1860 Token DeWitt-JBELL-1860-7 John Bell-Brass Campaign

Coin Details

Auction Record

$264 MS64 04-26-2022 Stack's Bowers

Description

This brass campaign token for John Bell from the 1860 presidential election is cataloged as DeWitt JBELL-1860-7. Bell ran as the Constitutional Union Party candidate on a platform of simply supporting "the Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws" — a deliberately vague stance designed to attract moderate voters who feared that the election of either a Republican or a secessionist Democrat would destroy the nation. Bell was a Tennessee slaveholder and former Whig who had served as Speaker of the House and Secretary of War, and his candidacy represented the last gasp of the moderate Border South political tradition that had produced Henry Clay and John Crittenden. The Constitutional Union Party attracted former Whigs and Know-Nothings who could not bring themselves to join either the Republican or Democratic parties. Bell carried three Border States — Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee — with 39 electoral votes, enough to prevent either Breckinridge or Douglas from consolidating Southern opposition to Lincoln but not enough to affect the overall outcome. This brass campaign token documents a largely forgotten candidacy that nevertheless represented an important political tradition of Southern moderation and Unionism.

Rarity Notes

Brass campaign token from 1860. DeWitt JBELL-1860-7. Constitutional Union Party material is scarce. Bell campaign items are collected as documentation of Border South moderation during the secession crisis.

Cross References

PCGS #539263; DeWitt JBELL-1860-7; 1860 Presidential Election; John Bell; Constitutional Union Party