Woke ... in the Civil War

The Wide Awakes

Bet you didn’t know that “woke” has been a part of American history for over 150 years. The following article appears in the current Heritage Auctions Historical News email distro. The links to sign up to the bulletin and to the forthcoming auction appear below this article. I have known and worked with Heritage for many years and vouch for the quality and integrity of their auctions and staff; they are one of a small number of auctions to which I refer clients in my appraisal practice. Now enjoy a small look into the history of “woke” :

The Wide Awakes
by Ray Farina

Most collectors of 19th century political memorabilia and historians acquainted with American political campaign history are aware of the 1860 political marching club known as the Wide Awakes. We are familiar with the basic tenets by which they operated. For instance, the Wide Awakes was a Republican derived paramilitary marching club supporting Abraham Lincoln and all Republican candidates in their districts. The Wide Awakes were comprised of young white men ranging in age from their teens to their thirties, who by embracing new political attitudes sought to attract younger and ambitious participants looking to proclaim themselves as the voices of the younger voter. Many of us also know that their structured highly competitive military style was comprised of officers and soldiers holding military ranks and engaged in specific duties, among which was to protect Republican Party speakers in hostile Democratic-friendly towns and cities. Also, the Wide Awakes were visibly present at the polls to ensure protection and peaceful engagement of the general public participating in the voting process.

Beyond these commonly acknowledged understandings not much is generally discussed respective to the significant social and cultural impacts of the Wide Awakes. There is much more to their story!

Most of the “soldiers” comprising the Wide Awakes were born between the administrations of John Quincy Adams and William Henry Harrison. They came of age during the bitter tensions of sectionalism. Some were old enough to participate in the Mexican War, they saw divisiveness result from the Compromise of 1850, and conflict from the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They realized that their political system was failing them and it did not help that the country was losing its greatest elder statesmen. The Wide Awakes saw their mission to take up the mantle and continue the good works of these prominent politicians and visionaries like Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. Their “eyes were wide open” to the need for change, and to right the political wrongs of the past. They adopted the “all-seeing-eye” as their symbol for a new awakening of political philosophy and direction.

The young and aggressive militarism of the Wide Awakes was not lost on the South in 1860. The fierce appearance of these young northerners, many with beards and goatees, dressed in uniforms with military caps and black capes, carrying torches, painted wood axes, and marching in the middle of the night terrified southerners who saw their tactics as an ominous signal of what may lie in store for them from this new radical Republican Party and their anti-southern attitudes.

The Wide Awakes, though its beginnings were rooted in Connecticut, quickly proliferated throughout the country from Maine, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New Hampshire westward to Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and other parts of the Midwest thus becoming a national organization. Using popular social events as opportunities to expand their ranks they appealed to those seeking the camaraderie of a fraternal organization, and even had comic books to promote themselves! The illustrated pamphlet, “Pipps Among the Wide Awakes” was a deliberate appeal to young voters to join up. Twenty-one-year-old Pipps grows a moustache and declares his independence from parental controls and their old-fashioned political ideals. Vowing to cast his first vote for Lincoln and exercise his freedoms he declares himself a “Man of the World and a Politician.” Pipps decides that participating in a political campaign is the most important thing a man can do to affirm his masculinity and maturity! Pipps’ story had a definite appeal to young northerners who truly believed they represented a new generation of astute, politically-minded men no longer chained to the indoctrinations of past party politics or generational beliefs. The Wide Awakes enabled this transformation. Their use of militarism for political purposes was crafty but dangerous and although Captains in the organization used friendly rivalries as a means of engaging and motivating various units around the country, the Wide Awakes maintained a martial seriousness to their mission that separated them from other political clubs of the day.

Bloodshed and violence were also an unintentional (perhaps) consequence of the Wide Awakes style of political expression. Repercussions from the Democratic opposition often resulted in heated exchanges of brutal attacks with stones, bricks, and even torches used as weapons. People got hurt. Generally speaking when these fights broke out the Wide Awakes never fought like a military unit, they broke ranks and fought individually against their opponents. One New York Company of Wide Awakes when asked about their brutal brawls complained the torch handles made from pine tended to splinter “after just a few blows to the head.” Things were far worse out in the Midwest where these vicious encounters often resulted in gunfire and stabbings.

The irony resulting from the Wide Awakes militaristic approach and their constant insistence that they were peaceful and well-intentioned was often questioned by those who believed that if you dress and act like a military unit how can you expect anyone to consider your intentions as non-violent? South of the Mason-Dixon line Democratic politicians were convinced that the Wide Awakes were cultivating an army that would at some point advance upon them prepared for war.

Despite the fear and loathing generated by the Wide Awakes among southern factions, they were endeared to and appreciated by northern supporters and especially by the ladies! Their efficiency in performing intricate drills during parades along with their handsome uniforms made for a compelling presentation that any ardent female Republican supporter could admire and take pride in. One Wide Awake diarist in Ohio noted, “The ladies, bless them, stayed and cheered us with their presence till we were through, and they were as good looking a company of women as one will see.”

At the height of their ranks the Wide Awakes were comprised of perhaps 100,000 youth in number, maybe slightly more. Some say it was exponentially higher but there is little to prove that assertion. One thing is clear however, the Wide awakes had a significant impact on the generational and cultural changes that dominated politics and social intercourse in 1860 and beyond. Not to mention the benefits that were provided to the newly formed Republican Party and particularly the political campaign of Lincoln and Hamlin! One last sobering thought to reflect upon is, intended or not, the exemplification of the Wide Awakes presented an apparitional foreshadowing of the dark and bloody days to come.

Abraham Lincoln: Belfast, Maine, Wide Awake Parade Banner.

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