"At the start of the 1860 presidential campaign, a handful of fired-up young Northerners appeared as bodyguards to defend anti-slavery stump speakers from frequent attacks. The group called themselves the Wide Awakes. Soon, hundreds of thousands of young White and Black men, and a number of women, were organizing boisterous, uniformed, torch-bearing brigades of their own. These Wide Awakes--mostly working-class Americans in their twenties--became one of the largest, most spectacular, and most influential political movements in our history. To some, it demonstrated the power of a rising majority to push back against slavery. To others, it looked like a paramilitary force training to invade the South. Within a year, the nation would be at war with itself, and many on both sides would point to the Wide Awakes as the mechanism that got them there."-- Provided by publisher.

Part One.The systemic organization of hatreds. Don't care ; America's armory ; Quiet men are dangerous ; If I want to go to Chicago -- Part Two. Let the people work ; A spontaneous outburst of the people ; They get me out when I'm sleepy ; Wide Awakes! Charge! ; The approach of a conquering army ; I think that settles it -- Part Three. The transmogrification of the Wide Awakes ; Permit me to suggest a plan ; Our most determined and reckless followers ; "I would rather be a soldier than a Wide Awake."