Election of 1860

"Civil War Election of 1860." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2016. 
"Election of 1860." Election of 1860. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

The election of 1860 has caused more chaos than I thought it was going to. I'm not excited to see the outcome of how the north and south live under the rule of one president that has to bring peace to the entire nation. I hope everything ends well because I have just had another child. It's a girl and I have decided to name her Elizabeth and I am so happy but I am scared for her safety. There is so much uncertainty that needs to be fixed like the thought of Kansas becoming a slave state or free state. I along with most of the north have become filled with a very unsettling feeling due to the surprising result of the Dred Scott decision. A senator from Mississippi, John Davis, convinced congress in 1860 to adopt resolutions that restrict the federal control on slavery. This declared that the constitution can't allow any states or congress to interfere with slavery where it already existed. My husband and I feel as though we are being attacked, according to Zachary, even part of the southern population that don't own slaves feel attacked. The election of 1860 has started with arguing, democrats found that there were many different views that couldn't match up. Zachary told me that after democrats went to Charleston for their nominating convention they argued for many days about slavery. As expected the southern democrats wanted federal protection for slavery while northern democrats like the idea of popular sovereignty and they seemed to like Stephen Douglas and his idea. These contradicting views lead to two separate parties: the northern democrats and the southern democrats. Northern democrats, as I had expected, nominated Stephen Douglas while the southern democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge. I have found that the parties for this election are quite odd, the Whigs and the Know-Nothing's have become the Constitutional Union party. They hope to bring the north and south back together with their candidate, John Bell. They hope to uphold "the Constitution of their country, the Union of the States and enforce the laws." The last of the four parties is the Republican party, my husband and I are personally in favor of this party, this party has the most strength especially with the candidate Abraham Lincoln. In the convention held for the republicans to determine the candidate for the election William H. Seward had been the favorite but some thought he had views that were too radical on the problem of anti-slavery. Abraham instead was elected and I am glad. Zachary has told me he is against slavery but he says he won't take it away from states that currently have it but he will prevent more slave states from forming. Thankfully Lincoln won the election with an amazing 60% of the electoral vote and a still impressive 40% of the popular vote. Although I am happy with Lincoln as president the south doesn't seem to agree. Lincoln was not voted for in 9 states and in most southern states he wasn't even on the ballot. Breckinridge was most popular throughout the southern states. States with economic interests not closely related to slavery such as Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee voted for Bell. Stephen Douglas was left only winning in New Jersey and Missouri but he did come behind Lincoln in the popular vote. The four candidates all had very different views for this nation and this makes me scared for violence and riots that are to come. There is a huge gap between the northern and southern states and this gap only seems to widen everyday. I don't even know if an amazing leader like Lincoln can help bridge the nation back together; I think at this point this nation needs a miracle.