Lincoln's Life as Depicted in the Museum Exhibits (continued)

"Wide Awake" torch carried in the Campaign of 1860.

LINCOLN ELECTED PRESIDENT. The Republican National Convention was held at the "Wigwam" in Chicago, in May 1860. On the first ballot William H. Seward was leading, but the third ballot resulted in a landslide for Lincoln. The candidate declined to take the stump and took no active part in the campaign beyond keeping in touch with his political leaders, Torchlight processions organized by Republican "Wide Awake" clubs in cities throughout the North provided the most picturesque feature of the spirited campaign of 1860. A "Wide Awake" torch carried by a resident of Springfield, Ill,, in a demonstration in that city on August 8, 1860, and in all political campaigns until 1884, is among the exhibits of the Lincoln Museum, The torch was presented to the Oldroyd collection after the defeat of the Republican Party in 1884. Also of interest is a collection of rare Currier and Ives lithographs and cartoons on the election of 1860.

The Democratic Party, hopelessly split on the slavery controversy, divided into Northern and Southern factions in 1860. Douglas was the candidate of the Northern Democrats while John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, was selected by the Southern Democrats, John Bell, of Tennessee, was chosen by the new Constitutional Union Party. The split in the Democratic Party led to the election of Lincoln in November.

Grand Procession of Wide Awakes at New York on the evening of October 3, 1860.
(Reproduced from sketch in Harper's Weekly, October 13, 1860.)