Partisan Politics in Centre County Pennsylvania Before and During the Civil War
Open Access
Author:
Defillipo, Nicholas Louis
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Anthony Edward Kaye, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Michael James Milligan, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Civil War patriotism partisan politics
Abstract:
One of the most surprising aspects of the Civil War was the lack of unity found within the North following the Civil War. This thesis aims to provide a more thorough understanding of why the Democratic and Republican rivalry persisted throughout the unprecedented crisis of secession and civil war. Studies of the individual parties and their ideologies have been conducted by historians such as Eric Foner, Jennifer L. Weber, and Arnold Shankman; this thesis seeks to build on those studies by examining how the parties’ respective ideologies fueled the rivalry and made unity impossible. First, it explores the birth of the Republican Party in Centre County and how it was able to challenge the Democratic Party by taking a more moderate stance by minimizing anti-slavery rhetoric and stressing free labor and protectionism. Next it explains how the patriotic sentiment following the bombing of Fort Sumter actually fueled the rivalry, despite hopes it could bring about a bi-partisan solution to the war, because of the competing partisan and ideological definitions of what constituted being a “patriot.” Finally, this thesis examines how the party newspapers intensified this rivalry by spreading party ideology and using emotional appeals to strengthen their reader’s commitment to the respective party, as well as increasing their opposition to the other party.
