text: The State Constitutional Convention of 1862 | Northern Illinois University Digital Library
  Democrats fared well in the elections of 1861, even in northern Illinois, and assumed control of the State Legislature. The new legislature immediately turned to the task of the state's constitutional convention, which voters had called in the fall of 1860. Democratic officials, all hailing from southern Illinois, organized the convention. Many Republicans feared that the event would provide Egypt with its opportunity to bolt from the state. Governor Yates (pictured at left) feared that pro-southern agitation in Springfield could threaten the state government, and called for armed troops to guard the capitol. But insurrection never visited the streets of Springfield, and Democrats turned instead to more familiar political themes.
  1. Arthur C. Cole The Centennial History of Illinois: The Era of the Civil War, 1848-1870 (Springfield: Illinois Centennial Commission, 1919) 269.