Candidates
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The election of 1860 was mostly over the controversial issue of slavery. Democrats nominated as their Candidate, John C. Breckinridge, who was committed to an aggressive policy of expanding slavery in the territories. Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas of Illinois, who supported popular sovereignty. Bell had supporters throughout the Northern states and the border states, he had little support south of the border states. Republican Candidate, Abraham Lincoln, offered more moderate views on slavery while at the same time standing firmly against its spread into the territories.
Results
In the South, the race was between Bell and Breckinridge. In the North, voters chose between Lincoln and Douglas. Lincoln captured the presidency without winning a single electoral vote in the South. While gaining only 39 percent of the popular vote, Lincoln won 180 electoral votes. The majority he needed to win.
Effect On South Towards The Government
Southerner were outraged that a President could be elected without any southern electoral votes. The national government, it seemed, had passed completely out of their hands. Planters and others who backed slavery called for the South to secede, or withdraw, from the Union.