What if Abraham Lincoln LOST the election of 1860?

It's Mr. Beat's first alternate history video he's ever made. What if Stephen Douglas won the presidential election of 1860 instead of Abraham Lincoln? Eh?

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Produced by Matt Beat. All images and video by Matt Beat, used under fair use guidelines, or found in the public domain. Music by @ElectricNeedleRoom(Mr. Beat's band) and @corbynkites8006.

Here's an annotated script with footnotes:

Sources/further reading:
Defender of the Union by Gerald M. Capers

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#politicalscience #politicalhistory #ushistory

What if Abraham Lincoln didn't win the election of 1860?

Instead, let’s say Lincoln’s old debating buddy, the Illinois U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas, won the election. It’s not that wild of an idea, actually. See all those blue counties? He won those, but in A LOT of those green, yellow, and red counties, I’d argue he was the second choice. In fact, while he finished fourth in the electoral college, getting just 12 electoral votes, he finished second in the popular vote. Now, while we don’t have definitive evidence that Douglas was the second choice of a lot of voters in 1860, I can certainly infer based on that and other evidence that he would have been a lot of people’s second choice. Now I’m a big fan of ranked choice voting…if you don’t know how ranked choice voting works, I did make a video about it, which I’ve linked below. But…simply put, it’s a way to rank ALL the candidates so you don’t just have a say on ONE candidate but ALL OF THEM. With ranked choice voting, I think there’s a GOOD chance Douglas would have won. He was likely the second choice to most Breckenridge and Bell supporters.

So let’s do this, partner.

Mr. Beat presents…

Alternate American History

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[iammrbeat]

Don't forget that this is a trilogy!

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[abrahamlincoln]

My biggest mistake as president was allowing Andrew Johnson to be nominated as my running mate in 1864, instead of pushing for Hannibal Hamlin to be my running mate again in 1864. Reconstruction would have been much better under Hannibal Hamlin than Andrew Johnson.

[lukedetering]

Just imagine if we had social media around the time of the 1860 election. The internet would have been so toxic.

[EmperorTigerstar]

Thanks again for the collab! This was fun.

[lacintag]

158 years later, a YouTuber named Mr. Beat makes a video about an alternate history where Lincoln won in 1860 instead.

[ealdorman]

The Dixie song is a vibe, but the Union clap back slapped
"Every dixie boy must mind his uncle sam"
😂

[revolutionaryape]

One of the best alternate history "what if" I've ever come around!
Abraham Lincoln's loss in 1860 would've resulted in many repercussions, the civil war could've been *delayed*, but violence between Anti Slavery and Pro slavery people could've taken place on a significant scale. Also the Bleeding Kansas would've prolonged and probably the expansion of the American West could've been delayed. American Civil War also resulted in an era of unprecedented industrialization, but had Lincoln lost in 1860, then the Southern Economy might have remained Agrarian orientated economy for a much longer time.

[MikePlaysYeet]

I actually spent this week binge watching the entire presidential elections series

[jacks]

I always find these kinds of questions interesting, especially about pivotal points in history. "What if Lincoln wasn't assassinated?" a popular "What if...?" but I haven't much thought of this one before. Another one I like to look into a little is what would have happened if John Frémont won in 1856. Interesting stuff!

[hakeemfullerton]

If I could propose another alternate History idea for you Mr. Beat, how about a video on what James Garfield's 4 (or possibly 8) years as president would've been like had he survived

[syro]

Hey, never thought I'd see Mr Beat do alternate history, but I'm all for it! There are definitely some... iffy creators of alternate history content, but as long as its done with an attempt to be less biased, and people remember this is all just for fun, it can be a really fun genre!

[Man-of-Steel]

This is the hardest type of humour to get right. And you do an excellent job getting it right.

[AhJeezEnt]

AHH and Mr. Beat effective collaboration? Wow I never knew how bad I wanted this till now

[submarineinthesky]

I like this a lot. You talk about events and speeches as if you were discussing actual historical events, immersing us in this history. There's a lot of detail in here, and I love it.

[TraumatisedTyrone]

Big up for Mr. Beat for recommending other channels. Love to see the good vibes and spirit of cooperation

[Domand]

Mr. Beat!! What a surprise to see you delving into Alternate History! I love actual history more than anything, but recently have delved into alternate history myself. It’s become such an interesting genre to read and even write about, and it’s exciting to see you finally dipping ya toes in it! Awesome vid as usual!

[squidkid]

Your videos your videos have such a unique blend of humor. The awkward lines mixed with the great delivery, idk why but it just works for me. You do a great job Señor Beat

[jameskpolkastronomyhistory]

If he lost to Douglas the civil war would've been delayed

[samhunt]

This is brilliant! I imagine Douglas would have been well remebered after his death, mostly becase a president Herschel Johnson sounds terrifying.


I really like Lincoln coming back to win anyways, Lincoln had been defeated many atime before, I doubt anything would stop his ambitions.


Also I like the way you mention the seccesion issue with Breckenridge, your tone reflects a "We all know what really happened here." Kinda way.


This was fantastic, I normally don't care for alternate history but this was really well done and really grounded, nice little theme song jingle by the way.

[jackglazebrook]

Amazing video! Love your presidents series, always watch them when I need help with some basic history coverage on a president or election! Love to see more what if content from you!