*The figures of the popular vote are variously given by different
compilers. These are taken from Stanwood, "A History of the
Presidency".
CHAPTER V. SECESSION
In tracing American history from 1854 to 1860 we cannot fail to
observe that it reduces itself chiefly to a problem in that
science which politicians understand so well--applied psychology.
Definite types of men moulded by the conditions of those days are
the determining factors--not the slavery question in itself; not,
primarily, economic forces; not a theory of government, nor a
clash of theories; not any one thing; but the fluid, changeful
forces of human nature, battling with circumstances and
expressing themselves in the fashion of men's minds. To say this
is to acknowledge the fatefulness of sheer feeling. Davis
described the situation exactly when he said, in 1860, "A
sectional hostility has been substituted for a general
fraternity." To his own question, "Where is the remedy?" he gave
the answer, "In the hearts of the people." There, after all, is
the conclusion of the whole matter. The strife between North and
South had ceased to be a thing of the head; it had become a thing
of the heart. Granted the emotions of 1860, the way in which our
country staggered into war has all the terrible fascination of a
tragedy on the theme of fate.
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