Election of 1860

The candidates in the election of 1860


In 1860, the Democratic party split over who should be the candidate for the election.  The Southern Democrats chose the current vice president, John C. Breckenridge.  Other people, such as former Whigs, created another political party known as the Constitutional Union Party, and chose John Bell as their candidate.  Realizing that they had no hope of winning any votes in the South, the Republicans decided to find someone they believed would sweep through the North and gain a large number of votes.  For this purpose, they chose Abraham Lincoln, who had become popular in the North due to the Lincoln-Douglas debates.  In the end, the democratic votes were split between Douglas and Breckenridge, allowing Lincoln to win the election without Southern support.

After Lincoln was elected, many Southerners believed their very way of life was in risk.  Southern states began to secede after Lincoln was elected.