election of 1860 and secession in GA

Four men ran for the election of 1860, including john Breckenridge (southern democrat whose goal Was pro slavery), Abraham Lincoln (republican who did not want slavery), john bell (constitutional union party whose main goal was to avoid secession), and Stephen Douglas (northern democrat whose goal was anti slavery).   The final event that led to the civil war was, in fact, the election of presidency in 1860.  Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860; he was the president during the civil war. “Honest Abe” won presidency, not by popular vote, but by electoral votes, 180 electoral votes. Lincoln was part of the Republican Party, a party that began in 1854, and whose main goal was to prevent the expansion of slavery.   Following the election, southern states, one by one began to secede from the union thinking that Lincolns primary goal to forever abolish slavery. It took three long days of tough debating and rationing for Georgia to decide to secede. Georgia was part of the confederacy from 1861-1865. Even before Georgia became part of the confederacy, many arguments were to be settled on this topic of secession. During this debate many representatives who opposed the idea of seceding were northern GA counties, small farmers and non-slave holders, and one of the most important reps, Alexander Stephens. Stephens  served as governor of Georgia, U.S congressman, U.S senator, and vice president of the confederacy. He also played a major role in assisting with the passage of the compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska act. Even though he fought until the very end against seceding from the union, he was an advocate for slavery. Those who did want to secede consisted of large farmers, slave holders, Georgia governor Joseph e. brown and influential men such as Robert Toombs. During the first round of votes concerning secession, the assembly was split 166 to 130 in favor of secession. At the final round of votes, the general assembly voted 208 to 89 in favor of seceding from the union. the states that did decide to secede, became known as the confederate states. their first and only president was Jefferson Davis.  

photo from http://deedrad123.blogspot.com/2011/12/election-of-1860.html