Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/564

526 Under these conditions the convention met, and discarding its old name of Republican, called itself "Union," thus for the first time confessing to a yearning to be considered &quot;National.&quot; The &quot;Union National Convention;&quot; with this superscription the delegates from all parties enrolled their names, among whom were many of the most distinguished men of the nation. Several war governors were prominent among other eminent leaders, such as Cameron, Thaddeus Stevens, Dickinson, Grow, Dennison and Preston King. Delegates from the manipulated Southern States were after parley allowed to vote, except those from Virginia and Florida. The platform was composed of trenchant and defiant declarations against any terms of peace with the South except such as would be based upon an unconditional surrender, and it demanded also a vigorous prosecution of the war. The complete extirpation of slavery was of course to be effected, and the emancipation proclamation was adopted as the fixed policy of the party. Mr. Lincoln s measures were endorsed and the Monroe doctrine was thrown in as a hint to Maximilian in Mexico. The platform was so satisfactory to the extremists that it was adopted by acclamation and upon it Mr. Lincoln was nominated without dissent. The choice of a candidate for the vice-presidency resulted in the rejection of Daniel S. Dickinson, of New York, through the politicians of his own State, and the nomination of Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. This nomination from a Southern State was urged on the ground that it would nationalize the Republican party, which in itself was a confession that the claim to the recently adopted name needed at least this shadowy support.

The platform and the nomination of Mr. Lincoln were expected by the South and the announcement of the event produced no special comment in Richmond. The Confederate Congress continued its legislation on the currency and the means of obtaining supplies. A bill