1860 Republican Convention
The 1860 Republican Convention was a pivotal event in American history, where the Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln as their presidential candidate. The convention took place in Chicago and marked a significant moment in the lead-up to the Civil War. Lincoln's nomination ultimately led to his election as the 16th President of the United States.
5 Key excerpts on "1860 Republican Convention"
eBook - ePub- Brian Holden Reid(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...On one blade was inscribed ‘ Will always keep a “Pryor” engagement – a reference to Roger Pryor, a Virginia secessionist. The Convention was just as much theatre as political forum. Groups of men were enjoined to shout chants for their candidate; here Lincoln, a local figure, enjoyed an enormous advantage. Bargains were struck on the convention floor, gossip, the lifeblood of politics and the addiction of professional politicians, was exchanged, and agreement was reached. As Halstead made clear, ‘the amount of idle talking that is done is amazing’. Men gather in little groups, and with their arms about each other, and chatter and whisper as if the fate of the country depended upon their immediate delivery of the mighty political secrets with which their imaginations are big. There are a thousand rumours afloat, and things of incalculable moment are communicated to you confidentially, at intervals of five minutes. … The current of the universal twaddle this morning is that ‘Old Abe’ will be the nominee. Allan Nevins rightly described this gathering as ‘bedlamite confusion’. Experts at political gatherings are often proved wrong in their predictions, and the most striking feature of conventions in the nineteenth century was their propensity for throwing aside famous and accomplished candidates in favour of the comparatively untried and inexperienced man. In 1852 the Democrats had chosen Franklin Pierce, a man overwhelmed by his responsibilities and unequal to the demands of his high office; in 1860 the Republican Party was rather more fortunate. 22 The confusion and loquacity of the proceedings at Chicago at first sight appeared to be an obstacle to reaching a wise decision as to who should lead the party into the most important race since the unopposed election of George Washington in the first presidential election of 1792. On 16 May David Wilmot, now past his best, was appointed chairman...
eBook - ePub- A. James Fuller(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- The Kent State University Press(Publisher)
...At the same time that they challenge old interpretations and provide innovative explanations, they also breathe new life into the traditional approaches of the long-neglected field of political history. Taken together, they bring fresh perspectives and make a significant contribution to the literature. After 150 years, with such a surprisingly small amount of scholarship that has nearly always taken a remarkably similar view of what remains the most important presidential contest in American history, it is time to reconsider the election of 1860. 1. The most recent titles to be published are: Michael S. Green, Lincoln and the Election of 1860 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 2011); Douglas R. Egerton, Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election that Brought on the Civil War (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010); Bruce Chadwick, Lincoln for President: An Unlikely Candidate, An Audacious Strategy, and the Victory No One Saw Coming (Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2009); Gary Ecelbarger, The Great Comeback: How Abraham Lincoln Beat the Odds to Win the 1860 Republican Nomination (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008). At the time of this writing, Jonathan Earle is working on a book on the election for the Pivotal Moments in American History Series published by Oxford University Press....
eBook - ePub- Wilbur F. Gordy(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Left Of Brain Onboarding Pty Ltd(Publisher)
...A dramatic moment was given to that meeting when Lincoln’s old friend, John Hanks, marched into the wigwam where the convention was held, bearing on his shoulders two historic fence-rails. On these was inscribed: “From a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks in the Sangamon bottom in the year 1830.” The sight of these rails brought forth loud and prolonged cheers. They were a token of the kinship between these hard-working, rough-visaged men and their gifted brother. It was a glad hour for Lincoln, whose heart beat high with pride at the evidence of their trust and loyal support. Before the end of that month the Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, in a wigwam built for the occasion and large enough to accommodate ten thousand people. The “Wigwam,” Chicago, in which the Convention was Held when Lincoln was Nominated. By the time the four hundred and sixty-five delegates from all over the Union—except nine of the slave States—had arrived, at least forty thousand men had gathered in the city, in order to be present on this important occasion. There were several candidates, the strongest, as most people believed, being Senator William H. Seward of New York, a distinguished leader of the Republican party. His eminence as a statesman, and his ability and experience, so far overshadowed that of any other candidate that his nomination seemed almost a certainty. This was true up to the end of the session of Thursday, the second day. If the vote had been taken then, Seward would doubtless have been the winning candidate. The men who were fighting against him were so sure of this that they secured an adjournment until Friday morning. William H. Seward. In the hours intervening, the Lincoln managers worked hard. There was a well-grounded belief that Seward would be strongly opposed by the men of his party in the doubtful States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, and Illinois, and the Lincoln leaders made use of that fact...
