Heimler APUSH TP 5.7
Overview of the Election of 1860
Crucial event that precipitated secession and the Civil War.
Key question: What were the effects of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860?
Presidential Candidates
Republican Party:
Nominated Abraham Lincoln.
Ran on a free soil platform aiming to restrict slavery’s expansion into new territories.
Democratic Party:
Nominated Stephen Douglas (Northern Democrats) and John Breckinridge (Southern Democrats).
Divided over the issue of slavery:
Northern faction wanted popular sovereignty.
Southern faction wanted a federal slave code to protect slavery in new territories.
Election Results
Lincoln received 40% of the popular vote but won the electoral vote without support from Southern states.
Significant because it highlighted the South's diminishing political power.
Southern perceptions were that even with all efforts, they could not prevail politically.
Immediate Aftermath of the Election
Lincoln’s victory signaled the end of slavery’s expansion, although he promised not to interfere with slavery in states where it already existed.
Rising discontent in the South regarding Northern political dominance.
December 1860: South Carolina seceded from the Union, followed by six more states within six weeks: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Later, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina also seceded, forming the Confederate States of America.
The Confederate Constitution
Similar to the U.S. Constitution but emphasized limited federal power and guaranteed the institution of slavery.
This act of secession effectively led to the Civil War.
Reasons for Secession Debate
Two main competing narratives:
To protect slavery: Many states articulated this as their reasoning.
States’ rights argument: Commonly used but less emphasized.
States’ Articles of Secession
Texas:
Claimed Lincoln’s election represented a sectional party attacking slavery.
Criticized principles of racial equality and fearful of Republican abolition agendas.
South Carolina:
Argued that their constitutional rights were violated by Republican anti-slavery sympathies.
Warned of exclusion from territories and aggression against slavery.
Mississippi:
Stated clearly that their position was inherently tied to the institution of slavery.
Perspectives from Confederacy Leadership
Jefferson Davis, first president of the Confederacy, made no mention of slavery in his inauguration speech.
Alexander Stephens, vice president, emphasized in his Cornerstone Speech that the Confederacy’s foundation was the triumph of the white race through slavery.
Conclusion
The expressed reasoning for secession by Southern states indicates a clear focus on protecting slavery as a central issue.