The Club of Cape-Wearing Activists Who Helped Elect Lincoln—and Spark the Civil War

By Jon Grinspan Illustration by Tim O'Brien The most consequential political organization in American history didn’t get its start in a party headquarters or a smoke-filled room. It began when a few working-class kids designed a costume, which grew into a movement and ultimately an army. And it ended with a civil war. In between, the story of the Wide Awakes of 1860 helps explain how politics can evolve, step by…