Looking Back…1860’s Politics
As we’re preparing this post, it’s the evening of Election Day, and by tomorrow morning when this post appears, results will be headlining in the newspapers, online, and in social media feeds. 155 years ago citizens of the United States voted in a presidential election during a war. Federal soldiers – including African Americans – got to cast their ballots. We know how that election ended. Abraham Lincoln won a second term, but a term he would barely have begun when the war ended and he was assassinated.
With historic politics on our minds this evening as we wait for the results from the modern polls, we thought it might be a good time to dig back in the ECW archives and pull out our series from 2016 on “1860’s Politics.”
There are pages of posts archived and here’s a link to start your day with a little exploration of the politics during one of the most tumultuous decades in American History.
1860’s Politics – ECW Blog Series Archive
In Maryland, those that were pro Southern were prevented from voting and even locked up. Federal soldiers from other states were allowed to vote in the Maryland elections, tyranny and corruption at its best.