The Year in Review: 1860

The presidential campaign dominated the news throughout the year, from the well-received eastern lecture tour of Illinois Republican Abraham Lincoln in February to the contentious party conventions in the spring to the bitter four-way contest in the fall. Major candidates included Lincoln, Senator Stephen A. Douglas (Northern Democrats), Vice-President John Breckinridge (Southern Democrats), and former senator John Bell (Constitutional Unionists). Faced with four strong choices, eligible voters turned out in record numbers; over 80 percent went to the polls in November. Lincoln and the Republicans secured an electoral majority, but only managed about 40 percent of the total popular vote, receiving no electoral votes outside of the North. The sectional divisions could not have appeared deeper and thus few were surprised when South Carolina adopted a secession ordinance produced by a select committee led by attorney John A. Inglis (Class of 1829).

     

    January 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7
    8 9 10 11 12 13 14
    15 16 17 18 19 20 21
    22 23 24 25 26 27 28
    29 30 31        
    February 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
          1 2 3 4
    5 6 7 8 9 10 11
    12 13 14 15 16 17 18
    19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    26 27 28 29      
    March 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
            1 2 3
    4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    11 12 13 14 15 16 17
    18 19 20 21 22 23 24
    25 26 27 28 29 30 31
    April 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7
    8 9 10 11 12 13 14
    15 16 17 18 19 20 21
    22 23 24 25 26 27 28
    29 30          
    May 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
        1 2 3 4 5
    6 7 8 9 10 11 12
    13 14 15 16 17 18 19
    20 21 22 23 24 25 26
    27 28 29 30 31    
    June 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
              1 2
    3 4 5 6 7 8 9
    10 11 12 13 14 15 16
    17 18 19 20 21 22 23
    24 25 26 27 28 29 30
    July 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7
    8 9 10 11 12 13 14
    15 16 17 18 19 20 21
    22 23 24 25 26 27 28
    29 30 31        
    August 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
          1 2 3 4
    5 6 7 8 9 10 11
    12 13 14 15 16 17 18
    19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    26 27 28 29 30 31  
    September 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
                1
    2 3 4 5 6 7 8
    9 10 11 12 13 14 15
    16 17 18 19 20 21 22
    23 24 25 26 27 28 29
    30            
    October 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
      1 2 3 4 5 6
    7 8 9 10 11 12 13
    14 15 16 17 18 19 20
    21 22 23 24 25 26 27
    28 29 30 31      
    November 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
            1 2 3
    4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    11 12 13 14 15 16 17
    18 19 20 21 22 23 24
    25 26 27 28 29 30  
    December 1860
    Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
                1
    2 3 4 5 6 7 8
    9 10 11 12 13 14 15
    16 17 18 19 20 21 22
    23 24 25 26 27 28 29
    30 31          

     

    Notable books published in 1860:

    Boucicault, Dion.  The Colleen Bawn.  London:  Thomas Hailes Lacy, 1860.

    Collins, Wilkie Collins.  The Woman in White.  London:  Sampson Low, 1860.

    Emerson, Ralph Waldo.  Conduct of Life.  Boston:  Ticknor and Fields, 1860.

    Hawthorne, Nathaniel.  The Marble Faun.  Boston:  Ticknor and Fields, 1860.
     

    How to Cite This Page: "The Year in Review: 1860," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/almanac/1860.