Election

The 1860 United States Presidential Election was the nineteenth quadrennial presidential election to select the President and Vice President of the United States. It was one of the most contentious and controversial presidential elections in American history, and it is considered to be one primary catalysts of the American Civil War.

Significant divisions grew in the United States during the term of Millard Fillmore, over sectional disagreements, especially regarding the extension of slavery into the territories. During his term President Fillmore attempted enforce the provisions of the Missouri Compromise and the 1850 Compromise, but both proved to be extremely divisive. By the time both were declared unconstitutional in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Whig Party had undergone a rapid collapse. By the 1860 election, the major political parties at the same had either collapsed or undergone major splits over the issue of slavery. The Free Soil and Liberty parties were the main antislavery forces at the election. The Democratic Party split over the issue of slavery at the same time, with the North Democrats leaving the party. Northern Democrats, conservative Whigs, and No Nothings formed the Democratic Unionist Party, which sought to pursue a path of compromise.

The joint Free Soil-Liberty National Convention nominated William H. Seward, a Senator from New York despite intense but disjointed opposition. Their joint platform opposed the further expansion of slavery but promised to not interfere with slavery where it was already established. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois was nominated at the Democratic Unionist Convention for the Presidency. Douglas supported another Compromise to restrict the expansion of slavery which appealed to many moderates. The remnants of the Democratic Party, now controlled by the Southern Democratic faction nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky.

Despite that Seward won a plurality in the popular vote and the Electoral College, he failed to win a majority of the Electoral vote. Seward and Douglas split the northern states, while Breckinridge swept the South. Without a majority, a contingent election was held in Congress. The Senate quickly elected Joseph Lane, Breckinridge’s running mate as Vice-President, but in the House Seward could only muster enough support to win the votes of 17 states, one short of a majority. The House was deadlocked into February next year, as all delegates refused to compromise. If the deadlock continued into March, Lane, a controversial fire eater would become President. Thus to prevent this, the Seward delegations eventually sided with Douglas, electing him as President.

However the deal provided to be for naught when Stephen Douglas died a little more than two months into his term. Douglas was succeeded by Joseph Lane, a pro-slavery southerner in June 1861. As President, Lane acted for the interests of slaveowners and the South, galvanizing the anti-slavery movement. The 1860 election is the second of four presidential elections in which the person who won the most popular votes did not win the election. It was also the first time the Vice President and the President were elected by Congress from different political parties.