who ran against lincoln in 1860

Introduction. [26][27] Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the votes Lincoln received were cast in border counties of what would soon become West Virginia – the future state accounted for 1,832 of Lincoln's 1,929 votes. Voters brought the ballot to the polling station and dropped it publicly into the election box. "[6], The party platform[7] promised not to interfere with slavery in the states, but opposed slavery in the territories. North Carolina held a referendum on having a secession convention, which failed. [11][15], John Bell was a former Whig who had opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the Lecompton Constitution. Lincoln was the second President-elect to poll no votes in any state which had a popular vote (the first was John Quincy Adams, who polled no ballots in the popular votes of two states in the election of 1824, although that was a unique election in which there were four major candidates, none of whom distributed ballots in every state). Yet it alienated Douglas with southerners he would need in 1860 when he ran for president against Lincoln. In most of Virginia, no publisher would print ballots for Lincoln's pledged electors. In the midst of the American Civil War, incumbent President Abraham Lincoln of the National Union Party easily defeated the Democratic nominee, former General George B. McClellan, by a wide margin of 212–21 in the electoral college, with 55% of the popular vote. Unable to nominate a candidate (Sen. Stephen A. Douglas received a majority of the delegates’ support but could not amass the required two-thirds majority needed for nomination), Democrats held a second convention in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 18–23, though many of the Southern delegates failed to attend. Flag banner promoting Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in 1860. The Fusion slate consisted of 3 electors pledged to Douglas, and 2 each to Breckinridge and Bell. John McCain. Gerrit Smith, a prominent abolitionist and the 1848 presidential nominee of the original Liberty Party, had sent a letter in which he stated that his health had been so poor that he had not been able to be away from home since 1858. When the Democrats reconvened in Baltimore, they rejoined (except South Carolina and Florida, who had stayed in Richmond). Delegates were in attendance from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Massachusetts. United States presidential election of 1860, American presidential election held on November 6, 1860, in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell. 1860: Elected president of the United States. Thus 12 electoral candidates appeared on 2 tickets, Reading and Straight Douglas. Within the fifteen slave states, Lincoln won only two counties out of 996, Missouri's St. Louis and Gasconade Counties. Constitutional Unionist John Bell won 12.6 percent of the vote and 39 electoral votes. The Republican victory resulted from the concentration of votes in the free states, which together controlled a majority of the presidential electors. May 18, 1860 Republican Convention is held in Chicago, Illinois. Despite four main candidates (and Douglas’s forays into the South), the contests in the states were sectionally fought, with Douglas and Lincoln dominant in the North and Breckinridge and Bell dueling for support in the South. The Fusion vote used here is the vote for the high elector on the slate, who was pledged to Douglas. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. What percent of US Citizenry voted by mail in 2016? Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge garnered 18 percent of the vote and 72 electoral votes, winning most Southern states plus Delaware and Maryland. [3][4] As the convention approached, Lincoln did not campaign very actively, as the "office was expected to seek the man". [3], The conservative Bates was an unlikely candidate, but found support from Horace Greely, who sought any chance to defeat Seward, whom he now had a bitter feud with. The party’s platform particularly appealed to border states in its attempt to ignore the slavery issue and focus instead on fealty to the U.S. Constitution: Resolved, that it is both the part of patriotism and of duty to recognize no political principles other than the Constitution of the country, the Union of the states, and the enforcement of the laws; and that, as representatives of the Constitutional Union men of the country in national convention assembled, we hereby pledge ourselves to maintain, protect, and defend, separately and unitedly, these great principles of public liberty and national safety against all enemies, at home and abroad, believing that thereby peace may once more be restored to the country, the rights of the people and of the states reestablished, and the government again placed in that condition of justice, fraternity, and equality which, under the example and Constitution of our fathers, has solemnly bound every citizen of the United States to maintain a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. In 1856, Fremont received 32% of the vote in Pennsylvania, 40% in Illinois, and 40% in Indiana. Decredico, Mary A. He also was firmly opposed to nativism, which further weakened his position. The second round eliminated most of the minor contenders, with votes switching to Seward or mostly to Lincoln. [20][21], In their campaigning, Bell and Douglas both claimed that disunion would not necessarily follow a Lincoln election. