John Brown and the Election of 1860

John Brown and the Election of 1860

From A Journey into Human History by Miranda Casturo

May 11, 2026 · 7 min · Season 3

About this episode

This episode discusses the impact of John Brown's raid and the subsequent election of 1860 on American society and politics.

A new level of animosity and distrust emerged in 1859 in the aftermath of John Brown’s raid. The South exploded in rage at the northern celebration of Brown as a heroic freedom fighter. Fire-Eaters called openly for disunion. Poisoned relations split the Democrats into northern and southern factions, a boon to the Republican candidate Lincoln. His election triggered the downfall of the American experiment with democracy as southern states began to leave the Union. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/14-4-john-brown-and-the-election-of-1860 Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/details/books/us-history Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/a-journey-into-human-history--5860966/support .

People in this episode

Host: Miranda Casturo

Topics covered

  • John Brown
  • Election of 1860
  • Civil War
  • American democracy
  • Southern secession

Keywords

  • John Brown
  • Election of 1860
  • Civil War
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Southern states
  • disunion
  • democracy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OpenStax

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