Art's Role in the Election of 1860

Throughout the process of writing the script and making the EduCreations video, our group was able to have a new appreciation for art's formative qualities in shaping the Election of 1860 and southern secession.  Gathering our notes from "The Civil War in Art" website was key in being able to put together the pieces of art's relation to the different events taking place at the time causing such intense rifts between the country and different political parties.  The Election of 1860 was the boiling point for people who had strong views on slavery, because the future president of the U.S. who was going to be chosen would only divide the rift between the north and south further than it already was after events such as the Dred Scott vs. Stanford Case and John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry.  Lincoln's winning of the presidential election was extremely controversial, because only the majority of republicans were in support of his desire to abolish slavery completely in the west, while most democrats and southerners were opposed to it, still supporting the belief of popular sovereignty and the system of slavery.  This choice of Lincoln as president pushed the south further towards secession, and their eventual secession became the cause of the Civil War, in which art played a huge role in the people's understanding of the war.  Art representing the war or events of the war became extremely popular at the time because it was a way for the people to be able to understand all of the events going on around them.  These artistic depictions of the war became a crucial part of the way the people felt about the events of the war, and may have even changed popular opinions on certain battles and issues.

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/civil-war-in-art/30171152/?s=y2DuYz&ref=appemail

Citations:
Abraham Lincoln:
Painting a national treasure: https://www.jeremypenn.com/2014/08/painting-abraham-lincoln/
Abraham Lincoln 2:
Stufffromthelab.com: https://stufffromthelab.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized-stuff/page/46/
All other pictures:  http://www.civilwarinart.org/exhibits/show/causes/introduction/the-election-of-1860-and-seces
Jefferson Davis:
History.com: http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2013/12/jefferson-davis-portrait-AB.jpeg