Civil War Round Table: Political Violence and Lincoln’s Election

At the start of the 1860 presidential campaign, a handful of fired-up young Northerners appeared as bodyguards to defend anti-slavery stump speakers from frequent attacks. Soon, hundreds of thousands were organizing boisterous, uniformed, torch-bearing brigades of their own. These Wide Awakes — mostly working-class Americans in their twenties — became one of the largest, most spectacular, and most influential political movements in American history. To some, it demonstrated the power of a rising majority to push back against slavery. To others, it looked like a paramilitary force training to invade the South. Within a year, the nation would be at war with itself, and many on both sides would point to the Wide Awakes as the force that pushed them over the edge. Join Jon Grinspan, Curator of Political History at the Smithsonian, to explore the question American democracy keeps posing about the precarious relationship between violent speech and violent actions.

This program will be hosted in-person at the Union League of Philadelphia. Registration is required.

Reception: 6:00pm
Program: 6:30pm
End of Program: 7:30pm

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