1860
By 1860, the Democratic Party was torn apart into a battle between the southerners, who demanded the endorsement of slavery, and the westerners, who supported using popular sovereignty. In their party convention in April, and when the convention endorsed popular sovereignty, delegates from eight southern states walked out. The remaining delegates were unable to decide on one candidate, and met again in June. There, they decided to nominate Stephen Douglas. Other southern Democrats met and nominated John C. Breckinridge. A conservative group of Whigs elected John Bell as their nominee, with a promise of endorsing the Union and their silence on slavery. The Republican Party hoped to broaden their appeal in order to attract …show more content…
Within the first few weeks of Lincoln’s victory, disunion was already beginning in the South. Because Lincoln was able to win the presidency without carrying a single southern state, which showed the division of his supporters and opponents. The southern states felt that if a president could be elected without any of their supports, they were not represented enough, and decided to leave the Union. A month after this election, the American Civil War began when shots were fired at Fort Sumter. The election was important for the presidency of Lincoln, and without him, his important speeches would not have been heard and the Civil War might have had a completely different …show more content…
The Battle of Antietam is memorable and important for many different reasons. The most obvious importance of this battle was that it caused many lives to be lost. This was the bloodiest battle in American history, with one in four soldiers either being killed, wounded, or captured. Another importance of this battle was that it showed the abilities of the Union army, and while the battle’s winner is debatable, the North felt that it was their victory. The third significance of this battle was the result that came directly after it: Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. While the Proclamation did not have the largest impacts at the beginning, it was a step towards abolishing slavery. The Battle of Antietam was also another factor that told the Union it could no longer coexist peacefully with the South, and the only way to restore the full Union was to destroy the South 's ability to live