Abolitionist Movement

BY: KYLE RISSER

I came across this picture when I was searching abolitionist movement on Google. I thought it was quite interesting how it pertains to this time period and the presidential election. At the time, the four presidential candidates were Abraham Lincoln, John Bell, John C. Breckinridge, and Stephen Douglas. There is some fine print which may be hard for some to read, but each of the presidential candidates are saying as follows; John Bell- “Bless my soul I give up”, John C. Breckinridge- “that long legged abolitionist is getting ahead of us after all”, Stephen Douglas- “I’ve never run so in my life”. This picture is portraying how Abraham Lincoln was gaining momentum in the 1860 presidential campaign. This was because of the fact that he decided to become a supporter of the abolitionist movement. It was also slightly before the beginning of the only civil war fought in the history of the United States. Lincoln was a central figure for the whole nation, or should I say nations at the time. He was dedicated to maintaining the union and not having a division of states. Eventually he was elected as the 16^th president of the United States, and many believe it was because of the fact that he was an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery throughout the nation. Unfortunately, Lincoln was assassinated after the war had ended and all of his hard work had paid off on April 14, 1865. He is still one of the most infamous icons within the history of America, and his work as president is recognized as one of the most significant stepping stones since our country was founded.