A History of the Republican Party Part 6

The second Republican National Convention convened at Chicago on Wednesday, May 16, 1860, in the "Wigwam," a vast pine board structure specially built for the occasion by the Chicago Republican Club. The split in the Democratic Party, although the adjourned sessions of that Party had not yet been held, gave increased hope of Republican success this year, and it was felt by a great majority of the delegates and spectators that the Convention would name the next President of the United States. This strong probability added an importance and dignity, not unmingled with awe, to the work of the Convention. Edwin D. Morgan, of New York, called the Convention to order and faced an audience of about ten thousand people, only four hundred and sixty-six of whom were delegates. All of the free States were represented, as well as Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Texas and Virginia, and the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska and the District of Columbia. Mr. Morgan named David Wilmot for Temporary Chairman, and committees on Permanent Organization, on Credentials, and on Rules were then severally appointed. George Ashmun, of Ma.s.sachusetts, was reported a Chairman of the Convention, and one Vice-President and one Secretary from each State and Territory were named. A Platform Committee was then appointed, after which the Convention decided, after some debate over the admission of "delegates"

from the Slave States, some of whom had never seen their States, to admit all delegates, and this included Horace Greeley, "of Oregon," who had not desired and had not been sent with the New York delegation. A virtual attempt to fasten the two-thirds nominating rule on the Convention was defeated, and it was decided that a majority of the whole number of votes should nominate. Judge William Jessup, of Pennsylvania, reported the platform, and it was adopted with the utmost enthusiasm.

The platform on which Mr. Lincoln was elected should be read by every Republican and every citizen interested in the history and development of the nation.

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1860.

_Resolved_, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in convention a.s.sembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our const.i.tuents and our country, unite in the following declarations:

1. That the history of the nation during the last four years has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the Republican party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever before, demand its peaceful and const.i.tutional triumph.

2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Const.i.tution, "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are inst.i.tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"

is essential to the preservation of our republican inst.i.tutions; and that the Federal Const.i.tution, the rights of the states, and the union of the states must and shall be preserved.

3. That to the union of the states this nation owes its unprecedented increase in population, its surprising development of material resources, its rapid augmentation of wealth, its happiness at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for disunion, come from whatever source they may; and we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of disunion so often made by Democratic members, without rebuke and with applause from their political a.s.sociates; and we denounce those threats of disunion, in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendancy, as denying the vital principles of free government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and forever silence.

4. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the states, and especially the right of each state to order and control its own domestic inst.i.tutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any state or territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

5. That the present Democratic administration has far exceeded our worst apprehensions, in its measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton const.i.tution upon the protesting people of Kansas; in construing the personal relations between master and servant to involve an unqualified property in persons; in its attempted enforcement everywhere, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the federal courts, of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of the power intrusted to it by a confiding people.

6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the federal government; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans, while the recent startling developments of frauds and corruptions at the federal metropolis show that an entire change of administration is imperatively demanded.

7. That the new dogma--that the Const.i.tution, of its own force, carries slavery into any or all of the territories of the United States--is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.

8. That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom; that, as our republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that "no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law," it becomes our duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Const.i.tution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States.

9. That we brand the recent reopening of the African slave trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime against humanity and a burning shame to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that execrable traffic.

10. That in the recent vetoes, by their federal governors, of the acts of the legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, prohibiting slavery in those territories, we find a practical ill.u.s.tration of the boasted Democratic principle of non-intervention and popular sovereignity, embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of the deception and fraud involved therein.

11. That Kansas should of right be immediately admitted as a state under the const.i.tution recently formed and adopted by her people and accepted by the House of Representatives.

12. That, while providing revenue for the support of the general government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the workingmen liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.

13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the free-homestead policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants for public bounty; and we demand the pa.s.sage by Congress of the complete and satisfactory homestead measure which has already pa.s.sed the House.

14. That the Republican party is opposed to any change in our naturalization laws, or any state legislation by which the rights of citizens. .h.i.therto accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired; and in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all cla.s.ses of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.

15. That appropriations by Congress for river and harbor improvements of a national character, required for the accommodation and security of an existing commerce, are authorized by the Const.i.tution and justified by the obligation of government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.

16. That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean is imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole country; that the federal government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction; and that, as preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail should be promptly established.

