If you have ever wondered what a mass rally for a presidential candidate was like in the 1860s, this list of the massive Democratic parade for Seymour and Blair should give you an idea. It includes the names of the organized groups marching, the banners that they carried, the neighborhoods they were from, their ethnicities, and the messages on floats (in boxes).
This rally took up the entire front page of the Democratic newspaper The New York World. I will reprint the headlines and the line of march. The article itself was badly scanned, so I will not post that.
There are several themes that are repeated throughout the parade. Obviously, race is front and center. There are repeated accusations of Radical corruption (even before radicals have come to power). Interestingly, the anti-corruption parade is led by Boss Tweed.
The line of march lists each group participating and says what some of the banners have written on them. Seymour was the Democrats presidential candidate and Blair was the vice-presidential candidate. I have included my commentary on who was there.
Here you see various labor and ethnic organizations.
The transparencies are interesting. The first one refers to concerns among the Irish immigrants that Britain was charging naturalized U.S. citizens with treason if they participated in Fenian plots. The Irish community demanded that the U.S. force Britain to recognize that American naturalization terminated any loyalty owed to the crown.
The transparency complaining about white laborers being taxed to support “lazy negroes in idleness” echoes a common Democratic cry used in both the North and South. The Freedmen’s Bureau was depicted by Democrats as government support for “lazy” blacks, even though most funds were expended on schools and hospitals.
The slogan “No Negro Suffrage” was extremely common and may have been the most common banner or transparency seen at these rallies.
“Down With Class Legislation” is a confusing slogan. Democrats argued that laws that barred racial discrimination were “class legislation” because they were aimed at protecting African Americans, a particular class.
“No Bayonet Peace for White Men” is a slap at Grant’s slogan “Let Us Have Peace.” It accused the Republicans at wanting to “bring peace” with the military.
The “Bloody Fourth Ward” was a heavily Irish immigrant area.
You will notice that the Sixth Ward contingent included many Irish Flags. At that time it was common for immigrants at conservative events to display the flags of their homelands.
These have some common themes for Northern Democrats. In refusing to seat Congressional representatives elected by all-white electorates in the South, Radicals were no better than Jeff Davis. Not likely to see that comparison in Charleston!
While one other banner calls for national unity, another screams : “The White Man above the Black.”
“Seymour and no Blackamoor” is an obvious call to racial prejudices.
You can see the miscegenation theme in “Let Loyal Leaguers Marry With Neegurs.”
You can see the attempt to stir resentments in immigrant communities by arguing that the Republicans gave citizenship to blacks born in this country but not to immigrants who had not completed the naturalization process.
This banner contains the claim that Grant will impose military government.
To give you an idea of the speeches delivered at Tammany Hall in conjunction with the mass parade, here are the remarks of Henry C. Murphy. Murphy was the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle. He was a War Democrat during the Civil War.
Seymour. The Great Tammany Campaign Demonstration
New York Herald
Tuesday, Oct 06, 1868
New York, NY
Vol: XXXIII
Issue: 280
Page: 3
Superb eye to spot this excellent primary source.
Thanks. When I was looking the article over I was amazed at the political and demographic info it contained.
Exactly.
It gives you an awareness of just how many, well-organised and diverse political/labour/etc groups/clubs/etc, were in the place at the time.