Abstract
The 1860 presidential election marked a crucial change in California state politics which paralleled a major national political change in the same year. It was the first time that the Republican party won a major victory in the state as well as in the national political arena, and the California results contributed to the national election outcome. As a result of this election, the political power of a small clique of former Southerners, known as the Chivalry, began to disappear. Following the 1860 presidential election, the Republican party continued to win victories in California, and the marked development of pro-Union sentiment in the state during the Civil War contributed to the final downfall of the Chivalry as a dominant political force. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the Chivalry came to power and to demonstrate how and why this faction lost its political power in California.