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