Perhaps one of the greatest elections in American history was the election of 1860. It was a unique election, because it sets the stage for the American Civil War. Throughout the 1850s, the United States was divided around the issues of states’ rights and slavery in the country’s territories (The Presidential Election of 1860, 2010). The Republicans opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise of prohibiting slavery north of the latitude thirty-six degrees and thirty. Many saw this as a pro-slavery expansionist movement.
Also, I will be explaining what the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was. January of 1854 Sen. Stephen Douglas wrote a bill that would divide the land in the west of Missouri into two states Nebraska and Kansas. Douglas wanted popular sovereignty for both states; this would allow the residents of the two states to vote on if slavery would be legal in new states. Groups against slavery were against Douglas’s push for popular sovereignty, because without the ability to vote slavery would not be allowed in the new
The elections of 1800 and 1864 had made the Republicans victorious in the electorate. However, the South’s influence on the electorate had significantly decreased and the Democratic Party was divided as well. After the Civil War, with only a few requirements for readmission, Conservatives wanted the south to accept the abolition of slavery. Led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, the Radical Republicans wanted the military leaders of the Confederacy to be punished. The punishments would include the confiscation of Southern property and suffrage for freedmen.
Moreover, there was much trouble in Kansas such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Kansas-Nebraska Act stated that two states, Kansas and Nebraska would be made up out of what was left of the Louisiana Purchase. These two territories could decide if they about slavery. Later, the people of Kansas wanted to separate their state into antislavery and pro-slavery groups. In March of 1855, elections for this idea began.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act would violate the Missouri Compromise, which had been keeping the union from falling apart for 34 years. Almost all of the Southern Whigs voted for the bill and all of the Northern Whigs opposed it. This caused there to be conflict and no agreement could be found, thus causing the Southern Whigs to be known as Democrats and the Northern Whigs to stay Whigs. It had split up the Whigs and Democrats to form a new party; the Republicans. They were anti-slavery.
Stephen Douglas, an advocate of popular sovereignty, and Abraham Lincoln, a Republican candidate, were both running to represent Illinois in the United States Senate. These two men met in a sequence of seven debates before they battled for office of presidency in the election of 1858. Slavery eventually became the main issue discussed repeatedly in each of the debates, due to the Mexican War adding new territories left to be assessed as free soil or not. During this time, the Compromise of 1850 was a temporary fix to the sectional issues for the states that made the decision to participate in the extension of slavery. However, the Missouri Compromise of 1854 brought the issue back up again.
The north side aiming to abolish slavery as it’s a cruel treatment and it gave the United States a bad name world-wide. On the other hand, the south wished to keep slavery a thing and fought for ownership of “property”. Once the 1860 Elections came up can the final four candidates were revealed, doubts were made. Southerners did not like Abraham Lincoln as he was the favorite to win the election.
The existential crisis in America had almost everything to do with slavery. Controversial decisions were made that shook the public along with government officials. The Missouri Compromise took a massive blow from the Kansas-Nebraska act and left anti-slavery politicians in an outrage. Even some Democrats found themselves opposing it on the basis that it destroyed popular sovereignty. Next, the Dred Scott court decision set an outstanding precedence for slaveholders.
During 1877 the unclosed arrangement to describe the future plan of the south and the reconstruction of the land was decided in a meeting between the new president Rutherford B Hayes. They decided that south would let him be president after the election of 1876, where Hayes would withdraw federal troops out of the border of the south and which would end the Reconstruction Era of the south. This compromise would lead to abandonment of supporting blacks for their civil rights where the Northerners fought for during the American Civil War. Years after the Civil War ended the most controversial election in American history happened. Where it was between Republican Rutherford B Hayes and Democrat Samuel J Tilden where Rutherford B Hayes would win
Every election in United States history has had its impact, but the elections that are during and soon after wars are usually more significant than the others. Between 1865 and 1872, the American Civil War and its ideals have not yet fully left the hearts of many citizens, both in the north and the south. But, after the election of 1872, the mentality shifts from that of the past, to the promise of the future. Because of the election of 1872, the United States embraced new ideas and new figures in the American political system. By 1872, all of the previously seceded states have rejoined the Union, but there were still controversies over the future of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln, Frederic Douglass, were one of the most appealing well-known speakers, people who did believe that slavery was morally wrong and devote their lives to fight for freedom. However, there are several differences between the view of the Constitution’s position differences between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Kansas-Nebraska Act indicated that the recognition of slavery should be determined by the decision of these residents (popular or squatter sovereignty). This act itself conflicted heavily with the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, which was essentially seen as the admittance of slavery anywhere in the country. This act made a political issue of confrontation between North and South.
Ruther B. Hayes, the Republican candidate, and Samuel J. Tilden, the Democrat candidate, were both running for president. The 1876 election was the most controversial election America has ever seen. Millions of African-American lives were crushed by the election of 1876. In order to win the election, Ruther Hayes created the Compromise of 1877 and in return, pulled the soldiers out the South who were there for Reconstruction. Reconstruction means to rebuild the South and introduce them back into society.
The main issue was slavery, but there were also other issues at that time. Trying to avoid being a one issue party, Republicans also were concerned with tariffs on foreign goods, the construction of the railroad, other internal improvements and a homestead act that would grant cheaper western lands to settlers. The slave issue was by far the largest issue though. This issue was debated for many years before the civil war. Compromises considering this issue were made and overturned for many years.
The Democrats endorsed the “popular sovereignty” approach to slavery expansion that was used in the Kansas-Nebraska act. Their platform stated that new territories should decide themselves whether to be slave or free by popular vote; however, anti-slavery northerners feared that this result in the expansion of slavery further westward, a major fear of the Republican party. The Republican
After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the rise of the Republican party, Southerners feared the tipping of the balance of political power against them; their need for self-determination parallel the colonists’ belief of rebelling against the oppressive government of Great Britain. However, the Civil War represented something more: the clash of the feudalistic, agrarian South with the industrialized, capitalistic North. These two powers differed socially, politically, and economically, and were especially conflicted over slavery. These two sections of the United States were divided against one another, and could not survive this way. Therefore, it is more accurate to state that though the Civil War resembled some aspects of the American Revolution, it was a clash between two forces who could not exist with one another in their current state, leading inevitably to conflict between the
According to Liberty and Power to America Vol.1, another significant movement to ending slavery is greatly known as the abolitionist movement. This movement held risky and radical tactics in order to bring an end to slavery. The abolitionist movement was the instant liberation of all slaves as well as the end of racial discrimination and segregation. The abolitionist were a small minority of Americans who supported the emancipation and equal rights for all African Americans during the 1930s through 1870.