During the presidential campaign of 1860, a newspaper in Vicksburg, Mississippi, endorsed Stephen A. Douglas despite the fact that the state had become hostile to Northerners. The Vicksburg Citizen was owned by James M. Swords, a young newspaper proprietor who believed strongly in the character and statesmanship of Senator Douglas. Swords took his position despite the opposition of other more powerful newspaper owners in Mississippi who were endorsing Southern Democratic nominee John C. Breckinridge and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.
Throughout the campaign, Swords tried to warn Mississippians that support for Breckinridge was based on what he believed was an organized attempt to insure a Lincoln victory so the South would be forced to secede. At the core of his arguments for Douglas, however, was an obvious faith in a politician who the newspaper claimed was without a stain on his reputation. After Lincoln's election, however, the Citizen broke ranks with Douglas and joined the call for secession.
A study of the Citizen's campaign issues provides surprising insights into the perimeters of the debate in the South over Lincoln's growing strength in the North. It further supports a position that secession was not a foregone conclusion in the South during the campaign of 1860.
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