Wednesday, March 11th

First thing today we updated our maps on handout #3. Since we now know that the Kansas-Nebraska Act implemented popular sovereignty in those territories we can know color in those territories with the color you used to show popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico territories. The color I have been using to show pop. sov. is green. Put those your map. Also, we know that in the Dred Scott decision the Supreme Court said that all blacks in America are NOT citizens of the U.S. and also said that Congress could not ban slavery in any of the territories of the U.S. This means that the Northern territories that have yet to be colored on your maps can now be colored. They were open to slavery so they should be colored your slave state color. In my case that is red. This should complete your map.

Today's main topic is the election of 1860. This was an extremely important election because the Southern states will secede upon the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Lincoln was a member of the Republican party. The Republicans were created in the 1850's to fight the spread of slavery. They slowly grow into a powerful political party because Northern Free-Soilers moved into the Republican party. Lincoln won't be the first Republican party candidate for Presidency but he will be the first Republican party candidate that becomes President.

It is important to understand a little about the system by which we elect the President. Our President is elected by the Electoral College. Each state has a number of electors that is equal to the number of Senators and Representatives each state has. In most states of the Union, whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a state wins those electors. This system is what is called as "winner-take-all". Therefore, presidential candidates must accumulate electoral votes in order to win.

You should complete handout #14 using maps on page 341 and 347. It is important to understand that Lincoln becomes President because of sectional differences. He receives all his support in the free states and gets little support in the South. Fortunately this is enough for him to win the electoral vote and become President.

Also, this event marks the beginning of Southern secession. Southerns believed they no longer had a chance in U.S. politics because the Congress and the Presidency were controlled by the free states and that it was only a matter of time before laws were passed abolishing Southern slavery. So the South decided to secede.

Don't forget-1850 headlines are due tomorrow.