diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2836-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 132554 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2836-h/2836-h.htm | 6037 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2836.txt | 5613 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2836.zip | bin | 0 -> 128756 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/alatu10.txt | 6042 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/alatu10.zip | bin | 0 -> 127914 bytes |
9 files changed, 17708 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2836-h.zip b/2836-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d3b329 --- /dev/null +++ b/2836-h.zip diff --git a/2836-h/2836-h.htm b/2836-h/2836-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f83beca --- /dev/null +++ b/2836-h/2836-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6037 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +Project Gutenberg's Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Abraham Lincoln and the Union + A Chronicle of the Embattled North, Volume 29 In The + Chronicles Of America Series + +Author: Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +Editor: Allen Johnson + +Release Date: December 6, 2008 [EBook #2836] +Last Updated: January 26, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION *** + + + + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library Of St. Gregory's +University, Alev Akman, Dianne Bean, Alison Henry, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION, + </h1> + <h2> + A CHRONICLE OF THE EMBATTLED NORTH + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Volume 29 In The Chronicles Of America Series + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Nathaniel W. Stephenson + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Allen Johnson, Editor + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + New Haven: Yale University Press Toronto: Glasgow <br /><br /> Brook & + Co. London: Humphrey Milford <br /><br /> Oxford University Press <br /><br /> + 1918 + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a><br /> <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> THE TWO NATIONS OF THE + REPUBLIC <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> THE + PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER + III. </a> THE POLITICIANS AND THE NEW DAY <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> THE CRISIS <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> SECESSION <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> WAR <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> LINCOLN <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> THE RULE OF LINCOLN + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> THE + CRUCIAL MATTER <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> THE + SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER + XI. </a> NORTHERN LIFE DURING THE WAR <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> THE MEXICAN EPISODE + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> THE + PLEBISCITE OF 1864 <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> LINCOLN'S + FINAL INTENTIONS <br /><br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + In spite of a lapse of sixty years, the historian who attempts to portray + the era of Lincoln is still faced with almost impossible demands and still + confronted with arbitrary points of view. It is out of the question, in a + book so brief as this must necessarily be, to meet all these demands or to + alter these points of view. Interests that are purely local, events that + did not with certainty contribute to the final outcome, gossip, as well as + the mere caprice of the scholar—these must obviously be set aside. + </p> + <p> + The task imposed upon the volume resolves itself, at bottom, into just two + questions: Why was there a war? Why was the Lincoln Government successful? + With these two questions always in mind I have endeavored, on the one + hand, to select and consolidate the pertinent facts; on the other, to make + clear, even at the cost of explanatory comment, their relations in the + historical sequence of cause and effect. This purpose has particularly + governed the use of biographical matter, in which the main illustration, + of course, is the career of Lincoln. Prominent as it is here made, the + Lincoln matter all bears in the last analysis on one point—his + control of his support. On that the history of the North hinges. The + personal and private Lincoln it is impossible to present within these + pages. The public Lincoln, including the character of his mind, is here + the essential matter. + </p> + <p> + The bibliography at the close of the volume indicates the more important + books which are at the reader's disposal and which it is unfortunate not + to know. + </p> + <p> + NATHANIEL W. STEPHENSON. Charleston, S. C., March, 1918. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. THE TWO NATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC + </h2> + <p> + "There is really no Union now between the North and the South.... No two + nations upon earth entertain feelings of more bitter rancor toward each + other than these two nations of the Republic." + </p> + <p> + This remark, which is attributed to Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, + provides the key to American politics in the decade following the + Compromise of 1850. To trace this division of the people to its ultimate + source, one would have to go far back into colonial times. There was a + process of natural selection at work, in the intellectual and economic + conditions of the eighteenth century, which inevitably drew together + certain types and generated certain forces. This process manifested itself + in one form in His Majesty's plantations of the North, and in another in + those of the South. As early as the opening of the nineteenth century, the + social tendencies of the two regions were already so far alienated that + they involved differences which would scarcely admit of reconciliation. It + is a truism to say that these differences gradually were concentrated + around fundamentally different conceptions of labor—of slave labor + in the South, of free labor in the North. + </p> + <p> + Nothing, however, could be more fallacious than the notion that this + growing antagonism was controlled by any deliberate purpose in either part + of the country. It was apparently necessary that this Republic in its + evolution should proceed from confederation to nationality through an + intermediate and apparently reactionary period of sectionalism. In this + stage of American history, slavery was without doubt one of the prime + factors involved, but sectional consciousness, with all its emotional and + psychological implications, was the fundamental impulse of the stern + events which occurred between 1850 and 1865. + </p> + <p> + By the middle of the nineteenth century the more influential Southerners + had come generally to regard their section of the country as a distinct + social unit. The next step was inevitable. The South began to regard + itself as a separate political unit. It is the distinction of Calhoun that + he showed himself toward the end sufficiently flexible to become the + exponent of this new political impulse. With all his earlier fire he + encouraged the Southerners to withdraw from the so-called national + parties, Whig and Democratic, to establish instead a single Southern + party, and to formulate, by means of popular conventions, a single + concerted policy for the entire South. + </p> + <p> + At that time such a policy was still regarded, from the Southern point of + view, as a radical idea. In 1851, a battle was fought at the polls between + the two Southern ideas—the old one which upheld separate state + independence, and the new one which virtually acknowledged Southern + nationality. The issue at stake was the acceptance or the rejection of a + compromise which could bring no permanent settlement of fundamental + differences. + </p> + <p> + Nowhere was the battle more interesting than in South Carolina, for it + brought into clear light that powerful Southern leader who ten years later + was to be the masterspirit of secession—Robert Barnwell Rhett. In + 1851 he fought hard to revive the older idea of state independence and to + carry South Carolina as a separate state out of the Union. Accordingly it + is significant of the progress that the consolidation of the South had + made at this date that on this issue Rhett encountered general opposition. + This difference of opinion as to policy was not inspired, as some + historians have too hastily concluded, by national feeling. Scarcely any + of the leaders of the opposition considered the Federal Government supreme + over the State Government. They opposed Rhett because they felt secession + to be at that moment bad policy. They saw that, if South Carolina went out + of the Union in 1851, she would go alone and the solidarity of the South + would be broken. They were not lacking in sectional patriotism, but their + conception of the best solution of the complex problem differed from that + advocated by Rhett. Their position was summed up by Langdon Cheves when he + said, "To secede now is to secede from the South as well as from the + Union." On the basis of this belief they defeated Rhett and put off + secession for ten years. + </p> + <p> + There is no analogous single event in the history of the North, previous + to the war, which reveals with similar clearness a sectional + consciousness. On the surface the life of the people seemed, indeed, to + belie the existence of any such feeling. The Northern capitalist class + aimed steadily at being non-sectional, and it made free use of the word + national. We must not forget, however, that all sorts of people talked of + national institutions, and that the term, until we look closely into the + mind of, the person using it, signifies nothing. Because the Northern + capitalist repudiated the idea of sectionalism, it does not follow that he + set up any other in its place. Instead of accomplishing anything so + positive, he remained for the most part a negative quantity. + </p> + <p> + Living usually somewhere between Maine and Ohio, he made it his chief + purpose to regulate the outflow of manufactures from that industrial + region and the inflow of agricultural produce. The movement of the latter + eastward and northward, and the former westward and southward, represents + roughly but graphically the movement of the business of that time. The + Easterner lived in fear of losing the money which was owed him in the + South. As the political and economic conditions of the day made unlikely + any serious clash of interest between the East and the West, he had little + solicitude about his accounts beyond the Alleghanies. But a gradually + developing hostility between North and South was accompanied by a parallel + anxiety on the part of Northern capital for its Southern investments and + debts. When the war eventually became inevitable, $200,000,000 were owed + by Southerners to Northerners. For those days this was an indebtedness of + no inconsiderable magnitude. The Northern capitalists, preoccupied with + their desire to secure this account, were naturally eager to repudiate + sectionalism, and talked about national interests with a zeal that has + sometimes been misinterpreted. Throughout the entire period from 1850 to + 1865, capital in American politics played for the most part a negative + role, and not until after the war did it become independent of its + Southern interests. + </p> + <p> + For the real North of that day we must turn to those Northerners who felt + sufficient unto themselves and whose political convictions were unbiased + by personal interests which were involved in other parts of the country. + We must listen to the distinct voices that gave utterance to their views, + and we must observe the definite schemes of their political leaders. + Directly we do this, the fact stares us in the face that the North had + become a democracy. The rich man no longer played the role of grandee, for + by this time there had arisen those two groups which, between them, are + the ruin of aristocracy—the class of prosperous laborers and the + group of well-to-do intellectuals. Of these, the latter gave utterance, + first, to their faith in democracy, and then, with all the intensity of + partisan zeal, to their sense of the North as the agent of democracy. The + prosperous laborers applauded this expression of an opinion in which they + thoroughly believed and at the same time gave their willing support to a + land policy that was typically Northern. + </p> + <p> + American economic history in the middle third of the century is + essentially the record of a struggle to gain possession of public land. + The opposing forces were the South, which strove to perpetuate by this + means a social system that was fundamentally aristocratic, and the North, + which sought by the same means to foster its ideal of democracy. Though + the South, with the aid of its economic vassal, the Northern capitalist + class, was for some time able to check the land-hunger of the Northern + democrats, it was never able entirely to secure the control which it + desired, but was always faced with the steady and continued opposition of + the real North. On one occasion in Congress, the heart of the whole matter + was clearly shown, for at the very moment when the Northerners of the + democratic class were pressing one of their frequent schemes for free + land, Southerners and their sympathetic Northern henchmen were furthering + a scheme that aimed at the purchase of Cuba. From the impatient sneer of a + Southerner that the Northerners sought to give "land to the landless" and + the retort that the Southerners seemed equally anxious to supply "niggers + to the niggerless," it can be seen that American history is sometimes + better summed up by angry politicians than by historians. + </p> + <p> + We must be on our guard, however, against ascribing to either side too + precise a consciousness of its own motives. The old days when the American + Civil War was conceived as a clear-cut issue are as a watch in the night + that has passed, and we now realize that historical movements are almost + without exception the resultants of many motives. We have come to + recognize that men have always misapprehended themselves, contradicted + themselves, obeyed primal impulses, and then deluded themselves with + sophistications upon the springs of action. In a word, unaware of what + they are doing, men allow their aesthetic and dramatic senses to shape + their conceptions of their own lives. + </p> + <p> + That "great impersonal artist," of whom Matthew Arnold has so much to say, + is at work in us all, subtly making us into illusions, first to ourselves + and later to the historian. It is the business of history, as of analytic + fiction, both to feel the power of these illusions and to work through + them in imagination to the dim but potent motives on which they rest. We + are prone to forget that we act from subconscious quite as often as from + conscious influences, from motives that arise out of the dim parts of our + being, from the midst of shadows that psychology has only recently begun + to lift, where senses subtler than the obvious make use of fear, + intuition, prejudice, habit, and illusion, and too often play with us as + the wind with blown leaves. + </p> + <p> + True as this is of man individually, it is even more fundamentally true of + man collectively, of parties, of peoples. It is a strikingly accurate + description of the relation of the two American nations that now found + themselves opposed within the Republic. Neither fully understood the + other. Each had a social ideal that was deeper laid than any theory of + government or than any commercial or humanitarian interest. Both knew + vaguely but with sure instinct that their interests and ideals were + irreconcilable. Each felt in its heart the deadly passion of + self-preservation. It was because, in both North and South, men were + subtly conscious that a whole social system was the issue at stake, and + because on each side they believed in their own ideals with their whole + souls, that, when the time came for their trial by fire, they went to + their deaths singing. + </p> + <p> + In the South there still obtained the ancient ideal of territorial + aristocracy. Those long traditions of the Western European peoples which + had made of the great landholder a petty prince lay beneath the plantation + life of the Southern States. The feudal spirit, revived in a softer world + and under brighter skies, gave to those who participated in it the same + graces and somewhat the same capacities which it gave to the knightly + class in the days of Roland—courage, frankness, generosity, ability + in affairs, a sense of responsibility, the consciousness of caste. The + mode of life which the planters enjoyed and which the inferior whites + regarded as a social paradise was a life of complete deliverance from + toil, of disinterested participation in local government, of absolute + personal freedom—a life in which the mechanical action of law was + less important than the more human compulsion of social opinion, and in + which private differences were settled under the code of honor. + </p> + <p> + This Southern life was carried on in the most appropriate environment. On + a landed estate, often larger than many of Europe's baronies, stood the + great house of the planter, usually a graceful example of colonial + architecture, surrounded by stately gardens. This mansion was the center + of a boundless hospitality; guests were always coming and going; the + hostess and her daughters were the very symbols of kindliness and ease. To + think of such houses was to think of innumerable joyous days; of gentlemen + galloping across country after the hounds; of coaches lumbering along + avenues of noble oaks, bringing handsome women to visit the mansion; of + great feastings; of nights of music and dancing; above all, of the great + festival of Christmas, celebrated much as had been the custom in "Merrie + England" centuries before. + </p> + <p> + Below the surface of this bright world lay the enslaved black race. In the + minds of many Southerners—it was always a secret burden from which + they saw no means of freeing themselves. To emancipate the slaves, and + thereby to create a population of free blacks, was generally considered, + from the white point of view, an impossible solution of the problem. The + Southerners usually believed that the African could be tamed only in small + groups and when constantly surrounded by white influence, as in the case + of house servants. Though a few great capitalists had taken up the idea + that the deliberate exploitation of the blacks was the high prerogative of + the whites, the general sentiment of the Southern people was more truly + expressed by Toombs when he said: "The question is not whether we could be + more prosperous and happy with these three and a half million slaves in + Africa, and their places filled with an equal number of hardy, + intelligent, and enterprising citizens of the superior race; but it is + simply whether, while we have them among us, we would be most prosperous + with them in freedom or in bondage." + </p> + <p> + The Southern people, in the majority of instances, had no hatred of the + blacks. In the main they led their free, spirited, and gracious life, + convinced that the maintenance of slavery was but making the best of + circumstances which were beyond their control. It was these Southern + people who were to hear from afar the horrible indictment of all their + motives by the Abolitionists and who were to react in a growing bitterness + and distrust toward everything Northern. + </p> + <p> + But of these Southern people the average Northerner knew nothing. He knew + the South only on its least attractive side of professional politics. For + there was a group of powerful magnates, rich planters or "slave barons," + who easily made their way into Congress, and who played into the hands of + the Northern capitalists, for a purpose similar to theirs. It was these + men who forced the issue upon slavery; they warned the common people of + the North to mind their own business; and for doing so they were warmly + applauded by the Northern capitalist class. It was therefore in opposition + to the whole American world of organized capital that the Northern masses + demanded the use of "the Northern hammer"—as Sumner put it, in one + of his most furious speeches—in their aim to destroy a section + where, intuitively, they felt their democratic ideal could not be + realized. + </p> + <p> + And what was that ideal? Merely to answer democracy is to dodge the + fundamental question. The North was too complex in its social structure + and too multitudinous in its interests to confine itself to one type of + life. It included all sorts and conditions of men—from the most + gracious of scholars who lived in romantic ease among his German and + Spanish books, and whose lovely house in Cambridge is forever associated + with the noble presence of Washington, to the hardy frontiersman, breaking + the new soil of his Western claim, whose wife at sunset shaded her tired + eyes, under a hand rough with labor, as she stood on the threshold of her + log cabin, watching for the return of her man across the weedy fields + which he had not yet fully subdued. Far apart as were Longfellow and this + toiler of the West, they yet felt themselves to be one in purpose. + </p> + <p> + They were democrats, but not after the simple, elementary manner of the + democrats at the opening of the century. In the North, there had come to + life a peculiar phase of idealism that had touched democracy with + mysticism and had added to it a vague but genuine romance. This new vision + of the destiny of the country had the practical effect of making the + Northerners identify themselves in their imaginations with all mankind and + in creating in them an enthusiastic desire, not only to give to every + American a home of his own, but also to throw open the gates of the nation + and to share the wealth of America with the poor of all the world. In very + truth, it was their dominating passion to give "land to the landless." + Here was the clue to much of their attitude toward the South. Most of + these Northern dreamers gave little or no thought to slavery itself; but + they felt that the section which maintained such a system so committed to + aristocracy that any real friendship with it was impossible. + </p> + <p> + We are thus forced to conceive the American Republic in the years + immediately following the Compromise of 1850 as, in effect, a dual nation, + without a common loyalty between the two parts. Before long the most + significant of the great Northerners of the time was to describe this + impossible condition by the appropriate metaphor of a house divided + against itself. It was not, however, until eight years after the division + of the country had been acknowledged in 1850 that these words were + uttered. In those eight years both sections awoke to the seriousness of + the differences that they had admitted. Both perceived that, instead of + solving their problem in 1850, they had merely drawn sharply the lines of + future conflict. In every thoughtful mind there arose the same alternative + questions: Is there no solution but fighting it out until one side + destroys the other, or we end as two nations confessedly independent? Or + is there some conceivable new outlet for this opposition of energy on the + part of the sections, some new mode of permanent adjustment? + </p> + <p> + It was at the moment when thinking men were asking these questions that + one of the nimblest of politicians took the center of the stage. Stephen + A. Douglas was far-sighted enough to understand the land-hunger of the + time. One is tempted to add that his ear was to the ground. The statement + will not, however, go unchallenged, for able apologists have their good + word to say for Douglas. Though in the main, the traditional view of him + as the prince of political jugglers still holds its own, let us admit that + his bold, rough spirit, filled as it was with political daring, was not + without its strange vein of idealism. And then let us repeat that his ear + was to the ground. Much careful research has indeed been expended in + seeking to determine who originated the policy which, about 1853, Douglas + decided to make his own. There has also been much dispute about his + motives. Most of us, however, see in his course of action an instance of + playing the game of politics with an audacity that was magnificent. + </p> + <p> + His conduct may well have been the result of a combination of motives + which included a desire to retain the favor of the Northwest, a wish to + pave the way to his candidacy for the Presidency, the intention to enlist + the aid of the South as well as that of his own locality, and perhaps the + hope that he was performing a service of real value to his country. That + is, he saw that the favor of his own Northwest would be lavished upon any + man who opened up to settlement the rich lands beyond Iowa and Missouri + which were still held by the Indians, and for which the Westerners were + clamoring. Furthermore, they wanted a railroad that would reach to the + Pacific. There were, however, local entanglements and political + cross-purposes which involved the interests of the free State of Illinois + and those of the slave State of Missouri. + </p> + <p> + Douglas's great stroke was a programme for harmonizing all these + conflicting interests and for drawing together the West and the South. + Slaveholders were to be given what at that moment they wanted most—an + opportunity to expand into that territory to the north and west of + Missouri which had been made free by the Compromise of 1820, while the + free Northwest was to have its railroad to the coast and also its chance + to expand into the Indian country. Douglas thus became the champion of a + bill which would organize two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, but + which would leave the settlers in each to decide whether slavery or free + labor should prevail within their boundaries. This territorial scheme was + accepted by a Congress in which the Southerners and their Northern allies + held control, and what is known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was signed by + President Pierce on May 30,1854.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The origin of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill has been a much + discussed subject among historians in recent years. The + older view that Douglas was simply playing into the hands of + the "slavepower" by sacrificing Kansas, is no longer + tenable. This point has been elaborated by Allen Johnson in + his study of Douglas ("Stephen A. Douglas: a Study in + American Politics"). In his "Repeal of the Missouri + Compromise", P.O. Ray contends that the legislation of 1854 + originated in a factional controversy in Missouri, and that + Douglas merely served the interests of the proslavery group + led by Senator David R. Atchinson of Missouri. Still + another point of view is that presented in the "Genesis of + the Kansas-Nebraska Act," by F. H. Hodder, who would explain + not only the division of the Nebraska Territory into Kansas + and Nebraska, but the object of the entire bill by the + insistent efforts of promoters of the Pacific railroad + scheme to secure a right of way through Nebraska. This + project involved the organization of a territorial + government and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. + Douglas was deeply interested in the western railroad + interests and carried through the necessary legislation. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. THE PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION + </h2> + <p> + In order to understand Douglas one must understand the Democratic party of + 1854 in which Douglas was a conspicuous leader. The Democrats boasted that + they were the only really national party and contended that their rivals, + the Whigs and the Know-Nothings, were merely the representatives of + localities or classes. Sectionalism was the favorite charge which the + Democrats brought against their enemies; and yet it was upon these very + Democrats that the slaveholders had hitherto relied, and it was upon + certain members of this party that the label, "Northern men with Southern + principles," had been bestowed. + </p> + <p> + The label was not, however, altogether fair, for the motives of the + Democrats were deeply rooted in their own peculiar temperament. In the + last analysis, what had held their organization together, and what had + enabled them to dominate politics for nearly the span of a generation, was + their faith in a principle that then appealed powerfully, and that still + appeals, to much in the American character. This was the principle of + negative action on the part of the government—the old idea that the + government should do as little as possible and should confine itself + practically to the duties of the policeman. This principle has seemed + always to express to the average mind that traditional individualism which + is an inheritance of the Anglo-Saxon race. In America, in the middle of + the nineteenth century, it reenforced that tradition of local independence + which was strong throughout the West and doubly strong in the South. Then, + too, the Democratic party still spoke the language of the theoretical + Democracy inherited from Jefferson. And Americans have always been the + slaves of phrases! + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, the close alliance of the Northern party machine with the + South made it, generally, an object of care for all those Northern + interests that depended on the Southern market. As to the Southerners, + their relation with this party has two distinct chapters. The first + embraced the twenty years preceding the Compromise of 1850, and may be + thought of as merging into the second during three or four years following + the great equivocation. In that period, while the antislavery crusade was + taking form, the aim of Southern politicians was mainly negative. "Let us + alone," was their chief demand. Though aggressive in their policy, they + were too far-sighted to demand of the North any positive course in favor + of slavery. The rise of a new type of Southern politician, however, + created a different situation and began a second chapter in the relation + between the South and the Democratic party machine in the North. But of + that hereafter. + </p> + <p> + Until 1854, it was the obvious part of wisdom for Southerners to cooperate + as far as possible with that party whose cardinal idea was that the + government should come as near as conceivable to a system of + non-interference; that it should not interfere with business, and + therefore oppose a tariff; that it should not interfere with local + government, and therefore applaud states rights; that it should not + interfere with slavery, and therefore frown upon militant abolition. Its + policy was, to adopt a familiar phrase, one of masterly inactivity. Indeed + it may well be called the party of political evasion. It was a huge, loose + confederacy of differing political groups, embracing paupers and + millionaires, moderate anti-slavery men and slave barons, all of whom were + held together by the unreliable bond of an agreement not to tread on each + other's toes. + </p> + <p> + Of this party Douglas was the typical representative, both in strength and + weakness. He had all its pliability, its good humor, its broad and easy + way with things, its passion for playing politics. Nevertheless, in + calling upon the believers in political evasion to consent for this once + to reverse their principle and to endorse a positive action, he had taken + a great risk. Would their sporting sense of politics as a gigantic game + carry him through successfully? He knew that there was a hard fight before + him, but with the courage of a great political strategist, and proudly + confident in his hold upon the main body of his party, he prepared for + both the attacks and the defections that were inevitable. + </p> + <p> + Defections, indeed, began at once. Even before the bill had been passed, + the "Appeal of the Independent Democrats" was printed in a New York paper, + with the signatures of members of Congress representing both the extreme + anti-slavery wing of the Democrats and the organized Free-Soil party. The + most famous of these names were those of Chase and Sumner, both of whom + had been sent to the Senate by a coalition of Free-Soilers and Democrats. + With them was the veteran abolitionist, Giddings of Ohio. The "Appeal" + denounced Douglas as an "unscrupulous politician" and sounded both the + warcries of the Northern masses by accusing him of being engaged in "an + atrocious plot to exclude from a vast unoccupied region immigrants from + the Old World and free laborers from our own States." + </p> + <p> + The events of the spring and summer of 1854 may all be grouped under two + heads—the formation of an anti-Nebraska party, and the quick rush of + sectional patriotism to seize the territory laid open by the + Kansas-Nebraska Act. The instantaneous refusal of the Northerners to + confine their settlement to Nebraska, and their prompt invasion of Kansas; + the similar invasion from the South; the support of both movements by + societies organized for that purpose; the war in Kansas all the details of + this thrilling story have been told elsewhere.* The political story alone + concerns us here. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *See Jesse Macy, "The Anti-Slavery Crusade". (In "The + Chronicles of America".) +</pre> + <p> + When the fight began there were four parties in the field: the Democrats, + the Whigs, the Free-Soilers, and the Know-Nothings. + </p> + <p> + The Free-Soil party, hitherto a small organization, had sought to make + slavery the main issue in politics. Its watchword was "Free soil, free + speech, free labor, and free men." It is needless to add that it was + instantaneous in its opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. + </p> + <p> + The Whigs at the moment enjoyed the greatest prestige, owing to the + association with them of such distinguished leaders as Webster and Clay. + In 1854, however, as a party they were dying, and the very condition that + had made success possible for the Democrats made it impossible for the + Whigs, because the latter stood for positive ideas, and aimed to be + national in reality and not in the evasive Democratic sense of the term. + For, as a matter of fact, on analysis all the greater issues of the day + proved to be sectional. The Whigs would not, like the Democrats, adopt a + negative attitude toward these issues, nor would they consent to become + merely sectional. Yet at the moment negation and sectionalism were the + only alternatives, and between these millstones the Whig organization was + destined to be ground to bits and to disappear after the next Presidential + election. + </p> + <p> + Even previous to 1854, numbers of Whigs had sought a desperate outlet for + their desire to be positive in politics and had created a new party which + during a few years was to seem a reality and then vanish together with its + parent. The one chance for a party which had positive ideas and which + wished not to be sectional was the definite abandonment of existing issues + and the discovery of some new issue not connected with sectional feeling. + Now, it happened that a variety of causes, social and religious, had + brought about bad blood between native and foreigner, in some of the great + cities, and upon the issue involved in this condition the failing spirit + of the Whigs fastened. A secret society which had been formed to oppose + the naturalization of foreigners quickly became a recognized political + party. As the members of the Society answered all questions with "I do not + know," they came to be called "Know-Nothings," though they called + themselves "Americans." In those states where the Whigs had been strongest—Massachusetts, + New York, and Pennsylvania—this last attempt to apply their former + temper, though not their principles, had for a moment some success; but it + could not escape the fierce division which was forced on the country by + Douglas. As a result, it rapidly split into factions, one of which merged + with the enemies of Douglas, while the other was lost among his + supporters. + </p> + <p> + What would the great dying Whig party leave behind it? This was the really + momentous question in 1854. Briefly, this party bequeathed the temper of + political positivism and at the same time the dread of sectionalism. The + inner clue to American politics during the next few years is, to many + minds, to be found largely in the union of this old Whig temper with a + new-born sectional patriotism, and, to other minds, in the gradual and + reluctant passing of the Whig opposition to a sectional party. But though + this transformation of the wrecks of Whiggism began immediately, and while + the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was still being hotly debated in Congress, it was + not until 1860 that it was completed. