The 1860 Election |
Lincoln and Douglas competed in the North, Breckenridge and
Bell in the South. Lincoln won only 39 percent of the popular
vote, but had a clear majority of 180 electoral votes, carrying
all 18 free states. Bell won Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia;
Breckenridge took the other slave states except for Missouri,
which was won by Douglas. Despite his poor showing, Douglas
trailed only Lincoln in the popular vote. Questions with answers in bold: 1. Who was the Republican Party’s presidential candidate in 1860? 2. Which of the following was not part of the Republican platform? 3. Lincoln and Breckenridge competed strongly for votes in the North. 4. Who won the 1860 presidential election with only 39% of the popular vote, carrying all eighteen free states? 5. How might history have turned out differently, had Stephen A. Douglas won the presidential election? |
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Text courtesy of the U.S. State Department, Bureau of International Information Programs, 2005 |