A Divided State: The 1862 Election and the Illinois Response to Expanding Federal Authority

Abstract

Illinois is no stranger to division. Myriad interest groups push their respective agendas and issues continue to be debated. It was no different one hundred and fifty years ago when political battles gripped the state. It is easy to look at a map of the United States depicting the Civil War era and color Illinois a solid blue, but the reality was much more complex.Illinoisans were deeply divided as the United States moved toward Civil War. The common identity that had been forged masked certain deepseated differences when it came to the issues that defined the war. Emancipation, the draft, and economic measures enacted by the federal government directly impacted the people of Illinois and the votes that they would cast. The election results revealed a Democratic and Jacksonian view, often overlooked or at least underestimated, that persisted with a sizable percentage of the state's population.Illinois was in many ways two states each with its own people, history, and culture. The first Americans to enter the state had done so from the south, crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky. These pioneers hailed from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. This wave crested in the 1820s and reached geographically through two thirds of the state. During the next two decades, the northern tier of the state was settled. Many of these immigrants entered the state after having crossed the Great Lakes. These individuals and families came from New York, New England or from across the Atlantic-particularly Ireland and Germany.1During the two decades prior to the Civil War, Illinoisans of all backgrounds would piece together a common identity of sorts that only masked deeper divisions. They were hardworking farmers, laborers, or shopkeepers. Many were faithful churchgoers who placed a high value on education and regularly participated in the political process. They had built their homes out of the woods and on the prairies, creating growing communities.Prairie State voters had often supported the Democratic Party. In the elections of 1848, 1852, and 1856, Illinoisans had favored the Democratic candidate for the presidency, but this political viewpoint was not unanimous. In 1848 and again in 1852, a small, but growing number of voters primarily in northern Illinois cast their votes for the Free Soil candidates. In 1856, the founding year of the Republican Party in Illinois, many of these same voters turned to this new party. William Bissei, a former Democrat, was the Republican candidate and elected governor. Also, the first Republicans were elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. The election of 1858 saw some mixed results, but the leading Democrat in the state, Stephen A. Douglas, was re-elected to the United States Senate. The Democrats retained majorities in both houses, though these majorities were shrinking. The Illinois senate contained fourteen Democrats and eleven Republicans while the Illinois house contained forty Democrats and thirtyfive Republicans.2The battle for the Prairie State came to a head in 1862. Throughout the summer of that year and into the fall, both political parties campaigned across the state of Illinois. There was a sense of urgency within both parties. The nation was in the midst of a civil war that was becoming ever more costly. It had lasted for more than a year and any glimmer of hope for a Union victory early in the year had been extinguished. Confederate armies were advancing on all fronts. The very nature of the war itself had also changed; it was becoming a destructive struggle. The aim of the Northern war effort was shifting. Abraham Lincoln had been wrestling with the issue of emancipation and presidential authority for some time and had made several attempts to increase support for emancipation among the Northern population. If the majority of the Northern population was going to continue to hang back, however, Lincoln still intended to act. In July, he wrote a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, which was ultimately made public in September. …