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime various incidents had shown that the sectional patriotism + of the North, the fury of the abolitionists, and the positive temper in + politics, were all drawing closer together. Each of these tendencies can + be briefly illustrated. For example, the rush to Kansas had begun, and the + Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society was preparing to assist settlers who + were going west. In May, there occurred at Boston one of the most + conspicuous attempts to rescue a fugitive slave, in which a mob led by + Thomas Wentworth Higginson attacked the guards of Anthony Burns, a + captured fugitive, killed one of them, but failed to get the slave, who + was carried to a revenue cutter between lines of soldiers and returned to + slavery. Among numerous details of the hour the burning of Douglas in + effigy is perhaps worth passing notice. In duly the anti-Nebraska men of + Michigan held a convention, at which they organized as a political party + and nominated a state ticket. Of their nominees, two had hitherto ranked + themselves as Free-Soilers, three as anti-slavery Democrats, and five as + Whigs. For the name of their party they chose "Republican," and as the + foundation of their platform the resolution "That, postponing and + suspending all differences with regard to political economy or + administrative policy," they would "act cordially and faithfully in + unison," opposing the extension of slavery, and would "cooperate and be + known as 'Republicans' until the contest be terminated." + </p> + <p> + The history of the next two years is, in its main outlines, the story of + the war in Kansas and of the spread of this new party throughout the + North. It was only by degrees, however, that the Republicans absorbed the + various groups of anti-Nebraska men. What happened at this time in + Illinois may be taken as typical, and it is particularly noteworthy as + revealing the first real appearance of Abraham Lincoln in American + history. + </p> + <p> + Though in 1854 he was not yet a national figure, Lincoln was locally + accredited with keen political insight, and was, regarded in Illinois as a + strong lawyer. The story is told of him that, while he was attending court + on the circuit, he heard the news of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in a tavern + and sat up most of the night talking about it. Next morning he used a + phrase destined to become famous. "I tell you," said he to a fellow + lawyer, "this nation cannot exist half slave and half free." + </p> + <p> + Lincoln, however, was not one of the first to join the Republicans. In + Illinois, in 1854, Lincoln resigned his seat in the legislature to become + the Whig candidate for United States senator, to succeed the Democratic + colleague of Douglas. But there was little chance of his election, for the + real contest was between the two wings of the Democrats, the Nebraska men + and the anti-Nebraska men, and Lincoln withdrew in favor of the candidate + of the latter, who was elected. + </p> + <p> + During the following year, from the midst of his busy law practice, + Lincoln watched the Whig party go to pieces. He saw a great part of its + vote lodge temporarily among the Know-Nothings, but before the end of the + year even they began to lose their prominence. In the autumn, from the + obscurity of his provincial life, he saw, far off, Seward, the most astute + politician of the day, join the new movement. In New York, the Republican + state convention and the Whig state convention merged into one, and Seward + pronounced a baptismal oration upon the Republican party of New York. + </p> + <p> + In the House of Representatives which met in December, 1855, the + anti-Nebraska men were divided among themselves, and the Know-Nothings + held the balance of power. No candidate for the speakership, however, was + able to command a majority, and finally, after it had been agreed that a + plurality would be sufficient, the contest closed, on the one hundred and + thirty-third ballot, with the election of a Republican, N. P. Banks. + Meanwhile in the South, the Whigs were rapidly leaving the party, pausing + a moment with the Know-Nothings, only to find that their inevitable + resting-place, under stress of sectional feeling, was with the Democrats. + </p> + <p> + On Washington's birthday, 1856, the Know-Nothing national convention met + at Philadelphia. It promptly split upon the subject of slavery, and a + portion of its membership sent word offering support to another convention + which was sitting at Pittsburgh, and which had been called to form a + national organization for the Republican party. A third assembly held on + this same day was composed of the newspaper editors of Illinois, and may + be looked upon as the organization of the Republican party in that state. + At the dinner following this informal convention, Lincoln, who was one of + the speakers, was toasted as "the next United States Senator." + </p> + <p> + Some four months afterward, in Philadelphia, the Republicans held their + first national convention. Only a few years previous its members had + called themselves by various names—Democrats, Free-Soilers, + Know-Nothings, Whigs. The old hostilities of these different groups had + not yet died out. Consequently, though Seward was far and away the most + eminent member of the new party, he was not nominated for President. That + dangerous honor was bestowed upon a dashing soldier and explorer of the + Rocky Mountains and the Far West, John C. Fremont.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *For an account of Fremont, see Stewart Edward White, "The + Forty-Niners" (in "The Chronicles of America"), Chapter II. +</pre> + <p> + The key to the political situation in the North, during that momentous + year, was to be found in the great number of able Whigs who, seeing that + their own party was lost but refusing to be sidetracked by the + make-believe issue of the Know-Nothings, were now hesitating what to do. + Though the ordinary politicians among the Republicans doubtless wished to + conciliate these unattached Whigs, the astuteness of the leaders was too + great to allow them to succumb to that temptation. They seem to have + feared the possible effect of immediately incorporating in their ranks, + while their new organization was still so plastic, the bulk of those + conservative classes which were, after all, the backbone of this + irreducible Whig minimum. + </p> + <p> + The Republican campaign was conducted with a degree of passion that had + scarcely been equaled in America before that day. To the well-ordered + spirit of the conservative classes the tone which the Republicans assumed + appeared shocking. Boldly sectional in their language, sweeping in their + denunciation of slavery, the leaders of the campaign made bitter and + effective use of a number of recent events. "Uncle Tom's Cabin", published + in 1852, and already immensely popular, was used as a political tract to + arouse, by its gruesome picture of slavery, a hatred of slaveholders. + Returned settlers from Kansas went about the North telling horrible + stories of guerrilla warfare, so colored as to throw the odium all on one + side. The scandal of the moment was the attack made by Preston Brooks on + Sumner, after the latter's furious diatribe in the Senate, which was + published as "The Crime Against Kansas". With double skill the Republicans + made equal capital out of the intellectual violence of the speech and the + physical violence of the retort. In addition to this, there was ready to + their hands the evidence of Southern and Democratic sympathy with a + filibustering attempt to conquer the republic of Nicaragua, where William + Walker, an American adventurer, had recently made himself dictator. Walker + had succeeded in having his minister acknowledged by the Democratic + Administration, and in obtaining the endorsement of a great Democratic + meeting which was held in New York. It looked, therefore, as if the party + of political evasion had an anchor to windward, and that, in the event of + their losing in Kansas, they intended to placate their Southern wing by + the annexation of Nicaragua. + </p> + <p> + Here, indeed, was a stronger political tempest than Douglas, weatherwise + though he was, had foreseen. How was political evasion to brave it? With a + courage quite equal to the boldness of the Republicans, the Democrats took + another tack and steered for less troubled waters. Their convention at + Cincinnati was temperate and discreet in all its expressions, and for + President it nominated a Northerner, James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, a man + who was wholly dissociated in the public mind from the struggle over + Kansas. + </p> + <p> + The Democratic party leaders knew that they already had two strong groups + of supporters. Whatever they did, the South would have to go along with + them, in its reaction against the furious sectionalism of the Republicans. + Besides the Southern support, the Democrats counted upon the aid of the + professional politicians—those men who considered politics rather as + a fascinating game than as serious and difficult work based upon + principle. Upon these the Democrats could confidently rely, for they + already had, in Douglas in the North and Toombs in the South, two master + politicians who knew this type and its impulses intimately, because they + themselves belonged to it. But the Democrats needed the support of a third + group. If they could only win over the Northern remnant of the Whigs that + was still unattached, their position would be secure. In their efforts to + obtain this additional and very necessary reinforcement, they decided to + appear as temperate and restrained as possible—a well bred party + which all mild and conservative men could trust. + </p> + <p> + This attitude they formulated in connection with Kansas, which at that + time had two governments: one, a territorial government, set up by + emigrants from the South; the other, a state government, under the + constitution drawn up at Topeka by emigrants from the North. One + authorized slavery; the other prohibited slavery; and both had appealed to + Washington for recognition. It was with this quite definite issue that + Congress was chiefly concerned in the spring of 1856. During the summer + Toombs introduced a bill securing to the settlers of Kansas complete + freedom of action and providing for an election of delegates to a + convention to draw up a state constitution which would determine whether + slavery or freedom was to prevail—in other words, whether Kansas was + to be annexed to the South or to the North. This bill was merely the full + expression of what Douglas had aimed at in 1854 and of what was nicknamed + "popular sovereignty"—the right of the locality to choose for itself + between slave and free labor. + </p> + <p> + Two years before, such a measure would have seemed radical. But in + politics time is wonderfully elastic. Those two years had been packed with + turmoil. Kansas had been the scene of a bloody conflict. Regardless of + which side had a majority on the ground, extremists on each side had + demanded recognition for the government set up by their own party. By + contrast, Toombs's offer to let the majority rule appeared temperate. + </p> + <p> + The Republicans saw instantly that they must discredit the proposal or the + ground would be cut from under them. Though the bill passed the Senate, + they were able to set it aside in the House in favor of a bill admitting + Kansas as a free state with the Topeka constitution. The Democrats + thereupon accused the Republicans of not wanting peace and of wishing to + keep up the war-cry "Bleeding Kansas" until election time. + </p> + <p> + That, throughout the country, the two parties continued on the lines of + policy they had chosen may be seen from an illustration. A House committee + which had gone to Kansas to investigate submitted two reports, one of + which, submitted by a Democratic member, told the true story of the + murders committed by John Brown at Pottawatomie. And yet, while the + Republicans spread everywhere their shocking tales of murders of + free-state settlers, the Democrats made practically no use of this equally + shocking tale of the murder of slaveholders. Apparently they were resolved + to appear temperate and conservative to the bitter end. + </p> + <p> + And they had their reward. Or, perhaps the fury of the Republicans had its + just deserts. From either point of view, the result was a choice of evils + on the part of the reluctant Whigs, and that choice was expressed in the + following words by as typical a New Englander as Rufus Choate: "The first + duty of Whigs," wrote Choate to the Maine State central committee, "is to + unite with some organization of our countrymen to defeat and dissolve the + new geographical party calling itself Republican.... The question for each + and every one of us is...by what vote can I do most to prevent the madness + of the times from working its maddest act the very ecstasy of its madness—the + permanent formation and the actual triumph of a party which knows one half + of America only to hate and dread it. If the Republican party," Choate + continued, "accomplishes its object and gives the government to the North, + I turn my eyes from the consequences. To the fifteen states of the South + that government will appear an alien government. It will appear worse. It + will appear a hostile government. It will represent to their eye a vast + region of states organized upon anti-slavery, flushed by triumph, cheered + onward by the voice of the pulpit, tribune, and press; its mission, to + inaugurate freedom and put down the oligarchy; its constitution, the + glittering and sounding generalities of natural right which make up the + Declaration of Independence.... Practically the contest, in my judgment, + is between Mr. Buchanan and Colonel Fremont. In these circumstances, I + vote for Mr. Buchanan." + </p> + <p> + The party of political evasion thus became the refuge of the old original + Whigs who were forced to take advantage of any port in a storm. Buchanan + was elected by an overwhelming majority. To the careless eye, Douglas had + been justified by results; his party had triumphed as perhaps never + before; and yet, no great political success was ever based upon less + stable foundations. To maintain this position, those Northerners who + reasoned as Choate did were a necessity; but to keep them in the party of + political evasion would depend upon the ability of this party to play the + game of politics without acknowledging sectional bias. Whether this + difficult task could be accomplished would depend upon the South. Toombs, + on his part, was anxious to continue making the party of evasion play the + great American game of politics, and in his eagerness he perhaps + overestimated his hold upon the South. This, however, remains to be seen. + </p> + <p> + Already another faction had formed around William L. Yancey of Alabama—a + faction as intolerant of political evasion as the Republicans themselves, + and one that was eager to match the sectional Northern party by a + sectional Southern party. It had for the moment fallen into line with the + Toombs faction because, like the Whigs, it had not the courage to do + otherwise. The question now was whether it would continue fearful, and + whether political evasion would continue to reign. + </p> + <p> + The key to the history of the next four years is in the growth of this + positive Southern party, which had the inevitable result of forcing the + Whig remainder to choose, not as in 1856 between a positive sectional + policy and an evasive nonsectional policy, but in 1860 between two + policies both of which were at once positive and sectional. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. THE POLITICIANS AND THE NEW DAY + </h2> + <p> + The South had thus far been kept in line with the cause of political + evasion by a small group of able politicians, chief among whom were Robert + Toombs, Howell Cobb, and Alexander H. Stephens. Curiously enough all three + were Georgians, and this might indeed be called the day of Georgia in the + history of the South. + </p> + <p> + A different type of man, however, and one significant of a divergent point + of view, had long endeavored to shake the leadership of the Georgian + group. Rhett in South Carolina, Jefferson Davis in Mississippi, and above + all Yancey in Alabama, together with the interests and sentiment which + they represented, were almost ready to contest the orthodoxy of the policy + of "nothing doing." To consolidate the interests behind them, to arouse + and fire the sentiment on which they relied, was now the confessed purpose + of these determined men. So little attention has hitherto been given to + motive in American politics that the modern student still lacks a + clear-cut and intelligent perception of these various factions. In spite + of this fact, however, these men may safely be regarded as being + distinctly more intellectual, and as having distinctly deeper natures, + than the men who came together under the leadership of Toombs and Cobb, + and who had the true provincial enthusiasm for politics as the great + American sport. + </p> + <p> + The factions of both Toombs and Yancey were intensely Southern and, + whenever a crisis might come, neither meant to hesitate an instant over + striking hard for the South. Toombs, however, wanted to prevent such a + situation, while Yancey was anxious to force one. The former conceived + felicity as the joy of playing politics on the biggest stage, and he + therefore bent all his strength to preserving the so-called national + parties; the latter, scornful of all such union, was for a separate + Southern community. + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, no man could become enthusiastic about political evasion + unless by nature he also took kindly to compromise. So, Toombs and his + followers were for preserving the negative Democratic position of 1856. In + a formal paper of great ability Stephens defended that position when he + appeared for reelection to Congress in 1857. Cobb, who had entered + Buchanan's Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury, and who spoke hopefully + of making Kansas a slave state, insisted nevertheless that such a change + must be "brought about by the recognized principles of carrying out the + will of the majority which is the great doctrine of the Kansas Bill." To + Yancey, as to the Republicans, Kansas was a disputed border-land for which + the so-called two nations were fighting. + </p> + <p> + The internal Southern conflict between these two factions began anew with + the Congressional elections of 1857. It is worth observing that the + make-up of these factions was almost a resurrection of the two groups + which, in 1850, had divided the South on the question of rejecting the + Compromise. In a letter to Stephens in reference to one of the Yancey men, + Cobb prophesied: "McDonald will utterly fail to get up a new Southern + Rights party. Burnt children dread the fire, and he cannot get up as + strong an organization as he did in 1850. Still it is necessary to guard + every point, as McDonald is a hard hand to deal with." For the moment, he + foretold events correctly. The Southern elections of 1857 did not break + the hold of the moderates. + </p> + <p> + Yancey turned to different machinery, quite as useful for his purpose. + This he found in the Southern commercial conventions, which were held + annually. At this point there arises a vexed question which has, of late, + aroused much discussion. Was there then what we should call today a slave + "interest"? Was organized capital deliberately exploiting slavery? And did + Yancey play into its hands?* The truth seems to be that, between 1856 and + 1860, both the idealist parties, the Republicans and the Secessionists, + made peace with, shall we say, the Mammon of unrighteousness, or merely + organized capital? The one joined hands with the iron interest of the + North; the other, with the slave interest of the South. The Republicans + preached the domination of the North and a protective tariff; the Yancey + men preached the independence of the South and the reopening of the slave + trade. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * For those who would be persuaded that there was such a + slave interest, perhaps the best presentation is to be found + in Professor Dodd's Life of Jefferson Davis. +</pre> + <p> + These two issues Yancey, however, failed to unite, though the commercial + convention of 1859 at last gave its support to a resolution that all laws, + state or federal, prohibiting the African slave trade ought to be + repealed. That great body of Northern capital which had dealings with the + South was ready, as it always had been, to finance any scheme that + Southern business desired. Slavers were fitted out in New York, and the + city authorities did not prevent their sailing. Against this somber + background stands forth that much admired action of Lewis Cass of + Michigan, Buchanan's Secretary of State. Already the slave trade was in + process of revival, and the British Navy, impelled by the powerful + anti-slavery sentiment in England, was active in its suppression. American + ships suspected of being slavers were visited and searched. Cass seized + his opportunity, and declaring that such things "could not be submitted to + by an independent nation without dishonor," sent out American warships to + prevent this interference. Thereupon the British government consented to + give up trying to police the ocean against slavers. It is indeed true, + therefore, that neither North nor South has an historical monopoly of the + support of slavery! + </p> + <p> + It is but fair to add that, so far as the movement to reopen the slave + trade found favor outside the slave barons and their New York allies, it + was advocated as a means of political defense, of increasing Southern + population as an offset to the movement of free emigration into the North, + and of keeping the proportion of Southern representation in Congress. + Stephens, just after Cass had successfully twisted the lion's tail, took + this position in a speech that caused a sensation. In a private letter he + added, "Unless we get immigration from abroad, we shall have few more + slave states. This great truth seems to take the people by surprise. Some + shrink from it as they would from death. Still, it is as true as death." + The scheme, however, never received general acceptance; and in the + constitution of the Southern Confederacy there was a section prohibiting + the African slave trade. On the other of these two issues—the + independence of the South—Yancey steadily gained ground. With each + year from 1856 to 1860, a larger proportion of Southerners drew out of + political evasion and gave adherence to the idea of presenting an + ultimatum to the North, with secession as an alternative. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, Buchanan sent to Kansas, as Governor, Robert J. Walker, one of + the most astute of the Democrats of the opposite faction and a + Mississippian. The tangled situation which Walker found, the details of + his attempt to straighten it out, belong in another volume.* It is enough + in this connection merely to mention the episode of the Lecompton + convention in the election of which the Northern settlers refused to + participate, though Walker had promised that they should have full + protection and a fair count as well as that the work of the convention + should be submitted to a popular vote. This action of Walker's was one + more cause of contention between the warring factions in the South. The + fact that he had met the Northerners half-way was seized upon by the + Yancey men as evidence of the betrayal of the South by the Democratic + moderates. On the other hand, Cobb, writing of the situation in Kansas, + said that "a large majority are against slavery and... our friends regard + the fate of Kansas as a free state pretty well fixed... the pro-slavery + men, finding that Kansas was likely to become a Black Republican State, + determined to unite with the free-state Democrats." Here is the clue to + Walker's course. As a strict party man, he preferred to accept Kansas + free, with Democrats in control, rather than risk losing it altogether. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * See Jesse Macy, "The Anti-Slavery Crusade". (In "The + Chronicles of America".) +</pre> + <p> + The next step in the affair is one of the unsolved problems in American + history. Buchanan suddenly changed front, disgraced Walker, and threw + himself into the arms of the Southern extremists. Though his reasons for + doing so have been debated to this day, they have not yet been established + beyond dispute. What seems to be the favorite explanation is that Buchanan + was in a panic. What brought him to that condition may have been the + following events. + </p> + <p> + The free-state men, by refusing to take part in electing the convention, + had given control to the slaveholders, who proved they were not slow to + seize their opportunity. They drew up a constitution favoring slavery, but + this constitution, Walker had promised, was to be submitted in referendum. + If the convention decided, however, not to submit the constitution, would + not Congress have the right to accept it and admit Kansas as a Mate? This + question was immediately raised. It now became plain that, by refusing to + take part in the election, the free-state Kansans had thrown away a great + tactical advantage. Of this blunder in generalship the Yancey men took + instant advantage. It was known that the proportion of Free-Soilers in + Kansas was very great—perhaps a majority—and the Southerners + reasoned that they should not be obliged to give up the advantage they had + won merely to let their enemies retrieve their mistake. Jefferson Davis + formulated this position in an address to the Mississippi Legislature in + which he insisted that Congress, not the Kansas electorate, was entitled + to create the Kansas constitution, that the Convention was a properly + chosen body, and that its work should stand. What Davis said in a stately + way, others said in a furious way. Buchanan stated afterward that he + changed front because certain Southern States had threatened that, if he + did not abandon Walker, they would secede. + </p> + <p> + Be that as it may, Buchanan did abandon Walker and threw all the influence + of the Administration in favor of admitting Kansas with the Lecompton + constitution. But would this be true to that principle of "popular + sovereignty" which was the very essence of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Would + it be true to the principle that each locality should decide for itself + between slavery and freedom? On this issue the Southerners were fairly + generally agreed and maintained that there was no obligation to go behind + the work of the convention. Not so, however, the great exponent of popular + sovereignty, Douglas. Rising in his place in the Senate, he charged the + President with conspiring to defeat the will of the majority in Kansas. + "If Kansas wants a slave state constitution," said he, "she has a right to + it; if she wants a free state constitution, she has a right to it. It is + none of my business which way the slavery clause is decided. I care not + whether it is voted up or down." + </p> + <p> + There followed one of those prolonged legislative battles for which the + Congress of the United States is justly celebrated. Furious oratory, + propositions, counter-propositions, projected compromises, other + compromises, and at the end nothing positive. But Douglas had defeated the + attempt to bring in Kansas with the Lecompton constitution. As to the + details of the story, they include such distinguished happenings as a + brawling, all-night session when "thirty men, at least, were engaged in + the fisticuff," and one Representative knocked another down. + </p> + <p> + Douglas was again at the center of the stage, but his term as Senator was + nearing its end. He and the President had split their party. Pursued by + the vengeful malice of the Administration, Douglas went home in 1858 to + Illinois to fight for his reelection. His issue, of course, was popular + sovereignty. His temper was still the temper of political evasion. How to + hold fast to his own doctrine, and at the same time keep to his programme + of "nothing doing"; how to satisfy the negative Democrats of the North + without losing his last hold on the positive men of the South—such + were his problems, and they were made still more difficult by a recent + decision of the Supreme Court. + </p> + <p> + The now famous case of Dred Scott had been decided in the previous year. + Its bewildering legal technicalities may here be passed over; + fundamentally, the real question involved was the status of a negro, Dred + Scott. A slave who had been owned in Missouri, and who had been taken by + his master to the State of Illinois, to the free territory of Minnesota, + and then back to Missouri, now claimed to be free. The Supreme Court + undertook to decide whether his residence in Minnesota rendered him free, + and also whether any negro of slave descent could be a citizen of the + United States. The official opinion of the Court, delivered by Chief + Justice Taney, decided both questions against the suppliant. It was held + that the "citizens" recognized by the Constitution did not include + negroes. So, even if Scott were free, he could not be considered a citizen + entitled to bring suit in the Federal Courts. Furthermore, he could not be + considered free, in spite of his residence in Minnesota, because, as the + Court now ruled, Congress, when it enacted the Missouri Compromise, had + exceeded its authority; the enactment had never really been in force; + there was no binding prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern + territories. + </p> + <p> + If this decision was good law, all the discussion about popular + sovereignty went for nothing, and neither an act of Congress nor the vote + of the population of a territory, whether for or against slavery, was of + any value whatsoever. Nothing mattered until the newmade state itself took + action after its admission to the Union. Until that time, no power, + national or local, could lawfully interfere with the introduction of + slaves. In the case of Kansas, it was no longer of the least importance + what became of the Lecompton constitution or of any other that the + settlers might make. The territory was open to settlement by slaveholders + and would continue to be so as long as it remained a territory. The same + conditions existed in Nebraska and in all the Northwest. The Dred Scott + decision was accepted as orthodox Democratic doctrine by the South, by the + Administration, and by the "Northern men with Southern principles." The + astute masters of the game of politics on the Democratic side struck the + note of legality. This was law, the expression of the highest tribunal of + the Republic; what more was to be said? Though in truth there was but one + other thing to be said, and that revolutionary, the Republicans, + nevertheless, did not falter over it. Seward announced it in a speech in + Congress on "Freedom in Kansas," when he uttered this menace: "We shall + reorganize the Court and thus reform its political sentiments and + practices." + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of 1858 Douglas attempted to perform the acrobatic feat of + reconciling the Dred Scott decision, which as a Democrat he had to accept, + with that idea of popular sovereignty without which his immediate + followers could not be content. In accepting the Republican nomination as + Douglas's opponent for the senatorship, Lincoln used these words which + have taken rank among his most famous utterances: "A house divided against + itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently + half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do + not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided. + It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of + slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the + public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate + extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become + alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new—North as well as + South." + </p> + <p> + No one had ever so tellingly expressed the death-grapple of the sections: + slavery the weapon of one, free labor the weapon of the other. Though + Lincoln was at that time forty-nine years old, his political experience, + in contrast with that of Douglas, was negligible. He afterward aptly + described his early life in that expressive line from Gray, "The short and + simple annals of the poor." He lacked regular schooling, and it was + altogether from the practice of law that he had gained such formal + education as he had. In law, however, he had become a master, and his + position, to judge from the class of cases entrusted to him, was second to + none in Illinois. To that severe yet wholesome cast of mind which the law + establishes in men naturally lofty, Lincoln added the tonic influence of a + sense of style—not the verbal acrobatics of a rhetorician, but that + power to make words and thought a unit which makes the artist of a man who + has great ideas. How Lincoln came by this literary faculty is, indeed, as + puzzling as how Burns came by it. But there it was, disciplined by the + court room, made pungent by familiarity with plain people, stimulated by + constant reading of Shakespeare, and chastened by study of the Bible. + </p> + <p> + It was arranged that Douglas and Lincoln should tour the State together in + a series of joint debates. As a consequence there followed a most + interesting opposition of methods in the use of words, a contest between + the method formed in Congress at a time when Congress was a perfect + rhetorical academy, and that method of using words which