17. Finally having set forth our distinctive principles and views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however differing on other questions, who substantially agree with us in their affirmance and support.

An exciting incident occurred when Joshua R. Giddings moved to embrace the principles of the Declaration of Independence in the platform, and, when voted down, withdrew from the Convention; but what he proposed was afterwards accomplished by George William Curtis, of New York, and became the second plank of the platform, and Mr. Giddings returned to the Convention.

Two days were consumed in organizing and adopting the platform. The second night of the Convention, that which intervened between Thursday and Friday, was given up to remarkable exertions in behalf of the several candidates. William H. Seward, of New York, was the most prominent candidate before the Convention, and would probably have been named had the nominations been made on the first or second day of the Convention. The other candidates were Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois; Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania; Salmon P. Chase and John McLean, of Ohio; Edward Bates, of Missouri; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, and Jacob Collamer, of Vermont. There was a strong opposition to Mr. Seward, based on the ground of his availability, as it was felt by Henry S.

Lane, of Indiana, and A. G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania, who were the candidates for Governor in their respective States, that Mr. Seward could not carry those States. Mr. Greeley was also doing his utmost to defeat Mr. Seward, but was advocating the nomination of Edward Bates, of Missouri. The Illinois delegation had been instructed for Mr. Lincoln, and soon added Indiana to his support, and they also obtained promises of a majority vote of the New Hamps.h.i.+re, Virginia and Kentucky delegations on the first ballot, with some scattering votes from other States. Mr. Lincoln's candidacy was very promising, but not entirely certain of success, as, to many, the strength of Mr. Seward appeared invincible; but Mr. Lincoln's supporters were certain that if he could obtain a good vote on the first ballot it would be largely increased on the second ballot by votes from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Vermont. On the third day of the Convention, Friday morning, May 18th, the nominations were made. William M. Evarts presented the name of William H. Seward, and was immediately followed by Norman B. Judd, of Illinois, who nominated Mr. Lincoln. Others were named, and a number of seconding speeches were made, Mr. Lincoln's name being seconded by Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, and Columbus Delano, of Ohio. The cheers and noisy enthusiasm which attended the various speeches were terrifying in volume, and it was apparent that the Lincoln shouters had the advantage in volume of sound, and the influence of the vast a.s.semblage and the great pressure of environment unquestionably increased Mr. Lincoln's chances for the nomination. The balloting began and proceeded amid intense excitement; two hundred and thirty-three votes were necessary to a choice, and three ballots were taken, with the following result:

1st 2d 3d Ballot. Ballot. Ballot.

Seward ......... 173 184 180 Lincoln ........ 102 181 231 Cameron ........ 50 2 Chase .......... 49 42 24 Bates .......... 48 35 22 Dayton ......... 14 10 McLean ......... 12 8 5 Collamer ....... 10

Scattering votes were also cast for Benjamin F. Wade, John M. Reed, Charles Sumner, John C. Fremont, and Ca.s.sius M. Clay.

At the completion of the third ballot, Mr. Lincoln lacked one and one-half votes of the nomination. There was a momentary lull, and then David K. Cartter, of Ohio, mounted his seat, caught the attention of the Chairman, and, in the breathless excitement, announced that Ohio changed four votes from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln. There was a moment's silence until it could all be appreciated, and then pandemonium for more than twenty minutes. The immense crowd outside the "Wigwam" was soon apprised of the result and the news spread like wildfire. Mr. Evarts moved the nomination be made unanimous.

There were two prominent candidates for Vice-President, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, and Ca.s.sius M. Clay, of Kentucky. Others mentioned for this honor were John Hickman and Andrew H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, and Nathaniel P. Banks, of Ma.s.sachusetts. Two ballots were taken, and Mr.

Hamlin was nominated on the second:

1st Ballot. 2d Ballot.

Hamlin ..... 194 367 Clay ....... 101 86 Hickman .... 58 13 Reeder ..... 51 Banks ...... 38

Others who received complimentary votes on the first ballot were Samuel Houston, William L. Dayton, Henry W. Davis, John M. Reed, Andrew H. Reeder and John Hickman.

