Lincoln's pathfinder: John C. Frémont and the violent election of 1856

The election of 1856 was the most violent peacetime election in American history. Amid all the violence, the campaign of the new Republican Party, headed by famed explorer John C. Fremont, offered a ray of hope that had never before been seen in the politics of the nation--a major party dedicated to limiting the spread of slavery. Fremont lost, but his strong showing in the North proved that a sectional party could win a national election, blazing the trail for Abraham Lincoln's victory four years later.