“The great democratic organization has finally burst into pieces.” —Charles Francis Adams, 1860
These words reflected the feelings of the United States in the months before the Election of 1860. Whereas Abraham Lincoln lost the 1858 Illinois Senate seat to Stephen A. Douglas, his “House Divided” speech caused a major stir over the slavery debate in America. While Lincoln was only a one-term congressman and better known through Illinois politics, he rose as the leader of the Republican Party. President James K. Buchanan was an experienced leader, but he appeared powerless to handle the crisis and was regarded by the North as a supporter of slavery’s expansion.
The Democrats were split over their opposition to Lincoln, as the northern wing of the party selected the moderate Douglas. A well-known leader, he hoped to create a deal to avert the Civil War, but was not trusted by either region. A fractured party, the Southern Democrats chose Buchanan’s vice president, John C. Breckinridge. After losing the election, Breckinridge later served as a senator, seceded to the South, became a major general, fought at Shiloh, and eventually served as Confederate Secretary of War under President Jefferson Davis. Another long-time representative and senator from Tennessee, John Bell, sought the presidency as a member of the Constitutional Union Party. Bell, a slave owner who opposed the expansion of slavery during the Compromise of 1850, won several southern states and later opposed the use of federal force in the South.
This election became a collision course, as Lincoln understood that his victory would not carry a national majority and no southern state would accept his leadership. After receiving the Republican nomination in Springfield, an Illinois citizen described the future president as “standing tall and ungainly in his black suit of apparently new but ill-fitting clothes, his long tawny neck emerging gauntly from his turn-down collar, his melancholy eyes sunken deep in his haggard face.” Lincoln earned an impressive victory for the nomination against seasoned politician William Henry Seward. While the former New York governor and senator was angered by the loss, he eventually became a vital member of Lincoln’s inner circle.
There were conflicting northern feelings toward Lincoln’s ability to represent the Republican Party and the nation. Some supporters saw this Midwestern politician as having “his character marked by a happy mixture of amiability and courage; and while I expect him to be as mild as Fillmore, I equally expect him to be as firm as Jackson.” Others mocked Lincoln as a “hick” from the woods—uneducated, inexperienced, and unable to govern—while many viewed him as a fresh new voice willing to halt the spread of slavery.
As Lincoln ran for office, Buchanan was a “lame-duck” president with a contentious relationship with congressional Republicans; he vetoed their legislation, and they retaliated by blocking his agenda. During the fraught election season, the Union was on the verge of collapse. Buchanan desperately wanted to leave office, while many citizens were unsure about Lincoln’s prospects. Lincoln was told he needed to win key northern states and secure at least 152 electoral votes. He also benefited from the vocal support of rivals he had defeated in the primaries. Northern leaders such as Salmon P. Chase and Edward Bates went from criticizing Lincoln to becoming major proponents of his campaign. Still, Lincoln worried about carrying Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, where southern sympathizers were hostile to his rise.
Lincoln strengthened his position as influential Republicans delivered speeches, wrote news stories, and reassured northern voters that he could govern. While his allies campaigned across the country, Lincoln remained in Springfield, established his headquarters in the Illinois governor’s room at the statehouse, met visitors, received mail, and studied campaign reports. Unlike modern candidates, he rarely traveled, instead allowing others to speak on his behalf. John Nicolay, an immigrant from Germany, served as his secretary and later documented Lincoln’s wartime leadership in a mammoth historical account. As more Americans learned of Lincoln’s humble frontier beginnings, supporters carried replicas of the “rails” he famously split as a young man. His popularity grew—and so did southern fears that his presidency threatened the future of slavery.
Slavery remained the central issue surrounding Lincoln’s candidacy. He promised to open additional government land to Midwestern immigrants and supported a protective tariff for northern industrial states. Lincoln wanted America to compete openly with Britain’s industrial might. His strategy worked: Seward delivered major speeches on his behalf, including one in Detroit where he presented Lincoln’s plans to more than fifty thousand people. In St. Paul, Minnesota, newspapers described Seward’s efforts as “a day ever memorable in the political history of our state.”
Seward’s tour for Lincoln received national newspaper coverage and built momentum across the North. Outside of a brief 1848 meeting, Lincoln and Seward barely knew each other before the 1860 Republican convention, yet Seward became one of his fiercest allies. There were major fears that Pennsylvania might abandon Lincoln, prompting Republicans to invest heavy time and resources in the Keystone State. They closely monitored state politics, Douglas’s “barnstorming” campaign, and rising southern hostility toward Lincoln’s momentum. Although Lincoln was warned repeatedly that his victory would destroy the Union, he insisted that “the people of the South have too much good sense, and good temper, to attempt the ruin of the government.”
Some New Yorkers feared a Lincoln victory would harm trade with the South, while Irish immigrants worried that freed slaves would lower their wages. Seward traveled to New York City to speak for Lincoln and reassure voters, receiving thunderous applause. The Election of 1860 became one of the most hotly contested, closely watched, and explosive political contests in American history—one that produced one of the nation’s most iconic leaders.
Next week: Lincoln’s victory and the South’s response.