The election of 1860 was one of the most heated in American history. Americans on either side of the slavery issue believed that they had so much at stake.
You are not expected to read the entire article, but to what extent do you feel that their fears were true. Would Lincoln have ended the instutition of slavery? What were the alternatives? Why was Douglas in the race?
The fear that Lincoln would end slavery was a completely logical fear. It wasn't really a platform he ran his campaign on, but it was there. There really were no alternatives at that point, it was either all slavery or all free. This situation resembles the debate on abortion actually, but I digress. The alternatives had all been exhausted this is election was the end. The fact that all candidates ran on 'Hurrah' campaigns is also fascinating because even with all the technology we have today most campaigns are run the same way as they were then.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that there was a lot at stake in this election. Because tensions were so high among all Americans, this decision on who will run the country was crucial. Those supporting slavery needed to select a pro-slavery president and those opposing slavery rallied for an anti-slavery president. As for Lincoln, the article states that him and his Republican party understood that slavery was morally wrong (they claimed it as "evil") but thought it should be protected due to its strong presence in the country. I find this interesting because I always thought of Lincoln as a complete anti-slavery candidate.
ReplyDeleteLincoln was pragmatic and recognized the need to go against his will and accept slavery in order to preserve the union. The election really became a referendum on slavery because what drove most voters to make their decision was whether or not he would support slavery. Part of the Republican Party platform was anti slavery. In the end, like the movie said today, there could be no compromise on this issue. It was either slavery, or no slavery.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the election of 1860 was one of the most important elections in us history. I agree with the article when it says, "this is truly an election like no other. My reasoning is that there were just so many important aspects to look at. On the slavery side, both were biting their nails to find the results. And I think that this aspect alone was the ultimate key to their success. They would oppose slavery expansion which really gave them that edge they needed. There was a great fear among southeners when It came to loosing slavery because their entire agricultural economy was based on it.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that Lincoln actually sought to preserve the union by protecting slavery; it was essential to the country at the time. There were several important details to consider in this election, the main one being, of course, whether Lincoln would support or oppose slavery. This is the ultimate policy that drove Americans to vote based on what they favored. For example, the southerner's entire agricultural economy revolved around slavery. This caused much tension and stress over the election.
ReplyDeleteLincoln was the right thing the country needed at the time of his election. so much controversy and civil strife had taken place that the parties and people who were represented by the parties were getting very heated and angered. The souths fear that Lincoln would eventually end slavery was a very real and common fear among Southern peoples. Lincoln wanted to persevere the nation by keeping slavery around but didn't want it spreading to the south, but it eventually would come up no matter how much people tried to bury it. I'm sure if Lincoln could end slavery while still ensuring the Southerners that they would be refunded or compensated then he would of done so the first day of his presidency, but that wasn't an option. Lincoln knew that ending slavery would destroy the nation and create chaos throughout the nation, which it did but i digress. I think that the civil war was the perfect backdrop to abolish slavery because it could be seen as a strategic blow to the souths money, but also fulfilling the view of that lincoln had and the views of many people across the nation.
ReplyDeleteThe election of 1860 was so important because it, of course, led to the emancipation proclamation which made freed many slaves. However, Lincoln being elected was the final straw for the South and thus the Civil War began a year later. One has to admit that the Civil War would have taken place regardless of whether Lincoln was elected, but slavery would have been around for a little while longer in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Abraham Lincoln was something like a modified opponent of slavery, the southern states knew that with him as the president of the United States, that in the long term their political power would probably shrink more and more. They mistrusted the way he claimed that his view on slavery was neutral enough not to abolish at one time as most of the uncompromising abolitionists demanded. By doing so, he wanted to protect the Union from disrupting. I don't know if he would have been revoted four years later, if the civil war did not happen, but surely not in 4 years...
ReplyDeleteHad tensions not been so great between the North and South, I believe that Lincoln would have been a moderate on the issue, trying to limit slavery but not abolish it. Yet, since the North needed to hear Lincoln come out with a strong stance on slavery during election time, Lincoln said that slavery needed to be abolished. This public stance against slavery subsequently became the sealed coffin of the South, and negotiation efforts were given up, and war time began. Douglas was in the race and he had already defeated Lincoln in a Senate race.
ReplyDeleteLincoln's motives were very difficult to understand. I seemed to believe that protecting slavery was nessecary because he wanted votes from the south, but he also seemed like he wanted to squash out the industry as a whole. I like how he tried to tie in the southern way of life into his thinking. He didn't just talk about bettering the Union but bettering the entire united states.
ReplyDeleteWell, just like Emma said, i never know that Lincoln would somehow did not want to end slavery immediately for a while.And i think that was such a fascinating move which poison slavery instead of face it directly/immediately. Lincoln made pro-slavery
ReplyDeletesouthern's situation were like a frog was boiling in a pot with cool water at first, then Lincoln heated it up slightly, which he did actually.
once the "frog" feels can't stand the temperature any more, it is time to get things all settled in a classic way.
Delete