The Importance Of The Election Of 1860

Improved Essays
Election of 1860
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

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Republicans formalized themselves in Congress and gained massive reputation during the 1856 presidential race with President James Buchanan (Democrat) won with 176 electoral votes and John C. Fremont (Republican) with only 114 electoral votes. Abraham Lincoln swore into the Republican party, but although he lost to Stephen A. Douglas for his Senate seat, he would later be sworn into the White House in 1860, defeating Stephen A. Douglas, the very mastermind who made the infamous Kansas-Nebraska act. But Douglas was not a racist of what many people…

    • 1601 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Battle of Antietam was the bloodiest day in American history. A battle so decisive, that it changed the course of the American Civil War. This battle brought the North a great victory and the South an utter defeat. Many lives were lost, up to 6,500 Union and Confederates on September 17, 1862, with many more wounded, with limbs and souls. The losses that day will be felt for many years to come.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Battle of Vicksburg is a very important battle of the civil war because it not only gave us control over the Mississippi River, but also split the Confederacy in two. Also, it is a little known fact that both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis thought that Vicksburg was the key to the Confederacy. And we were successful with taking it over. I would say that that is very important.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Civil War was a period led by glorious leaders and followed by bloodshed. Robert E. Lee was perhaps the greatest of such leaders. Being from the South, Lee chose to participate in the war as part of the Confederacy. For the first three years of war, Robert E. Lee acted as the commander of the Northern Virginia Army. The Northern Virginian Army was a tandem of warriors feared in the Union as an efficient war machine.…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the article, “The slow End of Slavery,” the author wrote, “...declaring freedom for most of the nation’s slaves--more than [three] million men, women, and children in [ten] states” (Clancy). The lives of these innocent people would not have been saved without the Emancipation. Even though that was not nearly close to the amount of the slaves that needed to be freed, it still had a major impact. “Despite its flaws, the declaration was crucial to slavery’s end: It launched the chain of events that led, however slowly, to freedom” (Clancy). The Emancipation Proclamation opened many people's eyes and allowed them to become aware of the major complication that was occurring.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This gave many Northerners a much greater desire to fight and increased the desire of the Union forces to win. Without the Emancipation Proclamation, passed by Lincoln, the extreme desire to win in the north would not have been felt and therefore, the union may not have won the war (Document 3). Frederick Douglass comments, “measuring him by the sentiment of his country... he was Swift, jealous, radical, and determined.” This shows how many people believe that Lincoln was a great president who was able to keep the country together very well (Document 4).…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    America formed many compromises to resolve political disputes between the years of 1820 and 1860. Many of political uprisings were caused by the conflict over slavery; should slavery be legal, or abolished? The Second Great Awakening was a religious reform in the early nineteenth century America, preachers like Charles Finney travelled around the world to lecture people about the importance of religion. These preachers lectured to their audience that their sins could be cleansed forever.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fort Sumter Essay

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The events leading to the outbreak of the Civil War quickly snowballed and became much more severe than the previous ones. Leading up to the attack on Fort Sumter, the North and the South already had contrasting views on several issues not only on slavery, but also what the center of the economy should be based on and the limits of power the government ought to have. The Election of 1860 proved to be a breaking point for the South after Abraham Lincoln was elected. First and foremost, Lincoln was not even on any Southern ballots. In addition, the newly elected president was a Republican and having him lead the country would nearly destroy the Southern economy and ideals.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This event is very important to us Americans because it was the last battle of the Civil War. If this event hadn't happened, the Civil War may have gone on for many months or maybe even years after that. This would have resulted in many more deaths of the Union and Confederacy.…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Antietam Turning Point

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    September 17, 1862 not only marked the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, but also defined the Battle of Antietam to be the bloodiest day in American history. On this infamous day General Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate army, led his troops to Sharpsburg, Maryland, only to be met by General George B. McClellan and the Union army already defensively positioned. This battle initiated a turning point in the war to the Union’s advantage. With a result of more than 22,000 causalities, this gory event enlightened the nation not only on the atrocities of war, but also paved the way for peace by creating an opportunity for President Lincoln’s to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. Following the Union’s success at the Second Battle…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Emancipation Proclamation did not provide any benefits to African Americans in the United States with the except of being able to serve in the Army. More importantly, it turned the war into a moral crusade for Northerners and Southerners fear of a Republican abolitionist president was proven to be true. The significance of the Emancipation Proclamation on the Civil War was it sparked the conflict and increased the importance of the war…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Slavery was the main issue the candidates debated over, as it was also a popular topic during this time. (History.com staff, “Lincoln-Douglas Debates”, paragraph 1). Three parties had the top four candidates for president. Abraham Lincoln ran for the Republican party, Stephen Douglas ran for the northern Democratic party and John Breckinridge ran for the southern Democratic…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    During the Civil War, many men felt the urge to stand up for their country and enroll in the army. But the downside is that some families had different beliefs, causing different parts of a family to live in either the north or south. When it would come time for battle, families would end up fighting each other and possibly kill a loved one. This didn't just happen between the Union and the Confederacy, and it was more likely to happen in border states. These states were not claimed by either the north or south, for there were many people who had different opinions on what side they wanted to fight with.…

    • 266 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Of all of the battles in the American Civil War, none other amounted to the sheer casualties in the one day that was the Battle of Antietam. With a slew of mistakes by both Generals, the terrain was disadvantageous to both sides, the Union didn’t take advantage of the surplus of troops, General Lee’s battle plans were spread, and many other battlefield errors, this was the bloodiest single day in American history. The topics that are going to be covered are: A overview of the battle in general; The situation of both the Union and the Confederacy during the battle; The mission of both the Union and the Confederacy; how the battle was executed for both the Union and the Confederacy; some decision points that the generals of both parties that affected the outcome of the battle; whether or not the battle went as planned and what changed in the actual battle; How the generals adapted; how I would have approached and fought the battle as a general; what we can learn from this battle. The battle of Antietam in the American civil war had casualties on both sides measuring up to more than 22,000 missing, wounded, or dead.…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Southern Whig party also existed, but it was much less influential than the Democrats in the South. On the other hand, Northerners were more commonly part of the Republican Party, which supported the abolishment of slavery. The polarization of the political parties was simply another vast cultural difference between the North and South in the antebellum United States, further proving that these two areas were completely detached from one…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays