Lincoln’s election and aftermath

After the Douglas/Lincoln Debates: North and South were still divided over slavery Republicans supported Lincolns views and pushed him to run in 1860. Lincoln agreed to run for president in 1860 because so many believed in his ability to create equality and move the nation forward. He was seen as a leader in the abolitionist cause

The North Backs Lincoln The Democrats were divided over who should be their candidate so they chose two: Stephen Douglas, and John Breckenridge A third party: The Constitutional Union Party ran John Bell who promised to protect slavery and unify the nation The Republicans in the north had chosen Abraham Lincoln to represent their cause of ending slavery and unifying the nation as a free land for ALL.

Lincoln proved the strongest candidate The north knew Lincoln could get votes with his progressive ideas. The number of electoral votes in the northern states was higher than that of the southern ones. Lincoln won the election with 180 electoral votes This was mainly due to 2 reasons: His support from northern republicans, and that fact that too many democratic candidates pulled votes away from each other disallowing any one of them to win.

This is a political cartoon representing the differences between Douglas, Bell, and Lincoln.

What happened after Lincoln won? His election sent shock waves across the south. Many southerners felt they no longer had a voice in the national gov. Southerners felt the gov and the pres was now 100% against their interests, especially slavery. Newspapers quickly began spreading propaganda about how southerners would only be safe and supported in the south. They called themselves the Confederacy.

Talk of Secession Amid the anger in the south, many southerners began talks of secession from the union. South Carolina was the first state to secede South Carolina’s legislature called a special convention where they passed a declaration stating that the area called South Carolina under the name the United States of America was dissolved. 6 additional southern states followed and seceded. These 7 states met together in AL to discuss how to move forward

A “New” Nation The 7 seceded states met and declared themselves the Confederate States of America They created a constitution and named former mississippi senator Jefferson Davis their President. This new Confederacy would go on to lead the south in the battles throughout the civil war.

Follow up Q’s If the South had not taken such drastic measures, would Lincoln have been able to work with them? What strength did the south have as an independent nation without the North? What problems would this cause them?