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Civil War Partisanship: 1861–1862

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The Soldier Vote

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Abstract

In 1861, as the American Civil War began, only Pennsylvania had statutes in place to permit voting by soldiers in the field. The law originally passed in Pennsylvania in 1813 permitted soldiers in the War of 1812 to vote via a form of proxy voting. The law, reenacted in 1839, was used until it was found unconstitutional in 1862. While it was upheld by the state Supreme Court in a November 1861 decision, a subsequent case was filed challenging the law.2

Who votes must bear arms, was the just decision of the Secretary of War; who bears arms should not be disfranchised, but be permitted to vote, should be the policy of this country.

Governor Edward Salomon (R-WI), 18621

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Notes

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Authors
  1. Donald S. Inbody
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© 2016 Donald S. Inbody

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Inbody, D.S. (2016). Civil War Partisanship: 1861–1862. In: The Soldier Vote. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137519207_2

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