Within a few weeks, Douglas recognized he had no real hope of winning. Northerners believed he supported slavery too much. And Southerners believed he did not support slavery enough.
Douglas expected Lincoln to win the election. But he knew a Lincoln victory would create problems. If Lincoln became president, some people who strongly supported slavery threatened to take the Southern states out of the union.
So Douglas turned his efforts to a campaign for the union itself. He said, The election of a man to the presidency by the American people, under the Constitution, is no reason for any attempt to dissolve this glorious nation.
Two other major candidates also campaigned for president. Southern Democrats nominated John Breckinridge of Kentucky. And a group called the Constitutional Union Party nominated John Bell.
Election Day was November 6. The popular vote was close; the vote in the Electoral College was not. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes. Breckinridge received 72. Bell received 39. And Douglas received just 12.
Abraham Lincoln would be the new president of the United States. But his victory was bittersweet. Even before Lincoln was inaugurated, the Southern states acted on their threats. They began to leave the Union.
Im Christopher Cruise.
And Im Kelly Jean Kelly.
This is The Making of a Nation from Learning English.
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