=434. Movements of Public Opinion in the South.=—While these discussions were going on in the North, public opinion was also taking form in the South. In various conventions, notably the one held at Nashville in 1850, much had been done to foster disunion sentiments. Secession seemed on the point of immediate accomplishment, and would very probably have taken place, but for the opposition of some of the leading Whigs of the South and the adoption of the Compromise of 1850. Although the crisis in that year was tided over, the South did not cease to proclaim that if ever a President should be elected by a sectional vote secession would inevitably follow. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, and some of the other leading Whigs attempted to oppose the movement as impolitic and unlikely to succeed, but they were swept away by an irresistible tide of public opinion, led by the more strenuous of the politicians. This movement increased in violence from 1850 to 1860. The fact that the reopening of the foreign slave trade was boldly advocated in various trade conventions, shows plainly how far the extreme pro-slavery men were willing to go. THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860. [Illustration: SALMON P. CHASE.] =435. Democratic Nominating Conventions.=—The first outbreak of the coming storm occurred in the Democratic National Convention of 1860. This was held in Charleston, South Carolina, and lasted from April 23 to April 30. The delegates of the South were marshaled by William L. Yancey of Alabama; those of the North by Senator George H. Pugh of Ohio. The main contest was over the majority and minority reports of the Committee on Platform. While the Southern delegates demanded a declaration in accordance with Davis’s resolution that neither Congress nor any territorial government had the right to legislate in regard to slavery in any territory, the delegates of the North planted themselves firmly on the “Freeport Doctrine” of Popular Sovereignty. The storm raged with the utmost fury, in the midst of which Yancey declared that if the Popular Sovereignty doctrine were adopted, the Southern delegation would withdraw from the Convention. The followers of Douglas secured a majority, whereupon Yancey and his followers made good their threat, and marched out. This was the beginning of practical secession. Though the remaining delegates were a majority, they were not two-thirds of the Convention, and, therefore, no nomination under the rule of Democratic conventions could be made. The seceding faction adjourned to meet at Richmond, June 11, the others at Baltimore, June 18. An attempt was made to unite them at Baltimore, but both sides were firm, and the effort was fruitless. The consequence was that the Democrats finally made three nominations. John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, was the candidate of the Southern wing; Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, of the Northern; and