I was of course expecting Lincoln to trounce his opposition, but certainly not as thoroughly as he did here. Even with the likely vote rigging in Delaware and Kentucky, the National Unity Party and remnant Dems are perfunctory at best at this point. With Washingtonian levels of returns, the most immediate near future question for Americans is going to be: what will Lincoln do with that mandate after the war ends? It is very easy to imagine a scenario where, if he wanted to, Lincoln probably could leverage his dictatorial powers (something I say with no judgment and in moral neutrality) to simply hang onto power for the rest of his life. Again, as we've all discussed by now, he is bringing the country through a nigh apocalyptic event and out the other side from it. Perhaps the temptation to run for at least a third term might be there, to also win the peace from his perspective, but I suspect he'll defer. Even with everything going on his character firmly seems to be that he won't do it.
Glad we've also settled on titling it the Second American Revolution at last, because it very well is. A titanic expansion of the federal government, altering the definition of citizenship so that it's entirely possible for non-whites to achieve it even with baby steps, perhaps a somewhat earlier and more successful attempt from the feminist movement in the nation given the appalling casualties for things like women's suffrage (perhaps the late 1800s or early 1900s?) - it really is a shift that is hard to imagine. But the much bloodier, ferocious fighting and Lincoln's concentration of power does mean that, perhaps, the USA is 'just' another republic in the Western hemisphere now; in many ways, how the South finds its own story again will also be the story of the country in the aftermath of the war. Even though the old beliefs that the armed forces should not engage with politics is alive and well with many in the rank and file, who's to say this will hold true for the succeeding generations? Authoritarianism will always cut two ways. We cheer now because it's smiting some of the worst people the country's ever produced but it always make me leery when we consider how things are going to go moving forward.
Very heartening to see the former slaves reach with both hands to seek opportunities through learning, and though it was true OTL, I imagine they're probably even more confident here given that the Freedmen's Bureau is untouchable for the foreseeable future. To learn, uncensored, is now one of the most basic but significant revolutionary acts that they can undertake and especially so if that means that their children will have the tools not to be enslaved if somehow that were to happen again. This desire is also going to increase once it becomes apparent that black majorities mean that a more equitable franchise is necessary anyway, even if the fight for it will be hard. I'm sure moderates, or even just the extremely cynical, once they realize that Black Americans consistently sending Rs to Congress will be a boon for them will throw their weight behind the measure more than they are now.