The U.S. 1860 Election

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the presidential election of 1860 was a pivotal moment in American history, as it would decide the future direction of the United States and the stance America would take on the issue of the South's institution of slavery. The paper describes the events and tensions that preceded the election and shows how the outcome of the election, the Civil War, had consequences that have shaped the United States of America into its present form.

From the Paper:

"The tension throughout America at the time of the presidential election of 1860 began a decade before hand over the rights of individual states and the future of slavery. The first signs of conflict came over the issue of state of slavery in the new territories capture from Mexico. The president at the time, Zachary Taylor, was urged to grant the territory of California a government because of the lawlessness that existed there at the time of the gold rush. The question, which divided the Northern and Southern factions of government, was whether California should be open or closed to slavery. Californians were encouraged to design their own government and to choose whether they wanted to be admitted as a slave state by "popular sovereignty.""

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ayers, Edward L., Lewis L. Gould, David M. Oshinsky, and Jean R. Soderlund. American Passages: A History of the United States Volume I: to 1879. Third Edition. United States of America: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.
• Lincoln, Abraham. "Cooper Union Address". February 27th, 1860. http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/cooper.htm (accessed November 15th, 2007).
• Woolley, John and Gerhard Peters. "Constitutional Union Party Platform of 1860." The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29571
• ---. "Democratic Party Platform (Breckinridge Faction) of 1860." The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29614
• ---. "Democratic Party Platform of 1860." The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29577

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