ThesisThe four-way Presidential election of 1860 was a turning point in American history. Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge and John Bell vied for the White House, with incredibly high stakes. The election would decide whether the Southern way of life could continue, and whether the country would stay together or break apart. Lincoln’s victory was the last straw for many Southerners. Although the Republican Party’s platform called only for halting the spread of slavery into new territories, Southerners feared that the new President would abolish slavery entirely. Before Lincoln was even sworn into office, seven states decided to secede from the Union, bringing on a terrible war that would forever change America.
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Yale Professor of American History David Blight discusses
the importance of the election of 1860. |
Images from Library of Congress