Section 4 - Lincoln’s Election and
Southern Secession
Find Out:
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Why the Democratic Party split in the
election of 1860
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The issues in the election of 1860
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The secession of the Southern states from
the Union
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The Union’s response to
secession
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1. What caused a split in the Democratic Party
at their convention in Charleston, SC?
Democrats held convention to nominate
candidate for President in Charleston, S.C. in
April of 1860
No. and So. Democrats disagreed on issue of
slavery in their platform regarding popular
sovereignty
Northern Democrats won out causing 50
Southern delegates to walk out
Northern Democrats tried to nominate
Stephen Douglas of Illinois
Political Parties Splinter cont.
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Democrats gave up and decided to meet in
Baltimore in June of 1860
Couldn’t agree on candidate and Northern
Democrats nominated Douglas Southern
Democrats nominated John Breckinridge of
Kentucky (current VP) and supporter of slavery
(2)
Republicans had already nominated Lincoln
John Bell ran for Constitutional Union Party
which formed to preserve Union (3)
1860 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
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Republicans
nominated Abe
Lincoln while the
Democrats split (3)
Lincoln won the 1860
election with less than
half the popular vote
and no Southern
electoral votes
The Southern states
were not happy
Washington, D.C. Negro boys
admiring the Lincoln Memorial –
from Library of Congress .
1860 ELECTION RESULTS
4. How did the Presidential
election of 1860 become two
different races? Who won
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Lincoln and Douglas ran in the North and
Breckenridge and bell ran in the South.
5. Before the 1860 presidential election,
many Southern states had warned that if
Lincoln won, the Southern states would
secede, or withdraw from the Union.
Supporters of secession based their
arguments on the idea of states’ rights,
arguing that the states had voluntarily joined
the Union and had the right to leave the
Union as well.
SOUTHERN SECESSION
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Secession Exploded from Library of Congress
Prints and Photographs.
Lincoln’s victory in 1860 election
convinced Southerners that they
had to act quickly
South Carolina led the way,
seceding from the union in
December of 1860 (6)
Mississippi was next, then Florida,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, &
Texas (7)
Southern delegates met in
February, 1861 and formed the
Confederate States of America
with Jefferson Davis as President
(8)
Southern states had now
dissolved their ties with the USA
10. Why did President Buchanan feel
that Southern states had no right to
secede?
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Buchanan said the federal government, not
states governments, was sovereign
Efforts to Compromise Fail
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Some want compromise
John J. Crittenden proposed a
compromise to extend the Missouri
Compromise Line to the Pacific Ocean
Never passed Congress (11)
Lincoln took oath of office on March 4,1861
Told South he had no intention of
abolishing slavery
Lincoln did not press the South