Lincoln's Election and Southern secession

APUSH NOTES

Lincoln, Secession, and the Road to Civil War (1858–1861)

I. Lincoln’s “House Divided” Speech (1858)

Context

• Delivered after Bleeding Kansas and the Dred Scott decision

• Lincoln running for U.S. Senate against Stephen Douglas

• Slavery expansion was the dominant national issue

Core Argument

• The U.S. cannot remain half slave and half free

• The nation will become all free or all slave

• Slavery is being deliberately nationalized

Key Claims

• Kansas–Nebraska Act, popular sovereignty, Dred Scott, and Buchanan’s election are linked

• Popular sovereignty is a fraud after Dred Scott

• Slavery could become legal even in free states

• Douglas’s “I don’t care” stance normalizes slavery

Significance

• Rejects compromise as a long-term solution

• Frames slavery as a national moral and political crisis

• Launches Lincoln into national prominence

II. Lincoln–Douglas Debates (1858)

Issues Debated

• Popular sovereignty vs. free soil

• Federal authority over slavery

• Citizenship and rights of Black Americans

Outcome

• Lincoln loses Senate race

• Senators still chosen by state legislatures

Importance

• Douglas weakened nationally

• Lincoln emerges as leading Republican figure

• Shows popular sovereignty is incompatible with Dred Scott

III. Republican Party Platform (1860)

Goal

• Win the North and West without alienating moderates

Key Positions

• No expansion of slavery into territories

• Protection of free labor

• Protective tariffs

• Free homesteads

• Federal support for railroads and infrastructure

• Respect slavery where it already existed

Appeal

• Workers, farmers, industrialists, western settlers

• Anti–“Slave Power,” not immediate abolition

IV. Election of 1860

Candidates

• Abraham Lincoln (Republican)

• Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrat)

• John C. Breckenridge (Southern Democrat)

• John Bell (Constitutional Union)

Results

• Lincoln: ~40% popular vote, 180 electoral votes

• Won entire North

• Not on ballot in most Southern states

Why Lincoln Won

• Democrats split

• Republicans unified North + West

• Electoral College advantage

Why Douglas Lost

• Support spread thin nationally

• Won only Missouri

V. Sectional Reactions to Lincoln’s Election

Northern View

• Legitimate democratic victory

• Rejection of slaveholding elite

• Emphasis on Union and free labor

Southern View

• Proof of permanent minority status

• Fear slavery would be put on path to extinction

• Election seen as existential threat

VI. Secession (1860–1861)

First to Secede

• South Carolina (Dec. 20, 1860)

Deep South States Follow

• Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas

Confederate States of America (CSA)

• Formed Feb. 1861

• Capital later at Richmond, Virginia

CSA Constitution

• Explicitly protects slavery

• Emphasizes states’ rights

• No protective tariffs

• Limits federal power

VII. Why the South Seceded (APUSH Essential)

Primary Cause

• Protection of slavery

Supporting Arguments

• States’ rights (selectively applied)

• Opposition to Northern political dominance

• Fear of Republican control

• Enforcement of Fugitive Slave Laws

• Belief in “King Cotton” leverage

Evidence

• Secession documents focus on slavery

• Highest slave populations secede first

VIII. South Carolina Declaration of Secession (1860)

Main Claims

• Union is a compact between sovereign states

• Northern states violated Constitution

• Fugitive Slave Clause not enforced

• Abolitionism incited rebellion

• Lincoln’s election proves hostile federal government

Thesis

• Secession is lawful self-defense to preserve slavery

IX. Fort Sumter and the Start of War

Events

• Lincoln attempts to resupply Fort Sumter (April 1861)

• Confederate forces fire on fort

• Union surrenders

Consequences

• War begins

• Northern public unified

• Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers

Upper South Secedes

• Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina

X. Border States

Remain in Union

• Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware

Importance

• Strategic location

• Large populations

• Economic and military significance

XI. Slavery and Secession — Patterns

Correlation

• Higher slave populations = earlier secession

• Deep South leads

• Border states remain divided

Key Insight

• Secession driven by slaveholding interests, not universal Southern will

XII. Big-Picture Causes of the Civil War

Long-term

• Slavery

• Sectionalism

• Economic systems (free labor vs. slave labor)

• Political breakdown of national parties

Short-term Triggers

• Dred Scott

• Kansas–Nebraska Act

• Lincoln’s election

• Secession and Fort Sumter

XIII. One-Sentence Exam Synthesis