[LINCOLN-JOHNSON CAMPAIGN]. YATES, Richard (1815-1873). Engraved document signed ("Rich. Yates"), Springfield, Illinois, December 1864.

One page, 8vo (279 x 216 mm), very minor toning along extremities, folds, slight crease at one fold.

THE 1864 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS ARE APPOINTED.

As outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, it is the duty of each state to appoint a slate of electors, equal in number to the state's total representatives in the federal government, to cast their official votes for the offices of president and vice president on behalf of the citizens of their state. The governor of a given state is required to document the selection of electors and their votes, and then submit official documentation identifying the electors and their final votes.

The 1864 presidential election was the first since 1812 to occur during wartime, with President Lincoln facing off against General George B. McClellan, ironically cast as the anti-war candidate. Recent Confederate victories had sapped the morale of Union soldiers and citizens alike, and even Lincoln himself expressed doubt that he would be reelected. The issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation the previous year, however, had cast the Union cause as a moral quest to end slavery in the United States, and McClellan's inconsistent positions as well as severe infighting within the Democratic Party regarding the issue all but doomed his campaign. Lincoln's popularity with soldiers was enormously helpful, as they encouraged family members to cast their votes for him in the general election; ultimately, he would carry all but three states.

Despite being President Lincoln's home state, the race against McClellan proved to be close, with the president winning 189,512 votes to McClellan's 158,724. That same day, Governor Richard Yates officially appointed the state's electors, among them prominent Republicans such as Francis A. Hoffman, Anson S. Miller, James Cook Conkling, and John V. Farwell. The present document, dated 8 November 1864, bears the official seal of the State of Illinois.

This lot is located in Chicago.