Was it possible to save American democracy in 1860? What steps might have been taken to maintain unity? Why do you think these steps were not taken?

The election of 1860 triggered the collapse of American democracy when the elevation of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency inspired secessionists in the South to withdraw their states from the Union.

Lincoln's election owed much to the disarray in the Democratic Party. The Dred Scott decision and the Freeport Doctrine had opened up huge sectional divisions among Democrats. His election triggered the downfall of the American experiment with democracy as southern states began to leave the Union.

Lincoln could have refused from his radical steps, but as a President, he could show no weakness, so we may say that there was no way to prevent this course of events.