During the entire Convention Mr. Lincoln remained at Springfield; there he received the telegraphic news of his nomination, and thither went the Notification Committee, composed of many brilliant men, most of whom had never met him. On May 23d Mr. Lincoln wrote an admirable letter of acceptance, and the campaign was on in earnest, notwithstanding that the Democrats had not yet presented their ticket. In the Western States, where his name and history appealed to the people, Mr. Lincoln's nomination was received with the utmost delight; but in the Eastern States the first feeling over the defeat of Mr. Seward was one of bitter disappointment, but Mr. Seward and the other great leaders promptly and manfully gave their whole support to Mr. Lincoln, and there was never any question that the party would not be united in his support. The Democratic press vented its sn.o.bbishness by constant articles calling attention to Mr. Lincoln's poverty, and a.s.serting that he was not a gentleman, and had "never traveled and had no pedigree."

The Republican Campaign of 1860 consisted of a liberal use of political literature and of a systematic stumping of the country by the great men of the party, prominent among whom were Seward, Schurz, Clay, Greeley, Stevens, and many others, and hundreds of other Republican speakers of less prominence who traversed the Northern States. Bands of "Wide-Awakes" were organized everywhere in the North and partic.i.p.ated in the parades with torches and a simple uniform. There were many great State rallies for the Republican ticket. In the North it was apparent that the vote would be cast for either Lincoln, Douglas or Bell, and in the slave States for Breckinridge. From the end of May to November the work went on and the Republicans gained rapidly in strength, notwithstanding the threats of the South to secede if the Federal Government should ever pa.s.s into the "treacherous hands of the Black Republican Party." Mr. Lincoln remained at Springfield during the entire campaign, going about his usual affairs, and meeting the hundreds of curious and otherwise who came to see him. He maintained a strict silence on the great problem of the hour, but watched the campaign closely, and often gave sound advice to the managers. On August 8th the greatest State rally held in the North took place at Springfield, and it was estimated that fully 75,000 people were present.

After some desperate campaigning Senator Douglas gave up all hope of success, and announced that he would go South to urge upon all the duty of submitting to the result of the election, and he steadfastly a.s.serted his intention of standing by the Union.

The only danger was that Mr. Lincoln might not receive a majority of the electoral vote, which would throw the election into the House of Representatives, but this was dispelled when Pennsylvania and Indiana went Republican in October, and the result of the election on November 6th was conceded. Mr. Lincoln received the electoral votes of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Ma.s.sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hamps.h.i.+re, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, all Northern States, and casting 180 out of 303 electoral votes. Breckinridge carried Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, all slave States, and casting seventy-two electoral votes. Bell carried Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, thirty-nine votes; and Douglas only carried one State, Missouri, with nine votes, but also received three of the seven votes of New Jersey, the remainder going to Mr. Lincoln. The popular vote was as follows:

Lincoln ........... 1,866,352 Breckinridge ........ 847,514 Douglas ........... 1,375,157 Bell ................ 587,830

This does not include the popular vote of South Carolina, where the electors were chosen by the Legislature.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861.]

The Slave Power lost no time in carrying into effect its threats of disunion. South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860, and by the end of the year had seized the United States a.r.s.enals and other government property in the State, but Fort Sumter was not molested. By February, 1861, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas had also withdrawn. Virginia did not secede until April 17th. On February 4th a Confederate Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, and on February 9th Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, became President, and Alexander H.

Stephens, of Georgia, became Vice-President of the Confederate States of America.

The breaking up of the Union did not go on without some attempts at compromising the situation, but all such efforts failed. The House and the Senate appointed special committees, who were either unable to agree or whose conclusions were not adopted. On December 18th the Crittenden Compromise Measures were introduced, and after long debate were rejected March 2, 1861. Dramatic withdrawals from Congress were made by the Southern Senators and Representatives, and this enabled Kansas to be admitted, on January 29, 1861, as a free State.

Far from attempting to stop this breaking up of the Union, Buchanan's Administration did everything it could to aid it. Treason ran free in Was.h.i.+ngton; the Navy was scattered and rendered unavailable; the Army was demoralized, and thousands of stands of arms and other military equipment were removed from the Northern a.r.s.enals and sent South; and President Buchanan, through his Cabinet, announced the remarkable doctrine that any State could strike at the Union, appropriate the arms and property of the Government, and that nothing could be done to stop it. It was not treason for South Carolina to act as she did, but it would be treason to attempt to stop her course.

Such was the situation when Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861; seven States were out of the Union, a Southern Confederacy had been established with an organized Government, and its President inaugurated; the Army and Navy were crippled, the Treasury drained, and treason and a.s.sa.s.sination threatened on all sides. From the east portico of the Capitol, with Senator Douglas standing behind holding Mr.