was based on an + arduous study of Blackstone, Shakespeare, and Isaiah. Lincoln issued from + the debates one of the chief intellectual leaders of America, and with a + place in English literature; Douglas came out a Senator from Illinois. + </p> + <p> + But though Douglas kept his following together, and though Lincoln was + voted down, to Lincoln belonged the real strategic victory. In order to + save himself with his own people, Douglas had been forced to make + admissions that ruined him with the South. Because of these admissions the + breach in the party of political evasion became irreparable. It was in the + debate at Freeport that Douglas's fate overtook him, for Lincoln put this + question: "Can the people of a United States territory, in any lawful way, + against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from + its limits, prior to the formation of a state constitution?" + </p> + <p> + Douglas answered in his best style of political thunder. "It matters not," + he said, "what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the + abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under + the Constitution; the people have the lawful means to introduce it or + exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day + or an hour anywhere unless it is supported by local police regulations. + Those police regulations can only be established by the local + legislatures; and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will elect + representatives to that body who will by unfriendly legislation + effectually prevent the introduction of it into their midst. If, on the + contrary, they are for it, their legislation will favor its extension. + Hence, no matter what the decision of the Supreme Court may be on that + abstract question, still the right of the people to make a slave territory + or a free territory is perfect and complete under the Nebraska Bill." + </p> + <p> + As to the moral aspect of his actions, Douglas must ultimately be judged + by the significance which this position in which he placed himself assumed + in his own mind. Friendly critics excuse him: an interpretation of the + Dred Scott decision which explained it away as an irresponsible utterance + on a subject outside the scope of the case, a mere obiter dictum, is the + justification which is called in to save him from the charge of + insincerity. His friends, today, admit that this interpretation was bad + law, but maintain that it may have been good morals, and that Douglas + honestly held it. But many of us have not yet advanced so far in critical + generosity, and cannot help feeling that Douglas's position remains + political legerdemain—an attempt by a great officer of the + government, professing to defend the Supreme Court, to show the people how + to go through the motions of obedience to the Court while defeating its + intention. If not double-dealing in a strict sense, it must yet be + considered as having in it the temper of double-dealing.* This was, + indeed, the view of many men of his own day and, among them, of Lincoln. + Yet the type of man on whom the masters of the game of politics relied saw + nothing in Douglas's position at which to be disturbed. It was merely + playing politics, and if that absorbing sport required one to carry water + on both shoulders, why—play the game! Douglas was the man for people + like that. They cheered him to the echo and sent him back to the Senate. + So well was this type understood by some of Lincoln's friends that they + had begged him, at least according to tradition, not to put the question + at Freeport, as by doing so he would enable Douglas to save himself with + his constituency. Lincoln saw further, however. He understood better than + they the forces then at work in America. The reply reported of him was: + "If Douglas answers, he can never be President, and the battle of 1860 is + worth a hundred of this." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * There are three ways of regarding Douglas's position: (1) + As a daring piece of evasion designed to hold all the + Democrats together; (2) as an attempt to secure his locality + at all costs, taking his chances on the South; (3) as a + sincere expression of the legal interpretation mentioned + above. It is impossible in attempting to choose among these + to escape wholly one's impression of the man's character. +</pre> + <p> + Well might Yancey and his followers receive with a shout of joy the + "Freeport Doctrine," as Douglas's supreme evasion was called. Should + Southerners trust any longer the man who had evolved from the principle of + let-'em-alone to the principle of double-dealing? However, the Southerners + were far from controlling the situation. Though the events of 1858 had + created discord in the Democratic party, they had not consolidated the + South. Men like Toombs and Stephens were still hopeful of keeping the + States together in the old bond of political evasion. The Democratic + machine, damaged though it was, had not yet lost its hold on the moderate + South, and while that continued to be the case, there was still power in + it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. THE CRISIS + </h2> + <p> + The Southern moderates in 1859 form one of those political groups, + numerous enough in history, who at a crisis arrest our imagination because + of the irony of their situation. Unsuspecting, these men went their way, + during the last summer of the old regime, busy with the ordinary affairs + of state, absorbed in their opposition to the Southern radicals, never + dreaming of the doom that was secretly moving toward them through the + plans of John Brown. In the soft brilliancy of the Southern summer when + the roses were in bloom, many grave gentlemen walked slowly up and down + together under the oaks of their plantation avenues, in the grateful dusk, + talking eagerly of how the scales trembled in Southern politics between + Toombs and Yancey, and questioning whether the extremists could ride down + the moderate South and reopen the slave trade. In all their wondering + whether Douglas would ever come back to them or would prove the blind + Samson pulling down their temple about their ears, there was never a word + about the approaching shadow which was so much more real than the shades + of the falling night, and yet so entirely shut away from their + observation. + </p> + <p> + In this summer, Stephens withdrew as he thought from public life. With an + intensely sensitive nature, he had at times flashes of strange feeling + which an unsophisticated society would regard as prophetic inspirations. + When he left Washington "on the beautiful morning of the 5th of March, + 1859, he stood at the stern of the boat for some minutes gazing back at + the capital." He had announced his intention of not standing again as a + Representative, and one of his fellow-passengers asked jokingly whether he + was thinking of his return as a Senator. Stephen's reply was full of + emotion, "No, I never expect to see Washington again unless I am brought + here as a prisoner of war." During the summer he endeavored to cast off + his intuition of approaching disaster. At his plantation, "Liberty Hall," + he endeavored to be content with the innumerable objects associated with + his youth; he tried to feel again the grace of the days that were gone, + the mysterious loveliness of the Southern landscape with its immense + fields, its forests, its great empty spaces filled with glowing sunshine. + He tried to possess his troubled soul with the severe intellectual ardor + of the law. But his gift of second sight would not rest. He could not + overcome his intuition that, for all the peace and dreaminess of the + outward world, destiny was upon him. Looking out from his spiritual + seclusion, he beheld what seemed to him complete political confusion, both + local and national. His despairing mood found expression a little later in + the words: "Indeed if we were now to have a Southern convention to + determine upon the true policy of the South either in the Union or out of + it, I should expect to see just as much profitless discussion, + disagreement, crimination, and recrimination amongst the members of it + from different states and from the same state, as we witness in the + present House of Representatives between Democrats, Republicans, and + Americans." + </p> + <p> + Among the sources of confusion Stephens saw, close at home, was the + Southern battle over the reopening of the slave trade. The reality of that + issue had been made plain in May, 1859, when the Southern commercial + congress at Vicksburg entertained at the same time two resolutions: one, + that the convention should urge all Southern States to amend their + constitutions by a clause prohibiting the increase of African slavery; the + other, that the convention urge all the Legislatures of Southern States to + present memorials to Congress asking the repeal of the law against African + slave trade. Of these opposed resolutions, the latter was adopted on the + last day of the convention*, though the moderates fought hard against it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *It is significant that the composition of these Southern + commercial congresses and the Congress of the whole Southern + people was strikingly different in personnel. Very few + members of the commercial congresses reappear in the + Confederate Congress. +</pre> + <p> + The split between Southern moderates and Southern radicals was further + indicated by their differing attitudes toward the adventurers from the + United States in Central America. The Vicksburg Convention adopted + resolutions which were thinly veiled endorsements of southward expansion. + In the early autumn another Nicaraguan expedition was nipped in the bud by + the vigilance of American naval forces. Cobb, prime factor in the group of + Southern moderates as well as Secretary of the Treasury, wrote to Buchanan + expressing his satisfaction at the event, mentioning the work of his own + department in bringing it about, and also alluding to his arrangements to + prevent slave trading off the Florida coast. + </p> + <p> + But the spirit of doubt was strong even among the moderates. Douglas was + the target. Stephens gives a glimpse of it in a letter written during his + last session in Congress. "Cobb called on me Saturday night," he writes. + "He is exceedingly bitter against Douglas. I joked him a good deal, and + told him he had better not fight, or he would certainly be whipped; that + is, in driving Douglas out of the Democratic party. He said that if + Douglas ever was restored to the confidence of the Democracy of Georgia, + it would be over his dead body politically. This shows his excitement, + that is all. I laughed at him, and told him he would run his feelings and + his policy into the ground." The anger of Cobb, who was himself a + confessed candidate for the Democratic nomination, was imperiling the + Democratic national machine which Toombs was still struggling so + resolutely to hold together. Indeed, as late as the autumn of 1859 the + machine still held together. + </p> + <p> + Then came the man of destiny, the bolt from the blue, the end of the + chapter. A marvelous fanatic—a sort of reincarnation of the grimmest + of the Covenanters—by one daring act shattered the machine and made + impossible any further coalition on the principle of "nothing doing." This + man of destiny was John Brown, whose attack on Harper's Ferry took place + October 16th, and whose execution by the authorities of Virginia on the + charges of murder and treason occurred on the 2nd of December. + </p> + <p> + The incident filled the South with consternation. The prompt condemnation + of it by many Republican leaders did not offset, in the minds of + Southerners, the fury of praise accorded by others. The South had a + ghastly tradition derived chiefly from what is known as Nat Turner's + Rebellion in Virginia, a tradition of the massacre of white women and + children by negroes. As Brown had set opt to rouse a slave rebellion, + every Southerner familiar with his own traditions shuddered, identifying + in imagination John Brown and Nat Turner. Horror became rage when the + Southerners heard of enthusiastic applause in Boston and of Emerson's + description of Brown as "that new saint" who was to "make the gallows + glorious like the cross." In the excitement produced by remarks such as + this, justice was not done to Lincoln's censure. In his speech at Cooper + Institute in New York, in February, 1860, Lincoln had said: "John Brown's + effort...in its philosophy corresponds with the many attempts related in + history at the assassination of kings and emperors. An enthusiast broods + over the oppression of a people, until he fancies himself commissioned by + Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the attempt which ends in little else + than in his own execution." A few months afterwards, the Republican + national convention condemned the act of Brown as "among the gravest of + crimes." + </p> + <p> + An immediate effect of the John Brown episode was a passionate outburst + from all the radical press of the South in defense of slavery. The + followers of Yancey made the most of their opportunity. The men who voted + at Vicksburg to reopen the slave trade could find no words to measure + their hatred of every one who, at this moment of crisis, would not declare + slavery a blessing. Many of the men who opposed the slave traders also + felt that, in the face of possible slave insurrection, the peril of their + families was the one paramount consideration. Nevertheless, it is easy for + the special pleader to give a wrong impression of the sentiment of the + time. A grim desire for self-preservation took possession of the South, as + well as a deadly fear of any person or any thing that tended directly or + indirectly to incite the blacks to insurrection. Northerners of + abolitionist sympathies were warned to leave the country, and in some + cases they were tarred and feathered. + </p> + <p> + Great anger was aroused by the detection of book-agents who were + distributing a furious polemic against slavery, "The Impending Crisis of + the South: How to Meet It", by Hinton Rowan Helper, a Southerner of + inferior social position belonging to the class known as poor whites. The + book teemed with such sentences as this, addressing slaveholders: "Do you + aspire to become victims of white non-slave-holding vengeance by day and + of barbarous massacres by the negroes at night?" It is scarcely strange, + therefore, that in 1859 no Southerner would hear a good word of anyone + caught distributing the book. And yet, in the midst of all this vehement + exaltation of slavery, the fight to prevent a reopening of the slave trade + went bravely on. Stephens, writing to a friend who was correspondent for + the "Southern Confederacy", in Atlanta, warned him in April, 1860, + "neither to advocate disunion or the opening of the slave trade. The + people here at present I believe are as much opposed to it as they are at + the North; and I believe the Northern people could be induced to open it + sooner than the Southern people." + </p> + <p> + The winter of 1859-1860 witnessed a famous congressional battle over the + speakership. The new Congress which met in December contained 109 + Republicans, 101 Democrats, and 27 Know-Nothings. The Republican candidate + for speaker was John Sherman of Ohio. As the first ballot showed that he + could not command a majority, a Democrat from Missouri introduced this + resolution "Whereas certain members of this House, now in nomination for + speaker, did endorse the book hereinafter mentioned, resolved, That the + doctrines and sentiments of a certain book, called 'The Impending Crisis + of the South: How to Meet It', are insurrectionary and hostile to the + peace and tranquillity of the country, and that no member of this House, + who has indorsed or recommended it, is fit to be speaker of the House." + </p> + <p> + During two months there were strange scenes in the House, while the clerk + acted as temporary speaker and furious diatribes were thundered back and + forth across the aisle that separated Republicans from Democrats, with a + passage of fisticuffs or even a drawn pistol to add variety to the scene. + The end of it all was a deal. Pennington, of the "People's Party" of New + Jersey, who had supported Sherman but had not endorsed Helper, was given + the Republican support; a Know-Nothing was made sergeant-at-arms; and + Know-Nothing votes added to the Republican votes made Pennington speaker. + In many Northern cities the news of his election was greeted with the + great salute of a hundred guns, but at Richmond the papers came out in + mourning type. + </p> + <p> + Two great figures now advanced to the center of the Congressional stage—Jefferson + Davis, Senator from Mississippi, a lean eagle of a man with piercing blue + eyes, and Judah P. Benjamin, Senator from Louisiana, whose perpetual smile + cloaked an intellect that was nimble, keen, and ruthless. Both men were + destined to play leading roles in the lofty drama of revolution; each was + to experience a tragic ending of his political hope, one in exile, the + other in a solitary proscription amid the ruins of the society for which + he had sacrificed his all. These men, though often spoken of as mere + mouthpieces of Yancey, were in reality quite different from him both in + temper and in point of view. + </p> + <p> + Davis, who was destined eventually to become the target of Yancey's + bitterest enmity, had refused ten years before to join in the secession + movement which ignored Calhoun's doctrine that the South had become a + social unit. Though a believer in slavery under the conditions of the + moment, Davis had none of the passion of the slave baron for slavery at + all costs. Furthermore, as events were destined to show in a startlingly + dramatic