After the Nebraska-Kansas Act, a new political party was formed. The Republican Party was formed in Ripon, Wisconsin by former members of the Whig Party. The Whig Party was originally formed to oppose the crazy Andrew Jackson, who was the perpetrator of the Trail of Tears. The party had showed it could not keep up with slavery, so the Republican Party was formed. Meetings in the upper Midwestern states happened often, and one which was held on March 20, 1854, is credited with the formation of the Republican Party. The first Republican presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, won 11 of the 16 northern states. Abraham Lincoln ran in 1860, and won. Even though Lincoln only won 40 percent of the votes and some southern states did not even put his name on the ballot, he won. Prior to the election southern states had threatened to leave the Union of Lincoln won. Lincoln was against slavery but did not want to abolish it completely. His main goal was to not let it spread to the western territories the United States was acquiring. Lincoln winning the election was met with glee from the north, but with disgust from the south. Lincoln was forced into an almost impossible situation; he made the best of it, and is now called the greatest president ever.
John C. Calhoun and South Carolina had been the main instigators in the whole plan of seceding, and Georgia always seemed to be hesitant. Many in Georgia believed that it was still to young of a state to leave the Union, and that it needed the support of the north. On January 18, 1861 Georgia seceded from the Union. The vote was close, but on January 2, 1861 the final vote was cast. On January 16 a "Secession Convention", was held. Many did not think that Georgia would secede, but they did, and now attention turned to Virginia.
Alexander Stephens was abandoned by his parents at a young age, and after was bounced around from family members to family members. He was a troubled child, so it is no wonder he never married or had children. He graduated from Franklin College, later University of Georgia, in 1832. Stephens was hesitant about seceding, but eventually he agreed to it, although he was still worried. He was elected Vice President of the Confederates; his job was not easy though. At the beginning of the war, Jefferson Davis and Stephens were considered to be good friends. When military concerns began to become a concern the two fought often. As time went on, Alexander began to spend less time in Richmond and he was no longer needed. In 1863, Stephens talked about surrendering to the North. In 1863 he had a meeting with William Seward and President Lincoln. They talked about ending the war, nothing came of it though. All in all, it was obvious that Alexander Stephens term as Vice President was a failure.
Sources
Election of 1860 Map http://bill.ballpaul.net/iaph/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=630&g2_serialNumber=2
Alexander Stephens http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Confederat_Cabinet_Photos/Alexander_Stephens.jpg
Election of 1860 http://www.ushistory.org/us/32d.asp http://ngeorgia.com/history/secession.html
Alexander Stephens http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2492
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