Origins of the Radical Democracy Party
As the Civil War progressed, opinions within the Republican Party began to diverge. U.S. Senators Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson wanted the Republican Party to advocate constitutional amendments to prohibit slavery and to guarantee Negro equality before the law. These bills were not yet supported by all northern Republicans.
Democratic leaders hoped that the Radical Republicans would put forth a ticket in the election. The New York World was particularly interested in undermining the Union Party (the label used by the Republican Party in 1864) and ran a series of articles setting forth Fremont’s qualifications. The World hoped that the National Union convention would be held off until late in 1864 to allow Fremont time to collect delegates to win the nomination. Fremont supporters in New York City established a newspaper called the New Nation which declared in one of its initial issues that the National Union Convention would be a “nonentity.”
Convention Organization
The Radical Democracy Party National Convention assembled in Cleveland OH. The delegates began to arrive on 5/29/1864, and the New York Times reported that the hall which the convention organizers had planned to use had been double booked by
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Origins of the Radical Democracy Party
As the Civil War progressed, opinions within the Republican Party began to diverge. U.S. Senators Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson wanted the Republican Party to advocate constitutional amendments to prohibit slavery and to guarantee Negro equality before the law. These bills were not yet supported by all northern Republicans.
Democratic leaders hoped that the Radical Republicans would put forth a ticket in the election. The New York World was particularly interested in undermining the Union Party (the label used by the Republican Party in 1864) and ran a series of articles setting forth Fremont’s qualifications. The World hoped that the National Union convention would be held off until late in 1864 to allow Fremont time to collect delegates to win the nomination. Fremont supporters in New York City established a newspaper called the New Nation which declared in one of its initial issues that the National Union Convention would be a “nonentity.”
Convention Organization
The Radical Democracy Party National Convention assembled in Cleveland OH. The delegates began to arrive on 5/29/1864, and the New York Times reported that the hall which the convention organizers had planned to use had been double booked by an opera troupe. Almost all delegates were instructed to support Fremont, with a major exception being the New York delegation, which was composed of War Democrats who supported Grant. Various estimates of the number of delegates were reported in the press; the New York Times reported 156 delegates, but the number generally reported elsewhere was 350 delegates. The delegates came from 15 states and DC.
A supporter of Grant was appointed chairman. The platform was passed with little discussion, and a series of resolutions to mar down the convention were voted down decisively.
Nominations.
The convention nominated John C. Fremont for President and John Cochrane for VP, then adjourned sine die.
Campaign
The Fremont campaign got off to a good start. At the time, the Union Armies were bogged down in Georgia and Virginia.
Fremont accepted the nomination on 6/4/1864. In his letter, he stated that he would step aside if the National Union (Republican) convention would nominate someone other than Lincoln. A month later, Salmon Chase resigned as Secretary of the Treasury for increasing disagreements with Lincoln. Just after Independence Day, Confederate General Jubal Early led his troops towards Washington DC but decided not to attack. A week later, Lincoln issued a call for 500,000 more troops.
After the Democratic National Convention nominated George B. McClellan, however, Fremont faced a dilemma. He was appalled at the Democratic platform, which he described as “union with Slavery.” After three weeks of discussions with Cochrane and his supporters, Fremont withdrew from the race (9/21/1864). In his statement, Fremont stated that winning the Civil War was too important and, although he still felt that Lincoln was not going far enough, the defeat of McClellan was of the greatest necessity. General Cochrane, who was a War Democrat, agreed and withdrew on the same day.
Popular vote of 1864
Electoral vote of 1864
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