Ashley Adornato Mr. Sutherland History May 21, 2015 The Election that Changed the Nation The famous election of 1860 was one of the key events that changed the nation forever. The events were first the debates, next the election, then the events that followed. Without this election our county would have a different way of running this government. It is a large possibility that without this election, slavery would still be legal in the United States today. These three main candidates all had very different outlooks on running the country, and with every different candidate, new ideas were expressed. The debates between slavery and antislavery politicians were very harsh and bitter. The winner of this debate would soon become the new senate. The majority of these politicians were pro slavery, which caused the balance of the pro slavery and antislavery politicians to be uneven. The debate took place in Illinois from August 21, 1858 to October 15, 1858. Through many disputes about slavery and antislavery, tension was …show more content…
The three main candidates for this election were John Bell, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln was anti-slavery, Bell was pro-slavery, and Douglas was also pro-slavery. Both Douglas and Lincoln had already gotten publicity for their debates in 1858, however the majority of the country favored pro-slavery politicians, so John Bell had also a good chance of winning despite his lack of publicity. Through many debates and public speeches, the voting poll began. Even though most of the country favored pro-slavery politicians, both Bell and Douglas divided their own votes in half. This meant that Lincoln actually won electoral college despite the fact that most of the country wanted a pro-slavery president running the country. Abraham Lincoln was the new president of the United
The excitement was very great. ‘The die is cast: no more vain regrets, sad forebodings are useless: the stake is life or death.’ … ‘Now that the black radical Republicans have the power I suppose they will Brown us all.’ No doubt of it” (Chesnut “Mary Chesnut Anticipates”). Some people absolutely despised the fact that Lincoln was elected, while others simply thought of it as any other election, and not the turning point for secession.
The Infamous Lincoln-Douglas Disputations The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 hold great significance in America's political history. These seven debates for Senate drew tens of thousands of attendees to several cities around Illinois. Its main arguments brought forth slavery's complex division in America as well as the separation of the union because of it. Although Lincoln did not win the election, these debates proved to be the platform for Lincoln's principles and helped his rise towards presidency.
The election of 1860 was an election to decide between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as the 16th president. Lincoln was not a fan favorite, but he won the election, due to Electoral College system. Lincoln made his position on slavery very clear. He wanted to end slavery. The people in the south opposed to the idea of abolishing slavery.
Some Southerners believed that they needed to secede from the nation because they believed Abraham Lincoln, and his Republican majority were a major threat to the institution of slavery. The new Republican Party showed up in the 1850s and they were against the institution of slavery. When the election of 1860 came about, one of the candidates was Abraham Lincoln who just so happened to be a republican. When he won the election alongside his commanding majorities in both houses of Congress, the Southern states panicked, and got afraid that the federal government would stop the continuation of the practice of slavery. In other words, they were afraid that they were going to abolish slavery in the South, which they believed was going to be a problem
The election of 1860 was a pivotal year in our history. Seven southern states seceded from the Union immediately after the election of Abraham Lincoln. The South was convinced that President Lincoln was going to end slavery. While President Lincoln was against slavery and thought it was morally wrong, he never said he would end slavery.
Stephen Douglas, an advocate of popular sovereignty, and Abraham Lincoln, a Republican candidate, were both running to represent Illinois in the United States Senate. These two men met in a sequence of seven debates before they battled for office of presidency in the election of 1858. Slavery eventually became the main issue discussed repeatedly in each of the debates, due to the Mexican War adding new territories left to be assessed as free soil or not. During this time, the Compromise of 1850 was a temporary fix to the sectional issues for the states that made the decision to participate in the extension of slavery. However, the Missouri Compromise of 1854 brought the issue back up again.
Not long before 1876, slavery had been abolished and the black Americans slow rise to prestige positions in congress began. The south had been flooded with former slaves; now free men, who were presumed to be equal American citizen. Entering the year of 1876, Americans were gearing up for a presidential election that would majorly impact the socioeconomic role in the coming generations of black America. Rutherford Hayes, running as the republican electorate won the candidacy for President. Unfortunately, the positions on president came at the cost of an agreement that is now called the Compromise of 1877.
In the 1800s, there was problems in the United States that could have changed the way our country is today. There was a time where the United States was separated into two different parts. The country was divided into two different parts because the Southern states started to secede from the Union. The country was divided into the North and the South, and there were many reasons that led to the Southern states seceding from the Union. The north and the south had different opinions on things, and they went about things in different ways.
The main issue Andrew Jackson’s campaign faced was his stance and his veto on the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson strongly believed the Second Bank of the United States was unconstitutional. But it was how the Democratic Party and Andrew Jackson handled the issues with specific strategies and tactics that won Jackson reelection. It is safe to say the election of 1832 was anything but ordinary. It was the first election to have the candidates nominated by national nominating conventions in place of the old congressional caucus.
The election of 1860 was one of the most influential in the history of the U.S. Tensions were high between democratic and republican parties. The democratic party itself was divided. Laws regarding slavery were conflicting with each other causing outrage on both sides of the issue. Something needed to be done and the election was the answer to it. A firm foundation needed to be set on slavery and it would drive the entire nation in the direction of the Commander and Chief’s choosing.
There is one specific Presidential election that, in my mind, had the most significant impact on the United States. This is the Election of 1860. The main topic during this election was slavery. It was up to the people of the United States to decide the fate of their country. Similar to how the country was split at the time, both candidates held two opposing viewpoints on the issue.
Election of 1860 – The election of 1860 was between four different men. Lincoln a Republican who didn’t want slavery to expand. Douglas was a democrat that focused on popular sovereignty. John Bell was a unionist that wanted the north and south to remain together. Then finally John Breckinridge was a pro-slavery Democrat.
While the debates did not address the rights of Black Americans, it did allow the public to see both Lincoln and Douglas in a brighter light. Douglas publically stated that Lincoln had favored race equality, calling him a Radical Republican and therefore hurting his chances at ever getting a position in politics. Lincoln then challenged Douglas to a series of debates between late August and mid October in Illinois. Douglas accused Lincoln and Trumbull of conspiring to bring down Whig party in order to get their dream of abolishing slavery and getting into office. One person commented that these debates showed how much American politics have changed over the last two years, and will continue to change in the years coming.
The Lincoln-Douglas debates took place during the Illinois state election. It was a series of 7 debates that took place all across Illinois. During the debates the two opponents discussed issues that were important to the conflict over slavery and states’ rights(History.com). The topics discussed would continue long after the debates were over. Lincoln’s goal was to keep Illinois republicans from buying into Douglas ideals by showing the moral issues with
Abraham Lincoln ran for the presidency with the Republican party, against three other candidates, which caused Lincoln’s opposition to be divided three ways. Because of this, Lincoln won the election, but this victory sparked much more conflict between the slave states and free states. This reveals the underlying bitterness between the Southerners and Northerners. The South felt like they were losing power since all of Abraham Lincoln’s votes were cast in the North, yet he won the presidency. Lincoln said he would not interfere with slavery in the South, but didn’t want slavery extending into federal territories, saying, “Let there be no compromise.”