Series of American presidential nominating conventions
The 1860 Democratic National Conventions were a series of presidential nominating conventions held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election.
The first convention, held from April 23 to May 3 in Charleston, South Carolina, deadlocked after failing to nominate a ticket: two subsequent conventions, both held in Baltimore, Maryland in June, ultimately nominated separate presidential tickets.
Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois entered the Charleston convention as the front-runner for the presidential nomination, and while he won a majority on the first presidential ballot of the convention, convention rules at the time required a two-thirds majority to win the nomination, with Douglas' adherence to the Freeport Doctrine regarding slavery in the territories engendering strong opposition from many Southern delegates: opponents of Douglas's nomination spread their support among five major candidates, including former Treasury Secretary James Guthrie of Kentucky and Senator Robert M. T. Hunter of Virginia.
After 57 ballots over a span of two days, in which Douglas consistently won at least half of the delegates, the Charleston convention adjourned when it became apparent no candidate could secure the required two-thirds of all votes.
The Democratic convention reconvened in Baltimore on June 18, but many Southern delegates were either excluded from the convention or refused to participate. The convention adopted a platform in which it pledged to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States upon questions of Constitutional Law regarding slavery.
Douglas was ultimately nominated for president on the second ballot (the 59th ballot overall). Senator Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama was nominated for vice president, but he refused the nomination, and was replaced by former Governor Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia.
The Southern Democrats who had boycotted, or walked out of, the Baltimore convention held their own separate convention and adopted a pro-slavery platform, and nominated incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge for president, with Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon as vice president.
While Douglas and Breckinridge received a combined 47.62% of the popular vote in the 1860 presidential election, they lost the election to Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.
Charleston convention.
Background.
The front-runner for the nomination was Douglas, who was considered a moderate on the slavery issue. With the 1854 Kansas–Nebraska Act, he advanced the doctrine of popular sovereignty: allowing settlers in each Territory to decide for themselves whether slavery would be allowed—a change from the flat prohibition of slavery in most Territories under the Missouri Compromise, which the South had welcomed. However, the Supreme Court’s ensuing 1857 'Dred Scott' decision declared that the Constitution protected slavery in all Territories.
Douglas was challenged for his Senate seat by Abraham Lincoln in 1858, and narrowly won re-election, after the Lincoln-Douglas debates, by professing the Freeport Doctrine, a "de facto" rejection of "Dred Scott", with militant Southern "Fire-Eaters", such as William Yancey of Alabama, opposing him as a traitor. Many of them openly predicted a split in the party and the election of Republican front-runner William H. Seward.
The 1860 Democratic National Convention convened at South Carolina Institute Hall (destroyed in the Great Fire of 1861) in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 23, 1860: the galleries at the convention were packed with pro-slavery spectators.
Party platform disputes.
Urged by Yancey, the delegations from seven Deep South states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) met in a separate caucus before the convention. They reached a tentative consensus to "stop Douglas" by imposing a pro-slavery party platform which he could not run on if nominated.
The "Fire-eater" majority on the convention's platform committee, chaired by William Waightstill Avery of North Carolina, produced an explicitly pro-slavery document, endorsing "Dred Scott" and Congressional legislation protecting slavery in the territories. Northern Democrats refused to acquiesce, as "Dred Scott" was extremely unpopular in the North, and the Northerners said they could not carry a single state with that platform: this would end any Democratic prospect of retaining the White House, as no previous candidate had won the presidency without winning either New York or Pennsylvania, and only four (John Adams in 1796, James Madison in 1812, John Quincy Adams in 1824, and James Buchanan in 1856) had been elected without winning both. Douglas and supporters thus preferred the 1856 Cincinnati platform.
On April 30, the minority (Northern) report was substituted for that of the majority (Southern) report by a vote of 165 to 138. The question next in order before the convention was upon the adoption of the second resolution of the minority of the committee: on this question Alabama, Arkansas, one of Delaware's delegates, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas refused to vote. The Douglas party abandoned the vague second resolution, and it was defeated by an overwhelming vote of 238 to 21 (with 44 abstentions).
Between April 30 and May 1, 51 Southern delegates walked out of the convention in protest: the entire delegations of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, three of the four delegates from Arkansas and one of the three delegates from Delaware. These delegates gathered at St. Andrews Hall on Broad Street and declared themselves the real convention as the Institute Hall convention proceeded to nominations.
Since both the majority and the minority resolutions on the Territorial question were rejected, nothing remained except the Cincinnati platform as the Douglas faction had desired. The dominant Douglas forces believed their path was now clear.
Two-thirds rule.
Before the balloting for president commenced, Mr. Howard of Tennessee succeeded in obtaining a vote of the convention in affirmance of the two-thirds rule: on his motion they resolved, by 141 votes to 112, "that the President of the Convention be and he is hereby directed not to declare any person nominated for the office of President or Vice President unless he shall have received a number of votes equal to two-thirds of the votes of all the Electoral Colleges."
It was well known at the time that this resolution would render the regular nomination of Douglas impossible.
Presidential balloting.
Six major candidates were nominated at the convention: Douglas, former Treasury Secretary James Guthrie of Kentucky, Senator Robert M. T. Hunter of Virginia, Senator Joseph Lane of Oregon, former Senator Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, and Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee.
Presidential candidates.
While Douglas led on the first ballot, receiving ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;145+1⁄2 of the 253 votes cast, the convention had required a two-thirds vote to win the nomination: further to this, convention chairman Caleb Cushing ruled that this was two-thirds of "the whole membership", not two-thirds of those "present and voting".
