Northern Democrats

Emancipation Proclamation Faces Violent Northern Resistance from Democrats and White Supremacists Fearing Labor Competition

1863-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, taking effect January 1, 1863, declares enslaved people in Confederate-held territory to be free, transforming the Civil War from a conflict to preserve the Union into a crusade against slavery. The proclamation faces immediate and violent opposition from …

Abraham Lincoln Northern Democrats Copperheads Frederick Douglass George McClellan emancipation racism copperheads resistance white-supremacy +1 more

Democratic Party Convention Split Over Slavery Platform Fractures Last National Institution Binding North and South

1860-04-23 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

The Democratic National Convention convenes in Charleston, South Carolina, with Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois as the front-runner for presidential nomination. Before the convention begins, delegations from seven Deep South states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, …

Stephen A. Douglas William Yancey John C. Breckinridge Democratic Party Southern Democrats +1 more democratic-party slavery political-manipulation election-1860 sectional-crisis +1 more

Wilmot Proviso Triggers Sectional Crisis Over Slavery in Conquered Mexican Territory

1846-08-08 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On August 8, 1846, amidst the Mexican-American War, Democratic Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduces an amendment to President James Polk’s $2 million appropriation bill for purchasing territory from Mexico, boldly declaring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude …

David Wilmot James K. Polk U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate Northern Democrats +1 more wilmot-proviso slavery-expansion sectional-conflict mexican-american-war territorial-expansion +1 more