Hey everyone, welcome to the 22nd episode of our Civil War podcast.

I'm Rich and I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Thanks for tuning into the podcast. As the

election year of 1860 dawned, seasoned political operatives confidently

predicted that Senator Stephen Douglas, the little giant, would become the

Democratic nominee for president of the United States and that come November, the

Democrats in a replay of 1856 would defeat the Republican Party candidate. Now

remember that back in 1856, taking part in its first presidential contest, the

Republican Party, which had been formed just two years before, nominated John C.

Fremont for president. Fremont, an explorer and former U.S. senator from

California, lost the election to Democrat James Buchanan. But actually, few

Republicans in 1856 had realistically expected to capture the White House

their first time out. But I'll hope their initial effort, especially with a

solid showing across the North, would lay the foundation for a victory four

years later in 1860. And then in 1860, the Republicans would get some unexpected

help from certain radical southern Democrats. Right. Because in some ways, the

fate of the 1860 presidential election was actually decided by what happened at

the Democratic Convention in April. You see, as Democratic delegates convened in

April 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina, northern Democrats were still under

the impression that Stephen Douglas had a lock on the party's nomination. But

southern Democrats had grown increasingly disillusioned with the little giant,

especially after Douglas split with Democratic president Buchanan over the

Compton Constitution and Buchanan's desire to see Kansas enter the Union as a

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