way, he was careless of South Carolina's passion for state + rights. He was a practical politician, but not at all the old type of the + party of political evasion, the type of Toombs. No other man of the moment + was on the whole so well able to combine the elements of Southern politics + against those more negative elements of which Toombs was the symbol. The + history of the Confederacy shows that the combination which Davis now + effected was not as thorough as he supposed it was. But at the moment he + appeared to succeed and seemed to give common purpose to the vast majority + of the Southern people. With his ally Benjamin, he struck at the Toombs + policy of a National Democratic party. + </p> + <p> + On the day following the election of Pennington, Davis introduced in the + Senate a series of resolutions which were to serve as the Southern + ultimatum, and which demanded of Congress the protection of slavery + against territorial legislatures. This was but carrying to its logical + conclusion that Dred Scott decision which Douglas and his followers + proposed to accept. If Congress could not restrict slavery in the + territories, how could its creature, a territorial legislature do so? And + yet the Douglas men attempted to take away the power from Congress and to + retain it for the territorial legislatures. Senator Pugh of Ohio had + already locked horns with Davis on this point, and had attempted to show + that a territorial Legislature was independent of Congress. "Then I would + ask the Senator further," retorted the logical Davis, "why it is he makes + an appropriation to pay members of the territorial legislature; how it is + that he invests the Governor with veto power over their acts; and how it + is that he appoints judges to decide upon the validity of their acts." + </p> + <p> + In the Democratic convention which met at Charleston in April, 1860, the + waning power of political evasion made its last real stand against the + rising power of political positivism. To accept Douglas and the idea that + somehow territorial legislatures were free to do what Congress could not + do, or to reject Douglas and endorse Davis's ultimatum—that in + substance was the issue. "In this convention where there should be + confidence and harmony," said the "Charleston Mercury", "it is plain that + men feel as if they were going into a battle." In the committee on + resolutions where the States were equally represented, the majority were + anti-Douglas; they submitted a report affirming Davis's position that + territorial legislatures had no right to prohibit slavery and that the + Federal Government should protect slavery against them. The minority + refused to go further than an approval of the Dred Scott case and a pledge + to abide by all future decisions of the Supreme Court. After both reports + had been submitted, there followed the central event of the convention—the + now famous speech by Yancey which repudiated political evasion from top to + bottom, frankly defended slavery, and demanded either complete guarantees + for its continued existence or, as an alternative, Southern independence. + Pugh instantly replied and summed up Yancey's speech as a demand upon + Northern Democrats to say that slavery was right, and that it was their + duty not only to let slavery alone but to aid in extending it. "Gentlemen + of the South," he exclaimed, "you mistake us—you mistake us—we + will not do it." + </p> + <p> + In the full convention, where the representation of the States was not + equal, the Douglas men, after hot debate, forced the adoption of the + minority report. Thereupon the Alabama delegation protested and formally + withdrew from the convention, and other delegations followed. There was + wild excitement in Charleston, where that evening in the streets Yancey + addressed crowds that cheered for a Southern republic. The remaining + history of the Democratic nominations is a matter of detail. The + Charleston convention adjourned without making nominations. Each of its + fragments reorganized as a separate convention, and ultimately two + Democratic tickets were put into the field, with Breckinridge of Kentucky + as the candidate on the Yancey ticket and Douglas on the other. + </p> + <p> + While the Democrats were thus making history through their fateful + break-up into separate parties, a considerable number of the so-called + best people of the country determined that they had nowhere politically to + lay their heads. A few of the old Whigs were still unable to consort + either with Republicans or with Democrats, old or new. The Know-Nothings, + likewise, though their number had been steadily melting away, had not + entirely disappeared. To unite these political remnants in any definite + political whole seemed beyond human ingenuity. A common sentiment, + however, they did have—a real love of the Union and a real + unhappiness, because its existence appeared to be threatened. The outcome + was that they organized the Constitutional Union Party, nominating for + President John Bell of Tennessee, and for Vice President Edward Everett of + Massachusetts. Their platform was little more than a profession of love of + the Union and a condemnation of sectional selfishness. + </p> + <p> + This Bell and Everett ticket has a deeper significance than has generally + been admitted. It reveals the fact that the sentiment of Union, in + distinction from the belief in the Union, had become a real force in + American life. There could be no clearer testimony to the strength of this + feeling than this spectacle of a great congregation of moderate people, + unable to agree upon anything except this sentiment, stepping between the + sectional parties like a resolute wayfarer going forward into darkness + along a perilous strand between two raging seas. That this feeling of + Union was the same thing as the eager determination of the Republicans, in + 1860, to control the Government is one of those historical fallacies that + have had their day. The Republican party became, in time and under stress + of war, the refuge of this sentiment and proved sufficiently far-sighted + to merge its identity temporarily in the composite Union party of 1864. + But in 1860 it was still a sectional party. Among its leaders Lincoln was + perhaps the only Unionist in the same sense as Bell and Everett. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the truest Unionists of the North, outside the Constitutional + Union Party, in 1860, were those Democrats in the following of Douglas + who, after fighting to the last ditch against both the sectional parties, + were to accept, in 1861, the alternative of war rather than dissolution. + The course of Douglas himself, as we shall see hereafter, showed that in + his mind there was a fixed limit of concession beyond which he could not + go. When circumstances forced him to that limit, the sentiment of Union + took control of him, swept aside his political jugglery, abolished his + time-serving, and drove him into cooperation with his bitterest foes that + the Union might be saved. Nor was the pure sentiment of Union confined to + the North and West. Though undoubtedly the sentiment of locality was more + powerful through the South, yet when the test came in the election of + 1860, the leading candidate of the upper South, in Virginia, Kentucky, and + Tennessee, was John Bell, the Constitutional Unionist. In every Southern + State this sentiment was able to command a considerable part of the vote.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *A possible exception was South Carolina. As the + presidential electors were appointed by the legislature, + there is no certain record of minority sentiment. +</pre> + <p> + Widely different in temper were those stern and resolute men whose + organization, in perfect fighting trim, faced eagerly the divided + Democrats. The Republicans had no division among themselves upon doctrine. + Such division as existed was due to the ordinary rivalry of political + leaders. In the opinion of all his enemies and of most Americans, Seward + was the Republican man of the hour. During much of 1859 he had discreetly + withdrawn from the country and had left to his partisans the conduct of + his campaign, which seems to have been going well when he returned in the + midst of the turmoil following the death of John Brown. Nevertheless he + was disturbed over his prospects, for he found that in many minds, both + North and South, he was looked upon as the ultimate cause of all the + turmoil. His famous speech on the "irrepressible conflict" was everywhere + quoted as an exultant prophecy of these terrible latter days. + </p> + <p> + It was long the custom to deny to Seward any good motive in a speech which + he now delivered, just as it was to deny Webster any good motive for his + famous 7th of March speech. But such criticism is now less frequent than + it used to be. Both men were seeking the Presidency; both, we may fairly + believe, were shocked by the turmoil of political currents; each tried + oiling the waters, and in the attempt each ruined his candidacy. Seward's + speech in condemnation of John Brown in February, 1860, was an appeal to + the conservative North against the radical North, and to many of his + followers it seemed a change of front. It certainly gained him no new + friends and it lost him some old ones, so that his star as a presidential + candidate began its decline. + </p> + <p> + The first ballot in the Republican convention surprised the country. Of + the votes, 233 were necessary for a choice. Seward had only 173 1/2. Next + to him, with 102 votes, stood none of the leading candidates, but the + comparatively obscure Lincoln. A gap of more than 50 votes separated + Lincoln from Cameron, Chase, and Bates. On the second ballot Seward gained + 11 votes, while Lincoln gained 79. The enemies of Seward, finding it + impossible to combine on any of the conspicuous candidates, were moving + toward Lincoln, the man with fewest enemies. The third ballot gave Lincoln + the nomination. + </p> + <p> + We have seen that one of the basal questions of the time was which new + political group should absorb the Whig remainder. The Constitutional Union + party aimed to accomplish this. The Republicans sought to out-maneuver + them. They made their platform as temperate as they could and yet + consistent with the maintenance of their opposition to Douglas and popular + sovereignty; and they went no further in their anti-slavery demands than + that the territories should be preserved for free labor. + </p> + <p> + Another basal question had been considered in the Republican platform. + Where would Northern capital stand in the reorganization of parties? Was + capital, like men, to become frankly sectional or would it remain + impersonal, careless how nations rose or fell, so long as dividends + continued? To some extent capital had given an answer. When, in the + excitement following the John Brown incident, a Southern newspaper + published a white list of New York merchants whose political views should + commend them to Southerners, and a black list of those who were + objectionable, many New Yorkers sought a place in the white list. Northern + capital had done its part in financing the revived slave trade. August + Belmont, the New York representative of the Rothschilds, was one of the + close allies of Davis, Yancey, and Benjamin in their war upon Douglas. In + a word, a great portion of Northern capital had its heart where its + investments were—in the South. But there was other capital which + obeyed the same law, and which had investments in the North; and with this + capital the Republicans had been trafficking. They had succeeded in + winning over the powerful manufacturing interests of Pennsylvania, the + pivotal State that had elected Buchanan in 1856. + </p> + <p> + The steps by which the new party of enthusiasm made its deal with the body + of capital which was not at one with Belmont and the Democrats are not + essential to the present narrative. Two facts suffice. In 1857 a great + collapse in American business—"the panic of fifty-seven"—led + the commercial world to turn to the party in power for some scheme of + redress. But their very principles, among which was non-intervention in + business, made the Democrats feeble doctors for such a need, and they + evaded the situation. The Republicans, with their insistence on positivism + in government, had therefore an opportunity to make a new application of + the doctrine of governmental aid to business. In the spring of 1860, the + Republican House of Representatives passed the Morrill tariff bill, + consideration of which was postponed by the Democratic Senate. But it + served its purpose: it was a Republican manifesto. The Republicans felt + that this bill, together with their party platform, gave the necessary + guarantee to the Pennsylvania manufacturers, and they therefore entered + the campaign confident they would carry Pennsylvania nor was their + confidence misplaced. + </p> + <p> + The campaign was characterized by three things: by an ominous quiet + coupled with great intensity of feeling; by the organization of huge party + societies in military form—"Wide-awakes" for Lincoln, numbering + 400,000, and "Minute Men" for Breckenridge, with a membership chiefly + Southern; and by the perfect frankness, in all parts of the South, of + threats of secession in case the Republicans won. + </p> + <p> + In none of the States which eventually seceded were any votes cast for + Lincoln, with the exception of a small number in Virginia. In almost all + the other Southern States and in the slave-holding border States, all the + other candidates made respectable showings. In Virginia, Tennessee, and + Kentucky, Bell led. But everywhere else in the other slave-holding States + Breckinridge led, excepting in Missouri where Douglas won by a few + hundred. Every free State except New Jersey went for Lincoln. And yet he + did not have a majority of the popular vote, which stood: Lincoln, + 1,866,459; Douglas, 1,376,957; Breckinridge, 849,781; Bell, 588,879*. The + majority against Lincoln was nearly a million. The distribution of the + votes was such that Lincoln had in the Electoral College, 180 electors; + Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Douglas, 12. In neither House of Congress did + the Republicans have a majority. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The figures of the popular vote are variously given by + different compilers. These are taken from Stanwood, "A + History of the Presidency". +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. SECESSION + </h2> + <p> + In tracing American history from 1854 to 1860 we cannot fail to observe + that it reduces itself chiefly to a problem in that science which + politicians understand so well—applied psychology. Definite types of + men moulded by the conditions of those days are the determining factors—not + the slavery question in itself; not, primarily, economic forces; not a + theory of government, nor a clash of theories; not any one thing; but the + fluid, changeful forces of human nature, battling with circumstances and + expressing themselves in the fashion of men's minds. To say this is to + acknowledge the fatefulness of sheer feeling. Davis described the + situation exactly when he said, in 1860, "A sectional hostility has been + substituted for a general fraternity." To his own question, "Where is the + remedy?" he gave the answer, "In the hearts of the people." There, after + all, is the conclusion of the whole matter. The strife between North and + South had ceased to be a thing of the head; it had become a thing of the + heart. Granted the emotions of 1860, the way in which our country + staggered into war has all the terrible fascination of a tragedy on the + theme of fate. + </p> + <p> + That a secession movement would begin somewhere in the South before the + end of 1860 was a foregone conclusion. South Carolina was the logical + place, and in South Carolina the inevitable occurred. The presidential + election was quickly followed by an election of delegates, on the 6th of + December, to consider in convention the relations of the State with the + Union. The arguments before the Convention were familiar and had been + advocated since 1851. The leaders of the disunionists were the same who + had led the unsuccessful movement of ten years before. The central figure + was Rhett, who never for a moment had wavered. Consumed his life long by + the one idea of the independence of South Carolina, that stern enthusiast + pressed on to a triumphant conclusion. The powers which had defeated him + in 1851 were now either silent or converted, so that there was practically + no opposition. In a burst of passionate zeal the independence of South + Carolina was proclaimed on December 20, 1860, by an ordinance of + secession. + </p> + <p> + Simultaneously, by one of those dramatic coincidences which make history + stranger than fiction, Lincoln took a step which supplemented this action + and established its tragic significance. What that step was will appear in + a moment. + </p> + <p> + Even before the secession began, various types of men in politics had + begun to do each after his kind. Those whom destiny drove first into a + corner were the lovers of political evasion. The issue was forced upon + them by the instantaneous demand of the people of South Carolina for + possession of forts in Charleston Harbor which were controlled by the + Federal Government. Anticipating such a demand, Major Robert Anderson, the + commandant at Charleston, had written to Buchanan on the 23d of November + that "Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney must be garrisoned immediately, if + the Government determines to keep command of this harbor." + </p> + <p> + In the mind of every American of the party of political evasion, there now + began a sad, internal conflict. Every