The week before Biden’s Inauguration, it was announced that his planned arrival to D.C. would no longer happen by train. This was significant for Biden because rail travel has been an important part of his identity so much that he has earned the nickname “Amtrak Joe.” Biden began taking the train back when he was just a Senator in the 1970s, partly to connect with common folks, but also because he lost his wife and daughter to a car accident and he wanted a safer mode of transportation to allow him to raise his two sons. Biden hoped to continue this common man theme for his inauguration but with security heightened he was forced to change his plans.
There is still yet an election as polarizing as the 1860 election. The new upstart Republican Party had been around for six years. The Republicans were different from other parties. First, the Republican Party was a sectional party. Parties in the past - Federalists, Jeffersonian Republicans, Whigs, Democrats- had all been national parties. They fought over issues like banks and tariffs but did so as parties instead of sections. Republicans only had members from the north, so if they won the election, they would only represent northerners. With that it is understandable why the South had issues with the party.
The reason Republicans were a northern party only is their second difference - they pledged to stop the spread of slavery. The Republicans were a diverse party, even when it came to slavery. At one end were those who did not have an issue with slavery itself but did not think whites in the west should have to compete with the peculiar institution. On the other end were strong abolitionists who wanted to see slavery eradicated. The Party's official stance was stopping the expansion of slavery, not outlawing it, but to the south anything restricting slavery was the same as abolition. Between Republicans solely representing northern interests and wanting to restrict the southern way of life , the south declared that if the Republicans won, the south would be forced to leave the Union to start their own nation where their concerns would be protected.
The day after Lincoln's victory, South Carolina followed through with its threat and voted to leave the Union. Six more states quickly followed. Getting ready for Lincoln's inaugural, the nation was teetering on the brink of war with all sides ...
