Who But Lincoln?

In 2015, America looks back at Abraham Lincoln as one of our greatest presidents and leaders. Lincoln is the man who abolished slavery, Lincoln is the man who got us through the Civil War. But leading up to the Election of 1860, not everyone revered Lincoln the way America does now. Instead, the country was split between four candidates, each one representing a different view on how to handle slavery.
 

 

The map above represents which parts of the country favored and voted for each candidate. It makes sends that the south voted for Breckenridge because he advocated for slavery, just as it makes sense that the north and West voted for Lincoln because he was against it. Bell was the candidate chosen by those living in between the North and South because he wanted to maintain the union as it was, which would keep them out of wars harmful way, and Douglas advocated for slavery to be determined by popular sovereignty. 

In class, we watched John Green's crash course video to get an overview on the election of 1860 and how it effected divisions during events like Bleeding Kansas. After taking notes and processing all of the information, we went onto the Civil War in Art website, where we split into groups to analyze the pictures and sources it had to offer. Finally, we made videos explaining the election of 1860, and relating it to the art that we found on the Civil War in Art website. Check out my groups video below: