Civil War Democracy

Southern Independence

Confederate politicians had not just declared independence from the Union but also political parties. While the South had been heavily Democratic before the Civil War, no organized political parties existed in the Confederacy. Feeling a need to stand together against the Union, there was little political division in the Confederacy.

In a zeal to protect state-level sovereignty, there was little power given to the Confederate national government. This, combined with the lack of political organizations, created a government that had difficulty functioning effectively. With no large political organizations to keep officeholders on the same page, the system had little active debate, produced low public interest, and had low election turnout.

1862 Midterm Elections

The midterm elections of Lincoln's first term effectively stretched into 1963. This was because West Virginia was admitted into the Union in June of that year, holding elections in August 1863. In the House of Representatives, which was directly elected, public sentiment regarding the American Civil War had a much more significant effect than on the Senate, which was still chosen by state legislatures. The failure to end the war quickly upset many Americans, but it also resulted in the suspension of habeas corpus, conscription, and higher taxes to pay for the war.

Fig .2 - 1862 Election in Baltimore, Maryland

Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation, which freed those enslaved persons in the Confederate states, had a significant impact on the elections. Public opinion on the proclamation was not always favorable towards Lincoln and the Republican Party for making the war more explicitly about human enslavement. Many White Northerners still viewed Black Americans as inferior. They were not pleased to engage in a violent conflict that they were increasingly beginning to view as on behalf of Black Americans.

Voting in the 1862 Elections

A significant issue facing the elections of 1862 was that many of those eligible to vote at the time, white men over 21, were off fighting the Civil War. Democrats opposed absentee ballots because many soldiers supported the Republican Party, identifying Democrats with the Confederates. Military commanders had to struggle to find ways to allow their soldiers to briefly return home to vote in the elections in some locations.

Senate

The Senate elections resulted in Republican control of the Senate, with 31 seats, plus 7 Unionist and Unconditional Unionist allies against 10 Democratic seats. Several elections had to be held as Senators died, resigned, or were expelled during the period for reasons ranging from supporting the Confederacy to corruption.

House of Representatives

Republicans and Unionists lost 24 seats, while Democrats gained 27. Emancipation and a seemingly endless war had cost the Republican Party. Despite this, by allying with Unionists, Republicans maintained their dominance in the House and the Senate.

Joint Committee on Conduct of the War

The Civil War was the first military conflict to be heavily overseen by Congress. Congressional investigations managed the battlefield effectiveness of commanders and the honesty of contractors. The Congressional criticism of his decisions influenced General McClellan's dismissal from command.

1864 Election

In 1864 a briefly existing coalition known as the National Union Party, formed from the Republican Party bringing on allies from the Unionist and Democratic parties, nominated Abraham Lincoln for his second term. His running mate was a former Democrat and a former slave owner, Andrew Jackson, against the Democratic Party nominee, George B. McClellan. McClellan was one of the leading Generals conducting the Civil War under Lincoln until he was dismissed from duty. How did this strange arrangement of nominees come to pass?

Fig.3 - Lincoln Reelection Notice

1864 Party Divisions

On the Republican side, not all were happy with Lincoln and how the war was progressing. A group of radical Republicans broke off to form what was confusingly called the Radical Democratic Party and nominated 1856 Republican Party Presidential candidate John Fremont as their 1864 candidate. Across the aisle were Democrats who strongly opposed the war, pejoratively known as "Copperheads," and those who favored the war, sometimes called "War Democrats."

National Unity Party

To bring together an alliance capable of winning the 1864 election, the Republican Party became The National Unity Party for the 1864 election, welcoming members of the Unionist parties and "War Democrats." Lincoln stressed this alliance by taking on Southern Democrat Andrew Johnson as his running mate.

1864 Campaign Victory

With the war turning sharply in favor of the Union, Lincoln's political fortunes also improved. The most dramatic of these was Sherman's taking of Atlanta on September 1. Fremont agreed to drop out of the race on the condition that Lincoln fire his enemy, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair. This was in contrast to the Democratic Party, where nominee George McClellan directly opposed his party's platform. McClellan opposed abolition but believed in continuing the war, while the Democratic Party wanted an immediate end to the conflict through negotiation with the Confederacy.

With an end to the war now in sight, many wished to stay the course. This meant a landslide victory for Lincoln, with 212 electoral votes for Lincoln against only 21 for McClellan.