Editing Wide Awakes (section)

==Stone's Prairie Riot==
{{Overly detailed|section|details=|date=January 2024}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2020}}
In August 1860, a political rally was scheduled to be held at Stone's Prairie in [[Adams County, Illinois]], near the modern village of [[Plainville, Illinois|Plainville]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nelson |first1=Iris A. |last2=Waggoner |first2=Walter S. |title=Sick, sore, and sorry: The Stone's Prairie Riot of 1860 |journal=Journal of Illinois History |date=April 30, 2002 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=19–32 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112103936537?urlappend=%3Bseq=25%3Bownerid=13510798903771142-29 |access-date=April 30, 2025}}</ref> This area, in the far west of [[Illinois]], was familiar to two of the presidential candidates. Although the Republican candidate, [[Abraham Lincoln]], was known in the area, his Democratic opponent, [[Stephen Douglas]], had practiced law nearby. In addition to local animosity, Adams County was close to the border with [[Missouri]], a slave state.

The rally was organized by the Republicans. When it was initially announced, there was an invitation to Democratic speakers. Although the invitation was later withdrawn, that fact was not widely disseminated, which resulted in confusion as to whether it was to be a Republican rally or a debate between Republican and Democratic supporters.

During the 1860 campaign, it was a common practice for settlements to raise poles, as much as {{convert|150|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} high. The political parties hung flags and [[effigy|effigies]] of the candidates they opposed from the poles.

On the way to the rally, the [[Quincy, Illinois|Quincy]] Wide Awakes passed through [[Payson, Illinois|Payson]], the residents of which had erected a pole with an offensive effigy of Lincoln astride a rail. The Wide Awakes, however, carried a banner with an equally offensive depiction of a drunken Douglas falling over a pile of rails. An early confrontation was avoided, with the Wide Awakes proceeding to Stone's Creek.

The August 25, 1860 rally involved around 7000 participants. Democrats appeared expecting to hear their candidates in a debate. They were instead treated to a podium of Republicans, whom they heckled. The Wide Awakes defended the speakers, and a general melee resulted, involving several hundred men.

After the rally, the Wide Awakes returned through Payson, where they found a hundred Democrats guarding their pole. Although Wide Awakes avoided confrontation, shots were fired at them while they left town. The Wide Awakes' flag was pierced by shots, and several were reported to have been injured.