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Election Of 1860 Dbq Essay

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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. This election was the most divided and brought upon one of the deadliest wars in American history. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family was by no means rich, and he had not received any formal education. However, when he was not …show more content…

Douglas running president. Douglas wanted each state to decide on the issue of slavery for themselves. The Democrats in the South Disagreed with this idea so they the current vice president John C Breckinridge running for president. Lincoln was the candidate for the Republicans. Unlike commonly thought. Lincoln did not campaign on abolishing slavery, instead he campaigned on only keeping slavery from growing and spreading. Lastly, a fourth candidate, John Bell, was running for the Constitutional Union party. “The whole purpose of this was that they wanted to preserve the Constitution and preserve the Union.” (Norris) I should be noted that many states in the South threatened to leave the …show more content…

This is because the number of electoral votes and state gets is based off the number of senators. With a higher population in the North there is naturally going to be more senators living there. Because of this Lincoln did not need a single Southern state to win. This caused outrage in the South. “The South is essentially going to say we cannot be in this country if someone can win the presidency without a single person from the south voting for them” (Norris) Before Lincoln even has a chance to become president a total of six states already left the Union. One year later, on April 4th, 1961, The first shots of the Civil War were fired. Four more states left the Union after the Civil War started only increasing the tension. The civil war did not end till 1865 and it is considered to be America’s deadliest war. More Americans died in the Civil war than World War 1 and World War 2. The final death toll reaching

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