Election Of 1860 Dbq Essay

The election of 1860 was one of the most controversial times in American history, and there were only four main candidates. The candidates included Abraham Lincoln, who was a Republican, Stephen Douglas and John Breckinridge, who were Democrats, and John Bell who was a member of the Constitutional Union. All had a disagreement about the topic of slavery, which was an important issue in the colonies. Little did they know that this controversial topic would cause states to begin seceding, forming another Union, and causing a Civil War. The election of 1860 was a close call; Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell competed to receive the name President of the United States.
Additionally, each candidate approached campaigning in their own unique way. According to Levy, “After his nomination, Lincoln put aside his law practice and ran a stay-at-home campaign, in which he made no stump speeches, though he did give full time to the direction of his campaign”(“United States Presidential Election of 1860” Encyclopedia Britannica). Similarly, John Breckinridge campaigned very little, but, unlike Lincoln, he did give one speech. However, Stephen Douglas was an extremely active campaigner; he energetically disagreed with secession and passionately defended the Union. Like
According to Levy, “On election day Lincoln captured slightly less than 40 percent of the vote, but he won a majority in the electoral college, with 180 electoral votes”(“United States Presidential Election of 1860” Encyclopedia Britannica). With the electoral votes, Douglas received 12 votes, and in the popular vote, he received 1,380,202. John Breckinridge obtained 72 electoral votes, and 847,953 popular votes. Although Bell held 590,901 popular votes, he only got 39 electoral votes. With that said, Abraham Lincoln received the title of President of the United