Mr. Bell was declared the unanimous choice of the convention, and Mr. Everett was unanimously nominated without the formality of a ballot. The following platform was adopted by this convention:

Whereas, Experience has demonstrated that platforms adopted by the partisan conventions of the country have had the effect to mislead and deceive the people, and at the same time to widen the political divisions of the country by the creation and encouragement of geographical and sectional parties, therefore—

Resolved, That it is both the part of patriotism and of duty to recognize no political principle other than the Constitution of the country, the union of the States, and the enforcement of the laws, and that, as representatives of the constitutional Union men of the country in national convention assembled, we hereby pledge ourselves to maintain, protect, and defend, separately and unitedly, these great principles of public liberty and national safety, against all enemies at home and abroad, believing that thereby peace may once more be restored to the country, the rights of the people and of the States re-established, and the Government again placed in that condition of justice, fraternity, and equality which, under the example and Constitution of our fathers, has solemnly bound every citizen of the United States to maintain a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

It will be noticed that the American party had entirely disappeared as a political factor in 1860, and what was called the Constitutional Union party had its origin from a number of old and conservative Americans who could not follow either of the old parties. The movement originated chiefly with the friends of General Houston, of Texas, who had separated from the Democratic party and was elected Governor of his State after he identified himself with the American organization. It was expected by those who did the preliminary work of organizing the Constitutional Union party that Houston would be made the candidate for President, and it will be seen that on the 1st ballot he was within 9 votes of Bell. The movement gained unexpected strength through the North, and when the delegates assembled at Baltimore a majority of them regarded it as a necessity to nominate two of the ablest, cleanest, and most conservative men of the country, and John Bell was taken because it was known that he could command a much larger vote from the old Whigs and Americans of the South, where the Republicans could have no votes, than any other candidate. The American party never reappeared in the political arena after 1856, when it succeeded in carrying the electoral vote of Maryland for Fillmore.

The contest was one of great activity, with much more bitterness exhibited by the Democratic factions toward each other than either displayed toward the Republicans. Douglas took the stump and spoke as far South as New Orleans, throughout the West, in various places in New York and other Eastern States. His speeches were the ablest and most aggressive ever delivered in a national contest. Lincoln, Breckenridge, and Bell took no prominent individual part in the battle. One of the peculiar features of the campaign of 1860 was the development of a war spirit in the North that was quickened by the organization known as “The Wide-Awakes.” They were Republican organizations uniformed by caps and capes, and each one carrying a lantern in night processions. Many of them drilled as military companies, for the threat of war came up with almost every echo from the South. The young men of the North, and especially the young men just from our colleges, entered largely and very enthusiastically into the Lincoln ranks, and in no previous Presidential battle was there such able and general discussion of public questions on the hustings. The slavery question had presented a new phase to the people of the North. It was not a mere battle against slavery, although that appealed very strongly to the convictions of most of the Republicans, but the South had, by the deliverances of its leading men, made the issue directly against the mastery of the free labor of the North. It was denounced by some of the ablest Southern leaders as unworthy of respect or recognition, holding that labor was menial, and that the North was made up very largely of “small-fisted farmers” and “greasy mechanics,” and Senator Chestnut, of South Carolina, who delivered the most honest and one of the ablest speeches on the labor question, compared the slave labor of the South most favorably with the “mud-sills of the North.” This attitude of the South logically brought the most intelligent labor classes of all conditions into the support of the Republican ticket to vindicate their own manhood and independence. The following table presents the popular and electoral vote:

