Chapter 612: Election Day

Chapter 605 Election Day

A few days before the election, Lincoln and local Republicans squatted in the telegraph mailroom of the Springfield Telegraph Office in the capital of Illinois almost every day, anxiously waiting for the results of the election.

Although Lincoln looked very calm on the surface at this time, as if he was full of confidence in the results of this election, in fact, Lincoln's heart had long been turbulent, and he was more nervous than anyone else.

At this moment, Lincoln himself was not sure whether he could win the election without any support from the South.

Before this, no American president had won the election without any votes from the South.

Even Buchanan, who had a very low support rate in the South, still won votes from three southern states: Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.

There is no doubt that the first state Lincoln won was Illinois, followed by young western states such as Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. It can be said that Lincoln's situation in the western states is very good!

After all, Lincoln had long been known as a western pioneer. When Lincoln gave speeches in the western frontier, he always mentioned the Homestead Act and made promises to the pioneers in the Midwestern frontier.

Any American citizen or foreigner with American citizenship who is 21 years old or older and willing to live and operate land in the western frontier for more than five consecutive years is eligible to obtain up to 160 acres (about 64.75 hectares) of government land.

Applicants only need to pay a certain registration fee, settle on the land for five consecutive years, and cultivate or develop it in other forms, and they will automatically obtain the ownership of the land after the expiration.

The big pie that Lincoln drew for the western pioneers was undoubtedly very tempting. Due to the low level of development in the western region and the inadequate system construction, the people in the western frontier region are most worried about the ownership of the land. No one wants the land they have worked hard to open up to others because of the ownership issue.

After all, these frontier regions do not have semi-official immigration committees like Utah Territory and Colorado Territory to provide comprehensive services for immigrants.

The western frontier states have long been on the margins of American politics. Few politicians have seriously conducted research in the inconvenient western regions and thought about what the people in the western regions really need.

Lincoln was the first politician to do this in the western region, so it is not surprising that Lincoln was able to quickly win these western frontier states on the eve of the election.

It would be strange if the people in the western frontier states were willing to vote for politicians other than Lincoln.

Soon, the votes in the three states on the west coast were also assigned, and Fremont, the candidate of the Citizens Party, won California, Oregon and Liangzhou in succession. What surprised Lincoln was that the Citizens Party actually won support in Ohio, Georgia and Texas.

The situation in the Midwestern states has mostly been settled, but there has been no news from the most critical eastern states, which makes Lincoln and other Republicans more anxious. Lincoln paced back and forth in the telegraph room to relieve his nervousness and anxiety, waiting anxiously for news from the eastern states.

It was not until 11 o'clock the next morning that the Republicans finally received the good news that they had won Pennsylvania.

"Yes!"

Lincoln, who had learned that he had won Pennsylvania, could not help but excitedly punched to vent his long-suppressed emotions.

This is the first large state in the eastern coastal area that the Republicans have won!

"Hello, Mr. President." Watson Sharon, a local gentry in Springfield, an old Republican member, and Lincoln's friend, came to visit and handed over an exquisite invitation, inviting Lincoln to attend the dinner he was hosting tonight.

"Please be sure to honor me at this banquet."

"Watson, it's too early to call me president now. Do you think I can still attend the banquet in my current mental state?" Lincoln's voice trembled a little when he spoke, "There is no news from the most critical New York State, which makes me unable to sleep and eat."

This is not Lincoln making excuses to refuse, but a true portrayal of Lincoln's heart at this moment.

New York State is the largest state in the United States. Whether New York State can be won can even affect the final result of this election.

Before the results of New York State came out, Lincoln had no intention of participating in any form of social activities.

After chatting with Watson Salon for a while and seeing Watson Salon off, Lincoln continued to return to the telegraph mailroom and waited for news from the eastern states.

Around 1 a.m., Lincoln received news that the Republicans had won Connecticut and Massachusetts, which made Lincoln excited and unable to sleep.

At 3 a.m., the news that the Republicans had won New York State finally reached the telegraph mailroom of the Springfield Telegraph Office.

This exciting news finally put Lincoln's hanging heart at ease and felt that he had won. Today he can finally sleep well.

November 6, 1860.

The final vote results were finally released. The Republican Party led by Lincoln defeated his strongest competitor: the Northern Democratic Party led by Douglas with 1,866,452 votes to 1,276,987 votes.

In addition, Fremont of the Citizens Party won 721,453 votes, Breckenridge received 695,431 votes, and John Bell received 545,213 votes.

Although the polls showed that Lincoln had less than 38% support in the general election, he still won 175 votes in the electoral college. The second-placed Southern Democratic Party representative Breckinridge won 62 votes, the third-placed Civic Party representative Fremont won 46 votes, and the Constitutional Union Party John Bell won 35 votes, while Douglas only won 13 votes in the electoral college.

Although many people chose to support Douglas in the general election, Douglas only won the Missouri Electoral College and half of the votes in New Jersey.

Fremont of the Civic Party completely won the votes of the three states on the West Coast and Texas, as well as half of Ohio and half of Georgia.

John Bell of the Constitutional Union Party won widespread support in the southern states close to the North, such as Kentucky and Tennessee.

Breckinridge of the Southern Democratic Party won a comprehensive victory in the slave states except Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas.

After seeing the fresh election results, Lincoln was mixed.

The good news is that he won the election. The bad news is that he did not get a single vote from the southern slave states, even from the swing states of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Such a result shows that the United States of America has been completely divided politically, which makes Lincoln deeply uneasy.

He is very worried that the southern states will make irrational decisions after learning that he has been successfully elected president.

After all, these southerners had clamored before the election that if the Republicans won the election, the South would secede from the Union and form a new alliance that is in line with the interests of the South.

Even President James Buchanan, who has not yet stepped down, believes that such a thing will happen sooner or later.

How to deal with the southern problem is a great test for the Republican Party, which has only experience as an opposition party, and Lincoln, who has only served as a governor and a congressman.