United States History Student Edition

The Election of 1856 People living in U.S. territories could not vote in presidential elections.

Total: 296 ELECTORAL VOTE

Oregon Territory Wash. Territory

NH 5

2.7% 8

ME 8

VT 5

Minnesota Territory

MA 13

NY 35

Nebraska Territory

38.5% 114

WI 5

MI 6

58.8% 174

CT 6 RI 4

IA 4

PA 27

OH 23

DE 3 NJ 7 MD 8

IN 13

IL 11

Utah Territory

CA 4

VA 15

Kansas Territory

MO 9

Total: 4,051,605 POPULAR VOTE

KY 12

SC 8 NC 10

0.1% 3,094

Indian Terr.

TN 12

New Mexico Territory

AR 4 LA 6

GA 10

AL MS 9 7

21.5% 872,703

TX 4

45.3% 1,835,140

FL 3

33.1% 1,340,668

Buchanan (Democrat)

Frémont (Republican)

Fillmore (American)

* Numbers on map show electoral votes per state.

GEOGRAPHY CONNECTION 1. Exploring Regions In which region was Frémont most successful? Which states in that region did he not win? 2. Patterns and Movement A landslide in an election is an overwhelming victory. Was Buchanan’s victory a landslide? Why or why not?

states as well as all the states bordering the South except Ohio. With 174 electoral votes compared to 114 for Frémont and 8 for Fillmore, Buchanan won. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING Citing Text Evidence List the political parties that participated in the 1854 congressional election. Explain how and why these parties changed, including the migration of support from some parties to others. Dred Scott v. Sandford GUIDING QUESTION Why was the Dred Scott case important? Dred Scott was an enslaved African American in Missouri. In the 1830s, Scott’s slaveholder brought him to Illinois, a free state, and then to the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was also illegal. Later, they returned to Missouri.

Republicans chose Californian John C. Frémont, a famed western explorer. The party campaigned on “Free Soil, Free Speech, and Frémont.” The Democratic Party nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, a diplomat and former member of Congress. Buchanan tried to appeal to Southern whites and endorsed popular sovereignty. The Whig Party, torn apart over slavery, did not offer any candidate. The American Party, or the Know-Nothings, had grown quickly between 1853 and 1856 by attacking immigrants and Catholics. Yet the party lost the support of Northerners by refusing to call for a repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The vote in 1856 was divided along sectional lines. Frémont won 11 of the 16 free states. Millard Fillmore, the American Party candidate, won Maryland. Buchanan took all the other Southern

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