jan 1, 1860 - Election of 1860

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Tensions were very high between the North and the South. Because of this, Northern and Southern democrats couldn’t decide on a candidate so there were two candidates Douglas (North) and John C Breckinridge (south). Lincoln was the Republican candidate because he was seen as moderate. He wanted to stop the spread of slavery but promised not to abolish it. A third party also ran called the Constitutional Union Party. They chose John Bell as their candidate. Lincoln won the election with almost all of his electoral votes coming from free states.
The south feared that Lincoln would end slavery so Lincoln winning angered southerners. Lincoln did not win any electoral votes in the south so this election showed that the south was losing its political power.

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