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The1860 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 6, 1860, as part of this1860 United States presidential election. The state legislature chose eight representatives, or electors to theElectoral College, who voted forpresident andvice president. By 1860, South Carolina was the only state using this procedure in a presidential election and had been sinceDelaware switched to popular vote for the1832 election. This would also be the last time South Carolina would do so. After this election,Colorado in1876 (when the state was too newly formed to organize an election) andFlorida in1868 (when reconstruction concerns led to the state legislature being used) were the only times a state selected electors by the state legislature.
Secessionists under the leadership ofRobert Barnwell Rhett and unionists under the leadership ofJames Lawrence Orr fought for control over theSouth Carolina Democratic Party during the 1850s.James H. Hammond, who was more aligned with Orr, defeated Rhett in the 1857 U.S. Senate election.[1]
The Democratic Party's state convention was held on April 16, and was controlled by Orr's faction. The convention advocated for party unity, maintaining the union, and rejected the Alabama platform's plan to have the southern delegations walk out of the national convention.[2] Orr served as president of the convention, which endorsed him for the presidential nomination.[3]Muscoe R. H. Garnett communicated with South Carolinian leaders, such asWilliam Porcher Miles, and advocated supportingRobert M. T. Hunter,Benjamin Fitzpatrick,James Guthrie,John C. Breckinridge, or Orr for the presidential nomination.[4] An uninstructed sixteen member delegation was sent to the national convention.[2]
South Carolina's delegation to theDemocratic National Convention in Charleston included Arthur Simkins, James Simons,Thomas Young Simons,Samuel McGowan, Benjamin H. Wilson, Franklin Gaillard, andBenjamin Franklin Perry. The delegation supported Hunter during the presidential balloting. On April 30, 1860, all except for three members of the delegation (Simkins, Perry, and Lemuel Boozer) joined other southern states in bolting the convention.[5]
A new state convention, pushed by Rhett and his supporters against the opposition of Perry and Orr, was held on May 30. Only 52 of the 161 delegates to the first convention were reelected to attend this one. Rhett, his brother Edmund Rhett, and his sonR. Barnwell Rhett Jr. were among the delegates elected.John Hugh Means, who previously supported secession in 1851, was selected as permanent chairman of the convention.[6][7]
The state's four at-large delegates were selected by a vote of the whole convention rather than by a committee based on the congressional districts. This system benefited the more radical and pro-secessionist delegates. Rhett was elected as a delegate to the national convention in Baltimore and was the leader of the delegation.[8] This delegation supported the presidential ticket of Breckinridge andJoseph Lane.[9]
The elections held for the state legislature on October 8 resulted in a pro-secessionist legislature. GovernorWilliam Henry Gist convened the legislature on October 12, and[10] South Carolina cast eight electoral votes for Breckinridge. These electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote.[11]
| 1860 United States presidential election in South Carolina[11] | ||||||||
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| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Popular vote | Electoral vote | ||||
| Count | % | Count | % | |||||
| Southern Democratic | John Cabell Breckinridge ofKentucky | Joseph Lane ofOregon | – | – | 8 | 100.00% | ||
State results of the1860 U.S. presidential election | ||
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