Election of 1860, Secession in G.A, and Alexander Stephen's Role

In the election of 1860 there was a split in the Democratic party, so Abraham Lincoln, a Republican candidate won. He was against slavery, but he didn't want to abolish it he just wanted for it not to expand. In his speech he states that a divided nation would not be able to stand on it's own. America would either need to be pro-slavery or against slavery to thrive. Lincoln's stand against slavery made him opposed by the South. Lead by South Carolina on December 20, 1860 Southern states reacted to the election by secession. They later would hold conventions to vote either to leave or stay with the Union. Georgia held a secession convention in 1861 in the capital, Milledgeville. There were two main groups at the meeting, secessionists who wanted to leave the Union immediately and cooperationists who were unsure about leaving because they didn't think G.A would be able to survive on it's own. In the end the cooperationists voted for secession and Georgia became part of the Confederacy. Alexander Stephens was one of the main cooperationists in Georgia and he was a key part in passing the Compromise of 1850. He was elected as vice president of the Confederacy and close friends with Jefferson Davis before the war became solely focused on military strategy. Once Stephens agreed to secession everyone in Georgia followed him because he had many supporters.

Alexander Stephens Bio
February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883
50th governor of Georgia
Vice President of Confederacy
Lived on a farm Crawfordville, Taliaferro County, Georgia
His father died when he was 14 therefore he grew up in difficult circumstances
At first he called for the South to remain loyal

On March 21, 1861, Stephens gave his famous Cornerstone Speech in Savannah, Georgia. In it he declared that slavery was the natural condition of blacks and the foundation of the Confederacy. He declared, "Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition."
Wikipedia: Alexander H. Stephens

Pictures:
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_H._Stephens
2.http://mrnussbaum.com/civil-war/election_of_1860/
3.http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/CivilWar/jan261.htm