University of Central Florida (UCF) AMH2010 U.S. History: 1492-1877 Practice Exam 3

The main candidates in the Election of 1864 were Abraham Lincoln and George B. McClellan. This election took place during the American Civil War, and it was a significant moment in U.S. history because it reflected the ongoing conflict as well as the differing visions for the nation’s future.

Abraham Lincoln, the incumbent president and a member of the Republican Party, was seeking re-election based on his leadership during the Civil War and his commitment to preserving the Union and ending slavery. His platform included continuing the war efforts to achieve victory and implementing the policies of the wartime Reconstruction.

George B. McClellan, a former Union general, represented the Democratic Party and ran on a platform that called for a negotiated peace with the Confederacy, which appealed to many voters weary of the prolonged conflict. McClellan's candidacy reflected a desire among some segments of the population to end the war and restore the Union through compromise.

The other candidates mentioned do not pertain to the election itself: Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederate States, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee were military leaders rather than candidates in an electoral context, and Frederick Douglass was an influential abolitionist who did not run for political office