On Tuesday, August 30, 1864 in Chicago, Illinois the Democrats met in a convention, adopted a platform, and placed the names in nomination of General George McClellan for President and Thomas H. Seymour, former governor of Connecticut, for Vice President. Their aggressive platform complained that the Lincoln Administration had failed to restore the Union, had disregarded the Constitution, and trodden on public liberty and private rights. It demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities. The Chicago convention revealed that the national Democratic Party was controlled by Peace Democrats and Copperheads who clearly opposed Lincoln’s war aims. Claiming that Lincoln exercised “administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous powers not granted by the Constitution,” the Democrats clearly intended to change the directions of the war by defeating Abraham Lincoln.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.