The Causes of the Civil WarPart Three: The Republicans and the Election

of 1860

The Republican Party• The Republicans began after the Kansas-

Nebraska Act. Northern politicians were worried that slavery would spread west.

The Republican Party• The party was made up of two groups, moderates and radicals.

• Radical Republicans wanted to abolish slavery across America, moderates leaned towards Lincoln’s ideas.

The Illinois Republican Convention• In 1858, Lincoln delivered his famous “House

Divided speech.”

A House Divided• Lincoln believed that the nation could not

exist half-slave and half-free

A House Divided• He believed that

the nation was moving towards an “all-slave” nation.– Kansas-Nebraska

opened the territories– Dred Scott decision – Election of james

Buchannan in 1856

The Raid Harper’s Ferry• October 16, 1859 – all was peaceful in

Harper’s Ferry, VA.

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry• Yet that

morning, one man planned to begin a rebellion.

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry• John Brown and 21 others (including 5 blacks)

stormed the town, capturing a small armory.

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry• Locals went to nearby Charles Town and notified the military.

• John Brown took hostages and bunkered down in an engine room

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry• On leave in nearby

Arlington, VA, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee was called upon to end the siege

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry

• Lee sent in the troops, using sabers only.

• John Brown was captured

The Raid on Harper’s Ferry• Brown was tried for treason, convicted, and hanged in Charles Town.

The Last Words of John Brown

The Election of 1860• Before the next presidential election, the

Democratic party split on North/South Lines

The Election of 1860• There were four different candidates running.

Only one scared the South.

The Election of 1860• Lincoln won, getting less than 40% of the vote

The Election of 1860

The Election of 1860• One month after Lincoln won, South Carolina

announced it was seceding (withdrawing) from the Union.

The Election of 1860• Over the next six weeks, six more states

would follow.– Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas

DO SOMETHING!!!• Outgoing

president, James Buchannan, did nothing. He decided to let Lincoln sort it out.

Lincoln’s inauguration• As Lincoln took the oath of office, the nation was falling apart.