The Cacophony of Politics: Northern Democrats and the American Civil War

The Cacophony of Politics charts the trajectory of the Democratic Party as the party of opposition in the North during the Civil War. A comprehensive overview, this book reveals the myriad complications and contingencies of political life in the Northern states and explains the objectives of the nearly half of eligible Northern voters who cast a ballot against Abraham Lincoln in 1864.

The party’s famous slogan "The Union as it was, the Constitution as it is" was meant to have broad appeal an...