This ruling meant Douglas needed 202 votes ( ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;56+1⁄2 more votes), or 80% of the remaining 253 delegates: this was all but impossible as it would have required several of the remaining Southern delegates to vote for Douglas, who they vehemently opposed.
Consequently, the convention held 57 ballots, and though Douglas led on all of them, he never received more than ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;152+1⁄2 votes. On the 57th ballot, Douglas received ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;151+1⁄2 votes, still ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;50+1⁄2 votes short of the nomination, though far ahead of Guthrie, who was second with ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;65+1⁄2. On 3 May, the delegates voted to adjourn the convention, and reconvene in Baltimore six weeks later.
A few votes went to former Senator Isaac Toucey of Connecticut and Senator James Pearce of Maryland, while Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi (the future Confederate President) received one vote on over fifty ballots from Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts. Ironically, during the Civil War, Butler became a Union general, and Davis ordered him hanged as a criminal if he was captured.
1st Day of Presidential Balloting / 8th Day of Convention (May 1, 1860)
2nd Day of Presidential Balloting / 9th Day of Convention (May 2, 1860)
Baltimore convention (Northern Democratic).
The Democrats re-convened at the Front Street Theater (destroyed in the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904) in Baltimore, Maryland, on 18 June.
Delegate re-admission disagreement.
The resumed convention's first business was to decide whether to re-admit the delegates who had walked out of the Charleston session, or to seat replacement delegates who had been named by pro-Douglas Democrats in some states: other delegates had boycotted the Baltimore convention.
The credentials committee's majority report recommended re-admitting all delegates except those from Louisiana and Alabama, while the minority report recommended re-admitting some of the Louisiana and Alabama delegates as well. On June 22, the minority (Southern) report failed to be substituted for that of the majority (Northern) report by a vote of ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;100+1⁄2-150.
After the rejection of the minority report, two votes were taken on the reconsideration of the substitution vote. At first, New York revived hopes of adopting the minority report by voting for its reconsideration. But during the second vote on reconsideration, New York switched back to its original vote.
With the admission of the new Louisiana and Alabama delegates, 56 delegates - most of those remaining from the South, and a scattering of delegates from northern and far western states - all walked out of the convention in protest.
Presidential balloting.
After the convention resumed voting on a nominee, Douglas received ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;173+1⁄2 of the ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;190+1⁄2 votes cast on the first ballot (the 58th overall), and ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;181+1⁄2 votes of the ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;194+1⁄2 votes cast on the second ballot (the 59th overall).
A rollcall was taken following the second ballot, and it was realized that there were only ;templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" / ;194+1⁄2 delegates present, meaning that there were insufficient delegates for Douglas to receive the 202 votes required by Cushing's ruling at the first convention.
After the delegates unanimously voted to rescind that ruling, it was declared by acclamation that Douglas had received the required two-thirds of the votes cast, and he was therefore nominated.
Vice-presidential balloting.
Senator Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Alabama was the only candidate for the vice-presidential nomination.
During the call of the states, every vote recorded was in favor of Fitzpatrick with no exception until Pennsylvania was reached. One of Pennsylvania's votes was announced for former state senator William C. Alexander of New Jersey. Upon this announcement, a New Jersey delegate informed the delegates that he had been authorized before the convention, by Alexander himself, not to allow his name to be presented as a candidate. The Pennsylvanian who desired Alexander cast one blank vote thereafter.
Vice-presidential replacement.
After the unanimous nomination of Fitzpatrick as the candidate for vice president, the convention adjourned on June 23, the sixth and last day of its session. On the same day, but after the adjournment, Fitzpatrick declined the nomination. Fitzpatrick's refusal of the vice-presidential nomination occurred sixteen years after Silas Wright was the first to turndown the honor. In 1924, Frank Lowden would be the third and last person to date who refused their party's vice-presidential nomination.
Vice-presidential candidate.
Since the convention had already adjourned, the executive committee was required to name a replacement for Fitzpatrick.
On motion of Mr. Dick, the lone remaining delegate from North Carolina, the vice-presidential nomination was conferred on former Senator and Governor Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia by acclamation.
Baltimore convention (Southern Democratic).
A second convention assembled at Baltimore on June 23, 1860. It was composed chiefly of the delegates who had walked out of or boycotted the Northern Democratic convention.
One of their first acts was to abrogate the two-thirds rule, as had been done by the Douglas convention: both conventions acted under the same necessity, since there were insufficient delegates remaining to allow the preservation of this rule at either convention.
The majority resolutions, whose replacement by the minority report facilitated the collapse of the Charleston convention, were reported and adopted unanimously, amid great applause.
Presidential balloting.
After the adoption of the majority resolutions, the convention proceeded to select their candidates. Four names were placed in nomination: Breckinridge, Dickinson, Hunter, and Lane.
Presidential candidates.
Despite instructions from their state convention, the Mississippi delegation, with Jefferson Davis' concurrence, desired that his name be removed from possible consideration for the sake of harmony. The names of Hunter and Lane were subsequently withdrawn in the spirit of harmony and unanimity. After New York cast an obligatory vote for Dickinson, Breckinridge was declared the unanimous choice of the convention for president.
Vice-presidential balloting.
After the applause for Breckinridge's nomination had subsided, the whole hall resounded with cries for Yancey for Vice President. After Yancey got on his feet, but before he could speak, Lane's name was presented