The 1864 Election
The presidential election of 1864 was underway and there was a real possibility that the elimination of slavery – a cause which thousands had given their lives fighting for – would not happen. It was almost time for another presidential election, and if Abraham Lincoln was not reelected, someone else could come along and undo all the progress he made towards his goal of ending slavery for good in America.
Republicans took the risk to make support for the 13th Amendment central to the 1864 campaign. The 1864 Republican Party platform said that “slavery was the cause” of the Civil War and that Republicans supported a Constitutional amendment that would “terminate and forever prohibit” slavery in the United States.
It was with this vision for the future of the country that Lincoln, the Republican candidate, won the 1864 election. It was clear that the majority of voters wanted to abolish slavery in the United States once and for all. Abolitionists viewed this as a mandate from the people and pressured the House of Representatives to pass the 13th Amendment. Lincoln’s efforts convinced eight Democrats to switch their votes from no to yes and secured the support of other members of Congress who had previously not voted.
