John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 was a turning point in American history. This radical abolitionist's attempt to spark a slave rebellion heightened tensions between North and South, pushing the nation closer to civil war.

The 1860 presidential election was a four-way race dominated by the issue of slavery. With Democrats split and Republicans united behind Lincoln, the stage was set for a pivotal moment that would lead to Southern secession and conflict.

John Brown and the Election of 1860

John Brown's raid and sectional tensions

• John Brown, a radical abolitionist, led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) in October 1859 with the aim of seizing weapons and arming a slave rebellion in the South
• The raid was quickly suppressed by local militia and U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee, resulting in Brown's capture, trial for treason, and execution by hanging in December 1859
• Impact on sectional tensions:
  • Northerners viewed Brown as a martyr for the abolitionist cause, with prominent figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau praising his actions as a noble sacrifice
  • Southerners saw the raid as proof of Northern aggression and desire to incite slave rebellions, increasing fears of uprisings and further polarizing the nation along sectional lines
  • The raid and its aftermath intensified the debate over slavery and pushed the country closer to civil war by hardening positions on both sides and eroding the possibility of compromise
• Brown's actions were influenced by the violence in "Bleeding Kansas," where pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed over the territory's future

Factors of 1860 presidential election

• Four major candidates ran in the 1860 election: Abraham Lincoln (Republican Party), Stephen A. Douglas (Northern Democratic Party), John C. Breckinridge (Southern Democratic Party), and John Bell (Constitutional Union Party)
• Key factors:
  • The issue of slavery and its expansion into new territories dominated the election, with the Republican Party led by Lincoln opposing the spread of slavery while Democrats remained divided
  • The Democratic Party split into Northern and Southern factions due to disagreements over slavery, with Northern Democrats backing Douglas's doctrine of popular sovereignty and Southern Democrats demanding a platform that protected slavery in all territories
  • The Dred Scott decision of 1857 further inflamed tensions by ruling that African Americans were not citizens and Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories
• Results:
  • Lincoln won the election with a majority of the electoral votes but only 40% of the popular vote, carrying all Northern states but not appearing on the ballot in most Southern states
  • Breckinridge won most Southern states, Bell carried three border states (Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee), and Douglas finished second in the popular vote but won only Missouri and part of New Jersey
  • The election of Lincoln, a Republican opposed to slavery's expansion, led to the secession of Southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas) and the start of the Civil War in April 1861

Democratic Party split in 1860 election

• The Democratic Party split into Northern and Southern factions during their 1860 convention in Charleston, South Carolina over the issue of slavery and its expansion into new territories
  • Northern Democrats backed Stephen A. Douglas and his doctrine of popular sovereignty, which held that each territory should decide for itself whether to allow slavery
  • Southern Democrats demanded a platform that protected slavery in all territories and backed John C. Breckinridge as their candidate
• The split in the Democratic Party resulted in two separate Democratic candidates running in the 1860 election, with Douglas representing the Northern faction and Breckinridge the Southern faction
• The division of the Democratic Party made it easier for Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans to win the election, as the Democratic vote was split between Douglas and Breckinridge
  • Lincoln was able to win with a plurality of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote, whereas a united Democratic Party may have been able to defeat him and prevent Republican control of the White House
• The split in the Democratic Party reflected the growing sectional divide within the United States over slavery and foreshadowed the impending secession crisis and Civil War

Escalating Sectional Tensions

• The Compromise of 1850 attempted to address the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories, but it included the controversial Fugitive Slave Act
• The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed popular sovereignty in the territories, leading to violent conflicts
• The emergence of the Free Soil Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories, further divided the political landscape