How Did Lincoln Win The Election Of 1860

The Presidential Election of 1860 was the drive that caused the American Civil War to take place. The date of the election was November 6, 1860. The candidates were Abraham Lincoln for the Republican party, John Breckinridge from the Southern Democratic party, John Bell from the Constitutional Union party, and Stephen Douglas from the Northern Democratic party. Abraham Lincoln ended up winning the election. The South did not favor Lincoln, so when he was elected the southern states decided to secede. The seceding of the South sparked controversy, and thus came the civil war.

Abraham Lincoln served as president for 5 years. He served from 1861-1865. He was most famous for being a strong leader in the north and for leading the country during the civil war. He was a devout abolitionist and favored the Union. Before, he became president, he served as the Illinois State Legislature. Abe also began work as a lawyer. Elected in 1845, Lincoln served as a congressmen. Soon after he was elected into presidency for his second term, the civil war commenced. During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves, and gave a
very famous speech called the Gettysburg Address. Soon after the civil war ended. During the reconstruction era, Lincoln was out at a theatre when he was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln told his body guard that day that he had dreamt that he had been assassinated.

John Breckinridge was a confederate general in the civil war, so you can assume that him and Lincoln did not get along. He was born January 16, 1821 and studied law at Princeton. He was elected State Representative of Kentucky in 1849 and served in Congress from 1851-1855. Breckinridge was the 14th and youngest Vice President in American history. At the end of the election of 1860, John Breckinridge took second place behind Lincoln.

John Bell was born February 15, 1797 in Nashville. He served as a US Representative from 1827-1841 and served as the Speaker of the House in 1834. A few weeks into 1841, he was elected Secretary of War under President WIlliam Henry Harrison. In 1847, Bell was elected as a Senator in Tennessee and served there until 1859. John Bell died September 10, 1869 near Dover, Tennessee.
Stephen Douglas was born April 23, 1823 in Vermont. Douglas was elected into the US Senate in 1846. In 1860, ran as the Northern Democratic nominee for president. He died one year later on June 3, 1861.

The Presidential Election of 1860 was indeed an important election. It was the catalyst that sparked the Civil War. Leading up to and during this election, the North and South had their differences. The biggest problem was slavery in the south. The North opposed slavery; however, the South relied on slaves to do work in their agricultural industry. Right before the election, the Democratic party split, leaving douglas to represent the North and Breckinridge to represent the South.

The four candidates were Abraham Lincoln, John Breckinridge, John Bell, and Stephen Douglas.
Abraham Lincoln had the most electoral votes. He had 180, Breckinridge had 72, Bell had 39, and Douglas had 12. To win presidency, you had to receive 270 of the 538 electoral votes. Abraham Lincoln only received 40% of the popular votes. Lincoln had the most popular votes. He had 1,866,452 votes, Breckinridge had 847,953 votes, Bell had 592,506 votes and Douglas had 1,382,713 votes. Abraham Lincoln received electoral votes from the states in th4 NOrtheast and Northwest. Breckinridge received votes in most of the slaveholding states, for the exception of a few. Bell carried Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Although Douglas received a lot of popular votes, he only received electoral votes from Missouri and New
Jersey.

Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican to win the Presidency. He was said to be one of the greatest and most influencial presidents of all time. He was the 16th President of the United States. The platform for the Republican party was mainly about slavery. Republicans were big on antislavery. Abe himself was an abolitionist. His inauguration into presidency sparked the civil war. However, after the war had ended he had a plan for reconstruction. He believed that the Southern states did not secede legally, so his plan was all about forgiveness.

As president, Lincoln’s first act was to restore the Union. He passed the Ten-Percent Plan, which specified that if a Southern state wanted to be readmitted into the Union, 10% of its voters from the election of 1860 would have to swear an oath of allegiance to the Union.

The election of 1860 was one of the most important elections of American history. It was the presidential election that sparked the most catastrophic war in the United States.