Election of 1860 and Southern secession Flashcards
What were the key factors that led to the divide of the Democratic Party in 1860?
Charleston Convention 1860 deadlocked over slavery platform
Northern Democrats under Douglas supported popular sovereignty
Southern Democrats demanded federal protection for slavery in territories
Who were the 4 main candidates in the 1860 presidential election and what were their positions?
Republican: Abraham Lincoln- no slavery expansion, tariffs and transcontinental railroad
Northern: Stephen Douglas- popular sovereignty, compromise to preserve Union
Southern: John Breckinridge- federal protection of slavery, states’ rights
Constitutional Union: John Bell- preservation of union, didn’t address slavery
What was the result of the 1860 presidential election?
Lincoln: 59%
Douglas: 4%
Breckinridge: 24%
Bell: 13%
Why did Lincoln’s victory in 1860 trigger Southern secession?
He won no Southern states so was the first purely sectional president
Southern fears of economic damage from Republican tariffs, erosion of states’ rights and future abolition of slavery
Southern press portrayed Lincoln as a radical abolitionist
What was the chronology of the initial secession?
South Carolina seceded 20 December 1860
Deep south followed: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana in January
8 February Confederate States of America formed
Lincoln’s inauguration 4 March 1861
April-May Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina secede
What were the key elements of the Confederate Constitution and when was it adopted?
Adopted 8 February 1861
Explicitly protected slavery, prohibited protective tariffs, maintained states’ rights and established a permanent gov’t
Where was the Confederate capital?
Richmond
What was Lincoln’s position on secession before his inauguration?
Privately reassured Southerners he wouldn’t interfere with slavery
Declared secession legally impossible
Opposed compromise on extension of slavery
Maintained that secession was rebellion not legal separation
What economic factors motivated Southern secession?
Fear of Republican protective tariffs- cotton exports valued at $191 million
Southern wealthiest in slaves estimated $3 billion
Protection of plantation agricultural system
Resistance to industrial economic model
How was the North initially divided over Southern secession?
Coercionists- use force to preserve Union
Conciliationists- use compromise to restore Union
Let-them-go faction- peaceful separation
What did the border states want after the South seceded?
A compromise
