The American Vote
2024 result
Antebellum CrisisCycle 18 / 60

1856

James Buchanan and the 1856 map.
James Buchanan (Democratic) defeated John C. Frémont (Republican), 45.3% to 33.1% of the popular vote.

The 1856 U.S. presidential election was won by James Buchanan (Democratic) with 174 of 296 electoral votes, defeating John C. Frémont (Republican). Electoral-vote margin: 60 (174 to 114). Popular-vote margin: 12.2 percentage points. Turnout was 79.4%. The cycle falls in the Antebellum Crisis era of American electoral history.

Buchanan
174 EV
Frémont
114 EV
Other
8 EV
0149 to win296
The map · 1856
19 states for Dem · 11 for Rep
ALAKAZARCACOFLGAIDILINIAKSKYLAMEMIMNMSMOMTNENVNMNYNCNDOHOKORPASCSDTNTXUTVAWAWVWIWY

Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.

Narrative

James Buchanan and the 1856 map

Democrat James Buchanan won over the new Republican Party's first presidential candidate, John C. Frémont. The American (Know-Nothing) Party ran former president Millard Fillmore, who won Maryland but drew significant votes nationally. The Republicans ran on the anti-slavery-expansion slogan 'Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Frémont' and showed impressive strength in the North despite losing. Buchanan's failure to resolve the slavery crisis would push the nation toward civil war.

Key issue

Bleeding Kansas; slavery expansion; nativist immigration concerns

Notable

First Republican presidential candidate ran; Know-Nothing Party won Maryland's electoral votes

This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.

State results · 1856

Electoral votes by state. State popular votes for 1856 are not yet published here.
1856 presidential election results by state: electoral votes
StateElectoral votesPopular vote
Alabama1
9 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Arkansas2
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
California3
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Connecticut4
6 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Delaware5
3 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Florida6
3 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Georgia7
10 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Illinois8
11 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Indiana9
13 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Iowa10
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Kentucky11
12 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Louisiana12
6 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maine13
8 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maryland14
8 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Massachusetts15
13 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Michigan16
6 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Mississippi17
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Missouri18
9 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Hampshire19
5 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Jersey20
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New York21
35 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
North Carolina22
10 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Ohio23
23 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Pennsylvania24
27 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Rhode Island25
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
South Carolina26
8 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Tennessee27
12 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Texas28
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Vermont29
5 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Virginia30
15 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Wisconsin31
5 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.

Notes on the figures

  1. Alabama State popular vote not yet sourced.
  2. Arkansas State popular vote not yet sourced.
  3. California State popular vote not yet sourced.
  4. Connecticut State popular vote not yet sourced.
  5. Delaware State popular vote not yet sourced.
  6. Florida State popular vote not yet sourced.
  7. Georgia State popular vote not yet sourced.
  8. Illinois State popular vote not yet sourced.
  9. Indiana State popular vote not yet sourced.
  10. Iowa State popular vote not yet sourced.
  11. Kentucky State popular vote not yet sourced.
  12. Louisiana State popular vote not yet sourced.
  13. Maine State popular vote not yet sourced.
  14. Maryland State popular vote not yet sourced.
  15. Massachusetts State popular vote not yet sourced.
  16. Michigan State popular vote not yet sourced.
  17. Mississippi State popular vote not yet sourced.
  18. Missouri State popular vote not yet sourced.
  19. New Hampshire State popular vote not yet sourced.
  20. New Jersey State popular vote not yet sourced.
  21. New York State popular vote not yet sourced.
  22. North Carolina State popular vote not yet sourced.
  23. Ohio State popular vote not yet sourced.
  24. Pennsylvania State popular vote not yet sourced.
  25. Rhode Island State popular vote not yet sourced.
  26. South Carolina The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  27. Tennessee State popular vote not yet sourced.
  28. Texas State popular vote not yet sourced.
  29. Vermont State popular vote not yet sourced.
  30. Virginia State popular vote not yet sourced.
  31. Wisconsin State popular vote not yet sourced.

SourceNo state popular-vote figures for 1856 are published here yet. How these figures were compiled

← Previous
1852
Franklin Pierce · Dem

Classroom

All 300 packets, free

60 cycles · K-2 through AP · open download.

Browse packets →

Read further

Curated picks

Battle Cry of Freedom

James M. McPherson

Pulitzer-winning Civil War-era history.

Buy on Amazon →

Team of Rivals

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Lincoln and the men he beat then hired.

Buy on Amazon →

Recommendations are editorial.

Free, ad-light, no paywall

Built by one person. Tips fund the next 60 elections of editorial.

Tip on Ko-fi →