STATES.Popular Vote.Electoral Vote.
Abraham Lincoln, Ill.Stephen A. Douglas, Ill.John C. Breckenridge, Ky.John Bell, Tenn.Lincoln.Douglas.Breckenridge.Bell.
Maine62,81126,6936,3682,0468———
New Hampshire37,51925,8812,1124415———
Vermont33,8086,8492181,9695———
Massachusetts106,53334,3725,93922,33113———
Rhode Island12,2447,707[18]——————4———
Connecticut43,79215,52214,6413,2916———
New York362,646312,510[18]——————35———
New Jersey58,32462,801[18]——————43——
Pennsylvania268,03016,765178,871[18]12,77627———
Delaware3,8151,0237,3373,864——3—
Maryland2,2945,96642,48241,760——8—
Virginia1,92916,29074,32374,681———15
North Carolina———2,70148,53944,990——10—
South Carolina[17]——————————————8—
Georgia———11,59051,88942,886——10—
Florida———3678,5435,437——3—
Alabama———13,65148,83127,875——9—
Mississippi———3,28340,79725,040——7—
Louisiana———7,62522,86120,204——6—
Texas——————47,54815,438[18]——4—
Arkansas———5,22728,73220,094——4—
Missouri17,02858,80131,31758,372—9——
Tennessee———11,35064,70969,274———12
Kentucky1,36425,65153,14366,058———12
Ohio231,610187,23211,40512,19423———
Michigan88,48065,0578054056———
Indiana139,033115,50912,2955,30613———
Illinois172,161160,2152,4044,91311———
Wisconsin86,11065,0218881615———
Minnesota22,06911,920748624———
Iowa70,40955,1111,0481,7634———
California39,17338,51634,3346,8174———
Oregon5,2703,9515,0061833———
Totals1,866,4521,375,157847,953590,631180127239

The election of Lincoln was the second great political revolution in the history of the country, and it came with fearful import. The revolution won by Jefferson in 1800 simply displaced the Federalists, gave authority to the Republicans, and liberalized the policy of the Government. The revolution that brought Lincoln into the Presidency was the first popular expression emphasizing the purpose of the nation to halt the extension of slavery; and while the Republican policy meant no more than to prevent slavery extension, it was well understood in the South that it menaced the safety of slavery even where it was then undisputed. The Southerners had little tolerance for Republicanism. They had seen it grow from the despised Abolition cranks to the Republican party that had dominated Congress before it elected a President. Republicans in Congress were seldom treated with respect by their Southern associates, and often the most wanton and flagrant insults were given them not only on the floor of the House but on other occasions.

Personal encounters disgraced the record of both House and Senate, and the most respectable term the South ever applied to antislavery members was that of “Black Republican.” Even in Philadelphia, that became the most loyal of all cities, nearly the whole commercial and financial interests were arrayed against Lincoln, because they regarded the Republican party as disturbers of national tranquillity and of all the interests of trade. So strong was the conservative element among the old Whigs in that State that the name of Republican had to be discarded. Curtin was elected Governor as the candidate of the “People’s party,” and the delegates to the Chicago convention represented only that organization. When Lincoln’s election was announced the Democrats could not reconcile themselves to the mastery of a party they had so openly and persistently despised.

I witnessed an interesting episode in Philadelphia, on the night of Curtin’s election. The Prince of Wales was then on a visit to this country, and had just arrived at the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia. My headquarters as chairman of the Lincoln committee were at the Girard House immediately opposite, and I saw the handsome young Prince, then a picture of manly vigor and beauty, stand on the Chestnut Street balcony for an hour, surrounded by his suite of nobles, watching what he regarded as the dying agonies of the Republic. The main streets of the city were crowded with shouting, wrangling, and rioting partisans, and the Prince obviously congratulated himself that he had just happened in this country in time to see its angry dissolution. He witnessed the riotous enthusiasm of the Republicans, and the much more riotous madness of the defeated party, until he wearied of it, and he was astounded the next morning to discover that the city was as quiet and serene as an average Philadelphia Sunday.

Lincoln brought to the Presidency the strongest personality that has ever adorned the highest trust of the nation. It is studied with increased interest as time passes onward in its flight, and it is worthy of extended notice here. I had not met Lincoln personally until after his election. I had attended the Chicago convention as chairman of the State committee along with Curtin, and bore some humble part in aiding the nomination of Lincoln; and my correspondence with him during the campaign would have made one of the most interesting of Lincoln relics, but unfortunately the letters were destroyed when Chambersburg, including my own house, was burnt by General McCausland.