What were the political alternatives regarding the spread of slavery and the preservation of the American union facing the American people in the decade leading up to the 1860 presidential election?

The following were the political alternatives facing the people of America well before the 1860 presidential elections:

The biggest alternative that the American people had was to allow slavery to stay and to be practiced by choosing the candidate that would not take any action against the practice of slavery. The alternative of allowing the bifurcation of the United States in two horizontal divisions called southern America and northern America based on the permit to keep slaves could have been chosen by electing a candidate who does not belong to the Republican Party.