1860 Democratic National Convention

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The 1860 Democratic National Convention was one of the main events prior to the American Civil War. It was initially held at South Carolina Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina from April 23 to May 3, 1860. While in Charleston, the convention was torn apart by sectionalism within the Democratic Party. Delegates to the convention were split over the issue of slavery. The southern wing of the party demanded the adoption of a platform which explicitly protected the institution; however, the north refused to acquiesce. When the Minority Report on the platform (Northern) was adopted on April 30 by a vote of 165 to 138, many southern delegations stormed out of the convention hall in protest. As a result of Convention President Caleb Cushing's ruling that two-thirds of the entire convention's vote (rather than of the vote of those actually voting), after 57 ballots, Stephen A. Douglas, the frontrunner, failed to capture the two-thirds majority needed for the nomination. Douglas was opposed by the south because he continued to support popular sovereignty, instead of explicitly supporting slavery. The failure to nominate a candidate in Charleston required the convention to be reconvened at Maryland Institute in Baltimore, Maryland on June 18. Upon reassembling new battles were fought on credentials, as replacement delegates were seated to replace those that had walked out. This led to another round of walk-outs and Cushing left the chair, to be replaced by David Tod. Douglas officially received the nomination on the second ballot. Southern delegates and their allies nominated a rival candidate at a rump convention held in the same city, John C. Breckinridge. This outright split in the party made it possible for the Republicans, who ran Abraham Lincoln as their candidate, to win in November, by tipping key swing states, such as Pennsylvania to the Republicans. As a result of Lincoln's election, some southern states turned to secession.