Why the election was a turning point
A reading of Lincoln's "House Divided" speech with his Springfield house on display.
Ken Burns: The Civil War, "The Cause" |
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other." |
"In 1860, Americans essentially decided between extending slavery—and the slave power—or restricting it to the states where it already existed, and placing it, as Lincoln and other Republicans put it, on the “course of ultimate extinction.” It was a watershed moment for America—a future tilting toward freedom, or slavery. The North knew it, and so did the South—hence their haste to secede after the Republicans won." "The election of 1860 is important because it laid down the pattern for so many elections to come—and so many divisions in our society. Take a look, for instance, at the electoral map from 2000, Governor Bush vs. Vice President Gore. Take away the states that were not in the Union in 1860 and what do you see? The Confederacy went for Bush, as did the two northern states with the most Copperheads (Southern sympathizers) during the Civil War: Indiana and Ohio. The Union went for Gore. Things change, and then again, things don’t! The labels are different: the Republicans were “progressives” in 1860 and the Democrats “conservatives.” The party identities reversed in the late 20th century, but the progressive / conservative division remains." |
"The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 makes secession inevitable. It ensures that the South Carolinians will act this time - they've threatened before, but this time, due to Lincoln's policy on the spread of slavery, they will act. The election thus makes the Civil War inevitable, particularly since Lincoln had sworn to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." He's got to take action after the firing on Ft. Sumter, or one nation will become two." |
With tension rising between the North and South for many years, Lincoln's election was a turning point because it gave the Southern states a final push to secede. Six weeks after Lincoln's inauguration, in April 1861, Southern troops fired on Fort Sumter, starting a bloody Civil War which ended slavery and cemented Lincoln's place as one of the greatest presidents in the country's history.
The Cleveland Morning Leader reports on the attack on Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861.
Image from Library of Congress, Chronicling America |
Attack on Fort Sumter, 1860
Image from Library of Congress |