1. Lesson 15.4: “The Election of 1860”

2. Essential Question
How did the Election of 1860 cause Southern Secession and push the United States toward a Civil War?

3. Vocabulary Secede – to withdraw from the Union
Platform - a party’s goals, ideals, or beliefs
Confederate States of America – a group formed by the southern states after their secession
Jefferson Davis – The president of the
Confederacy
5. Crittenden Plan – 1861 compromise that might have prevented secession

4. Vocabulary
Stephen Douglas – Candidate for Northern Democrats and the Election of 1860.
Abraham Lincoln – Candidate for the Republican Party in Election of 1860
John Breckinridge – Candidate for the Southern Democrats in the Election of 1860
John Bell – Candidate for the Constitutional Union Party.

5. Focus Questions
At the Democratic convention, what did Northern and Southern Democrats disagree about?
(Use the chart) which candidate opposed the expansion of slavery into the territories?
(Use the chart) which candidate insisted the Federal Government should be required to protect slavery?
(Use the chart) Which candidate believed the new states should decide slavery through popular sovereignty?
How did Abraham Lincoln win the presidency?

6. Focus Questions
What were the reasons the Southern states chose to secede despite Lincoln’s promises not to abolish slavery?
How was the Confederate Constitution different from the United States Constitution?
What attempts did the North and the South make to compromise?

7. What We Already Know…
The Republican Party was formed in 1854, and was dedicated to stopping the spread of slavery into the territories.

8. What We Already Know…
His debates with Stephen Douglas in 1858 made Abraham Lincoln a popular figure in the Republican Party.
Mayflower Compact = self rule

9. What We Already Know…
John Brown’s attack on Harper’s Ferry was an attempt to start a slave rebellion. Southerners were outraged when some Northerners seemed to make John Brown out to be a hero.
Mayflower Compact = self rule

10. The Democratic Party Splinters
At the Democratic party’s convention, Northern and Southern Democrats disagreed over the party’s platform.
The Southern Democrats wanted a defense of slavery, but Northern Democrats supported popular sovereignty.

11. The Democratic Party Splinters
When the Northerners won the platform vote, 50 Southern delegates walked out of the convention!
Mayflower Compact = self rule

12. (Please copy into your portfolio) ELECTION SUMMARY
PARTY
CANDIDATE
PLATFORM
REPUBLICAN
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Not in opposition to slavery, but stop the spread into the territories.
N.DEMOCRATS
STEPHAN A. DOUGLAS
New states decide slavery through popular sovereignty.
S.DEMOCRATS
JOHN
BRECKINRIDGE
Protect slavery in the new territories.
CONSTITUTIONAL
UNION
BELL
Preserve the Union and the Constitution.

13. The Democratic Party Splinters
After the split at the Democratic convention, the Northern Democrats later met in Baltimore, Maryland and nominated Stephen A. Douglas as their presidential candidate.
He supported popular sovereignty to decide the slave issue.
Mayflower Compact = self rule

14. The Democratic Party Splinters
The Southern Democrats reconvened in Richmond, Virginia and nominated Buchanan’s vice-president, John Breckinridge of Kentucky. His platform pledged the protection of slavery in the territories.
Mayflower Compact = self rule

15. The Constitutional Union Party
The Constitutional Union Party formed and was made up of former Whigs and Know Nothings. Their platform was “To recognize no political principle other than the Constitution.” As their candidate, they nominated John Bell.

16. The Republican Convention
A strong Republican leader, William Seward of New York was expected to get the nomination. Seward was very strong on anti-slavery, but the Republicans knew to win the election they had to address the issues of tariffs, railroads and trade as well.

17. The Republican Convention
Instead of Seward, the Republican nomination went to Abraham Lincoln, a lesser-known candidate from Illinois. He opposed the expansion of slavery.

18. The Republican Convention
Abraham Lincoln was a respected state politician in Illinois. He was a talented speaker, had a moderate position on slavery, and was a Westerner who could mount a challenge to Douglas.

19. Election of 1860
Lincoln defeated the other three candidates to become the 16th president of the United States. Because the North had a larger population than the South, Lincoln received 180 Electoral College votes. He also received more popular votes than the other candidates.

20. Secession
Despite Lincoln’s statements that he would do nothing to abolish slavery in the South, white Southerners did not trust him. Many believed Republicans would ban slavery. As a result, white Southerners saw the Republican victory as a threat to the Southern way of life.

21. Secession
To secede is to withdraw from a group or a political union; leave, quit.

22. Secession
Not even waiting for Lincoln’s inauguration, South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, Within six weeks Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida all followed.

23. Secession
Many Southerner’s overestimated their own economic importance believing that the North’s economy could not survive without Southern cotton.

24. The Confederate States of America Formed
The Confederate States of America, simply known as the Confederacy, was established at the Montgomery Convention in February 1861 (before Lincoln's inauguration in March).

25. The Confederate States of America Formed
At the convention, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the Confederacy. Davis had graduated West Point. was a Senator and was Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce.

26. The Confederate States of America Formed
The Confederate Constitution was modeled after the United States Constitution. It did have a few important differences:
It supported states’ rights
It protected slavery in the Confederacy.

27. Last Effort to Compromise
In December of 1860, Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden introduced legislation aimed at resolving the looming secession crisis in the Deep South.

28. Last Effort to Compromise
The “Crittenden Compromise” included several resolutions and amendments including re-establishing the Missouri Compromise line.
Leaders from the North and South worked on the proposals, but the compromise never passed Congress.

29. Lincoln’s Inauguration
At his inaugural address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln assured the South that he had no intention of abolishing slavery. He did however speak forcefully against secession.

30. Lincoln’s Inauguration
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

31. Lincoln
As President, Lincoln wanted no invasion, but would not abandon government forts in the South. These forts, including Fort Sumter in South Carolina, would soon need to be resupplied. Both Northerners and Southerners waiting anxiously to see what would happen next!