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Lincoln campaign parade torch


The presidential campaign of 1860 was the occasion for massive, emotionally charged political parades. An observer noted that a torchlight procession in Chicago for Abraham Lincoln was “undoubtedly the largest and most imposing thing of its kind ever witnessed” in that city. Estimates placed the number of participants at ten thousand. Throughout the entire procession, marchers carried torches similar to this one, as well as banners and transparencies bearing portraits of Lincoln and Republican Party mottos.


Division of Social History, Political History
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Behring Center
Gift of Carl Haverlin

 

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