1860 Republican National Convention
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The 1860 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States, held in Chicago, Illinois at the Wigwam,[1] nominated former U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for President and U.S. Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine for Vice President. This was only the second national nominating convention for the Republican Party.
Other candidates at the convention included former New York Governor William H. Seward, U.S. Senator Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, former U.S. Representative Edward Bates of Missouri, and U.S. Senator Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania.
Seward had been the favorite going into the convention, and led on the first two ballots. His lead soon melted away to the dark horse Lincoln, who captured the nomination on the third ballot. Lincoln's campaign manager, David Davis, was credited with playing a substantial role in the convention outcome.
In an alternative view, Lincoln got the nomination as the result of a local scheme to pack the Wigwam with Lincoln supporters using counterfeit tickets.[2] This early example of Chicago politics was led by Chicago Mayor John Wentworth.[3]
Lincoln-Hamlin went on to defeat three other major tickets that year, including Democratic nominee Stephen A. Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illinois.
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The Republican National Convention met in mid-May, after the Democrats had been forced to adjourn the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina without a nominee and had not yet re-convened in Baltimore, Maryland. With the Democrats in disarray and with a sweep of the Northern states possible, the Republicans were confident going into their convention in Chicago. William H. Seward of New York was considered the front runner, followed by Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, and Missouri's Edward Bates.
As the convention developed, however, it was revealed that Seward, Chase, and Bates had each alienated factions of the Republican Party. Delegates were concerned that Seward was too closely identified with the radical wing of the party, and his moves toward the center had alienated the radicals. Chase, a former Democrat, had alienated many of the former Whigs by his coalition with the Democrats in the late 1840s, had opposed tariffs demanded by Pennsylvania, and critically, had opposition from his own delegation from Ohio. Bates outlined his positions on extension of slavery into the territories and equal constitutional rights for all citizens, positions that alienated his supporters in the border states and southern conservatives. German-Americans in the party opposed Bates because of his past association with the Know-Nothings.
Since it was essential to carry the West, and because Lincoln had a national reputation from his debates and speeches as the most articulate moderate, he won the party's nomination on the third ballot on May 16, 1860.
Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was nominated for vice president, defeating Cassius M. Clay of Missouri.
The party platform clearly stated that slavery would not be allowed to spread any further, and it also promised that tariffs protecting industry would be imposed. The party promised a homestead law granting free farm land in the West to settlers. These provisions were highly unpopular in the South.
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Karamanski, Theodore J. (2005). Wigwam. The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007.
- ^ Sautter, R. Craig (2005). Political Conventions. The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007.
- ^ A Convention of Compromise: 1860. Chicago Historical Society (1999). Retrieved on March 28, 2007.
