Election of 1860 and Political Parties

Vocabulary terms and definitions related to the political parties, candidates, and platforms during the election of 1860.

Election of 1860

An election centered on the issue of slavery where four separate candidates received electoral votes, leading up to the Civil War.

Democratic Party (1860)

The political party that was pro-slavery and dominant in the South during the 1860 time period.

Stephen Douglas

The Northern Democratic Party candidate in 1860 who pushed for popular sovereignty and the Kansas Nebraska Act, arguing that new territories should vote on slavery.

Popular Sovereignty

The concept advocated by Stephen Douglas stating that every new territory applying for statehood should vote to decide whether it is pro- or anti-slavery.

John Breckenridge

The pro-slavery candidate nominated by the Southern Democrats in 1860 who wanted to expand slavery beyond the states where it already existed.

Northern Democratic Party

The faction of the Democratic Party that nominated Stephen Douglas after Southern delegates broke away due to disagreements over slavery.

Southern Democrats

The faction of Democrats who broke away from the main party because they feared losing power under Douglas's platform and formed their own party nominating John Breckenridge.

Republican Party (1860)

The political party in 1860 that was more pro-civil rights at the time and nominated Abraham Lincoln as a moderate candidate.

Abraham Lincoln

The Republican candidate in 1860 viewed as a moderate who believed slavery could remain where it already existed but opposed its expansion into any new territories.

Constitutional Union Party

A political party formed with the primary idea of avoiding a war by using the Constitution to find a compromise between Northern and Southern views on slavery.

Bell

The presidential candidate for the Constitutional Union Party in the election of 1860.