Frankly, no one ever talks about this episode.
The Republicans....for the first time ever....got a majority (113 seats). The Democrats lost 49 seats in the House in this mid-term election of 1858.
Thomas Bocock of Virginia stepped down as House Speaker. William Pennington of NJ stepped up as the House Speaker (for the Republicans).
For this entire period (January of 1858 to December of 1859)...the Democrats were cornered on every single piece of legislation, and 'doomed'.
The big state to flip? Pennsylvania (10 seats lost to the Democrats).
Even Kentucky was a shocker, with eight of it's ten seats being 'safe' Democratic seats....flipping three of these over to GOP members in 1858.
Tennessee's ten seats? Seven had been safely held Democratic seats, but in the mid-term election....four were lost....giving it a strong Republican edge in 1858.
So the end of the nation? It'd already started in 1858....two years before the war. Few today...grasp this election and it's 'wounds' upon the nation.
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