NORTHWEST OHIO POLITICAL SENTIMENT DURING THE CIVIL WAR Brian Yager A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2016 Committee: Michael Brooks, Advisor Dwayne Beggs © 2016 Brian Yager All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Michael Brooks, Advisor This thesis explores the political sentiment of Northwest Ohio during the Civil War. First, it explores the relevant literature pertaining to the political environment in the Union. Next, it examines Northwest Ohio newspapers’ election coverage for the following elections: 1860 presidential election, 1863 gubernatorial election, and 1864 presidential election. For each of these elections, the newspaper coverage is compared to the election results in order to better understand the political attitudes of Northwest Ohioans. The study finds that a conflict of visions existed between the two major political parties, which did not cease in a time of war. Additionally, it reveals that Northwest Ohio differed from other parts of the Union because it was a racially conscious society and a slight majority approved of the war to end the rebellion. iv For My Parents v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thanks to the committee members on my thesis, Dr. Michael Brooks and Dr. Dwayne Beggs, for their valuable time and advice, which this thesis would not be possible without them. Both of them have provided much appreciated feedback and suggestions, especially for writing style. I would also like to thank Dr. Rebecca Mancuso whose term paper assignment in her Local History course inspired me to explore Civil War political sentiment at the local level. A final thank you to Cody Osterman, Olivia Zolciak, Autumn Reddell, and Danielle Watson for their writing style suggestions on my individual chapters. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 LITTERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER I. 1860 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ............................................................ 33 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 33 Political Movements .............................................................................................. 34 Political Candidates ............................................................................................... 36 The Republican Newspapers’ Election Coverage ................................................... 39 The Democratic Newspapers’ Election Coverage................................................... 55 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 79 CHAPTER II. 1863 OHIO GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION ........................................... 81 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 81 Political Movements .............................................................................................. 82 Political Candidates ............................................................................................... 85 The Republican and Union Party Newspapers’ Election Coverage ......................... 88 The Democratic Newspapers’ Election Coverage................................................... 94 Political Sentiment and Political Tension among Union Soldiers ........................... 99 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 104 CHAPTER III. 1864 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION .......................................................... 106 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 106 Political Candidates .............................................................................................. 107 The Republican and Union Party Newspapers’ Election Coverage ......................... 110 vii The Democratic Newspapers’ Election Coverage................................................... 120 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 130 CONCLUDING ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 132 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 138 Primary Sources .................................................................................................... 138 Secondary Sources................................................................................................. 139 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis explores the political sentiment of Northwest Ohio during the Civil War by analyzing the Northwest Ohio campaigns in the 1860 presidential election, 1863 Ohio gubernatorial election, and the 1864 presidential election. The following elections were selected to analyze because it can be argued that these were the most significant elections during the Civil War. In particular, the 1860 presidential election was between four candidates: Abraham Lincoln (Republican Party), Stephen Douglas (Northern Democratic Party), John Bell (Constitutional Union Party), and John Breckenridge (Southern Democratic Party). These candidates represented sectional interests that led to the Civil War. The importance of the 1863 Ohio gubernatorial election between John Brough, the Union Party candidate, and Clement Vallandigham, the Democratic Party candidate, would determine Ohio’s involvement in the war and whether Ohio would continue to be complicit with the Lincoln administration. The 1864 presidential election between Lincoln (Union Party candidate) and George McClellan (Democratic Party candidate) would decide how the war would have been conducted, especially whether a hard line policy or conciliatory policy would have been used. Further, studying these elections in Northwest Ohio will reveal the political attitudes of the region during the Civil War, which will show how the region may differ from other areas. The Northwest Ohio region in 1860 differed from the other regions of Ohio as well as the rest of the Union because it was less industrialized and was mainly agrarian focused. For example, the counties of Henry, Ottawa, and Paulding only had 15, 18, and 9 industrial centers, respectively. On the other hand, these counties were more focused on agriculture. For example, Paulding County produced 127,593 bushels of corn as well as other crops. The crops primarily produced in Northwest Ohio were corn, oats, and wheat. Additionally, the leading industrial centers in 2 Northwest Ohio were the following counties: Seneca (178), Lucas (170), and Crawford (116). On the other hand, other regions, such as Southern and Northeast Ohio, had industrial centers, such as Hamilton County and Cuyahoga County with 2,102 and 380 industrial establishments, respectively.1 Northwest Ohio also had fewer private banks and capital than other areas of the state. For example in the year of 1864, Defiance and Lucas County each had one private bank, with capitalization of $3,000 and $15,000, respectively.2 Fewer banks made it more difficult for the region to industrialize because manufactures had less access to loans and capital than other regions. Additionally, the area was mostly composed of forests and swamps during the Civil War era.3 Some of the counties, such as Hancock, Sandusky, Seneca, and Williams, were considered to be “newly settled” in 1863.4 Because these political entities were relatively new at the time of the war, they did not have the time as well as the resources to have established infrastructure, which would make industrialization easier. Northwest Ohio may have exhibited different political interests from the other regions because residents may have approached policies with an agrarian mindset. The region was also primarily white, with a lower population density compared to other regions of Ohio. For example, the following counties of Northwest Ohio in 1860 had less than 15,000 people: Defiance, Fulton, Hardin, Henry, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, and Van Wert. These population numbers were relatively small when compared to other regions of the state, which had many counties with populations greater than 15,000. The largest population center in Northwest Ohio in 1860 was Seneca County with only 30,893 people. This number was 1 Fourth Annual Report of the Commission of Statistics to the Governor of the State of Ohio for the Year 1860 (Columbus: Richard Nevins, State Printer, 1861), 63-66, and 87. 2 Ibid, 35-36. 3 Eugene Roseboom, The Civil War Era: 1850-1873, vol. 4, History of the State of Ohio, ed. Carl Wittke (Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1944), 73. 4 Seventh Annual Report of the Commission of Statistics to the Governor of the State of Ohio for the Year 1863 (Columbus: Richard Nevins, State Printer, 1864), 54. 3 relatively small when compared to other population centers in the state, such as Hamilton County in Southern Ohio that had a population of 216,095. There were even a few counties in Northwest Ohio that did not have any persons of color, which included Henry, Ottawa, and Wood counties. Moreover, the only other county in 1860 to not have any persons of color was