| J. H. Cochran, "J. H. Cochran to Mother," October 8, 1860 Summary
Twenty-year-old University of Virginia student John H. Cochran's letter discussed the changing political positions of his
relatives, views which fluctuated in 1860 and probably went across party lines. Cochran viewed Stephen Douglas as a turncoat
on the South, and he feared "slavish submission to a near numerical majority." Cochran's letter was composed in the midst
of a political discussion all around him among his associates. Cochran and many other young elite white men considered the
South's rights to slave property under assault.
Full-text web version of letter 
Location of original letter
Cochran Family Letters, 1860-1861 (MS 92-032), Civil War Collections, Special Collections Department, Virginia Tech
Points of Analysis to this Data:
 "Augusta's Democratic Party emphasized that slavery was the country's economic engine of success, protected in the territories
by the Dred Scott decision, and they defended Stephen Douglas to the end as the best candidate to defeat Lincoln."
Citation: Key = E033
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