1E The Election of Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln ran for President in a very hotly contested 1860 election. In essence, the future of slavery was on the line. But in a larger sense, the future of the country was on the line.  James Buchanan, the 15th President, was not seeking re-election as he had made some political mistakes and simply wanted to get out of the spotlight.  Much of this extended from Buchanan's decision to encourage a Supreme Court justice to vote in favor of slavery in the Dred-Scott case.  As a result of Buchanan getting out of the race, the Democratic party split into two factions, as well as a third party being able to gain momentum.

The  candidates for the election of 1860:

Abraham Lincoln (Republican)

John C. Breckenridge (Southern Democrat)

John Bell (Constitutional Union)

Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat)

Obviously we know that Lincoln goes on to win the election, but let's do a little investigation as to why and how he wins.

Step 1: Use the picture below. 

This is a prediction by J.K Duncan and G.T. Beauregard as to who was going to win the election. Look at the document and see if you can figure out who they are.  At the end of the lesson, if there is time, see if you can figure out who Duncan and Beauregard are.

If you have time, feel free to read the article below. You do NOT need to answer the questions.

This is the election roll for each state. It is a photo of the original rolls. This shows how each state voted and the number of electoral votes each state win gives each candidate.   

ANSWER these.

What do you notice about the states that went to Lincoln and the others?

What conclusions can we draw?

What is the likely outcome for the rest of the country because of this election?

Read this article and then answer the questions below

On December 20, 1860, six weeks after voters of the United States elected Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president, South Carolina seceded from the union. Other Southern states soon followed, leading within little over five months to the outbreak of the American Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in US history, and ultimately to the freeing of four million slaves.

The Southern slave-owning class viewed the election of an anti-slavery administration as a mortal threat. Though not an abolitionist, Lincoln was an opponent of slavery and determined to use all means at his disposal to stop its spread.

“A Party founded on the single sentiment of ...hatred of African slavery is now the controlling power,” wrote the Richmond Examiner of Lincoln’s election. The New Orleans Delta declared no one can any longer “be deluded...that the Black Republican Party is a moderate party. It is in fact essentially a revolutionary party.” (1)

In the ensuing secession crisis Lincoln played a critical role, coming to express the growing public sentiment for resistance to the ever more provocative actions of the southern slavocracy and the policy of capitulation pursued by the outgoing administration of Democrat James Buchanan.

In moving to break up the union the South carried out what noted Civil War historian James McPherson of Princeton University called a “pre-emptive counterrevolution,” using a term he borrowed from historian Arno Mayer. “Rather than trying to destroy the old order, a pre-emptive counterrevolution strikes first to protect the status quo before the revolutionary threat can materialize.” (2)

In other words, sensing that the tide of historical development was moving against it, the southern planter aristocracy chose to instigate civil war rather than accept any restrictions on slavery, the source of its power and wealth. It would not be the last attempt by a retrograde social order to employ violence in order to evade the verdict of history.

The mayor of Vicksburg, Mississippi called secession “A mighty political revolution which [will] result in placing the Confederate States among the independent nations of the earth.” (10-3n)

McPherson replies, “What were these rights and liberties for which Confederates contended? The right to own slaves; the liberty to take this property into the territories; freedom from the coercive powers of a centralized government.” (4)

From: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/12/1860-d24.html

1. Was Lincoln an Abolitionist?  What did he want to do in regards to slavery?

2. Why would the Southern states automatically want to secede, rather than work with Lincoln?

3. Could the Southern states have had options other than secession, and if so, what are they. If not, why not?