"logically, 1860 democrats would had been CONSERVATIVE, OPPOSING CHANGE."
Factually, in the Election of 1860, DemocratS (both parties) didn't fit into that cubicle.
Fact is, it wasn't that they were against change, they were against the Federal Gov't deciding it for the states, which is how they saw the slavery issue, as one to be decided on the individual state level.