The Lincoln – Douglas Debates and The Election of 1860

1. The Lincoln – Douglas Debates and The Election of 1860

2. Republican PartyLincoln and Douglas Debates • 1858 • A series of 7 formal political debates • Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were campaigning for a seat in the U.S. Senate for the state of Illinois. • One of the main issues was slavery. • Lincoln gained national recognition and he became a viable candidate for the 1860 presidential election. Lincoln became known as an Antislavery candidate.

3. The Election of 1860 • What Happened • 4 candidates were running to become president • two from the North • two from the South • The two most extreme candidates were Abraham Lincoln from the North who was against the expansion of slavery • John Breckinridge from the South who believed the federal government should support slavery in the western territory. • How it led to the Civil War #2 • Even though Lincoln promised touch slavery where already existed, the South promised to secede from the Union if Lincoln won the presidency

4. The South Secedes from Union • After Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860 the Southern states began seceding or withdrawing from the Union. • On December 20th 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede • Other states in the Deep South where slave labor and the production of cotton were vital began to secede. • Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas all join South Carolina within six weeks of South Carolina’s secession • After the battle at Fort Sumter, Virginia Tennessee and Arkansas joined the Confederacy.