The Election of 1860 and The Secession Winter

The Election of 1860

• key issue: expansion of slavery to the West
• democratic party split in 2:
    * northerners nominated Stephen A. Douglass (Illinois)
      * popular sovereignty in territories
    * southerners nominated John C. Breckinridge (Kentucky)
      * slavery in all territories
• Republicans unite northern anti-slavery coalition
    * nominated Abraham Lincoln, (Illinois)
      * no slavery in territories
• 4th Party: Constitutional Union Party
    * nominated John Bell (Tennessee)
      * no position on slavery in territory
      * preserve Union at all costs

The Secession Winter, 1860-61

• southerners saw Lincoln’s victory as death knell for slavery
• divided opinions
• states elected delegates to secession conventions
• December 1860 - February 1861, lower South seceded:
    * South Carolina (December 20)
    * Mississippi (January 9)
    * Florida (January 10)
    * Alabama (January 11)
    * Georgia (January 19)
    * Louisiana (January 26)
    * Texas (February 1)
• 8 slave states rejected secession, remained uncommitted
    * Upper South: Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina
    * Border South: Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware
    * strategically critical:
      * 2/3 of southern white population
      * 3/4 of southern industrial capacity
• next steps remained unclear