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Election
of 1860
Birth of the Republican Party
Created in 1854
Created by abolitionist
Caused Democratic Party to split into north & south factions.
Whig Party splits - north join Republican Party, south joined
Democratic Party.
Election of 1860 4-way split
Election of 1860
Democrats Split
Stephen Douglas
John Breckinridge
Democrats could not agree on a platform (issues) for the
Election of 1860


Southern Democrats – supported slavery
Northern Democrats – popular sovereignty (let the people decide)
Northern Democrats nominated Stephen A. Douglas
Southern Democrats nominated John Breckinridge
Election of 1860
The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln
Before the election, Southern states vowed to secede if Lincoln
won (believed that he was threatening the South’s way of life
In addition to Lincoln, Douglas, and Breckinridge running for
president, a four party candidate, John Bell, was nominated from
the Constitutional Union Party
Election of 1860
Results
The election of 1860 turned into two different races for the
presidency-one in the North and one in the South


Lincoln and Douglas competed for Northern votes
Bell and Breckinridge competed for Southern votes
The outcome showed people were tired of compromise


Lincoln carried the North and Breckinridge carried the South
Since the North had more people, Lincoln won
Secession
With the election of Abraham Lincoln in November
1860, Southern states started to secede
They based their move on the argument of states’
rights
What is states’ rights?
Secession
South Carolina was the
first state to secede on
December 20, 1860
Secession
6. Louisiana
January 26th, 1861
4. Alabama
January 11th, 1861
7. Texas
February 1st, 1861
5. Georgia
January 19th, 1861
2. Mississippi
January 9th, 1861
3. Florida
January 10th, 1861
The Texas Secession
Convention
 In spite of Sam Houston’s opposition to secession, several Texans who favored
secession called a convention.
 They argued that the citizens should decide whether Texas would remain with the
Union or secede from it.
 They urged Texans to take part in electing delegates to the convention.
 When Governor Houston realized that the convention was going to meet with or
without his backing, he called a special session of the legislature.
 He hoped the legislature would declare the convention illegal.
 Instead the legislature supported the convention and gave it the authority to act for
the people.
Texas Secession Convention
 Met on January 28, 1861, in Austin, Texas
 Adopted an Ordinance of Secession by a
vote of 166 to 8
 Called for a vote by the people, who then
approved secession from the Union by a
vote of 46,129 to 14,670
Formation of the Confederacy
 The states that withdrew from the Union took
steps to form a new nation, at a convention in
Montgomery, Alabama, on February 8, 1861.
 The new nation was called the Confederate
States of America.
 The convention drew up a constitution that was
similar to the Constitution of the United States,
but important differences existed.
Differences between the Constitutions of the
Confederate States of America and of the United
States of America
o The states were given more power than the
federal government in the Confederacy.
o The Confederate federal government was
given less power than the states.
o Slavery was protected in the
Confederacy.
Officers of the
Confederacy
President:
Jefferson Davis
from Mississippi
Vice President:
Alexander H. Stephens
from Georgia
Post Master General:
John H. Reagan from Texas
Sam Houston
Because Sam Houston refused to take an oath of
allegiance to the Confederacy, the Texas Secession
Convention ruled he could no longer be governor of
Texas and declared the office vacant.
After Houston declined President Lincoln’s offer to
send federal troops to Texas to keep him in office, he
retired and returned home to Huntsville.
Lincoln Takes Office
Upon taking office, Lincoln promises not to abolish slavery
He did speak forcefully against secession, saying the union
was perpetual, or continuing forever
Lincoln promised no invasion of the South, but it would not
abandon federal property there

Forts would need to be resupplied
What will happen next?
First Shots at Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina was commanded by a Union sympathizer
Lincoln informed South Carolina that he would be sending supply ships to the fort
Confederate leaders attacked the fort before the ships got there
First shots were fired at 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861
The Confederates bombarded the fort for 34 hours, and it surrendered.
The war had begun.