Analysis of Election of 1860 in the US - Essay Example

A year after John Bolt had attempted a slave revolt in Virginia, the national debate over slavery reached boiling point and a number of Southern states threatened to secede from the Republican Party, which triggered the start of the civil war, just after the outcome of the elections. The Republican Party was advocating for the expansion of slavery into the Western nation. The two opposing sides locked heads up to and after the presidential election. The choice of leadership was not easy either.

Some people thought Stephen Douglas was the best candidate. Others thought that John Breckenridge or John Bell was the most suitable candidate for America at that time. However, the outcome of the presidential election proved that Lincoln was the most preferred candidate to the electorate despite the fact that only 40% of the votes cast went to him, with 2000 fewer votes going to him. The divide between the North and the South saw Lincoln gunner most of his votes in the North and clinch the leadership without support from the South. It was however Lincoln’s victory that provoked the session crisis that later sparked the war that followed.