inridge, 849,781; Bell,
588,879*. The majority against Lincoln was nearly a million. The
distribution of the votes was such that Lincoln had in the Electoral
College, 180 electors; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Douglas, 12. In
neither House of Congress did the Republicans have a majority.

*The figures of the popular vote are variously given by
different compilers. These are taken from Stanwood, "A
History of the Presidency".

CHAPTER V. SECESSION

In tracing American history from 1854 to 1860 we cannot fail to observe
that it reduces itself chiefly to a problem in that science which
politicians understand so well--applied psychology. Definite types
of men moulded by the conditions of those days are the determining
factors--not the slavery question in itself; not, primarily, economic
forces; not a theory of government, nor a clash of theories; not any one
thing; but the fluid, changeful forces of human nature, battling with
circumstances and expressing themselves in the fashion of men's minds.
To say this is to acknowledge the fatefulness of sheer feeling. Davis
described the situation exactly when he said, in 1860, "A sectional
hostility has been substituted for a general fraternity." To his own
question, "Where is the remedy?" he gave the answer, "In the hearts of
the people." There, after all, is the conclusion of the whole matter.
The strife between North and South had ceased to be a thing of the head;
it had become a thing of the heart. Granted the emotions of 1860,
the way in which our country staggered into war has all the terrible
fascination of a tragedy on the theme of fate.

That a secession movement would begin somewhere in the South before the
end of 1860 was a foregone conclusion. South Carolina was the logical
place, and in South Carolina the inevitable occurred. The presidential
election was quickly followed by an election of delegates, on the 6th of
December, to consider in convention the relations of the State with the
Union. The arguments before the Convention were familiar and had been
advocated since 1851. The leaders of the disunionists were the same
who had led the unsuccessful movement of ten years before. The central
figure was Rhett, who never for a moment had wavered. Consumed his life
long by the one idea of the independence of South Carolina, that stern
enthusiast pressed on to a triumphant conclusion. The powers which had
defeated him in 1851 were now either silent or