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The Confederate States Presidential Election of 1873, the 3rd C.S. presidential election, was held on November 4, 1873. This was the first election in Confederate history that featured more than one major candidate, although these candidates did not run directly against each other. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, famous for helping to win the Southern Independence and Mexican-Confederate wars, won a sound victory over Senator and former Vice President Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia.
Background[]
President Robert E. Lee's term in office had been a time of continued success for the young Confederacy. After a request from France, Lee had intervened in the ongoing Mexican Civil War. This evolved into the Mexican-Confederate War, where Confederate armies fought against both sides in Mexico and ended up taking several northern Mexican states. General Stonewall Jackson had largely led the war effort and was now even more famous than he had been after the Southern War of Independence.
As the nation's most famous figure, Jackson was constantly asked to run for president despite his wishes to remain out of the limelight. It was the personal urging of Jefferson Davis which changed his mind. Davis, Lee, and Benjamin had all hoped to maintain a Confederacy free of political parties and Davis now viewed Jackson as the best chance at maintaining that. It was thought that no one would dare run against such a widely known and beloved figure.
Jackson announced that if the people chose him, he would serve as president. This was widely interpreted as a statement of candidacy. Political allies worked to get Jackson on the ballot in every state.
A surprise came in the spring when Alexander H. Stephens announced his own candidacy for president. Stephens had been known as an anti-administration figure against the first three presidents, although he always avoided criticizing their character. He was worried at the direction of the country under the succession of generals as president. He felt that Confederate society might become too militarized, the government too powerful, and views on slavery too moderate. He used Jackson's noncommittal statement to justify his run, saying that he was merely running as an alternative on the ballot rather than an adversary. He defended his choice by saying that having options was vital to the maintenance of healthy democracy- the Confederacy was no true republic if all of its presidential elections saw one man be crowned unopposed.
The announcement of Stephens' campaign triggered a slight shift in strategy from Davis. While previously he and Jackson's political backers had planned to let electors vote for whatever vice presidential candidate they wanted, with the matter then to be settled in the Senate, now it seemed more important to make them settle on an individual. Jackson allowed Davis to handle the organizing of his campaign which included the ultimate vice presidential pick of Albert G. Brown. Brown was known as a more radical voice in the Confederacy along the lines of Stephens, and Davis believed he would help round out the campaign. Brown did little campaigning.
Stephens, not expecting to win the election, paid little mind to his own running mate. He felt that choosing a particular individual would only serve to distract from his main goal of pointedly and deliberately outlining his vision for the Confederacy.
The Campaign[]
Stephens did not want to directly campaign against the popular general as he feared being seen as unpatriotic. Instead, he presented himself as a more experienced alternative to Jackson. Serving as a senator at the time, he expressed his views through speeches on the Senate floor which were then widely published in friendly newspapers across the South. Stephens' opinions were most popular in the Deep South among poor whites, including in his home state of Georgia. Northern Confederates in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina largely disregarded him. Not once did Stephens say a word against Jackson. Jackson returned the favor.
Jackson did not think he would need to do much if anything to win the presidency. Privately, he only saw Stephens as a minor challenger with little chance of making an impact.
Results and Aftermath[]
Stephens was widely competitive throughout the Deep South but only managed to win his home state. Native Georgians were eager to support their local senator, but even then Stephens only won the state with 53% of the vote. He came within 2,000 votes of winning South Carolina. Most of the 15 Stephens electors cast their vice presidential votes for Robert M.T. Hunter, another prominent senator who shared similar views as Stephens.
Jackson won by a very wide margin in the popular vote due to his popularity in the large population centers of Virginia and Tennessee. Almost no one voted for Stephens in those states, as they were completely satisfied with Lee and Jackson's plans for the C.S.A. At the time, Stephens' candidacy was seen as a minor curiosity, a signal if anything that the public could turn against the establishment if things took a turn for the worse. It was later seen as laying the groundwork for the formation of the Southern Party and the explosion in popularity of Stephens' movement.
Jackson went on to have a controversial term in office. The low point of his administration was his meeting with President Pendleton of the U.S. for the centennial celebrations in 1876. He also managed to get the U.S. to pass a fugitive slave act in return for that visit. Reactions to his meeting were very mixed in the C.S. Citizens in border states were largely happy with the proceedings, as warm relations with the Union would mean more business and trade for them. People in the more rural Deep South did not care for that at all and thought that Jackson was throwing away the C.S.A's independence. Some even suspected that he was trying to reunify the Confederacy with the Union.
President Jackson's actions led to the formation of the Southern Party, which supported most of Stephens' views. Stephens would run again in 1879, this time on the Southern Party ticket. He ended up defeating the Davis and Jackson backed candidate James Longstreet to finally become president.
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