In May, 1856, a convention of the people of Illinois was held in Bloomington, Illinois.  It met for the purpose of forming a new political party, the chief object and aim of which should be to oppose the extension of slavery into the territories.

Mr. Lincoln made a speech to the members of this convention.  It was one of the greatest speeches ever heard in this country.  “Again and again, during the delivery, the audience sprang to their feet, and, by long-continued cheers, expressed how deeply the speaker had roused them.”

And so the new party was organized.  It was composed of the men who had formed the old Free Soil Party, together with such Whigs and Democrats as were opposed to the further growth of the slave power.  But the greater number of its members were Whigs.  This new party was called The Republican Party.

In June, the Republican Party held a national convention at Philadelphia, and nominated John C. Fremont for President.  But the party was not strong enough to carry the election that year.

In that same month the Democrats held a convention at Cincinnati.  Every effort was made to nominate Stephen A. Douglas for President.  But he was beaten in his own party, on account of the action which he had taken in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise.

James Buchanan was nominated in his stead, and, in November, was elected.

And so the conflict went on.

In the year 1858 there was another series of joint debates between Lincoln and Douglas.  Both were candidates for the United States Senate.  Their speeches were among the most remarkable ever delivered in any country.

Lincoln spoke for liberty and justice.  Douglas’s speeches were full of fire and patriotism.  He hoped to be elected President in 1860.  In the end, it was generally acknowledged that Lincoln had made the best arguments.  But Douglas was re-elected to the Senate.

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XIV.—­PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

In 1860 there were four candidates for the presidency.

The great Democratic Party was divided into two branches.  One branch nominated Stephen A. Douglas.  The other branch, which included the larger number of the slave-owners of the South, nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky.

The remnant of the old Whig Party, now called the “Union Party,” nominated John Bell, of Tennessee.

The Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln.

In November came the election, and a majority of all the electors chosen were for Lincoln.

The people of the cotton-growing states believed that, by this election, the Northern people intended to deprive them of their rights.  They believed that the anti-slavery people intended to do much more than prevent the extension of slavery.  They believed that the abolitionists were bent upon passing laws to deprive them of their slaves.