one of them had to choose among + three courses: to shut his eyes and to continue to wail that the function + of government is to do nothing; to make an end of political evasion and to + come out frankly in approval of the Southern position; or to break with + his own record, to emerge from his evasions on the opposite side, and to + confess himself first and before all a supporter of the Union. One or + another of these three courses, sooner or later, every man of the + President's following chose. We shall see presently the relative strength + of the three groups into which that following broke and what strange + courses sometimes tragic, sometimes comic—two of the three pursued. + For the moment our concern is how the division manifested itself among the + heads of the party at Washington. + </p> + <p> + The President took the first of the three courses. He held it with the + nervous clutch of a weak nature until overmastered by two grim men who + gradually hypnotized his will. The turning-point for Buchanan, and the + last poor crisis in his inglorious career, came on Sunday, December 30th. + Before that day arrived, his vacillation had moved his friends to pity and + his enemies to scorn. One of his best friends wrote privately, "The + President is pale with fear"; and the hostile point of view found + expression in such comments as this, "Buchanan, it is said, divides his + time between praying and crying. Such a perfect imbecile never held office + before." + </p> + <p> + With the question what to do about the forts hanging over his bewildered + soul, Buchanan sent a message to Congress on December 4, 1860, in which he + sought to defend the traditional evasive policy of his party. He denied + the constitutional right of secession, but he was also denied his own + right to oppose such a course. Seward was not unfair to the mental caliber + of the message when he wrote to his wife that Buchanan showed + "conclusively that it is the duty of the President to execute the laws—unless + somebody opposes him; and that no State has a right to go out of the Union + unless it wants to." + </p> + <p> + This message of Buchanan's hastened the inevitable separation of the + Democratic party into its elements. The ablest Southern member of the + Cabinet, Cobb, resigned. He was too strong an intellect to continue the + policy of "nothing doing" now that the crisis had come. He was too devoted + a Southerner to come out of political evasion except on one side. On the + day Cobb resigned the South Carolina Representatives called on Buchanan + and asked him not to make any change in the disposition of troops at + Charleston, and particularly not to strengthen Sumter, a fortress on an + island in the midst of the harbor, without at least giving notice to the + state authorities. What was said in this interview was not put in writing + but was remembered afterward in different ways with unfortunate + consequences. + </p> + <p> + Every action of Buchanan in this fateful month continued the + disintegration of his following. Just as Cobb had to choose between his + reasonings as a Democratic party man and his feelings as a Southerner, so + the aged Cass, his Secretary of State, and an old personal friend, now + felt constrained to choose between his Democratic reasoning and his + Northern sympathies, and resigned from the Cabinet on the 11th of + December. Buchanan then turned instinctively to the strongest natures that + remained among his close associates. It is a compliment to the innate + force of Jeremiah S. Black, the Attorney-General, that Buchanan advanced + him to the post of Secretary of State and allowed him to name as his + successor in the Attorney-Generalship Edwin M. Stanton. Both were tried + Democrats of the old style, "let-'em-alone" sort; and both had supported + the President in his Kansas policy. But each, like every other member of + his party, was being forced by circumstances to make his choice among the + three inevitable courses, and each chose the Northern side. At once the + question of the moment was whether the new Secretary of State and his + powerful henchmen would hypnotize the President. + </p> + <p> + For a couple of weeks the issue hung in the balance. Then there appeared + at Washington commissioners from South Carolina "empowered to treat...for + the delivery of forts...and other real estate" held by the Federal + Government within their State. On the day following their arrival, + Buchanan was informed by telegraph that Anderson had dismantled Fort + Moultrie on the north side of the harbor, had spiked its guns, and had + removed its garrison to the island fortress, Sumter, which was supposed to + be far more defensible. At Charleston his action was interpreted as + preparation for war; and all South Carolinians saw in it a violation of a + pledge which they believed the President had given their congressmen, + three weeks previous, in that talk which had not been written down. + Greatly excited and fearful of designs against them, the South Carolina + commissioners held two conferences with the President on the 27th and 28th + of December. They believed that he had broken his word, and they told him + so. Deeply agitated and refusing to admit that he had committed himself at + the earlier conference, he said that Anderson had acted on his own + responsibility, but he refused to order him back to the now ruined Fort + Moultrie. One remark which he let fall has been remembered as evidence of + his querulous state of mind: "You are pressing me too importunately" + exclaimed the unhappy President; "you don't give me time to consider; you + don't give me time to say my prayers; I always say my prayers when + required to act upon any great state affair." One remembers Hampden + "seeking the Lord" about ship money, and one realizes that the same act + may have a vastly different significance in different temperaments. + </p> + <p> + Buchanan, however, was virtually ready to give way to the demand of the + commissioners. He drew up a paper to that effect and showed it to the + Cabinet. Then the turning-point came. In a painful interview, Black, long + one of his most trusted friends, told him of his intention to resign, and + that Stanton would go with him and probably also the Postmaster-General, + Holt. The idea of losing the support of these strong personalities + terrified Buchanan, who immediately fell into a panic. Handing Black the + paper he had drawn up, Buchanan begged him to retain office and to alter + the paper as he saw fit. To this Black agreed. The demand for the + surrender of the forts was refused; Anderson was not ordered back to + Moultrie; and for the brief remainder of Buchanan's administration Black + acted as prime minister. + </p> + <p> + A very powerful section of the Northern democracy, well typified by their + leaders at Washington, had thus emerged from political evasion on the + Northern side. These men, known afterwards as War Democrats, combined with + the Republicans to form the composite Union party which supported Lincoln. + It is significant that Stanton eventually reappeared in the Cabinet as + Lincoln's Secretary of War, and that along with him appeared another War + Democrat, Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy. With them, at + last, Douglas, the greatest of all the old Democrats of the North, took + his position. What became of the other factions of the old Democratic + party remains to be told. + </p> + <p> + While Buchanan, early in the month, was weeping over the pitilessness of + fate, more practical Northerners were grappling with the question of what + was to be done about the situation. In their thoughts they anticipated a + later statesman and realized that they were confronted by a condition and + not by a theory. Secession was at last a reality. Which course should they + take? + </p> + <p> + What strikes us most forcibly, as we look back upon that day, is the + widespread desire for peace. The abolitionists form a conspicuous example. + Their watchword was "Let the erring sisters go in peace." Wendell + Phillips, their most gifted orator, a master of spoken style at once + simple and melodious, declaimed splendidly against war. Garrison, in "The + Liberator", followed his example. Whittier put the same feeling into his + verse: + </p> + <p> + They break the links of Union; shall we light The flames of hell to weld + anew the chain On that red anvil where each blow is pain? + </p> + <p> + Horace Greeley said in an editorial in the "New York Tribune": "If the + cotton states shall decide that they can do better out of the Union than + in it, we shall insist on letting them go in peace. Whenever a + considerable section of our Union shall deliberately resolve to go out, we + shall resist all coercive measures designed to keep them in. We hope never + to live in a republic where one section is pinned to the residue by + bayonets." + </p> + <p> + The Democrats naturally clung to their traditions, and, even when they + went over, as Black and Stanton did, to the Anti-Southern group, they + still hoped that war would not be the result. Equally earnest against war + were most of the Republicans, though a few, to be sure, were ready to + swing the "Northern hammer." Summer prophesied that slavery would "go down + in blood." But the bulk of the Republicans were for a sectional + compromise, and among them there was general approbation of a scheme which + contemplated reviving the line of the Missouri Compromise, and thus + frankly admitting the existence of two distinct sections, and guaranteeing + to each the security of its own institutions. The greatest Republican boss + of that day, Thurlow Weed, came out in defense of this plan. + </p> + <p> + No power was arrayed more zealously on the side of peace of any kind than + the power of money. It was estimated that two hundred millions of dollars + were owed by Southerners to Northerners. War, it was reasoned, would cause + the cancellation of these obligations. To save their Southern accounts, + the moneyed interests of the North joined the extremists of Abolition in + pleading to let the erring sisters go in peace, if necessary, rather than + provoke them to war and the confiscation of debts. It was the dread of + such an outcome—which finally happened and ruined many Northern + firms—that caused the stock-market in New York to go up and down + with feverish uncertainty. Banks suspended payment in Washington, + Baltimore, and Philadelphia. The one important and all-engrossing thing in + the mind's eye of all the financial world at this moment was that specter + of unpaid Southern accounts. + </p> + <p> + At this juncture, Senator Crittenden of Kentucky submitted to the Senate a + plan which has been known ever since as the Crittenden Compromise. It was + similar to Weed's plan, but it also provided that the division of the + country on the Missouri Compromise line should be established by a + constitutional amendment, which would thus forever solidify sectionalism. + Those elements of the population generally called the conservative and the + responsible were delighted. Edward Everett wrote to Crittenden, "I saw + with great satisfaction your patriotic movement, and I wish from the + bottom of my heart it might succeed"; and August Belmont in a letter to + Crittenden spoke for the moneyed interest: "I have yet to meet the first + Union-loving man, in or out of politics, who does not approve your + compromise proposition...." + </p> + <p> + The Senate submitted the Compromise to a Committee of Thirteen. In this + committee the Southern leaders, Toombs and Davis, were both willing to + accept the Compromise, if a majority of the Republican members would + agree. Indeed, if the Republicans would agree to it, there seemed no + reason why a new understanding between the sections might not be reached, + and no reason why sectionalism, if accepted as the basis of the + government, might not solve the immediate problem and thus avert war. + </p> + <p> + In this crisis all eyes were turned to Seward, that conspicuous Republican + who was generally looked upon as the real head of his party. And Seward, + at that very moment, was debating whether to accept Lincoln's offer of the + Secretaryship of State, for he considered it vital to have an + understanding with Lincoln on the subject of the Compromise. He talked the + matter over with Weed, and they decided that Weed should go to Springfield + and come to terms with Lincoln. It was the interview between Weed and + Lincoln held, it seems, on the very day on which the Ordinance of + Secession was adopted—which gave to that day its double + significance. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln refused point-blank to accept the compromise and he put his + refusal in writing. The historic meaning of his refusal, and the + significance of his determination not to solve the problem of the hour by + accepting a dual system of government based on frankly sectional + assumptions, were probably, in a measure, lost on both Weed and Seward. + They had, however, no misunderstanding of its practical effect. This crude + Western lawyer had certain ideas from which he would not budge, and the + party would have to go along with him. Weed and Seward therefore promptly + fell into line, and Seward accepted the Secretaryship and came out in + opposition to the Compromise. Other Republicans with whom Lincoln had + communicated by letter made known his views, and Greeley announced them in + The Tribune. The outcome was the solid alignment of all the Republicans in + Congress against the Compromise. As a result, this last attempt to reunite + the sections came to nothing. + </p> + <p> + Not more than once or twice, if ever, in American history, has there been + such an anxious New Year's Day as that which ushered in 1861. A few days + before, a Republican Congressman had written to one of his constituents: + "The heavens are indeed black and an awful storm is gathering...I see no + way that either North or South can escape its fury." Events were indeed + moving fast toward disaster. The garrison at Sumter was in need of + supplies, and in the first week of the new year Buchanan attempted to + relieve its wants. But a merchant vessel, the Star of the West, by which + supplies were sent, was fired upon by the South Carolina authorities as it + approached the harbor and was compelled to turn back. This incident caused + the withdrawal from the Cabinet of the last opposition members—Thompson, + of Mississippi, the Secretary of the Interior, and Thomas, of Maryland, + the Secretary of the Treasury. In the course of the month five Southern + States followed South Carolina out of the Union, and their Senators and + Representatives resigned from the Congress of the United States. + </p> + <p> + The resignation of Jefferson Davis was communicated to the Senate in a + speech of farewell which even now holds the imagination of the student, + and which to the men of that day, with the Union crumbling around them, + seemed one of the most mournful and dramatic of orations. Davis possessed + a beautiful, melodious voice; he had a noble presence, tall, erect, spare, + even ascetic, with a flashing blue eye. He was deeply moved by the + occasion; his address was a requiem. That he withdrew in sorrow but with + fixed determination, no one who listened to him could doubt. Early in + February, the Southern Confederacy was formed with Davis as its + provisional President. With the prophetic vision of a logical mind, he saw + that war was inevitable, and he boldly proclaimed his vision. In various + speeches on his way South, he had assured the Southern people that war was + coming, and that it would be long and bloody. + </p> + <p> + The withdrawal of these Southern members threw the control of the House + into the hands of the Republicans. Their realization of their power was + expressed in two measures which also passed the Senate; Kansas was + admitted—as a State with an anti-slavery constitution; and the + Morrill tariff, which they had failed to pass the previous spring, now + became law. Thus the Republicans began redeeming their pledges to the + anti-slavery men on the one hand and to the commercial interest on the + other. The time had now arrived for the Republican nominee to proceed from + Springfield to Washington. The journey was circuitous in order to enable + Lincoln to speak at a number of places. Never before, probably, had the + Northern people felt such tense strain as at that moment; never had they + looked to an incoming President with such anxious doubt. Would he prevent + war? Or, if he could not do that, would he be able to extricate the + country—Heaven alone knew how!