Mobile Register editor John Forsyth Jr. actively supported the presidential candidacy of Stephen A. Douglas. Although Forsyth was a slave owner and an ardent Democrat, he was more moderate during the sectional crisis and believed Douglas had the best chance of defeating Republican Abraham Lincoln in the presidential election of 1860, in contrast to Alabama's favored candidate, Southern Democrat and secessionist John Breckinridge. After Alabama seceded from the Union, Forsyth supported the southern cause during the Civil War.
Stephen A. Douglas
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
