1. RS Notes: Election of 1860
1854: Republican Party formed to oppose the extension of slavery into the western territories.
Southern politicians threatened to secede from the union if a Republican was elected President
2 factors determined the outcome of the election:
1. Republicans attracted a lot of voters in the North and West by adopting a platform of…
a. Opposition to slavery in the territories.
b. Homestead Act giving free land to western farmers.
c. Supported construction of a transcontinental railroad to boost trade between the North and West.
d. Supported a tariff that would protect northern factories from foreign competition.
2. The Democratic Party split in the North and the South (so they had to split the votes).
Abraham Lincoln, Republican
Stephen Douglas, Democrat

2. Lincoln was elected in 1860 and South Caroline seceded (broke away) from the Union immediately.
Other southern states joined South Carolina and formed the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis as their President
President Buchanan did nothing to stop the secession (he just wanted to keep the peace until Lincoln took over.)
1st inaugural address:
promised not to interfere with slavery “in the states where it exists.”
Denied secession’s legality
Vowed to preserve the Union in the face of “insurrection”