pc 2 transfer of power-election of 1860-student program

8/2/2019 PC 2 Transfer of Power-Election of 1860-Student Program

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Educating Young People about the Constitution

www.BillofRightsInstitute.org

Presidents and the Constitution,

Vol. 2Presidents and the Transfer of

Power:

The Election of 1860


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Presidents and the Constitution ResourcesThe Founders knew that the most challengingtime in any government is when power is

transferred from one person/group to thenext. Will the people that have power try tohold on to it by corruption or military force;or will they give power peacefully to thesuccessors?

Our Constitution and subsequentAmendments have procedures and rules inplace to make the transition of power asorderly and peaceful as possible. The question

for you is, do you think its effective and why?

Directions: Read Robert M.S. McDonaldsessay Transfer of Presidential PowerUnderline or highlight the facts you think are

important. 2


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Constitutional Connection Activity

Impeachment and the Constitution

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Critical Engagement Question

Why was the transfer of power not peaceful after the election of1860?


Abraham Lincoln (a strong anti-slavery candidate) was electedPresident in 1860 even though his name didnt appear on the ballotof 10 southern states. His win angered and scared Southerners;

which led to the secession of South Carolina and, eventually, theSouthern attack on Fort Sumter (below), which started the Civil War

Abraham Lincoln

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Objectives

Understand importantdevelopments leadingup to the election of 1860that challenged theConstitutions originalcompromises on slavery.

Analyze why theelection of 1860 did notresult in a peacefultransfer of power.

Assess the validity ofSouth Carolinas

justification of secession.


Map of the 1860 PresidentialElection results by County. The

darker the color, the higher thevoter turnout.

Attribution: Tilden76

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Background/Homework

Read Handout A: TheElection of 1860 and answerthe questions:1) List two compromises

on slavery that were

written into theConstitution.

2) Why do you think theexpansion of the United

States westward and theaddition of new statesmade it difficult for theConstitutionscompromises aboutslavery to continue?

Map of Slave (red) and Free (blue) statesbefore the election of 1860


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Background/Homework continued

3) Why did northerners fear the Supreme Courts rulings on slavery?4) Do you think the Republican Party was a threat to the South? Why

or why not?5) Why did southerners believe that they could secede from the Union?

Why did Lincoln believe they could not?

Full map of theConfederate States ofAmerica (CSA).Missouri, Kentuckyand the New MexicoTerritory were claimed

by the CSA, but werenever under fullcontrol


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Warm-Up

Imagine: some students have complained to the principal that thereis too much homework. The principal has decided that a HomeworkCzar will decide a school-wide homework policy. All students willelect the Homework Czar.

Boys get the top ballot on Handout B: Mock Ballots and girls get the

ballot on the bottom of the page.


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Warm-Up continued

Count the ballots


Boys Ballot Girls Ballot

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The winner should be Candidate D. The girls, however, did not have Candidate D on their ballot. Discuss: is this fair? Is it right? How does this make you feel?


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Activity

How does this Homework Czar connect to the election of 1860? Read the quote in Handout A by a Southern pamphleteer:*The Republican Party+ exists only in the Northern states. Whereis the security of the South, and what is her position in the Union?

Picture of the EastBattery inCharleston S.C.

circa 1860-1890.Across harborfrom this spot isSumter Island.


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Activity continued

Discuss the following: What does the Southern pamphlet author mean by

partisan organization? What does he mean by exclusively and intensely sectional? Are these complaints justified?

Are his last two questions justified?


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Wrap-Up

Review the following info: Lincoln, who was not even on the ballot inten Southern states, received only forty percent of the popular vote. Thetwo major Democratic candidates split their Partys votes. Addedtogether, they won eighty-four electoral votes and received forty-sevenpercent of the popular vote. Since Lincolns party promised to halt theexpansion of slavery, Southerners feared that they had become a

permanent minority


1860 Lincolncampaign flag

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Wrap-Up continued

Harkingback to the Continental Congress in 1776 declaring that thethirteen colonies were free and independent states, South Carolinaasserted in its 1860 Declaration of Secession that it would once againbecome a free and independent state. In his First Inaugural Address,Lincoln outlined his arguments against the constitutionality of

secession.


1860 Campaignbuttons forAbrahamLincoln andHannibalHamlin(Lincolns V.P.)

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Homework

Complete Handout C: Lincolns First Inaugural Address.


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Warm-Up II

Role-play the scenarios onHandout D: The Right to Leave?and complete the questions at thebottom of the card.

Summarize your scenario anddiscuss your responses.

Discuss the following questions: When is it acceptable to

leave a group. Does it matter if you joined

the group voluntarily or

were born into the group?

United States Constitution-adopted September 17, 1787


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Warm-Up II continued

Our Constitution is, in part, anagreement to form institutions thatwill perform certain duties. Whatkinds of agreements have you seen orbeen part of?

Discuss the following questions: Who or what were the parties

to the Constitution? What would Lincoln say? What would South Carolina

say?

TheConfederateStates ofAmericaConstitution-

AdoptedMarch 11, 1861


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Activity II

Read Handout E: Two Declarations For each set of quotations, answer the

following questions: What do these two sections have in

common? How are they different? How significant are those differences? What main points does the Declaration

of Independence make? What main points does the Declaration

of Secession make?

Do you think South Carolina was justified inusing the Declaration of Independence as amodel for its Declaration of Secession?

The South Carolina Ordinance ofSecession-adopted December 20, 1860


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Wrap-Up II

Discuss the following questions: Whose arguments were more persuasive:

Lincolns or South Carolinas? In arguing for/against the legitimacy of

secession, both South Carolina andPresident Lincoln referred to numerous

agreements made between the coloniesand, later, the states: the Articles ofAssociation (1774), the Declaration ofIndependence (1776), the Articles ofConfederation (1781), and the

Constitution (1789). Does the existence ofthis series of agreements support oroppose the argument that the Union isperpetual?

Who gets to decide whether the Union isperpetual? Why?

Drawing of St. Andrews Hall inCharleston, SC. Known as SecessionHall because the SC delegates met to

discuss and later ratify secessionfrom the Union. (1860)


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The Issues Endure II

Summarize the arguments about howstates should be able to judge theconstitutionality of federal governmentactions in the following documents: Report and Resolutions of the

Hartford Convention Virginia Resolutions Kentucky Resolutions South Carolina Exposition and

Protest South Carolina Ordinance of

Nullification Compare these solutions to modern ones

passed by New Hampshire and otherstates in response to proposed healthcare legislation.

Union Flag flown at Ft. Sumter(above) and the South CarolinaSecessionist Flag (below)


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pc 2 transfer of power-election of 1860-student program

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