Chapter 1: The United States at Midcentury.
Even with anger at Lincoln's reconstruction policy, he was no match. The Republican Party had many men who could have won, but in the end, Lincoln was reelected for his second consecutive term, even when Chase ran against him and used Treasury Department patronage. His renomination and re-election was not guaranteed, even as people warned that changing power during the war was dangerous to the unity of the Union. When Lincoln vetoed it, Congress had no way to retaliate, but it showed that there was tension in his administration. The Wade-Davis bill best showed the difference between the president's and congress's policy. Still, it was obvious that southern states had left the Union and formed a new government. Lincoln always maintained that secession was illegal and that southern states were still in the Union his job was to remove all the rebels. In both the Confederacy and the Union, there were two factions: those for war and those against. Former Whigs became the major opposition. "Proto-parties" began forming in the Confederacy by 1863. Thus, it was harder for the administration to actually retaliate against the accusations by opponents. Everyone who ran against the Davis administration were individuals and had no party to back them up. In the North, most state governors were Republicans and they were bound together in the war effort in the South, governors had different ideas in mind and stopped the centralization of a war effort since the Confederacy emphasized states' rights and not a national government right.Īlso, the Confederate Constitution only allowed a single 6-year term, so Davis didn't have to create a party with followers in order to be re-elected. But in the Confederacy, the Davis administration had no way to figure out who supported them. The Democrats opposed most of these measures and this opposition allowed the voters could identify who they most agreed with and vote for them. The Republicans mobilized war resources, raised tariffs and taxes, created a new financial system, started the process of emancipation, and enacted conscription. This was a weakness in the North, the two-party system allowed different sides to be heard and allowed political activity as there was competition. The Davis administration was hated even more because of the political structure there were no formal political parties and Southerners believed they needed to present a united front against any issue. The Confederate Congress elections occurred in 1863, when southern morale was very low.
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