eBook - ePubCIVIL WAR – Complete History of the War, Documents, Memoirs & Biographies of the Lead Commanders
Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant & William T. Sherman, Biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis & Robert E. Lee, The Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Presidential Orders & Actions
- Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, James Ford Rhodes, John Esten Cooke, Frank H. Alfriend(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Madison & Adams Press(Publisher)
...Chapter XI Table of Contents The year 1858 is memorable alike in the career of Lincoln and in the political history of the country. It was distinguished by the joint discussions between the two great political leaders of Illinois, which rank among the ablest forensic debates that have taken place since the foundation of the republic. The occasion was one to call out the greatest powers of the two remarkable men who there contested for political supremacy. It was not alone that Lincoln and Douglas were opposing candidates for a high office — that of Senator of the United States: they were the champions and spokesmen of their parties at a critical period when great issues were to be discussed and great movements outlined and directed. It was naturally expected that the winner in the contest would become the political leader of his State. Little was it imagined that the loser would become the leader and savior of the Nation. On the 21st of April the Democratic convention of Illinois met at Springfield and announced Stephen A. Douglas, then United States Senator, as its choice for another term. June 16 the Republican convention met at the same place and declared unanimously that "Abraham Lincoln is our first and only choice for United States Senator to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglas's term of office." For a number of days previous to the meeting of the Republican convention Lincoln had been engaged in preparing a speech for the occasion. It was composed after his usual method — the separate thoughts jotted down as they came to him, on scraps of paper at hand at the moment, and these notes were arranged in order and elaborated into a finished essay, copied on large sheets of paper in a plain and legible handwriting. This was the speech which afterwards came to be so celebrated as the "house-divided-against-itself" speech. Lincoln was gravely conscious of its unusual importance, and gave great care and deliberation to its composition...
- Abraham Lincoln, Arthur Brooks Lapsley, (Authors)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Perlego(Publisher)
...And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand." The Committee handed him a letter containing the official notice, accompanied by the resolutions of the Convention; and to this he replied on the 23d as follows:— Springfield, Ill, May 23,1860. Hon. George Ashmun, President of the Republican National Convention. Sir,—I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention over which you presided, and of which I am formally apprised in the letter of yourself and others, acting as a Committee of the Convention for that purpose. The declaration of principles and sentiments which accompanies your letter meets my approval; and it shall be my care not to violate or disregard it in any part. Imploring the assistance of Divine Providence, and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were represented in the Convention; to the rights of all the States and Territories, and people of the nation; to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the perpetual union, harmony, and prosperity of all,—I am most happy to co-operate for the practical success of the principles declared by the Convention. Your obliged friend and fellow-citizen, Abraham Lincoln. In the mean time the National Democratic Convention had met at Charleston, S.C., and split in twain. The South utterly repudiated Mr. Douglas's new heresy; and Mr. Douglas insisted that the whole party ought to become heretics with him, and, turning their backs on the Dred-Scott Decision and the Cincinnati Platform, give up slavery in the Territories to the tender mercies of "squatter sovereignty" and "unfriendly legislation." Neither party to the controversy would be satisfied with a simple re-affirmation of the Cincinnati Platform; for under it Mr. Douglas could go to the North and say that it meant "squatter sovereignty," and Mr. Breckinridge could go to the South and say that it meant Congressional protection to slavery...
