Lincoln and the Whig Party, Part 2

I. Marriage

A. Courtship of Mary Todd

1. Todd Family—the Todds were a prominent Kentucky family, members of the Whig Party, friends with Henry Clay—and slaveholders. Mary Todd’s mother died when she was quite young. Father Robert Todd sent his daughters North to find suitable husbands; four of his daughters ended up marrying and living in Springfield, Illinois.

2. Engagement—Lincoln and Mary Todd became engaged after Lincoln proposed to her. Almost immediately afterward, however, Lincoln had second thoughts about the engagement, and spent the next several weeks attempting to persuade Mary to release him from his obligation. She magnanimously allowed Lincoln to back out of the engagement (a very serious matter in those more formal times). Within a year of breaking off the engagement, however, Lincoln and Mary Todd were married.

B. Married Life—the couple initially took up residence at the Globe Tavern, but Mary Todd Lincoln quickly became pregnant, and the couple rented a very small three room house in Springfield.

1. Robert Todd—Mary Todd Lincoln’s father visited them after the birth of his namesake. Realizing that his daughter was in fairly desperate circumstances, with a new baby and a husband gone much of the time, he bought them as substantial piece of land, and began sending his daughter $10.00 a month ($240.00 in today’s dollars) to use as “incidental” money to hire help around the house.

2. Riding the Circuit—Lincoln undoubtedly felt greater pressure to increase his income so support his family, and it was at this point that he became a dedicated “circuit rider” in order to accomplish that. Riding the circuit meant that he spent larger portions of his time away from home, however.

3. Differences in Temperment—while Lincoln was very much a brooding loner much of the time who kept his own council; Mary Todd was much more effusive and social, and in need of constant approval and reinforcement. Lincoln’s frequent, long absences from home certainly had an adverse effect on Mary’s mental well-being.

4. New Law Partner—shortly after his marriage, Lincoln and his second law partner Stephen Logan dissolved their firm so that Logan could go into business with his son. The break-up is amiamble, but as a result, Lincoln asked a clerk in his old firm to become his partner.


C. Billy Herndon—William H. Herndon, who Lincoln was already well-acquainted, was himself well-acquainted with the more radical elements of the Whig Party; Donald argues that this was, in fact, one of the reasons Lincoln took Herndon on as a partner. Lincoln had married into the “silk-stocking” wing of the Whig Party—his brother-in-law was one of the leading Whigs in the state of Illinois, and his wife’s family were prominent Whigs in Kentucky. Herndon gave Lincoln an in with the local Whig Party apparatus that would allow him to draw on the “wild boys” of the party, as well as the deep pockets of the establishment—a group that would assist him in winning elections, much like the Clary’s Grove Boys did in New Salem.

II. Whig Politics


A. American System—Lincoln was a Whig in large part because he saw Henry Clay’s American System as the best means to integrate the disparate parts of the American economy—manufacturing in the Northeast, the grain production of the West, and the cotton and tobacco production of the South—into one interdependent national economy.

1. Labor Theory of Value—today, the Labor Theory of Value is closely associated with Marxism, and is therefore “discredited.” At the same time Marx is developing these ideas, however, Lincoln is coming to similar conclusions—“To [secure] to each labourer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government.” (Donald, Lincoln, p. 110).

2. Wage Slavery—in conjunction with the growing popularity of the labor theory of value, there grows the idea of “free labor.” The idea of free labor is usually juxtaposed against its polar opposite—slave labor. The growth of manufacturing was accompanied by the growth of working for wages. This was a relatively new concept, and not welcomed by all. Many manufacturing workers before the advent of industrialization worked as skilled craftsmen, and thought themselves independent. Working for wages changed that formulation, because waged work, it was thought, made one dependent upon ones’ employer. This changed relationship was often compared to a state of slavery, hence the term “wage slave.”

B. Rep. Abraham Lincoln—Whigs remained the minority party for most of its existence, although the party did have some success in presidential elections. Whigs were definitely the minority party in Illinois during this time

1. Partisan loyalist—Lincoln campaigned for other Whig candidates, as well as assisted in strategy in the hope of winning more elections. In order to gain one of the few “safe” Congressional Whig seats in the state, Lincoln at the 1844 conventions was able to maneuver a resolution that the next convention nominate a “suitable” candidate for the office, thus ensuring that the current nominee served only one term. Lincoln was unable to maneuver the 1848 convention to re-nominate him for the office.




2. War opponent—while the War with Mexico was raging when Lincoln ran for US Representative in 1846, he voiced no opposition to the war. Upon taking office in 1847, while the war was winding down, Lincoln became a severe critic, accusing the Administration of maneuvering Mexican forces into war, and of even lying to the American people about the original provocation. This had later repercussions when Lincoln became president, and political opponents accused him of manipulating forces to provoke war.

3. End of Congressional Term—at the end of his only term in Congress, Lincoln returned to Springfield and his law practice, with little prospect of returning to the national political stage.