Divided houses : the civil war party system in the border states /
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1991.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | This dissertation examines the changing political alignments in the border states of Maryland, Missouri, and West Virginia from 1848 to 1872. This study traces the political response of border state residents to the explosive issues surrounding the Civil War era. The powerful issues of slavery expansion and nativism altered political alignments in Maryland, but in Missouri and western Virginia older partisan allegiances remained virtually intact. The secession crisis which followed the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 shattered the allegiances developed between 1828 and 1860 in the border states. Unionists organized together in an effort to block secession. This new coalition of voters gained control of the political machinary of the border states. The unionist coalition created by the secession crisis slowly broke up because of the changing nature of the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation, the use of black troops, and the questions of Reconstruction were national issues which divided the unionists into Conservative and Radical camps. At the state level the question of emancipation and the use of a test oath helped to further divide the unionist coalition. The test oath, which denied former rebels or rebel sympathizers the right to vote, served as an issue which revitalized the Democratic party. Democratic leaders gained power in the border states by making the right to vote a political issue. They argued that the Republican party endorsed black suffrage, while a significant aspect of the white population was still disfranchised. By tracing voting patterns from election to election, this study shows that as suffrage restrictions were relaxed many previous inactive voters entered the electorate. Most previous non-voters subsequently cast ballots for the Democratic party. The question of black suffrage further enabled the Democrats to gain power because some Republican voters switched to the Democratic party to protest the granting of suffrage rights to former slaves. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: History." |
| Physical Description: | xiii, 301 leaves ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |