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Unionist politician (American Civil War)

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Union Party
Other name
LeadersFrancis Preston Blair Jr.
Montgomery Blair
Thomas E. Bramlette
Hamilton Rowan Gamble
Founded1861; 163 years ago (1861)
Dissolved1864; 160 years ago (1864)
Merger ofAmerican Party
Constitutional Union Party
Republican Party
Union Democrats
Succeeded byUnconditional Union Party
Conservative Party
IdeologyUnionism
Gradualism

Unionists in the border states organized political parties to oppose secession from the United States during the American Civil War. They extended critical support to the wartime administration of Abraham Lincoln while remaining outside Lincoln's Republican Party. While some harbored antislavery sympathies, most Unionists viewed the abolitionist movement with hostility and initially resisted Lincoln's efforts on behalf of emancipation. Unionist governments were opposed by Copperheads who opposed Lincoln's wartime policies and in some cases the war itself, as well as Confederate regular and irregular military forces.[1]

Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 United States presidential election on a platform that called for the exclusion of slavery from the U.S. territories; his election and subsequent efforts to suppress rebellion precipitated the secession of eleven slave states that formed the Confederate States of America.[2] Unionist opposition to secession in the slave states included conditional unionists who preferred a compromise consistent with southern interests but held out the possibility of secession as a last resort, as well as others whose commitment to Union was unequivocal. These latter unconditional unionists remained loyal to the national government following the commencement of hostilities in April 1861, while many conditional unionists went over to the Confederacy.[3]

Unionists won critical elections in Kentucky and Maryland preceding the July 4, 1861 emergency session of Congress, sending more than a dozen members to the House of Representatives.[4] They established provisional governments in Missouri and the western counties of Virginia that constituted the loyal civilian authority in those states throughout the war; a similar strategy was attempted unsuccessfully in East Tennessee.[5] By 1862, issues related to slavery and emancipation increasingly divided Unionists between opposing factions, culminating in a formal split between Conservative and Unconditional (or Radical) Unionists. Unwilling to sanction proposals for immediate emancipation and Black enlistment, some Conservatives supported the Democratic Party in the 1864 United States presidential election; the remainder followed the Radicals into the National Union Party coalition. Lincoln's reelection on the National Union ticket demonstrated the Radicals' superior strength and established a beachhead for the Republican Party in the Upper South.[6]

Unionists came from diverse backgrounds, although certain commonalities were apparent. Most were former Whigs who had declined to join the Republican Party prior to the war; a minority were Unionist Democrats whose Jacksonian nationalism inspired a fierce opposition to disunion.[7] They drew strength from Appalachia as well as merchants and businessmen in commercial centers like Baltimore.[8] Montgomery Blair was the highest-ranking Unionist in the national government for most of the war as postmaster general in Lincoln's cabinet; other prominent Unionists included Francis Preston Blair Jr., John J. Crittenden, Henry Winter Davis, and Andrew Johnson.[9]

Name

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In its broadest application, "unionist" referred to active opponents of secession in the slave states who remained loyal to the national government following the commencement of hostilities in April 1861.[10] Some historians and contemporary sources use the term "unconditional unionist" to distinguish between this former group and "conditional unionists" who expressed initial reservations with secession but ultimately supported the Confederacy.[11] Elected politicians who pledged unconditional loyalty to the United States during the war were variously called "Unionists" or "Unconditional Unionists."[12] These terms were sometimes used interchangeably; in other cases, they referred to distinct party organizations, as in Maryland, where the Unconditional Union Party defeated the Conservative Unionists in the 1863 elections.[13]

Unionist political parties active in the border states and areas of the Confederacy occupied by the Union Army were known by a variety of names, including the Union Party, the Union Democratic Party, and the Unconditional Union Party.[14] As the war progressed, rival Radical and Conservative organizations divided Unionists in several states. In Missouri, the Conservative state organization called itself the Unconditional Union Party in 1864; its opposition formed the Radical Union Party.[15] Dissimilarly, in Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and West Virginia, the "Unconditional Union Party" was the name used by the Radical faction.[16] Many of these state Union parties sent delegates to the 1864 National Union Convention, including both Missouri Unionist factions.[17]

References

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  1. ^
    • Astor, Aaron (2012). Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation, and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 174, 82–83, 75, 85–86.
    • Baker, Jean H. (1973). The Politics of Continuity: Maryland Political Parties from 1858 to 1870. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 62, 65, 78–79, 67.
    • Parrish, William E. (1973). A History of Missouri, Volume 3: 1860 to 1875. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. pp. 6, 31, 87, 33–35.
  2. ^
  3. ^ Astor, 95–97.
  4. ^
  5. ^
    • Parrish, 31.
    • McPherson, 297–99; 301.
  6. ^
  7. ^
    • Astor, 174.
    • Baker, 65.
    • Parrish, 32; 95.
  8. ^
  9. ^
    • Astor, 50.
    • Baker, 91–93.
    • McKinney, 28.
  10. ^ Inscoe, John C. (2001). "Introduction". In Inscoe, John C.; Kenzer, Robert C. (eds.). Enemies of the Country: New Perspectives on Unionists in the Civil War South. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. p. 3.
  11. ^ See for instance Trefousse, Hans L. (1997). Andrew Johnson: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 128.
  12. ^
  13. ^ Baker, 83; 87.
  14. ^
  15. ^ Parrish, 108; 101.
  16. ^
    • Hood, 209.
    • Baker, 85.
    • McKinney, 28.
    • Curry, Richard Orr (1969). "Crisis Politics in West Virginia, 1861–1870". In Curry, Richard Orr (ed.). Radicalism, Racism, and Party Realignment: The Border States during Reconstruction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. p. 92.
  17. ^
    • Parrish, 108–9.
    • Hood, 209.

Union Party (United States, 1850)

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History

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Origins, 1849–50

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Following years of mounting tensions over the future of slavery in the United States, Congress passed the Compromise of 1850, a legislative package intended to provide a "final settlement" to sectional controversies and avert the looming threat of civil war. Shepherded through Congress by Stephen Douglas and signed into law by President Millard Fillmore, its principal measures included the admission of California as a free state, abolition of the slave trade (but not slavery itself) in the District of Columbia, settlement of Texas's boundary dispute with New Mexico in favor of the latter, organization of the Utah and New Mexico territories without restrictions on slavery, and passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 strengthening legal provisions for the extradition and re-enslavement of freedom seekers who sought refuge in the free states.[1]

Unconditional Union Party

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Unconditional Union Party
Other name
LeaderB. Gratz Brown
Henry Winter Davis
Founded1862; 162 years ago (1862)
Dissolved1867; 157 years ago (1867)
Split fromUnion Party
Merged intoRepublican Party
IdeologyUnconditional Unionism
Abolitionism
Radical Reconstruction
National affiliationRadical Republicans

The Unconditional Union Party was a unionist political party in the United States during the American Civil War. It was a regional counterpart to the National Union Party that supported the wartime administration of Abraham Lincoln.[2] The party was active in the border states and Union-occupied areas of the Confederacy. After the war, it formed the nucleus of the Republican Party in the Upper South.[3]

Following the commencement of hostilities in April 1861, Unionists won critical elections in Kentucky and Maryland ahead of the July 4 emergency session of Congress and established provisional governments in Missouri and the western counties of Virginia.[4][5][6][7] Emancipation and the enlistment of Black soldiers split the Unionist movement, with Radicals embracing calls for the immediate abolition of slavery in response to wartime exigencies. Factional strife culminated in a formal schism between the Conservative Unionists and the Radicals, who called themselves the Unconditional Union Party to signify their uncompromising support for the war effort.[8][9][10]

Nationally, Unconditional Unionists aligned themselves with the Radical Republicans in calling for the immediate abolition of slavery in the United States, the enlistment of Black soldiers to fight in the Union Army, and the aggressive prosecution of the war to restore the Union and destroy the political and economic strength of the Slave Power.[11][12] They frequently clashed with the Lincoln administration and Conservative Unionists in their own states over issues related to emancipation, military appointments and strategy, and the looming issue of Reconstruction. Some Radicals favored running a candidate against Lincoln in the 1864 United States presidential election, but most eventually supported Lincoln's re-election on the National Union ticket.[13] After the war, the party continued to operate as a regional counterpart to the Republican Party. Circumstances emerging from Reconstruction, particularly the introduction of Black suffrage, led state parties to adopt the Republican label in the late 1860s, although in Missouri the Republican organization continued to call itself the Radical Union Party as late as 1870.[14][15][16][17]

