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1860 Election

            By 1860 the feud between President James Buchanan and Stephen Douglas had cancelled out the political aspirations of both men. The strain the slavery issue had resulted in the Democratic Party being split into two and severely weakening its political control.
             This created the opening for the newly reformed Republican Party, mainly Abraham Lincoln, to win the White House.
             The election of Lincoln, who was clearly opposed to slavery spreading to the outside of the existing states, was the last step as far as the South was concerned in proceeding with secession and eventually war.
             In the six weeks following the election of Lincoln South Carolina seceded from the Union and over the next month five more states would follow.
             James Buchanan, a now lame duck president, took no action against the South which only straighten the confidence of the already seceding states allowing them to set up a government and establish a military. Buchanan, a southern sympathizer, wanted to stay at arms length and do the minimum towards the treasonous South. He apparently wanted to up hold what he thought was the minimum standard under his presidential oath till he could vacate the White House.
             When he finally did leave 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue he vanished from public life and retreated to his home where he died in 1868. .
             Maybe Buchanan knew there may have been more he could have done in his remaining days or at least before his constitutional lame-duck status took hold. Maybe the former president looking back realized he could have used the power of the Oval Office to stop the southern fire-eaters from spreading their illogical rhetoric and creating a clear and present danger to their country . Maybe.
             In the last few years before the attack on Fort Sumter in April of 1861 America's politicians consisted of a number of very vocal and impressionable politicians. Though there were some of northern heritage, the most vocal towards secession were mainly southern born and wealthy.


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1. Election of 1860

... seceded, other southern states began to secede. The secession of southern states lead to an alliance called the Confederate States of America. The Election of 1860 was the point in American history when the Civil War became inevitable. The election of 1860 was between Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and John C. Breckenridge. The Republicans" success in the elections was largely due to their stand on ... selected Abraham Lincoln to be their representative for President. The platform that the Republicans ran on endorsed measures to encourage industry, a homestead act, and a trans con...

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2. America and the Civil War

... option but expanding. Out of the tensions and failures to compromise the Republican Party was born. Historians have long considered the presidential election of 1860 as the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the Civil War. The Republican Party was formed out of the great political crises ... North, including Pennsylvania, where he received 56 percent of the popular vote and received the state's twenty-seven electoral votes. Still, Lincoln's election in November sent shock waves across the South. A Republican candidate had won despite Southern threats of secession and war. The result w...

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3. The American Civil War

... , the Confederacy collapsed, and slavery was abolished. Then began the Reconstruction and the processes of restoring national unity and guaranteeing civil rights to the freed slaves. History In the 1860 presidential election, Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, supported banning slavery in all the U.S. territories, something the Southern states viewed as a violation of their constitutional rights and as being part of ... tension in the 1850s. The Republican Party was determined to prevent any spread of slavery, and many Southern leaders had threatened secession if the Republican candidat...

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4. The Fluidity of the American Civil War

... , the Confederacy collapsed, and slavery was abolished. Then began the Reconstruction and the processes of restoring national unity and guaranteeing civil rights to the freed slaves. History In the 1860 presidential election, Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, supported banning slavery in all the U.S. territories, something the Southern states viewed as a violation of their constitutional rights and as being part of ... tension in the 1850s. The Republican Party was determined to prevent any spread of slavery, and many Southern leaders had threatened secession if the Republican candidat...

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5. Political Parties

... a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in a large state, and many millions more to finance a presidential campaign. The cost of nominating and electing all U.S. public officials in a presidential-election year is over $1 billion. Most campaign expenditures are for television and radio advertising, campaign consultants, polls, printing charges, telephone bills, campaign buttons, posters, and salaries. Some campaign funds come ... Party. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong central government. The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, supported a weak central ...

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6. What led the Southern states to secede from the Union

What led the Southern states to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861? Issues of slavery, alone, have always caused arguments and sometimes-violent disputes in America. When most people hear ... caused the Rebels (South) to secede from the Union in 1860 and 1861. However in reality there were actually many reasons, including conflicting beliefs, the Election of 1860, and fear of emancipation that led the South to secede from the Union. The Election of 1860 had a hard impact on mainly Southerners. Abraham Lincoln who was ... elected over Stephen Douglas, with 40% of the popular vote and 180 ...

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7. Saving the Union with Politics

... the fighting in their own party. Party switching and the grassroots abolitionist movement helped to secure a large part of the northern part of the country to vote for Lincoln. This election saw four different candidates. John C. Breckinridge was a Southern Democrat, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, John Bell was a Constitutional Unionists, and Stephen Douglass was a Northern Democrat. Even though Douglass received 30 ... "overt act" against the section is the only reason for them to secede. By the time of the election the secession fervor throughout the South was starting to overtake t...

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8. Cause Of Civil War

... Southerners felt that if slavery were to be abolished in the United States, the Southern culture would disappear with it, because Southern culture by 1860 was completely immersed in a slave society. "The South's ideal image of itself portrayed country gentlemen as practicing the arts of gracious living, ... at will remained unresolved" and the seceding states used this vagueness to serve their desire to have states govern themselves. The presidential election of 1856 was the first election that truly divided the U.S. geographically North and South. Republican candidate John Fremont ran ...

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9. Causes of the Civil War

... (McPherson 11). The people in the south were afraid of Lincoln because they knew that he would put an end to slavery. They began talking about seceding even before the election of 1860. Making the constitution their reason for doing so, they believed that the states had the power to secede if they felt they were being wronged. No one in the ... rights in the north either and the people in the north wondered what they would do with the huge number of blacks if they were set free (Harrison 3). In 1860 the presidential election was held and Lincoln won by a large margin. He was the first R...

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