Presidential Race 3.2
•The election of 1860 approached as tensions
over slavery and states’ rights ran high.
Jefferson Davis wanted Congress to restrict
federal control over slavery in the
territories.
At their convention, the Democrats argued
about slavery for ten days and split their
support.
Northern
Democrats:
Stephen
Douglas
Southern
Democrats:
John C.
Breckinridge
The Whig party united with the Know-Nothings and
nominated John Bell.
The Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln,
who was viewed as a moderate.
The Republican platform called for an
end to slavery in the territories.
At the same time they held that there should
be no interference with slavery in states
where it already existed.
Lincoln won the election with 60% of the
electoral votes despite not being on the ballot
in most southern states.
1860 Election 3.2
The election
showed there
were no longer
any national
political parties.
The North and
South were
separate and
uniting them
seemed
impossible.
•Southerners were very unhappy with the
results of the election. They felt they did not
have a voice in government.
South Carolina held a state convention and
voted to secede from the Union. Six states
followed.
These seven states formed the Confederate
States of America in 1861.
•The Confederacy
framed its own
constitution
and chose
Jefferson Davis
as its president.
A final compromise
was attempted, called
the Crittenden
Compromise.
The measure did not
pass in the Senate.
•President Lincoln took office on March 4,
1861 and declared that there would be no
war unless the South started it.
Four forts—including Fort Sumter in
Charleston harbor—had remained under
Union control when the southern states
seceded.
When Union troops at Fort Sumter
refused to surrender, the Confederates
fired on them.
Northerners were
angered.
Lincoln called for
volunteers to
fight against the
Confederacy.
The South
mobilized troops.
The long Civil War began.