During the Debate over Abolition of Slavery, the White Male Youth Vote was Incredibly High… Because it was the Cool Thing to Do

The Wide Awakes and Lincoln’s Victory

Within just a few months, in the summer of 1860, the ranks of the Wide Awakes swelled to over 100,000 members throughout the nation. There were almost 1,000 chapters across the country. Given the percentage of the population at the time, that would be equivalent to a group with 1 million members today. In the fall of 1860, their now almost 500,000 members mobilized and turned out the vote for Abraham Lincoln, leading to a decisive victory of 39.8% with the closest runner-up at only 29.5%.

The Wide Awakes used friendly competition and unique communication tools like educational, political comic books to educate young men and drive voter turnout. The Lincoln campaign was well aware of the activity of the Wide Awakes and actively encouraged the formation of new chapters at their campaign events. Lincoln himself was reportedly delighted by a torchlight escort of Wide Awake members who accompanied him back to his hotel after a speech in Hartford, Connecticut.

Political Instability and the Need for Belonging

As hard as it may be to believe in our current political climate, in the 1850s and 1860s politics was a way to find companionship and a sense of belonging. The era was marked by a great deal of social and political upheaval, as the tracks were being laid for the US Civil War, and getting involved in politics was a sure way to find like-minded friends. Having political membership was seen as a core component of many young people’s identities.

Political Activity in Schools

While strongly sanctioned in public schools today, schools were once a hotbed of political activity. Historian and author of The Virgin Vote: How Young Americans Made Democracy Social, Politics Personal, And Voting Popular wrote that elementary schools served as a “petri dish for popular politics.” Boys chanted partisan slogans, with one popular chant claiming “Democrats eat dead rats.” Boys would also engage in partisan-aligned fights on the school grounds, with one group of 8-year-old Republicans in Kansas famously choking a Democrat on the playground until he passed out.

Teachers also encouraged political activity, with the expectation that teachers would read all election results in the classroom. Contemporary children’s diaries contained frequent references to animated political arguments dominating the school days’ activities. Often, academic lessons seemed to be abandoned in favor of discussing the political issues of the time. This action is perhaps unsurprising with the massive unrest of the Civil War looming just over the horizon.

Campaigns Targeted Children

In the 1860s, the campaign trail was a popular place for children. Campaigns would bring live animal petting zoos to campaign events to ensure children accompanied their parents. Some would even bring leather balls for children to kick and throw with each other. Election day itself also held fun activities for children, with kids as young as six years old being hired as “runners” for campaigns – delivering messages, turning out voters and sometimes even helping intoxicated voters get to and from the polls.

People Described the Virgin Vote Like Puberty

Records from the 1860s indicate that many writers at the time used phrases commonly associated with puberty and coming-of-age to describe casting one’s first vote. The term “virgin vote” itself came from that time and was used in writings to describe the first vote. The experience of voting for the first time was described as both thrilling and a source of nervousness, with worry about the first vote being “wrong.” Voting for the “wrong” party was compared to losing a lover or getting a sexually transmitted infection – intensifying the comparisons to puberty and sexual maturity.

This odd blending of sexuality and voting was further exploited by campaigns that promised that “all the handsome and intelligent young ladies” supported their political party and would be lined up outside the polls waiting to congratulate the unmarried men on their wise votes. Older men were said to reminisce about their first votes being a source of “pride and pleasure” in older age, again demonstrating the oddly sexual overtone around the first vote.

With all of the cultural focus on the youth vote in the 1860s, it is likely that the youth turnout rate was significantly higher than today, so sadly no demographic record of voters was kept in that era. Also, today’s pool of youth voters is considerably more extensive due to the enfranchisement of youth as young as 18 with the 26th amendment.

The 1860s Wasn’t a Voter Paradise for Anyone But White Men

While the 1860s was a phenomenal time for young white men to be involved in politics, it was mostly terrible for anyone else. Women would not gain the right to vote until 1920. Native Americans weren’t considered legal US Citizens with voting rights until 1924. Black men were technically allowed to vote as early as 1870 due to the 15th Amendment, but those rights were not fully realized until 1965 when the Civil Rights Act was passed to dismantle Jim Crow era disenfranchisement. Politics itself was only considered a suitable pastime for men as well.

Discussing politics was considered too aggressive and masculine for most women, with women being encouraged to discuss more soft, innocent things. Women would not have been welcome at political rallies, as was evident with the violence and arrests of the suffragists in the early 20th century. As with many things in history, progress typically comes first for white men.

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“The “virgin vote”: a historian discovers why young Americans once actually voted” Jeff Stein, Vox. November 2017.

“Young Men for War”: The Wide Awakes and Lincoln’s 1860 Presidential Campaign” John Grinspan, Journal of American History. September 2009.