In Lincoln's Shadow: The Civil War in Springfield, Illinois

Abstract

This dissertation examines the political, social, and economic development of Springfield, Illinois - Abraham Lincoln's home - during the American Civil War. It argues that Lincoln's martyrdom following the war and his assassination preserved the city's position as Illinois's state capital, despite the local populace's mixed attitudes toward him during his presidency. He won the 1860 and 1864 presidential popular vote in Springfield by a combined seventy-nine ballots. He failed to carry his own Sangamon County in either election. When he and his family departed for the White House in February 1861, they left a deeply partisan community that only strengthened over four years of war. Before he became Springfield's chosen son in death, he was a polarizing figure in the heart of Illinois. Simultaneously, Abraham Lincoln said farewell to a town struggling to keep pace with the population growth and economic development occurring elsewhere in the Prairie State due to the rise of industrialism. Lincoln's death, including the controversial burial that followed, reversed both trends, bringing momentary unity to a community facing uncertainty during the country's most trying period.