8212;November 6, 1860—Lincoln won the election with 1,866,000 votes. He carried every Northern State. Southerners hated this “black Republican” and his name did not appear on any southern ballots. Douglas got 1,377,000 votes and Breckenridge received 850,000. If the Democratic Party had not split Lincoln would not have been elected. Douglas and Breckenridge’s votes combined were more than the total number of votes for Lincoln. So, if Breckenridge hadn’t run, almost all Democratic votes would have gone to Douglas. I also believe, that if Douglas were elected, a civil war would not have broken out. Douglas believed the nation could endure half-free half slave. He did not feel strongly about slavery. Unlike Lincoln, Douglas did not care if slavery spread through America. If it weren’t for Lincoln slavery could have spread into new states and territories. It was Lincoln’s boldness against slavery that created nation wide freedom in America. As soon as Lincoln was elected some southern states threatened to secede from the Union. The South hated Lincoln. An Atlanta newspaper said, “Let the consequences be what they may… the south will never submit such humiliation and degradation as the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln.” And so, sure enough, in December, the slave state South Carolina seceded from the Union. During the next three months before Lincoln’s inauguration, seven more slave states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America with their capital in Richmond, Virginia. In February, ...
