omplete. The minority, composed of the
extreme Southern men, rejected the former plan and insisted

1. "That the Democracy of the United States hold these cardinal
principles on the subject of slavery in the territories: First, that
Congress has no power to abolish slavery in the territories. Second,
that the territorial legislature has no power to abolish slavery in any
territory, nor to prohibit the introduction of slaves therein, nor any
power to exclude slavery therefrom, nor any right to destroy or impair
the right of property in slaves by any legislation whatever."

2. That the Federal government must protect slavery "on the high seas,
in the territories, and wherever else its constitutional
authority extends."

Both majority and minority agreed in asserting

1. That the Personal Liberty laws of the free states "are hostile in
their character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in
their effect."

2. That Cuba ought to be acquired by the United States.

3. That a railroad ought to be built to the Pacific.

Their agreement was a minor matter. Their disagreement was so serious
that when the minority could not have its way, it left the convention,
met in another hall, and adopted its resolutions.

The majority of the convention then adjourned to meet at Baltimore, June
18. 1860. As it was then apparent that Douglas would be nominated,
another split occurred, and the few Southern men attending, together
with some Northern delegates, withdrew. Those who remained nominated
Stephen A. Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson.

The second group of seceders met in Baltimore, adopted the platform of
the first group of seceders from the Charleston convention, and
nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon.

[Illustration: A Lincoln]

%401. The Constitutional Union Party.%--Meanwhile (May 9) another
party, calling itself the National Constitutional Union party, met at
Baltimore. These men were the remnants of the old Whig and American or
Know-nothing parties. They nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward
Everett, of Massachusetts, and declared for "the Constitution of the
country, the union of the states, and the enforcement of the laws."

%402. Election of Lincoln.%--The Republican party met in convention
at Chicago on May 16, and nominated Abraham Lincoln, and Hannibal Hamlin
of Maine. It

1. Repudiated the principles of the Dred Scott decision.

2. Demanded the admiss