The Election of 1860 Reconsidered ed. by A. James Fuller (review)

The presidential election of 1860 stands out as a seminal moment in United States history. Indeed, the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln, a foreordained victory to modern eyes, often serves as a signpost on the road to the US Civil War. However, as A. James Fuller and the contributors to this collection argue, this pivotal election warrants more attention and analysis in order to fully understand the forces and tensions surrounding it. For too long, these historians aver, Lincoln’s election has overshadowed the various state and local level issues, personalities, ideologies, and politicking that shaped voters’ interpretation of the election. Refocusing the election of 1860 on these various elements, Fuller contends, reveals the dynamism of the election and opens up historians’ eyes to “seeing the election as more than Lincoln’s victory” and the inevitable defeat of his opponents (2).

The collection begins with an essay by Michael S. Green, who reminds historians that Lincoln busied himself in the day-to-day tasks of campaigning, organizing, and stumping for candidates long before his ascension within the Republican Party. Such a reminder corrects the myopic notion that Lincoln was a political novice before his presidency. James L. Huston then focuses on the travels of Stephen Douglas (“The Little Giant”) into the slaveholding South months before the election. The Little Giant rejected arguments advocating secession and defended his doctrine of popular sovereignty against accusations it threatened slavery’s longevity. His message, however, foundered. Nearly all Northern presses failed to print Douglas’s Southern speeches, while Southerners, concerned about the country’s growing antislaveryism, believed that Douglas’s election would prove to be a stopgap, not a panacea, to sectional strife.

The other two presidential candidates, John C. Breckinridge and John Bell, also receive much-needed attention. With Lincoln’s election a near inevitability, A. James Fuller contends that the concept of honor compelled Breckinridge to defend “the very identity of Southerners against those who would deprive them of honor and make them slaves” (89–90). In his study of John Bell, Fuller argues that Bell followed in the footsteps of another compromiser, Henry Clay. Like Clay, Bell believed that compromise offered the best opportunity to save the Union. Bell’s advocacy for negotiation, however, came at a time when compromise was anathema and the ideologies of free labor and proslavery compelled Northerners and Southerners to advocate for a Union solely on their terms.

Outside of these studies on the candidates, other contributors highlight people, ideologies, and places often overlooked when discussing the election of 1860. John R. McKivigan details why Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists remained pessimistic about the Republican Party’s stance on African American rights during the campaign and election, while Lawrence Sondhaus highlights why Europeans (specifically Britons) remained conflicted about the ideological and economic implications of Lincoln’s election and subsequent disunion. Republicanism, according to Thomas E. Rodgers, proved to be the determinant factor in mobilizing both Northerner and Southerner voters. The importance of local and state events are highlighted, too, as a close study of Indiana reveals that voters interpreted the presidential election through a political lens shaped by recent political, economic, and social developments. A historiographical essay by Douglas Gardner acts as a fitting coda, plotting how historians have changed their interpretation of the election while offering possible avenues for future exploration.

All of these studies—grounded in archival, printed primary, and relevant secondary sources—broaden the scope of the election of 1860, challenging historians to interpret the election as more than Lincoln’s inevitable election. Areas for research, however, still remain. More focus on Republican Party enclaves in states such as Virginia and Missouri would shed light on the local dynamics feeding the growth of the party. Greater attention on printed ephemera, especially broadsides and posters, would reveal the spirited political environment and material culture surrounding the election. Questions remain, too. What did other countries, notably Brazil and Russia, think about the election of Republican...