The 1860 Election & the Coming of
the Civil War
I. Three Long Term
Causes of the Civil War
A. The Rise of the Anti-Slavery
Movement (1830s)
B. Slavery and
Westward Expansion (1840s)
C. Bad Political Leaders (1850s)
B. The Late 1850s: The Crisis Worsens
1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin Upsets the South (1852)
2. The Dred Scott Decision: Slavery on
Free Soil (1857)
C. John Brown’s Failed
Raid to Free Slaves (1859)
III. The 1860 Election and Secession
A. The 1860 Election: Rising
Republicans and Divided Democrats
B. Lincoln: The “Minority” PresidentElect (Nov.)
C. 7 Southern States Secede (Dec.-Jan.)
D. The Crittendon Amendments and
Failed Compromise (Jan-March)
E. The First Shots &
4 Years of War (April)
IV. Lingering Questions: What Ifs…..
• The south hadn’t seceded?
• Lincoln had accepted the Crittendon
Compromise?
• Northerners had just paid southerners to free
their slaves?