APUSH 5.7 ~ Election of 1860 & Secession

Who was nominated for the Democrats in the 1860 Presidential Contest?

• Stephen Douglas

• Jefferson Davis

• Abraham Lincoln

• John C. Breckinridge

What was the Republican platform in the 1860 Presidential Contest?

• Pro-slavery expansion

• Abolition of slavery

• Free soil opposed to slavery expansion

• Support for popular sovereignty

What did Lincoln promise regarding existing slavery?

• To not interfere with it

• To interfere with it

• To abolish it immediately

• To protect it

Which state seceded first before Lincoln took office?

• Texas

• South Carolina

• Florida

• Mississippi

How many states initially formed the Confederate States of America?

• 8

• 7

• 6

• 9

What was the main reason for Southern secession according to the text?

• States' rights

• Political disagreements

• Economic differences

• Slavery protection

Who ran for the Democratic nomination with the goal of protecting slavery in new territories with a federal slave code?

• Abraham Lincoln

• John C. Breckinridge

• Jefferson Davis

• Stephen Douglas

“What fault has there been on the part of the General Government of the United States? Why break up this Union? Will any gentleman be so kind as to particularize a single instance worthy of debate, in which the Federal Government has been derelict [negligent] in the discharge of its duty, or has failed to accomplish the purposes of its organization? . . .

“I am not here . . . to defend the election of Abraham Lincoln. I believe that his election was virtually a fraud upon the people of the United States . . . nominated, as he was, by a sectional party, and upon a sectional platform, with no representation in the body which nominated him from the South; but he was nominated and elected according to the forms of law. . . .

“Let us look . . . at the evils that must result from secession. The first, in my opinion, would be that our country would not only be divided into a Northern Confederacy and into Southern Confederacy, but, soon or later it would be divided into sundry [several] petty Confederacies. We would have a Central Confederacy, a Confederacy of the States of the Mississippi Valley, a Pacific Confederacy, a Western Confederacy, an Eastern Confederacy, a Northern and a Southern Confederacy.

“. . . It is easy perhaps to break down this Government; but, sir, when we break it down it will not be so easy a matter to build it up. . . . Gentlemen cry out against the tyranny of their own government, and yet denounce [those opposed to secession] because we hesitate to allow ourselves to be thrust into the embraces of such a military dictatorship.”

Waitman T. Willey, addressing the Virginia State Secession Convention, March 4, 1861

Question

The excerpt best serves as evidence that, in 1861,

• citizens in the Northern states did not want Abraham Lincoln as president

• citizens in the Southern states were deeply divided over secession

• citizens in the Northern states were prepared to accommodate slavery

• citizens in the Northern states would not accept a Confederate government

“What fault has there been on the part of the General Government of the United States? Why break up this Union? Will any gentleman be so kind as to particularize a single instance worthy of debate, in which the Federal Government has been derelict [negligent] in the discharge of its duty, or has failed to accomplish the purposes of its organization? . . .

“I am not here . . . to defend the election of Abraham Lincoln. I believe that his election was virtually a fraud upon the people of the United States . . . nominated, as he was, by a sectional party, and upon a sectional platform, with no representation in the body which nominated him from the South; but he was nominated and elected according to the forms of law. . . .

“Let us look . . . at the evils that must result from secession. The first, in my opinion, would be that our country would not only be divided into a Northern Confederacy and into Southern Confederacy, but, soon or later it would be divided into sundry [several] petty Confederacies. We would have a Central Confederacy, a Confederacy of the States of the Mississippi Valley, a Pacific Confederacy, a Western Confederacy, an Eastern Confederacy, a Northern and a Southern Confederacy.

“. . . It is easy perhaps to break down this Government; but, sir, when we break it down it will not be so easy a matter to build it up. . . . Gentlemen cry out against the tyranny of their own government, and yet denounce [those opposed to secession] because we hesitate to allow ourselves to be thrust into the embraces of such a military dictatorship.”

Waitman T. Willey, addressing the Virginia State Secession Convention, March 4, 1861

Question

Which of the following conclusions can best be reached based on the sentiments expressed in the excerpt?

• Sectional tensions erupted because most Southerners did not support Abraham Lincoln.

• Sectional divisions were showing signs of diminishing.

• The Compromise of 1850 prevented the outbreak of long-term conflict.

• The election of 1860 was a success for the idea that territories should vote whether or not to have slavery.

“What fault has there been on the part of the General Government of the United States? Why break up this Union? Will any gentleman be so kind as to particularize a single instance worthy of debate, in which the Federal Government has been derelict [negligent] in the discharge of its duty, or has failed to accomplish the purposes of its organization? . . .

“I am not here . . . to defend the election of Abraham Lincoln. I believe that his election was virtually a fraud upon the people of the United States . . . nominated, as he was, by a sectional party, and upon a sectional platform, with no representation in the body which nominated him from the South; but he was nominated and elected according to the forms of law. . . .

“Let us look . . . at the evils that must result from secession. The first, in my opinion, would be that our country would not only be divided into a Northern Confederacy and into Southern Confederacy, but, soon or later it would be divided into sundry [several] petty Confederacies. We would have a Central Confederacy, a Confederacy of the States of the Mississippi Valley, a Pacific Confederacy, a Western Confederacy, an Eastern Confederacy, a Northern and a Southern Confederacy.

“. . . It is easy perhaps to break down this Government; but, sir, when we break it down it will not be so easy a matter to build it up. . . . Gentlemen cry out against the tyranny of their own government, and yet denounce [those opposed to secession] because we hesitate to allow ourselves to be thrust into the embraces of such a military dictatorship.”

Waitman T. Willey, addressing the Virginia State Secession Convention, March 4, 1861

Question

Evidence in the excerpt most strongly suggests which of the following?

• Southern opinions regarding slavery were changing.

• Southern businesses rejected paying federal taxes.

• Southern voters viewed the presidential election with contempt.

• Southern politicians were anxious to form alliances with European countries.