The Election of 1860 Reconsidered

Introduction: The Election of 1860 Reconsidered

1 Introduction the election of 1860 reconsidered A. James Fuller the most important presidential election in american history took place in 1860. the electoral contest marked the culmination of the sectional conflict and led to the secession of the Southern states and the beginning of the civil war. over the past century and a half, scholars have offered a number of different interpretations of the election, but surprisingly few works have been dedicated exclusively to the presidential contest itself. Most explanations of the campaign appear in general histories or in biographies of abraham lincoln or the other presidential candidates. although nearly every succeeding generation of historians has managed to produce at least one full-length study, scholarship on the election of 1860 remains relatively rare. the sesquicentennial anniversary of the election offered an opportunity to fill this gap in the literature. Historians have taken up the cause, producing several new books on the subject, including this one.1 this volume reconsiders the election and offers fresh insights on the campaigns for the presidency. in his concluding essay, Douglas G. Gardner examines the historiographical tradition regarding the election, noting that scholars across the generations have focused on abraham lincoln and Stephen a. Douglas, with scant attention paid to the other candidates or to other related topics. two of the essays clearly fall into that scholarly tradition —Michael S. Green argues that lincoln played the role of master politician during the campaign, and James L. Huston explores the significance of Douglas’s southern tour. the other chapters move in different directions , and even those chapters dedicated to the rail Splitter and the little Giant provide new interpretations of the two most famous presidential Introduction · 3 biography, even in an essay format. in studying the lives of individuals, the authors demonstrate how the critical presidential contest in 1860 was related to and resulted from the life experiences of their subjects. thus, in his chapter on lincoln, Green challenges the traditional interpretation that sees the republican as a passive candidate who let his operatives do the work in the campaign while he sat on the sidelines. rather, honest abe was a superb politician and candidate. Seemingly passive on the surface , behind the scenes lincoln pulled the strings and controlled his entire campaign. in the end, his ambition and political skills enabled him to organize for electoral victory. huston focuses on Stephen a. Douglas, lincoln’s longtime rival and the man widely considered the favorite in the presidential race. he argues that Douglas’s tour of the Southern states during the campaign was actually a tool with which the northern Democrat tutored Southerners on the procedures of democracy. huston demonstrates that, ultimately, Douglas’s campaign reveals why the vast majority of northern Democrats rejected secession and supported the Union. Moving beyond the two candidates who have enjoyed the most scholarly attention, in my chapter on Breckinridge i examine the historical literature on this Southern Democrat’s run for the presidency in 1860, showing that the scholarship remains deeply divided over the true nature of that campaign. i then offer a novel explanation, arguing that honor is the best lens through which to interpret the actions of Breckinridge and his supporters. in the essay on John Bell, i explore the campaign of the least known of the four major candidates, challenging the traditional view of the constitutional Union nominee and his party. although most historians have dismissed the conservative Bell, i argue that he actually was the last true whig candidate for president, showing that his campaign was really a principled call for compromise rather than a hollow avoidance of the issues. Biography continues to be the focus as John r. McKivigan turns to Frederick Douglass and the abolitionist view of the presidential race. Starting with an examination of the political attitudes and practices of the abolitionists from the 1830s to John Brown’s raid in 1859, McKivigan focuses on Frederick Douglass but also includes other Garrisonian activists and radical abolitionists. he argues that in 1860 the abolitionists were initially ambivalent about lincoln but then exerted the full force of their wellhoned political action organizations and propaganda in his support. another important theme that animates these essays is ideology. ideas mattered and were not just campaign rhetoric spouted by politicians 4 · The Election of 1860 Reconsidered hoping to win the election. James huston’s interpretation of Stephen a. Douglas reveals the ways in which...