References

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  1. ^ McPherson, 74.
  2. ^ Smith, Adam I. P. (2006). No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 156.
  3. ^ McKinney, Gordon B. (1978). Southern Mountain Republicans, 1865-1900: Politics in the Appalachian Community. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 31.
  4. ^ Webb, Ross A. (1969). "Kentucky: "Pariah Among the Elect"". In Curry, Richard Orr (ed.). Radicalism, Racism, and Party Realignment: The Border States during Reconstruction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. p. 111.
  5. ^ Baker, Jean H. (1973). The Politics of Continuity: Maryland Political Parties from 1858 to 1870. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University. p. 62.
  6. ^ Parrish, William E. (1971). A History of Missouri, Volume 3: 1860 to 1875. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. p. 31.
  7. ^ Curry, Richard Orr (1969). "Crisis Politics in West Virginia, 1861–1870". In Curry, Richard Orr (ed.). Radicalism, Racism, and Party Realignment: The Border States during Reconstruction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. p. 111.
  8. ^ Baker, 78; 83–84.
  9. ^ Hood, James Larry (July 1978). "For the Union: Kentucky's Unconditional Unionist Congressmen and the Development of the Republican Party in Kentucky, 1863–1865". Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 76 (3): 198, 209–10.
  10. ^ Parrish, 93–94.
  11. ^ Baker, 85.
  12. ^ Parrish, 101–2.
  13. ^ Parrish, 108–9.
  14. ^ Baker, 177.
  15. ^ McKinney, 31–32.
  16. ^ Webb, 123.
  17. ^ Parrish, 257.

Fiction

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Antebellum

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Antebellum United States presidential election
← 1824 November 1, 1828-1852 1856 →
Around 200 electoral votes of the Electoral College
Around 100 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout75%[1] Decrease 2.0 pp
 
Nominee Racist War Hero Shameless Opportunist
Party Democratic Whig
Home state Tennessee Virginia
Running mate Career Bureaucrat Virulent Nativist
Electoral vote More than Whig Less than Democrat
States carried 21 9
Popular vote More than Whig Less than Democrat
Percentage 51.5% 48.5%
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Racist War Hero/Career Bureaucrat, buff denotes those won by Shameless Opportunist/Virulent Nativist.
President before election

VP when the last racist war hero died
Whig

Elected President

Racist War Hero
Democratic

Roaring Twenties

[edit]
Roaring Twenties United States presidential election
← 1916 November 4, 1920-28 1932 →
531 members of the Electoral College
266 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout49.6%[2] Decrease 0.3 pp
 
Nominee Hates immigrants Hates Black people Dying activist
Party Republican Democratic Socialist
Home state Ohio Ohio New York
Running mate Forgettable diplomat Famous last name Sewer socialist
Electoral vote Basically all of them Just the South 0
States carried 33 15 0
Popular vote Massive landslide Got fucking clobbered Close but no cigar
Percentage 54.6% 40.5% 4.9%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Hates immigrants/Forgettable diplomat, blue denotes those won by Hates Black people/Famous last name.
President before election

Hates immigrants
Republican

Elected President

Hates immigrants
Republican

1864

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1864 United States House of Representatives elections
←  1862 & 1863 May 1–14, 1864 1866 →
All 679 seats in the United States House of Representatives
340 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Thaddeus Stevens Schuyler Colfax Benjamin Butler Nathaniel Lyon Robert Smalls
Party Radical Wide Awake Labor Cooperative
Leader's seat Pennsylvania 9th Indiana 9th Massachusetts 7th Connecticut 11th South Carolina 7th
Last election New New New
Seats won 313 254 112
Seat change Increase 313 Increase 254 Increase 112
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader P. B. S. Pinchback John Sherman Jacob Broom
Party Independent Labor Republican Know Nothing
Leader's seat Louisiana 10th Ohio 13th Pennsylvania 4th
Last election New 146 Steady
Seats won 45 31 3
Seat change Increase 45 Decrease 115 Increase 3
Speaker before election

John Sherman
Republican

Elected Speaker

Schuyler Colfax
Radical

1866

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1866 United States House of Representatives elections
← 1864 May 7, 1866 1868 →
All 693 seats in the United States House of Representatives
347 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Thaddeus Stevens George H. Thomas William H. Carney Susie King
Party Radical Revolutionary Grantist Labor Cooperative
Leader's seat Pennsylvania 9th Tennessee 17th Virginia 8th
South Carolina 10th
Last election 313 New 112
Seats won 227 186 110
Seat change Decrease 86 Increase 186 Decrease 2
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Henry L. Higginson John M. Schofield Henry George
Party Labor & Commercial Shermanist National
Leader's seat Massachusetts 22nd Missouri 2nd California 8th
Last election New New New
Seats won 89 59 22
Seat change Increase 89 Increase 59 Increase 22
Speaker before election

Schuyler Colfax
Radical

Elected Speaker

Robert B. Elliott
Radical Revolutionary

  1. ^ "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara.
  2. ^ "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara.
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