Lincoln vs. Douglas
From Washington
to Charleston
Chapter 1
• Douglas’ term for Senate expired in 1858.
• Lincoln had emerged as a great spokesman for
Republican Party.
– Had almost been nominated for vice pres. in 1856
– Sought to stop the expansion of slavery
• Lincoln-Douglas Debates
– Initiated when Lincoln challenged Douglas
– Included 7 debates held throughout IL
Lincoln vs. Douglas
• Douglas’ strategy
– Make Lincoln look like an abolitionist
– Lincoln’s response: “I am not, nor ever have
been, in favor of bringing about in any way the
political equality of the black and white races.”
• Lincoln’s strategy
– Make Douglas look like a pro-slavery advocate
Freeport Doctrine
Election of 1860
• Est. by Douglas in Freeport, IL
• Democrats
– In response to question about the future of “popular
sovereignty” in the wake of the Dred Scott decision
• Stated that people could, indeed, keep slavery
•
out of a territory simply by refusing to enact the
black codes necessary for its survival
Helped him win the Senate race in IL in 1858
– Where “popular sovereignty” was popular
– Chosen by state legislators, not by popular vote
• Cost him in his attempt to run for pres. in 1860
– B/c he lost southern support
– Split along sectional lines
– Northern Democrats
• Nominated Douglas
– Southern Democrats
• Alienated by Douglas b/c of the …
– Lecompton Constitution
– Freeport Doctrine
• Nominated John C. Breckinridge
– Buchanan’s vice pres.
• Republicans
– Met in Chicago and nominated Lincoln
• Constitutional Union Party
– Formed from remnants of Whig and
American parties
– Nominated John Bell of Tennessee
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Election of 1860
• Lincoln won the election.
– By winning popular vote in
more populous northern
and western states.
• To win 180 electoral votes
– But only received 1.866
million votes
• Only about 40% of total
• Didn’t even appear on the
ballot in 10 southern states
• Made Lincoln a minority pres.
Secession
• S. Carolina held a convention
on Dec. 20, 1860, and
unanimously voted to secede.
– To w/draw from the Union
• Six other states voted to
secede by Feb. 1861.
• Seceding states met in
Montgomery, AL, in Feb.
1861.
– Formed a provisional gov’t
• Confederate States of America
(CSA)
– Selected Jefferson Davis as the
pres.
James Buchanan
• Remained pres. until Mar.
4, 1861
– “Lame-duck” period
• Did nothing
– Renounced secession as
illegal
– Concluded the nat’l gov’t
could do nothing to stop it,
though
Crittenden Compromise
• Proposed by Sen. John J.
Crittenden of Kentucky
• Sought a new amendment
– Recognizing slavery S. of
36°30’
– Forbidding any future
amendment from tampering
w/ slavery in the S.
• Failed
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Abraham Lincoln
• Inaugurated on March 4, 1861
Lincoln’s Cabinet
– After slipping into Washington in disguise
• B/c of threats to assassinate him
– Sworn in by Roger B. Taney
• Chief justice during who wrote the Dred Scott decision
• Sought to preserve the Union
• Dominated by his rivals
• William H. Seward
– Sec. of state
– Believed the U.S. should pick a fight
with a foreign nation
• And the S. would rally around the flag
• Nixed by Lincoln
• Salmon P. Chase
– Sec. of the treasury
Lincoln’s Cabinet
• Simon Cameron
– Sec. of war
•
• Eventually replaced b/c of corruption
• By Edwin M. Stanton
Gideon Welles
Fort Sumter
Apr. 12, 1861
• 1 of only 2 federal forts in the S. still in Union control
– Fort Pickens in Pensacola, FL, was the other.
• Located in Charleston Harbor
– Sec. of the navy
• Montgomery Blair
– Postmaster General
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Fort Sumter
• Was running low on supplies
– Would have to surrender by
mid-April if not supplied
• Ordered to be re-supplied by
a naval expedition
– S. Carolina forewarned—resupplied not reinforced
• Fired upon by the CSA on
April 12, 1861
– By P.G.T. Beauregard
• Had been superintendent of
West Point in early 1861
– Removed b/c of Confederate
sympathies
• Commander of CSA forces
Fort Sumter
• Held out for 34 hrs. of constant
bombardment
– 4,000 shells had destroyed
practically everything, but no
fatalities.
• Finally surrendered by Maj.
Robert Anderson
– Had been Beauregard’s teacher
at West Point in artillery tactics
– Ordered a 100-gun salute before
departure
• One gun exploded
– Resulting in the only fatality
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