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The Importance of the Election of 1860

The Importance of the Election of 1860. Could the Civil War Have Been Prevented?. By: Carol Fahringer HIST 510.54 – Dr. Downey. Missouri Compromise of 1820. Purpose: Keep the balance of power in Congress equal as the nation grows. Missouri could enter the Union as a slave state,

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The Importance of the Election of 1860

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  1. The Importance of the Election of 1860 Could the Civil War Have Been Prevented? By: Carol Fahringer HIST 510.54 – Dr. Downey

  2. Missouri Compromise of 1820 • Purpose: Keep the balance of power in Congress equal as the nation grows. • Missouri could enter the Union as a slave state, • Maine could enter the Union as a free state. • New states would be admitted as free or slave based on their location. • North of 36 deg., 30 min. North lat. – free and South of that line – slave. • Henry Clay Known as the “Great Compromiser” in Congress, Clay called slavery the “great evil.”

  3. Challenge to the Constitution- Sectional Division Congressman Stephen Douglas’s (D-IL) idea of popular sovereignty was based on Tenth Amendment rights to citizens. He also proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. “Our Federal Union – next to our liberties the most dear!...”~John C. Calhoun (April 13, 1830) • John C. Calhoun (D-SC) challenged the issue of the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment by supporting the “South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification.” (November 24, 1832) He resigned as Vice President to Andrew Jackson later that year.

  4. Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 ~ National Archives Map depicting the areas impacted by the Compromise. .

  5. From Clay’s Resolutions - Jan. 29, 1850 That California ought to be admitted to the Union and allowed by Congress to exclude slavery. That areas acquired from the republic of Mexico have no restriction or condition on the subject of slavery. That the boundaries of Texas be fixed along the Rio del Norte. That slaves will no longer be allowed to be brought into the District of Columbia for trade elsewhere. That citizens have an obligation to return any escaped slaves to their rightful owners. That Congress has no power to promote or obstruct the slave trade between states and that the admission or exclusion of slaves transported between states will depend upon the individual laws of those states. Issues: Territorial expansion and decisions using popularity sovereignty will throw off the balance of power (slave vs. free states) in Congress, violating the earlier Missouri Compromise. Wilmot Proviso could impact areas. Strengthened Fugitive Slave Act is difficult for northern Abolitionists to accept. Breakdown of the Compromise: “I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole Union – a subordinate one to my own state.”~ Henry Clay, July 22, 1850

  6. 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act • 1856 map of territories affected by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, this law applied the principle of popular sovereignty which also violated the earlier Missouri Compromise.

  7. Congressional Debate Leads to Assault Congressman Charles Sumner (R-MA) is severely beaten by congressman Preston Brooks, from South Carolina, following his anti-slavery speech “The Crime Against Kansas.” In it he called the Kansas-Nebraska Act a “swindle.” (1856)

  8. The Election of 1856: • Whig Party split over slavery issue • New Republican Party - (composed of antislavery Democrats, Free Soilers, and northern Whigs.) • 1856 Presidential Election • James Buchanan (D-PA) wins but ultimately alienates his own political party. • V.P. John C. Breckinridge • John C. Freemont (R-CA) • V.P. William Dayton ** Milliard Fillmore – American Party (NY) * V.P. Andrew Donelson, TN ** Slavery was the ONLY campaign issue. Some Southern states threatened to secede if Freemont won…

  9. Challenges to slavery: October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. John Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859. ~Mural depicting John Brown’s raid Dred Scott v. Sandford (March 6, 1857)Supreme Court decision based on Fifth Amendment right “that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” ~Lincoln’s Cooper Union Speech This violated the earlier Missouri Compromise.

  10. Issues of this Era: • Territorial Expansion (Manifest Destiny) • Slavery (U.S. Constitution) • Protective Tariffs (Economy) • State’s Rights (U.S. Constitution) • Nullification • Secession

  11. Lincoln’s Cooper Union Speech THE COOPER UNION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART~Newsletter Locations in New England where presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln gave speeches in 1860, following Cooper Union. “one of the happiest and most convincing political arguments ever made in this city.”~New York Tribune

  12. Abraham Lincoln Campaigns Campaign poster for President Abraham Lincoln (1864). Republican Candidate for President, Abraham Lincoln~Harper’s Weekly, May 26, 1860.

  13. Sectional Division: Four Strong Presidential Candidates in 1860 Stephen A. Douglas, IL Democratic Candidate V. P. Herschel Johnson, GA Abraham Lincoln, IL Republican Candidate V.P. Hannibal Hamlin, ME John C. Breckinridge, KY Southern Democratic Candidate V.P. Joseph Lane, OR John Bell, TN ConstitutionalCandidate V.P. Edward Everett, MA

  14. The Election of 1860 • Issues were: • Popular Sovereignty • High Tariffs • Secession • Outcome: • Lincoln won (<40%) popular vote and electoral majority • Douglas finished 2nd in popular vote; carried only Missouri • Breckinridge finished 3rd in popular vote, but 2nd with the electoral vote and carried every slave state.

  15. The Election in York County, PA • Reason with all your voters on the importance of carrying York county at this election, • Go house to house – miss no voter…Get out our full vote… (we) believe we can defeat the entire Democratic Breckenridge ticket…… do your best… • ~From the Republican Party’s County Committee circular (Sept. 1860) • Factors: • The tariff issue was the greatest single influence, • PA in 1860 – was the leading industrial state, • 1850s period of growth, followed by economic ills blamed on foreign competition. • (Governor) Col. Andrew Curtain supported tariffs. • Disgust with President Buchanan (D-PA) pushed voters to Republican party. Pennsylvania was a key state for Abraham Lincoln.

  16. Southern Secession: Reuben Davis, Lucius Lamar, Jefferson Davis, Albert Brown, William Barksdale, Otho Singleton, John McRae. ~ Based on photos by Matthew Brady. “Seceding Mississippi Congressional Delegation.” ~Harper's Weekly, February 2, 1861. Former Mississippi Congressman Jefferson Davis resigns to accept the presidency of the newly formed Confederate States of America. January 1861.

  17. ~Harper’s Weekly. 1861.

  18. Lincoln is InauguratedMarch 4, 1861 • Seven southern states had already seceded. • The issue of Fort Sumter was waiting on his desk. • Could the republic “long endure” or would it “perish from the earth?” “… You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub.” ~Lincoln’s letter to Alexander H. Stephens (D-GA) December 1860

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