1860 Indiana or Illinois, and the votes of at least two of these States would be necessary to elect a Republican candidate. Another man who had lately sprung into the field as a candidate was Abraham Lincoln of Illinois. Some of his speeches in the campaign against Douglas in 1858 had been published in the Eastern newspapers, and had gained for him the admiration of the Eastern Republicans, but scarcely any of them thought of him as a suitable presidential candidate. Early in 1860, upon invitation, Lincoln made a speech to a large and representative gathering at Cooper Union in the city of New York. It was pronounced by some of those who heard it as the best political speech on the slavery question that had ever been made in the history of the country. "Since the days of Clay and Webster," said the Tribune the morning after the speech, "no man has spoken to a larger assemblage of the intellect and mental culture of our city. No man ever made such an impression in his first appeal to a New York audience.” 32 At any rate it made a strong impression upon the people of the metropolis. It was soon followed by others delivered at various places throughout New England, and the reception which Lincoln received everywhere in the East was remarkable. The New England people experienced no little surprise in finding a Western politician, an unlettered frontiersman, who could not only assemble plain, strong words into fresh and attractive phraseology, but maintain a clear, sustained, convincing argument equal in force and style to the best examples in their college text-books.33 Early in May the Illinois State convention at Decatur formally nominated him for the Presidency amid tremendous enthusiasm. With this endorsement he set to work in earnest to secure the nomination from the national convention. His local followers in large numbers were organized and sent to Chicago to arouse enthusiasm by loud hurrahs and to create demonstrations at the appropriate time. The platform adopted by the convention eulogized the Union as the palladium of our liberties; declared that the rights of the States should be preserved inviolate; repudiated the Dred Scott decision as a dangerous political heresy; denounced the John Brown affair as the gravest of crimes; arraigned Buchanan's Kansas policy; denied the right of Congress or of a territorial legislature to 32 Nicolay and Hay, "Life of Lincoln," vol. ii. p. 224. 1860 give legal existence to slavery in any Territory; and denounced the Democratic doctrine of popular sovereignty as a fraud and a deception. These declarations were adopted by the convention with great enthusiasm and unanimity, although there were delegates present from half a dozen slave States. During these proceedings Lincoln's managers were working zealously for his nomination. To secure the support of the delegates from Indiana, Missouri and Pennsylvania, all three of which States had their favorite sons, liberal promises were made of Cabinet appointments, although Lincoln was telegraphing from Springfield to his managers, "make no bargains that will bind me." His managers had also filled the galleries with men who shouted lustily for "Old Abe," the railsplitter, whenever opportunity offered. On the first ballot Seward led by a considerable plurality. On the second ballot Seward gained II votes, while Lincoln gained 79. On the third ballot Lincoln was nominated and the announcement was followed by thunders of applause, tremendous cheers and the boom of cannon. Seward's supporters were filled with gloom and disappointment, for they felt that the party had not been true to itself in rejecting him whom they all regarded as their ablest and most deserving leader. For Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was nominated and the convention adjourned, after having accomplished its work with speed and harmony. The day after the nomination of Lincoln the Democratic convention, or rather that part of it which was left after the withdrawal of the delegates from the far South, reassembled at Baltimore to undertake again the work which it had been unable to accomplish at Charleston. Reconciliation between the factions proved impossible and a new secession of delegates from the border States followed after five days of wrangling. The remaining delegates nominated Douglas for President and Senator Fitzpatrick of Alabama for Vice President. Fitzpatrick declining, Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia was substituted in his stead. The seceders from the Charleston convention, joined by those from the Baltimore convention, met in another building and nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for President and Joseph Lane of Oregon for Vice President, on a platform demanding protection for slavery in the Territories. The division of the Democratic party now insured its own defeat; but as there were four candidates in the field it was not at all certain that Lincoln would receive a majority of all 1860-1861 the votes cast, as required by the Constitution. It was strongly feared by the Republicans that the election would ultimately be thrown into the House, in which case one of the Democratic candidates might be chosen. An enthusiastic and in some respects a picturesque campaign ensued. Rousing meetings of "wide-awakes," at which fence-rails occupied conspicuous places, were held everywhere throughout the North, and the virtues of "Old Abe" were extolled by hundreds of speakers. As the campaign progressed the people of the South saw plainly that the result could be none other than the election of Lincoln. They complained bitterly of the sectional character of the Republican ticket and declared firmly that in the event of the election of the "Black Republican "candidate the "honor and safety" of the Southern States would require their withdrawal from the Union. Not only this, but their leaders declared openly, as they had done in 1856, only with more emphasis, that in the event of a Republican victory the South would secede. Most of the Northern people treated these threats as mere bluster, but those who better understood the Southern character knew that they were made in earnest. Efforts were made to bring about a union of Lincoln's opponents by fusion, but in vain. When the returns were known it was found that Lincoln had carried every free State except New Jersey, and had received four of the seven votes of that State. Douglas received only the electoral votes of Missouri and three from New Jersey. Bell received those of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, while Breckinridge carried the remaining vote; Lincoln's vote was 180; that of the other three candidates aggregated 103. Of the total popular vote however, Lincoln received considerably less than one-half. At last the party opposed to slavery, which in 1840, under the name of the Liberty Party, cast only 7,000 votes, had gained control of the government, while the party which had ruled the country with only brief interruptions since the election of Jefferson had fallen from power, and many a year was destined to pass before it should again elect a chief magistrate of the Republic. The people of the South were hardly surprised at the result, but they were filled with disappointment and sorrow. It remained now to see if they were ready to carry into execution their resolves made before the election and secede from the Union. |