1860 United States presidential election in Texas
November 6, 1860
 
Nominee John C. Breckinridge John Bell
Party Southern Democratic Constitutional Union
Home state Kentucky Tennessee
Running mate Joseph Lane Edward Everett
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 47,548 15,438
Percentage 75.47% 24.50%
County Results
President before election

James Buchanan
Democratic

 Elected President

Abraham Lincoln
Republican

The 1860 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 6, 1860. State voters chose four electors to represent the state in the Electoral College, which chose the president and vice president.

Before candidates were even nominated, Texas, as the frontier of slavery in the United States, was always recognised as extremely important to the extension of slavery,[1] and nefarious tales of abolition plots there were common in the Southern media.[1] Texas delegates to the first Democratic National Convention refused to accept “Northern Democrat” Stephen A. Douglas′ platform of “popular sovereignty” — locally called “squatter sovereignty” — because they believed that it would prevent the expansion of slavery in the same manner as the Republicans’ “free soil” policy.[2] Texas was among the most insistent states upon a platform that guaranteed expansion of slavery into the territories and consequently the state Democratic party unanimously supported the nomination of Southern Democrat nominee John C. Breckinridge. Douglas, indeed, had so little support amongst the Texas electorate that his supporters had agreed to transfer their allegiance to Constitutional Union candidate John Bell,[3] although their ultimate goal was to support whomever stood the best chance of beating Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln, who was not on the ballot in Texas.[4]

With the state media overwhelmingly behind him,[2] Texas overwhelmingly voted for Breckinridge, who won 75.47 percent of the vote, making Texas his strongest state. Despite the allegiance of Douglas supporters, Bell carried only three counties in the state and it is sometimes thought that the German-American abolitionists in such counties as Gillespie refrained from visiting the polls.[5] Douglas gained a mere 18 votes as a write-in candidate.

Soon after this election, Texas seceded from the United States in March 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America. It would not participate in the following elections in 1864 and 1868. The state would not be readmitted into the Union until 1870 and would not participate in another presidential election until 1872.

Results

1860 United States presidential election in Texas[6]
Party Candidate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Southern Democratic John C. Breckinridge 47,548 75.47% 4
Constitutional Union John Bell 15,438 24.50% 0
Democratic Stephen Douglas (write-in) 18 0.03% 0
Total 63,004 100% 4

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Crenshaw, Ollinger (July 1942). "The Psychological Background of the Election of 1860 in the South". The North Carolina Historical Review. 19 (3): 260–279.
  2. 1 2 Ledbetter, Billy D. (October 1975). "Politics and Society: The Popular Response to Political Rhetoric in Texas, 1857-1860". East Texas Historical Journal. 13 (2): 11–24.
  3. ↑ Baggett, James Alex; The Scalawags: Southern Dissenters in the Civil War and Reconstruction, p. 38 ISBN 0807130141
  4. ↑ Bünger, Walter L. Secession and the Union in Texas. p. 76. ISBN 0292739958.
  5. ↑ Morgenthaler, Jefferson; The German Settlement of the Texas Hill Country, p. 153 ISBN 1932801049
  6. ↑ "1860 Presidential General Election Results - Texas". David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.


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