have? Where did each party gain Most of their support? What impact did the Democrat split have on the election? Which played a more important role in the outcome of the election: North or South? 5

Why did Lincoln win? The election was clearly one of two halves, with both Breckinridge and Bell fighting it out in the South and Douglas and Lincoln in the North. With 81% of the population making it out to vote, Lincoln was able to take 40% of the overall vote. This gave him the 180 majority in the electoral college to make him president. As Lincoln stayed clear of the South, it was the North that that played a deciding factor. So why did the people of the north vote for Lincoln? Task: Opposite is a list of reasons why the North voted for Lincoln, read through and place them in order of what you think had the biggest influence down to the least. Seen as a vote against Slave Power Catholic northerners had no one else to vote for. Liked their economic proposals ‘Honest Abe’ compared to the corruption of the Buchanan’s government and therefore the Democrat Party.

I am outraged with how the election has turned out. This is because… Impact on the South Lincoln’s victory did not have to cause a secession for many key reasons, such as: Lincoln had promised that he would not interfere with slavery were it still existed. Even if Lincoln did want to abolish slavery, there was nothing he could do: he had no control over Congress or the Supreme Court. Secession would mean abandoning an enforceable Fugitive Act and slaves would be able to flee to the North. Secession might lead to civil war, which would threaten slavery far more than Lincoln’s election. Despite this, there is mixture of ‘hysteria, despondency and elation’ in the South and in just a few weeks South Carolina would vote in favour of secession. So why was this the case? Using the information from the top of page 91 or your notes, complete the speech bubble for the stick man below: I am outraged with how the election has turned out. This is because…

To what extent can the election be seen as: Turning point in the relations between the North and the South A point which made the Civil War inevitable

FLIP LEARNING TASK: What is secession? Nest lesson we will be focusing on secession and Fort Sumter. Complete the following independent learning in order to prepare you for this: TASK: What is secession? Create a flow diagram with how secession in the South came about. Why did the Upper South not join the Confederacy? Why was a compromise not reached 1860-61? Summarise what happened at Fort Sumter