Presidential Election of 1860

Background Issues

The dominant issues facing the candidates were states' rights and the institution of slavery. The question of states' rights plagued the country from its conception. State representatives of the 1787 Constitutional Convention spent five months agreeing on the details of the newly formed United States, and the power structure of each state in the overall union was a major focal point of their discussions. Slavery, the interlinked issue, was also seriously debated seven decades earlier. Ultimately, a compromise was agreed upon, in which the Constitution would allow the importation of slaves into the United States until 1808. However, there was no clear agreement on when slavery would be outlawed altogether. These arguments would fester, and a series of confrontations and compromises dominated the national landscape. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise [Page 584]outlawed slavery north of latitude 36°30' within the Louisiana Purchase territory. This Compromise would perilously stand for the next three decades.

As the United States continued to expand and people moved out west in search of land and riches, the question of slavery in these newly-formed territories plagued the government. Kansas and Nebraska were two territories, in particular, that faced the slavery question with fervor. During the 1850s, the plans for a transcontinental railroad were taking shape and the need for settlement in these territories was vital. Stephen Douglas, the highly-respected senator from Illinois, realized the only possible way southern lawmakers would allow the formation of these two territories was to allow the citizens in the territories to decide the question of slavery.

Douglas's Kansas-Nebraska Act ultimately eliminated the Missouri Compromise and, if voters so decided, would allow slavery north of the original regulations. In 1857, under the Dred Scott Decision, the Supreme Court decided that the newly-formed governments of the territories, as well as the federal government, did not have the constitutional right to ban slavery in the territories. This question of slavery in the territories ultimately led to a serious showdown between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas and Nebraska. Violence between the two groups broke out in the two territories and the territorial conflict was considered a precursor for the upcoming Civil War.

Democratic Party Splits

The first major public split in the political sphere occurred within the Democrats. The party's nominating convention met in April 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina and many realized that a serious political confrontation would be unavoidable. Stephen Douglas was viewed as the favorite for the Democrats, but his stance on slavery put off scores of southerners. The major issue was the question of a federal slave code in the Democratic Party platform. Southern Democrats desired an endorsement of slavery in the new American territories, while northern Democrats vehemently disagreed.

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