Seth Kaller, Inc.

An anti-slavery Republican Party campaign record ledger from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, 1856 to 1864, including the handwritten “Wide Awakes” constitution and minutes from the 1860 election.

[ABRAHAM LINCOLN]. Manuscript Document. Constitutions and minutes from five manifestations of the Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Republican Party organization. Woonsocket, R.I., 1856 – 1864. Including the 1860 “Wide Awakes.” 121 pp. (nearly half blank), 8 x 11 in.

Inventory #22220       SOLD — please inquire about other items

Excerpt

“that although in the late contest we were defeated, we are not ‘subdued’ or disheartened, but that we rejoice in the unanimity of sentiment in New England, New York and the greater part of the North West as the sure harbinger of that good time coming when a healthy public sentiment on the Slavery Question shall pervade the entire country and the clanking of the bondman’s chains and the wail of the Western Pioneer in Kansas shall be heard and realized no more.”

Historical Background

As slavery expanded into the Louisiana Purchase territories in the mid-nineteenth century, the Republican Party emerged in the North in 1854. Championing free labor was among its principles and Republican clubs formed to promote the new political party. Five such clubs formed in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, a bastion of northern textile manufacturing. This ledger book held their respective constitutions and minutes. The first such organization was called the Fremont Club, with the stated purpose of electing John C. Fremont as the party’s first presidential candidate. The club first organized on July 29, 1856, two years after the formation of the Republican Part. In the preamble of their constitution, they stated that they were formed in response to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, “lawless violence in Washington and in Kansas,” and to halt “the further extension of Slavery.” Their “Platform and Principles” stressed that while Congress had no power to end slavery in individual states, they could end slavery “in any Territory of the United States” and favored Kansas territory being “immediately admitted into the Union as a Free State.” Their constitution, comprised of five articles, included rules for membership, qualifications, (“Subscribing to its platform and pledging himself to vote for the Hon. John C. Fremont for the Presidency”); club organization (“a President, twelve vice Presidents, a Treasurer,” etc.); club funding; and amendment procedures. It was approved on July 29, 1856, and signed in this ledger by over fifty founding members.

In 1856, the Fremont Club met weekly from July through December and kept minutes that included information about elections of officers and committee appointments in this ledger. The minutes also record speeches, internal club matters, and songs sung by their glee club. The association voted on various issues, including one vote that allowed “the Ladies be invited to attend the meetings of this association.”

Following Fremont’s loss in the November election, the club reinvented itself by changing its name to the American Republican Association of Woonsocket. It adopted a new - and lengthier - constitution on December 2, 1856, resolving “that although in the late contest we were defeated, we are not ‘subdued’ or disheartened, but that we rejoice in the unanimity of sentiment in New England, New York and the greater part of the North West as the sure harbinger of that good time coming when a healthy public sentiment on the Slavery Question shall pervade the entire country and the clanking of the bondman’s chains and the wail of the Western Pioneer in Kansas shall be heard and realized no more.” Minutes of their meetings show that the association also actively participated in local elections supporting Republican candidates.

Four years later on August 31, 1860, over 140 men met at Temperance Hall in Woonsocket and formed “The Republican Wide Awakes of Woonsocket.” The national organization of Wide Awakes appealed to young, politically active northern white men who shared the principles of the Republican Party. They considered themselves a paramilitary group, adopting banners and uniforms, although they had no intentions of using violence. According to this ledger, the Woonsocket Wide Awake chapter approved a constitution in 1860 that stated the “young men of Woonsocket [were] desirous of Securing the Ascendency and perpetuity of the principles of the Republican Party, and the election of its Candidates for office” and further noted that the club was devoted to the U.S. Constitution and opposed to “interference with Slavery in the States where it now legally exists, and our unqualified and unalterable determination to resist by all constitutional means its further extension.” The club’s constitution had expanded to twelve articles and was approved over three months after Abraham Lincoln’s nomination as Republican presidential candidate. Anyone over the age of eighteen could join the Woonsocket chapter. Over 140 men signed the new constitution in this ledger. The minutes of the first meeting reported that officers were elected and committees appointed “to procure uniforms for the company.” The group continued to meet through the fall, and many members participated in local Wide Awake demonstrations and “displays,” including a large demonstration in Boston.

This ledger also includes the constitution and meeting minutes of another club (also formed in 1860) from the nearby communities of Smithfield and Cumberland, Rhode Island. This club called themselves the Republican Association of Woonsocket and stated their desire “of Securing the election of Abraham Lincoln of Illinois to the office of President of the United States and the election of Hannibal Hamlin of Maine to the office of Vice President.” This second Woonsocket club’s constitution was signed by over sixty founding members who, perhaps, were not interested in joining the more zealous Wide Awakes. Their minutes through November are recorded here.

Four years later during the presidential campaign of 1864, the group reinvented itself again at a meeting held on September 23, 1864, “for the purpose of organizing a Lincoln and Johnson Club.” The club adopted yet another constitution, this time containing a resolution “calling upon the government to prosecute the War with the utmost possible rigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion.” Twenty-nine men signed the constitution. Minutes for two meetings are recorded.

Condition

Very good. Rebound.