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The 1860 election took place on November 6, 1860.
An image of the Republican party ticket showing Abraham Lincoln for president and Hannibal Hamlin for vice president.
An image of the Democratic party ticket showing Stephen Douglas for president and Herschel Johnson for vice president.
An image of the Southern Democratic party ticket showing John Breckinridge for president and Joseph Lane for vice president.
An image of the Constitutional Union party ticket showing John Bell for president and Edward Everett for vice president.
This was arguably the most important election in American history. By 1860, the country was divided to the point it barely even felt like a country. James Buchanan, the sitting president, was the most unpopular president up to that point, and arguably, ever. The country was falling apart, and so was the Democratic party. In this election, the Southern (racist) Democrats split off from the party to create the Southern Democratic party. What remained of the regular Democratic party became the Northern Democratic party, with the moderates. The Know-Nothing party had folded and members had either joined the Northern Democrats or the Republicans. The Constitutional Union party, of course, was the party that wanted to avoid slavery and kicked it to the curb. So in a nutshell, the Republicans were the anti-slavery party, the Northern Democrats the compromisers, the Southern Democrats the pro-slavery party and the Constitutional Union the "Let's forget about it" party. A little-known dude by the name of Abraham Lincoln had gotten the nomination for the Republicans, but the party had gained momentum to the point where the pro-slavery southerners knew it as well. The southerners even proclaimed that if Lincoln was to become president, they were seceding from the country and creating their own. In ten southern states, he wasn't even on the ballot.
The electoral college increased to 303 electors; 152 needed to win. 4,685,561 people voted in this election, or 81.2%. This was the highest turn-out up to that point, and the second highest turn-out percentage in American history next only to the 1876 election.
180/303 electoral votes
39.82% of the popular vote
72/303 electoral votes
18.10% of the popular vote
39/303 electoral votes
12.61% of the popular vote
12/303 electoral votes
29.46% of the popular vote
Attributions are shown in order of where the image is displayed on the page. The election map is not included here.
Popular Graphic Arts, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Cornell University Library, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
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