PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION, CONVENED AT CHARLESTON, S.C., APRIL 23, 1860.
Washington: Thomas McGill, 1860. 54pp. Bound in modern cloth, with gilt-lettered title stamped on front cover. Light blindstamp, label remnant on front cover. Lightly toned, Good+.
This offering reports the Democrats' tumultuous Convention of 1860: it convened in Charleston and, after ten days, shut down with a Southern walkout. Protracted over two months, it reconvened in Baltimore.
Southern Democrats mounted an all-out attack on their erstwhile brother Stephen A. Douglas, the choice of the Northern Democrats. Douglas's Popular Sovereignty doctrine, refusing to support Slave Codes protecting the ownership of slaves in the National Territories, was the final breach between the Party's wings.
The Party fielded northern and southern candidates [Douglas and Breckinridge] in the election; and its division, the last national political institution, brought the Nation to the brink of war. The proceedings, the mini-secessions of southern delegates, and all fifty-seven inconclusive ballots are printed.
Sabin 19500. III Turnbull 319. LCP 3045. Item #40341
Price: $500.00