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1860 Presidential Elections Essay

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Presidential Elections of 1860

In the presidential elections of 1860, the Democrats could not agree on a platform or a candidate. Their first convention held in Charleston, South Carolina, adjourned after 57 ballots failed to select a candidate. They reconvened in Baltimore, which proved no more successful, with the party splitting into a Southern wing led by John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky and a Northern wing led by Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.

The Southern wing called for the protection of slavery in all the territories, while the Northern wing called for provisions specifically allowing the Supreme Court to decide what powers Congress and the territorial legislatures might exercise in dealing with the questions of slavery.

But …show more content…
Seward of New York. Their platform stated in clear words that slavery in any or all of the territories is a dangerous political heresy at variance with the explicit provisions of the U. S. Constitution. Southerners interpreted this as a death sentence for slavery.

Few presidential elections have aroused the intense interests that extended to every section of the country. With so many candidates and the North and South so intensely divided, it was inevitable that the popular vote was sharply divided. Abraham Lincoln received 40% of the popular vote which was more than any other candidate and held a clear majority in the electoral college, 180 to a total of 123 for all three of his opponents combined.

In the elections, John Breckenridge, the Southern Democrat triumphed in Maryland, but John Bell, of the Constitutional Union Party won by 24 votes in Anne Arundel County. Douglas, the Northern Democrat received only 98 votes in the county, but Lincoln received a total of three votes in the county; one vote in Annapolis and two votes from the county. Anne Arundel citizens along with the rest of the south found the election of Lincoln distasteful and in reaction held numerous political meetings trying to determine their next

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