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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by theVoice of America.

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The American people faced the year eighteen-sixty with mixedfeelings of hope and fear. They had hope for the future, becausethey would be electing a new president. But they were fearful thateven a new president could not hold the nation together. The statesof the south were very close to leaving the Union over the issue ofslavery.

I'm Frank Oliver. Today, Tony Riggs and I tell about the criticalelection of eighteen-sixty.

VOICE TWO:

After four years as President,James Buchanan decided not to run again. Buchanan was a Democrat.His party, like the nation, was split over slavery. SouthernDemocrats wanted the party to support slavery. Northern Democratsrefused.

The opposition Republican Party expected to gain votes fromdissatisfied Democrats. Republicans had become stronger since thelast presidential election in eighteen-fifty-six. They felt theircandidate would win in eighteen-sixty.

VOICE ONE:

The Democratic nominating convention opened in April inCharleston, South Carolina. Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois wasthe leading candidate. He had the support of a majority ofconvention delegates. But he did not have the two-thirds majorityneeded to win the nomination.

Many southern Democrats did not like Stephen Douglas. Some didnot trust him. Others did not accept his policies on slavery.Douglas did not oppose slavery or the spread of slavery. However, hesaid no federal law could make slavery legal in a territory wherethe people did not want it. This was his policy of 'PopularSovereignty.'

VOICE TWO:

The southern Democrats who opposed Stephen Douglas were led byWilliam Yancey of Alabama. Yancey wanted to get a pro-slaverystatement into the party's platform. He was sure Douglas would notaccept the nomination based on such a platform.

If Yancey failed to get the statement he wanted, he would takesouthern Democrats out of the convention....and out of the party.

The Committee on Resolutions considered three platforms. Oneplatform declared that the people of a territory had the right todecide if slavery would be legal or illegal. The second declaredthat the Supreme Court had that right. And the third declared thatno one did -- that slavery was legal everywhere.

VOICE ONE:

William Yancey spoke to the convention in support of thepro-slavery platform. He said pro-slavery Democrats did not want todestroy the Union. But he said someone had to make clear toanti-slavery Democrats that the Union would be dissolved if theconstitutional rights of slave owners were not honored.

Yancey spoke of the danger of a great slave rebellion. Hedescribed it as a sleeping volcano that threatened the lives,property, and honor of the people of the south. He said the actionsof the north might cause that volcano to explode.

Another convention delegate answered Yancey's speech. He saidnorthern Democrats were tired of defending the interests of thesouth. "Now," he said, "Yancey tells us we must agree that slaveryis right. He orders us to hide our faces and eat dirt. Gentlemen ofthe south," he said, "you mistake us. We will not do it!"

VOICE TWO:

In this atmosphere of tension, it was clear that a pro-slaveryplatform would not be approved. The Alabama delegationc announcedthat, therefore, it must withdraw. The delegations from the othersix states of the deep south -- Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas -- did the same.

Those fifty men organized their own convention. They approved apro-slavery platform, but did not nominate anyone for president.They agreed to meet again a few weeks later in Richmond, Virginia.

The northern Democrats postponed their nomination, too. Theyagreed to meet again in Baltimore, Maryland.

VOICE ONE:

The Republican Party held its presidential nominating conventionin Chicago, Illinois. There was no question who was the leadingcandidate. He was the best-known Republican in the country at thattime: Senator William Seward of New York.

The Republican platform seemed to contain something for everyone.

For those opposed to slavery, the platform rejected the idea thatslave owners had a constitutional right to take slaves into newterritories. For foreign-born Americans, it supported their right tofull citizenship. For manufacturers, it proposed a new tax onimports to protect American industry. And for those in thenorthwest, it called for free land for settlers, and federal aid tobuild roads and canals.

Delegates approved the platform with loud cheers. They wouldreturn the next day to nominate their candidate for president.

VOICE TWO:

William Seward was sure he would win the nomination. If not onthe first vote, he thought, then on the second. But there was someopposition to Seward. And his campaign organization failed to seeits strength.

The candidate of the oppositionwas Abraham Lincoln.

The Republican convention voted three times. Lincoln gainedsupport on each ballot. But neither he nor Seward received enoughvotes for the nomination. Then, before a fourth vote could be taken,a delegate from Ohio asked to speak. The big room became silent."Mr. Chairman," he said, "I rise to announce the change of fourvotes of Ohio to Mr. Lincoln."

That was enough to give Abraham Lincoln the Republican nominationfor president.

VOICE ONE:

One month later, the Democrats re-opened their nominatingconvention. Most of the southern Democrats who walked out of thefirst meeting came back. Many of their seats at the convention hadbeen given to new delegates. So a new dispute arose over whichdelegates had the right to be there.

A compromise plan split the seatsbetween old and new delegates. But most of the southerners rejectedit. One by one, a majority of each southern delegation walked out.The remaining Democrats then voted for a candidate. They choseStephen Douglas.

Southern Democrats nominated their own candidate, JohnBreckinridge of Kentucky. And a group called the ConstitutionalUnion Party nominated John Bell.

VOICE TWO:

The election campaign opened in the summer of eighteen-sixty.Lincoln was not well-known. So the Republican Party published manybooks and pamphlets about him. They told the story of a poor farmboy who educated himself and, through hard work and honesty, hadbecome a candidate for president.

Lincoln's supporters organized a loud and colorful campaign,complete with marching bands and signs. Lincoln himself was silent.He said, "It has been my decision since becoming a candidate to makeno speeches. I am here only to see you and to let you see me."

In fact, it was Lincoln's assistants who had advised him to saynothing. They believed he had said enough in the past to make clearhis position on the important issues.

VOICE ONE:

Stephen Douglas, on the other hand, campaigned very hard. Hishealth was poor. And he had trouble getting money. But that did notstop him from speaking in almost every state.

Within a few weeks, however, Douglas recognized that he had noreal hope of winning. His position on slavery had cost him allsupport in the south.

Douglas believed that, of the other candidates, Abraham Lincolnhad the best chance of winning the presidential election. He alsobelieved pro-slavery extremists would use Lincoln's election as anexcuse to take southern states out of the Union. So he turned hisefforts to a campaign for the Union itself.

He said, "The election of a man to the presidency by the Americanpeople, under the Constitution, is no reason for any attempt todissolve this glorious nation."

VOICE TWO:

Election day was November sixth. The popular vote was closebetween Lincoln and Douglas. But the electoral vote was not. Lincolnreceived one-hundred-eighty. Breckinridge received seventy-two. Bellreceived thirty-nine. And Douglas received just twelve.

Abraham Lincoln would be the new President of the United States.

He would enter office facing the most serious crisis in Americanhistory. For, before his inauguration, southern states finally actedon their threats. They began to leave the Union. That will be ourstory next week.

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VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THEMAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Frank Oliver and Tony Riggs.Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.