Hey there, Cy Dorables.

I wanted to let you know that this episode talks about the Republican and Democratic parties

of the mid-1800s.

Besides their names, these parties are entirely different from their modern-day counterparts.

So keep that in mind as you listen. This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.

I'm Lizzy Peabody. Chapter 1, A Midnight Awakening.

1860.

It's a cold February night, as Eddie Jurgison looks out the window of the fabric shop where

he works. It's the end of a fabric shop where he works.

It's the end of a long day measuring and cutting, fitting the people of Hartford, Connecticut

for new clothes.

It's calm inside, but as the 19-year-old tidies up by the light of an oil lamp, he notices a commotion brewing outside.

It's kind of bleary and blustery, and there's going to be this big rally for Cassius Clay across the street.

This is John Grinspan, curator of political history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of

American History.

The headliner of this rally, Cassius Clay,

was a Kentucky abolitionist known for firing up crowds

with his speeches against slavery.

In 1860, as an election year,

tensions are rising as political campaigns fuel divisions

across America and young Eddie watches as hundreds of people gather across the

street to see Clay speak. And Eddie knows there's going to be a torchlit rally afterwards

...