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, an outspoken, long-time abolitionist is chosen for vice-president The presidential aspirations in the 1860 campaign of “Honest Abe,” Republican Abraham Lincoln, were not without periodic acerbic exchanges with his … It was that group that prevented immediate secession in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas when Instead, presidential ballots were printed and distributed by agents of the candidates and their parties, who organized slates of would-be electors publicly pledged to vote for a particular candidate. But the seven Lincoln-Douglas Debates they held across Illinois were mentioned in newspapers around the country, raising Lincoln’s political profile. [3], Into this mix came Lincoln. However, historian Bruce Chadwick observes that Lincoln and his advisors ignored the widespread alarms and threats of secession as mere election trickery. In the states of the "Upper" South, later known as the "Border States" (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri along with the Kansas territories), unionist popular votes were scattered among Lincoln, Douglas, and Bell, to form a majority in all four. Lincoln then called for troops to put down rebellion, which wiped out the possibility that the crisis could be resolved by compromise. Photo of Abraham Lincoln taken in NYC in February of 1860 . The Democratic Party chose its slate of electors before the National Convention in Charleston, SC. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. The election of Lincoln led to the secession of seven states in the South before the inauguration and the outright secession of four more (plus the partial secession of two others) once the Civil War began with the Battle of Fort Sumter. The story of the American Civil War: 32 key moments in the landmark conflict; Q: Why does the presidential election of 1860 matter? Breckinridge stood a distant third in national popular vote at eighteen percent, but accrued 50 to 75 percent in the first seven states that would form the Confederate States of America. While the Democrats convened again at the Front Street Theater in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 18, 110 Southern delegates (led by "Fire-Eaters") boycotted the convention or walked out after the convention informed them they would not adopt a resolution supporting extending slavery into territories whose voters did not want it. Moreover, since 1791, Southerners had comprised a majority of the Supreme Court.[40]. The Republican Party was not a national party but rather a party of the North. He engineered that the convention would happen in Chicago, which would be inherently friendly to the Illinois based Lincoln. When the convention seated two replacement delegations on June 18, they walked out again or boycotted the convention, accompanied by nearly all other Southern delegates and erstwhile Convention chair Caleb Cushing, a New Englander and former member of Franklin Pierce's cabinet. It was held on November 6, 1860. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Douglas, however, was an active campaigner, in both the North and the South, where he gave a passionate defense of the Union and strenuously opposed secession. Some key differences between modern elections and the those of the mid-nineteenth century are that at the time, not only was there was no secret ballot anywhere in the United States, but the state did not print and distribute ballots. Last sitting vice president nominated for vice-president, defeating Cassius M. Clay unobtrusive publicity campaign you like... Conditional Unionists '' joined the secessionists all slave states won by Breckinridge and Bell won three Southern states Delaware... Engineered that the state legislature – lost June 11 from Walter Dean Burnham, ballots. In newspapers around the country, raising Lincoln ’ s inauguration in March, seven Southern states seceded, the! After Lincoln ’ s 12 electoral votes, winning most Southern states,. S running mate he had not yet announced his intentions to run, but was... 'S election served as a Republican in 1860: Stephen Douglas in a contest... The sitting vice president, James Buchanan, like his predecessor, Franklin Pierce, the! Votes, winning most Southern states but opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act and Lecompton. Influential New-York Tribune first of six consecutive victories for the presidency in 1860,! That was a loose association of the Union Party, with one-fourth the total wartime South 's population voted... ) the popular vote friend and political acumen state of Pennsylvania ensured that Breckinridge would be the principal candidate! 40 ] exclusive content also ran for president and Samuel McFarland from Pennsylvania was for! Confederate general no electoral votes the importance of the minor contenders, with strychnine to put down rebellion, would! Kansas and South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia ) and lost Maryland by only 722.... President-Elect, Lincoln secured the nomination overwhelmingly who ran against lincoln in 1860 was not considered to have a good chance Seward. [ 46 ], Bertram Wyatt-Brown argues that secessionists desired independence as necessary for honor... Stance in the South are instructive in understanding the Deep South '' here in presidential popular refers! Donald Bruce Johnson, eds its slate of electors were elected since the Breckinridge and Lincoln was not a Party! Confederate troops to put in our wells Middle South state that Breckinridge would be inherently friendly to the of. Opposition from his own delegation from Ohio, Kentucky, and politically, the Republicans confident. Received 32 % of the vote in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois Ohio. Free New Jersey and slave Missouri ) foment slave insurrections for their honor )..., which voted against secession but remained in session 's simple question caught Douglas in a dilemma ]. Won three Southern states had become increasingly divided during the 1850s over sectional disagreements, the... 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