Election of 1860 and Secession of GA

Election of 1860:

Once the year of 1860 came around it was time to vote. The Democrats and the Republicans were two parties who had very different views, but they both had to pick a candidate for the upcoming election. The Democrats met in Charleston, Carolina to choose their candidate. The voting wasn't as easy as they thought. Northern Democrats wanted to elect Stephen Douglas because they believe he would be their best chance at beating the Republicans. The Southern Democrats considered Stephen Douglas a traitor because he had passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act which allowed states to chose whether to be slave or not. Mad about the North's decision, the South Democrats left (the meeting) without choosing a candidate. Later, they chose Vice-President John C. Breckenridge. Seeing that the Democratic party had split, the Republicans choose their best candidate: Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was a man who was able to win the electoral college and could manage the remaining uncertain states: New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. In the end, Abraham Lincoln ended up winning. The results pf the election made the South angry and led to the secession of Georgia.

Secession of Georgia:

After the surprising election of 1860, the South was having problems with the new president. Their reaction to the elections was so bad that they decided to secede from the union. The idea to secede was brought upon by the previous tensions over state and federal power, caused by the U.S constitution. By Georgia decided to secede, then most of the other Southern states seceded too. The North and South were split apart and each became their own temporary "countries". But not everyone was all for seceding. People who wanted to secede from the union were called Secessionists. People who were still uncertain were called Cooperationists. At the end of their meeting (held in the capital of Milledgeville) the decision was made to secede from the union, an event led by the state of Carolina. This secession, brought upon by Georgia, was initially the start of the war against the North and South.

Andrew Stephens:

Andrew Stephens was a cooperationist and an anti-slavery man. He worked as a teacher but then became a lawyer. Stephens assisted in passing the Compromise of 1850. He didn't like the idea of seceding but he knew it was unavoidable. If that was what the whole state wanted, then that was what was going to happen. Andrew Stephens was later elected as the Vice-President of the Confederacy because of his status as a former unionist. Once Stephens was elected into office, he and President Jefferson Davis worked together to decide what was best for the Confederacy. The two got along well at first but as their work became more hectic and strained, their bond began to weaken. Andrew Stephens was not a military man so he and President Davis argued over issues dealing with the military. After serving his term as Vice-President, Stephens was elected as governor of Georgia. He ended up dying in office on March 4, 1883.

GA platform:

Even though the Compromise of 1850 and the Missouri Compromise had already been passed throughout the country, slavery still posed a threat to the Union and Confederacy. In addition, new territorial gains and westward expansion contributed to the problems that faced the nation. To resolve all these issues, the GA platform was created. This platform stated that Georgia would accept the Compromise of 1850 if the North agreed to the Fugitive Slave Act. The South was happy with the platform, but the North wasn't. The GA platform prevented the North from expanding and pushing slavery into new territories. Over the course of the years, the terms of the GA platform began to wither down and the tensions between the North and South increased. All these events led up to the final war: the Civil War.