The Wide Awake Parade was formed in 1860 by Republicans in the Northern states to help nominate Abraham Lincoln as the President of the United States. As Abraham Lincoln’s ideas of abolishing slavery grew, so did his supporters. People of the Northern states knew the Southern states would vote against Lincoln because of his ideas of anti-slavery and took action to rally supporters for Lincoln.
The parade involved large groups of supporters who favored Abraham Lincoln who marched up and down cities while making their voices heard. Their attempts to rally up supporters involved bearing signs proclaiming support for Lincoln. Many other supporters assisted in watching over Democratic voting to make sure no voting fraud was to be committed. The attention the Wide Awake Parade gathered, caused the Southern states to attempt similar parades, but in the end were unsuccessful. The Wide Awake Parade was major factor in getting Abraham Lincoln elected into office.
Famous quotes containing the words wide, awake and/or parade:
“And now in one hour’s time I’ll be out there again. I’ll raise my eyes and look down that corridor four feet wide with ten lonely seconds to justify my whole existence.”
—Colin Welland (b. 1934)
“A man is a god in ruins. When men are innocent, life shall be longer, and shall pass into the immortal, as gently as we awake from dreams.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“With the greater part of rich people, the chief enjoyment of riches consists in the parade of riches, which in their eyes is never so complete as when they appear to possess those decisive marks of opulence which nobody can possess but themselves.”
—Adam Smith (1723–1790)