Lincoln's hat, the President delivered his first Inaugural Speech. Calm, clear, wise and firm were the words. It concluded, "I am loath to close.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though pa.s.sion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angel of our nature."

The bombardment of Ft. Sumter, which began on the morning of April 12, 1861, was the event that unified both the North and the South, and henceforth the issue was to be decided solely by War. In the North, party lines were forgotten, and the President received promises of hearty support on all sides. On April 15th, the President declared the South to be in a state of rebellion, and called for 75,000 troops to recover the Government forts and property, and also called an extraordinary session of Congress, to meet on July 4th. This history is not directly concerned with the trying and b.l.o.o.d.y events of the Civil War. The tremendous strain on President Lincoln during this period perhaps will never be fully appreciated by the generations which follow it; it was all a horrible nightmare through which the country safely pa.s.sed under the guidance of President Lincoln and the Republican Party.

On April 16, 1862, Slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, and on June 19th was forever prohibited in the Territories. On September 22d President Lincoln issued his preliminary Proclamation of Emanc.i.p.ation, declaring all slaves forever free in territory which might still be in rebellion on January 1, 1863. This act, and what was believed to be the failure of the Administration in conducting the War, turned thousands of Democrats in the North away from the President, and in the Fall elections of 1862 large Democratic gains were made. Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey and Wisconsin went Democratic; New York elected a Democratic Governor, Horatio Seymour; but New England, the Border States and the Western States not mentioned, stood firm for the President, and the Administration was a.s.sured of a good working majority in the House.

Before pa.s.sing to the presidential campaign of 1864, mention must be made of several great legislative acts of the Republican Party during the first few years of its control of the Government. The Morrill Protective Tariff Bill was made a law on March 2, 1861, and became the foundation of the Republican Tariff Bills of later years; the Legal Tender Act of February 25, 1862, was a great turning point in the financial history of the nation; the Homestead Act of May 20, 1862, opened up the western country to actual settlers, and contributed greatly to the development of the West; the Internal Revenue Act of July 1, 1862, and a National Banking system, established by the Act of February 25, 1863, were most important, the latter removing the conflict between the national currency and the currency of the state banks, and marked the beginning of a sound and stable financial system, the importance of which, in the remarkable physical development of the country, cannot be too strongly a.s.serted.

Although throughout 1863 a strong radical element in the Republican Party worked against the renomination of President Lincoln in 1864, on the ground of his alleged timidity in handling the question of the Civil War, this movement gradually dwindled in strength and had almost disappeared with the opening of the presidential year of 1864, when an election was to be held with a war in progress and the country divided.

Throughout the winter of 1863 and 1864 Mr. Chase made active efforts to secure the presidential nomination, but the Ohio Legislature demanded Mr. Lincoln's renomination, and Mr. Chase had to withdraw. State Legislatures throughout the North now demanded the renomination of the President, and they were joined in their resolutions by large numbers of clubs and public meetings, and it was apparent to those in the party who were antagonistic to the President that no other candidate would have any chance. But the Copperhead element was still rampant, and the Democrats denounced the President in unmeasured terms, declaring the war to be a failure, and demanding peace.

The radical element of the Republican Party held their Convention first, at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 31, 1864, and nominated John C. Fremont for President and John Cochrane for Vice-President, but these candidates withdrew on September 2d, and no further notice of this meeting is necessary. The regular Republican Convention, or National Union Convention, as it was called, was held at Baltimore on June 7 and 8, 1864, in the Front Street Theater. The Convention was again called to order by Edwin B. Morgan, of New York, who, after a short speech, proposed the name of Robert J. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, for temporary Chairman. Mr. Breckinridge accepted the honor, and said that he did not enter the deliberations of the Convention as a Republican, nor as a Whig or Democrat, but as a Union man. There was some debate over the seating of loyal delegates from the Confederate States, which was settled by admitting them; thirty-one States, including eight of the slave States, were represented. The usual committees on Credentials, Permanent Organization and Resolutions were appointed. The Committee reported the name of William Dennison, of Ohio, for permanent Chairman. The platform was reported by Henry J. Raymond, of New York, and enthusiastically adopted. The Republican Platform of 1864, framed while a great Civil War was in progress, is a most interesting doc.u.ment.

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 1864.