—without a terrible ordeal? + Since his election, Lincoln had remained quietly at Springfield. Though he + had influenced events through letters to Congressmen, his one conspicuous + action during that winter was the defeat of the Crittenden Compromise. The + Southern President had called upon his people to put their house in order + as preparation for war. What, now, had Lincoln to say to the people of the + North? + </p> + <p> + The biographers of Lincoln have not satisfactorily revealed the state of + his mind between election and inauguration. We may safely guess that his + silence covered a great internal struggle. Except for his one action in + defeating the Compromise, he had allowed events to drift; but by that one + action he had taken upon himself the responsibility for the drift. Though + the country at that time did not fully appreciate this aspect of the + situation, who now can doubt that Lincoln did? His mind was always a + lonely one. His very humor has in it, so often, the note of solitude, of + one who is laughing to make the best of things, of one who is spiritually + alone. During those months when the country drifted from its moorings, and + when war was becoming steadily more probable, Lincoln, after the manner of + the prophets, wrestled alone with the problems which he saw before him. + From the little we know of his inward state, it is hard for us to conclude + that he was happy. A story which is told by his former partner, Mr. + Herndon, seems significant. As Lincoln was leaving his unpretentious + law-office for the last time, he turned to Mr. Herndon and asked him not + to take down their old sign. "Let it hang there undisturbed," said he. + "Give our clients to understand that the election of a President makes no + difference in the firm.... If I live, I'm coming back some time, and then + we'll go right on practising law as if nothing had happened." + </p> + <p> + How far removed from self-sufficiency was the man whose thoughts, on the + eve of his elevation to the Presidency, lingered in a provincial law + office, fondly insistent that only death should prevent his returning some + time and resuming in those homely surroundings the life he had led + previous to his greatness. In a mood of wistfulness and of intense + preoccupation, he began his journey to Washington. It was not the mood + from which to strike fire and kindle hope. To the anxious, listening + country his speeches on the journey to Washington were disappointing. + Perhaps his strangely sensitive mind felt too powerfully the fatefulness + of the moment and reacted with a sort of lightness that did not really + represent the real man. Be that as it may, he was never less convincing + than at that time. Nor were people impressed by his bearing. Often he + appeared awkward, too much in appearance the country lawyer. He acted as a + man who was ill at ease and he spoke as a man who had nothing to say. + Gloom darkened the North as a consequence of these unfortunate speeches, + for they expressed an optimism which we cannot believe he really felt, and + which hurt him in the estimation of the country. "There is no crisis but + an artificial one," was one of his ill-timed assurances, and another, + "There is nothing going wrong.... There is nothing that really hurts any + one." Of his supporters some were discouraged; others were exasperated; + and an able but angry partisan even went so far as to write in a private + letter, "Lincoln is a Simple Susan." + </p> + <p> + The fourth of March arrived, and with it the end of Lincoln's blundering. + One good omen for the success of the new Administration was the presence + of Douglas on the inaugural platform. He had accepted fate, deeply as it + wounded him, and had come out of the shattered party of evasion on the + side of his section. For the purpose of showing his support of the + administration at this critical time, he had taken a place on the stand + where Lincoln was to speak. By one of those curious little dramatic + touches with which chance loves to embroider history, the presence of + Douglas became a gracious detail in the memory of the day. Lincoln, worn + and awkward, continued to hold his hat in his hand. Douglas, with the tact + born of social experience, stepped forward and took it from him without—exposing + Lincoln's embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + The inaugural address which Lincoln now pronounced had little similarity + to those unfortunate utterances which he had made on the journey to + Washington. The cloud that had been over him, whatever it was, had lifted. + Lincoln was ready for his great labor. The inaugural contained three main + propositions. Lincoln pledged himself not to interfere directly or + indirectly with slavery in the States where it then existed; he promised + to support the enforcement of the fugitive slave law; and he declared he + would maintain the Union. "No State," said he, "upon its own mere motion + can lawfully get out of the Union.... To the extent of my ability I shall + take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the + laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.... In doing + this, there need be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, + unless it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me + will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places + belonging to the government." Addressing the Southerners, he said: "In + your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the + momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you.... We + are not enemies but friends.... The mystic cords of memory, stretching + from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and + hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the + Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of + our nature." + </p> + <p> + Gentle, as was the phrasing of the inaugural, it was perfectly firm, and + it outlined a policy which the South would not accept, and which, in the + opinion of the Southern leaders, brought them a step nearer war. Wall + Street held the same belief, and as a consequence the price of stocks + fell. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. WAR + </h2> + <p> + On the day following the inauguration, commissioners of the newly formed + Confederacy appeared at Washington and applied to the Secretary of State + for recognition as envoys of a foreign power. Seward refused them such + recognition. But he entered into a private negotiation with them which is + nearly, if not quite, the strangest thing in our history. Virtually, + Seward intrigued against Lincoln for control of the Administration. The + events of the next five weeks have an importance out of all proportion to + the brevity of the time. This was Lincoln's period of final probation. The + psychological intensity of this episode grew from the consciousness in + every mind that now, irretrievably, destiny was to be determined. War or + peace, happiness or adversity, one nation or two—all these were in + the balance. Lincoln entered the episode a doubtful quantity, not with + certainty the master even in his own Cabinet. He emerged dominating the + situation, but committed to the terrible course of war. + </p> + <p> + One cannot enter upon this great episode, truly the turning point in + American history, without pausing for a glance at the character of Seward. + The subject is elusive. His ablest biographer* plainly is so constantly on + guard not to appear an apologist that he ends by reducing his portrait to + a mere outline, wavering across a background of political details. The + most recent study of Seward** surely reveals between the lines the + doubtfulness of the author about pushing his points home. The different + sides of the man are hard to reconcile. Now he seemed frank and honest; + again subtle and insincere. As an active politician in the narrow sense, + he should have been sagacious and astute, yet he displayed at the crisis + of his life the most absolute fatuity. At times he had a buoyant and + puerile way of disregarding fact and enveloping himself in a world of his + own imagining. He could bluster, when he wished, like any demagogue; and + yet he could be persuasive, agreeable, and even personally charming. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *Frederic Bancroft, "Life of William H. Seward". + + ** Gamaliel Bradford, "Union Portraits". +</pre> + <p> + But of one thing with regard to Seward, in the first week of March, 1861, + there can be no doubt: he thought himself a great statesman—and he + thought Lincoln "a Simple Susan." He conceived his role in the new + administration to involve a subtle and patient manipulation of his + childlike superior. That Lincoln would gradually yield to his spell and + insensibly become his figurehead; that he, Seward, could save the country + and would go down to history a statesman above compare, he took for + granted. Nor can he fairly be called conceited, either; that is part of + his singularity. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln's Cabinet was, as Seward said, a compound body. With a view to + strengthening his position, Lincoln had appointed to cabinet positions all + his former rivals for the Republican nomination. Besides Seward, there was + Chase as Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania as + Secretary of War; Edward Bates of Missouri as Attorney-General. The + appointment of Montgomery Blair of Maryland as Postmaster-General was + intended to placate the border Slave States. The same motive dictated the + later inclusion of James Speed of Kentucky in the Cabinet. The + Black-Stanton wing of the Democrats was represented in the Navy Department + by Gideon Welles, and in course of time in the War Department also, when + Cameron resigned and Stanton succeeded him. The West of that day was + represented by Caleb B. Smith of Indiana. + </p> + <p> + Seward disapproved of the composition of the Cabinet so much that, almost + at the last moment, he withdrew his acceptance of the State Department. It + was Lincoln's gentleness of argument which overcame his reluctance to + serve. We may be sure, however, that Seward failed to observe that + Lincoln's tactlessness in social matters did not extend to his management + of men in politics; we may feel sure that what remained in his mind was + Lincoln's unwillingness to enter office without William Henry Seward as + Secretary of State. + </p> + <p> + The promptness with which Seward assumed the role of prime minister bears + out this inference. The same fact also reveals a puzzling detail of + Seward's character which amounted to obtuseness—his forgetfulness + that appointment to cabinet offices had not transformed his old political + rivals Chase and Cameron, nor softened the feelings of an inveterate + political enemy, Welles, the Secretary of the Navy. The impression which + Seward made on his colleagues in the first days of the new Government has + been thus sharply recorded by Welles: "The Secretary of State was, of + course, apprised of every meeting [of ministers] and never failed in his + attendance, whatever was the subject-matter, and though entirely out of + his official province. He was vigilantly attentive to every measure and + movement in other Departments, however trivial—as much so as to his + own—watched and scrutinized every appointment that was made, or + proposed to be made, but was not communicative in regard to the + transaction of the State Department." So eager was Seward to keep all the + threads of affairs in his own hands that he tried to persuade Lincoln not + to hold cabinet meetings but merely to consult with particular ministers, + and with the Secretary of State, as occasion might demand. A combined + protest from the other Secretaries, however, caused the regular holding of + Cabinet meetings. + </p> + <p> + With regard to the Confederacy, Seward's policy was one of non-resistance. + For this he had two reasons. The first of these was his rooted delusion + that the bulk of the Southerners were opposed to secession and, if let + alone, would force their leaders to reconsider their action. He might have + quoted the nursery rhyme, "Let them alone and they'll come home"; it would + have been like him and in tune with a frivolous side of his nature. He was + quite as irresponsible when he complacently assured the North that the + trouble would all blow over within ninety days. He also believed that any + display of force would convert these hypothetical Unionists of the South + from friends to enemies and would consolidate opinion in the Confederacy + to produce war. In justice to Seward it must be remembered that on this + point time justified his fears. + </p> + <p> + His dealings with the Confederate commissioners show that he was playing + to gain time, not with intent to deceive the Southerners but to acquire + that domination over Lincoln which he felt was his by natural right. + Intending to institute a peace policy the moment he gained this + ascendency, he felt perfectly safe in making promises to the commissioners + through mutual friends. He virtually told them that Sumter would + eventually be given up and that all they need do was to wait. + </p> + <p> + Seward brought to bear upon the President the opinions of various military + men who thought the time had passed when any expedition for the relief of + Sumter could succeed. For some time Lincoln seemed about to consent, + though reluctantly, to Seward's lead in the matter of the forts. He was + pulled up standing, however, by the threatened resignation of the + Postmaster-General, Blair. After a conference with leading Republican + politicians the President announced to his Cabinet that his policy would + include the relief of Sumter. "Seward," says Welles, "...was evidently + displeased." + </p> + <p> + Seward now took a new tack. Fort Pickens, at Pensacola, was a problem + similar to that of Sumter at Charleston. Both were demanded by the + Confederates, and both were in need of supplies. But Fort Pickens lay to + one side, so to speak, of the public mind, and there was not conspicuously + in the world's eye the square issue over it that there was over Sumter. + Seward conceived the idea that, if the President's attention were diverted + from Sumter to Pickens and a relief expedition were sent to the latter but + none to the former, his private negotiations with the Confederates might + still be kept going; Lincoln might yet be hypnotized; and at last all + would be well. + </p> + <p> + On All-Fools' Day, 1861, in the midst of a press of business, he obtained + Lincoln's signature to some dispatches, which Lincoln, it seems, discussed + with him hurriedly and without detailed consideration. There were now in + preparation two relief expeditions, one to carry supplies to Pensacola, + the other to Charleston. Neither was to fight if it was not molested. Both + were to be strong enough to fight if their commanders deemed it necessary. + As flagship of the Charleston expedition, Welles had detailed the powerful + warship Powhatan, which was rapidly being made ready at the Brooklyn Navy + Yard. Such was the situation as Welles understood it when he was thinking + of bed late on the night of the 6th of April. Until then he had not + suspected that there was doubt and bewilderment about the Powhatan at + Brooklyn. One of those dispatches which Lincoln had so hastily signed + provided for detaching the Powhatan from the Charleston expedition and + sending it safe out of harm's way to Pensacola. The commander of the ship + had before him the conflicting orders, one from the President, one from + the Secretary of the Navy. He was about to sail under the President's + orders for Pensacola; but wishing to make sure of his authority, he had + telegraphed to Washington. Gideon Welles was a pugnacious man. His dislike + for Seward was deepseated. Imagine his state of mind when it was + accidently revealed to him that Seward had gone behind his back and had + issued to naval officers orders which were contradictory to his own! The + immediate result was an interview that same night between Seward and + Welles in which, as Welles coldly admitted in after days, the Secretary of + the Navy showed "some excitement." Together they went, about midnight, to + the White House. Lincoln had some difficulty recalling the incident of the + dispatch on the 1st of April; but when he did remember, he took the + responsibility entirely upon himself, saying he had had no purpose but to + strengthen the Pickens expedition, and no thought of weakening the + expedition to Charleston. He directed Seward to telegraph immediately + cancelling the order detaching the Powhatan. Seward made a desperate + attempt to put him off, protesting, it was too late to send a telegram + that night. "But the President was imperative," writes Secretary Welles, + in describing the incident, and a dispatch was sent. + </p> + <p> + Seward then, doubtless in his agitation, did a strange thing. Instead of + telegraphing in the President's name, the dispatch which he sent read + merely, "Give up the Powhatan...Seward." When this dispatch was received + at Brooklyn, the Powhatan was already under way and had to be overtaken by + a fast tug. In the eyes of her commander, however, a personal telegram + from the Secretary of State appeared as of no weight against the official + orders of the President, and he continued his voyage to Pensacola. + </p> + <p> + The mercurial temper of Seward comes out even in the caustic narrative + written afterwards by Welles. Evidently Seward was deeply mortified and + depressed by the incident. He remarked, says Welles, that old as he was he + had learned a lesson, and that was that he had better attend to his own + business. "To this," commented his enemy, "I cordially assented." + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless Seward's loss of faith in himself was only momentary. A + night's sleep was sufficient to restore it. His next communication to the + commissioners shows that he was himself again, sure that destiny owed him + the control of the situation. On the following day the commissioners had + got wind of the relief expedition and pressed him for information, + recalling his assurance that nothing would be done to their disadvantage. + In reply, still through a third person, Seward sent them the famous + message, over the precise meaning of which great debate has raged: "Faith + as to Sumter fully kept; wait and see." If this infatuated dreamer still + believed he could dominate Lincoln, still hoped at the last moment to + arrest the expedition to Charleston, he was doomed to bitterest + disappointment. + </p> + <p> + On the 9th of April, the expedition to Fort Sumter sailed, but without, as + we have seen, the assistance of the much needed warship, the Powhatan. As + all the world knows, the expedition had been too long delayed and it + accomplished nothing. Before it arrived, the surrender of Sumter had been + demanded and refused—and war had begun. During the bombardment of + Sumter, the relief expedition appeared beyond the bar, but its commander + had no vessels of such a character as to enable him to carry aid to the + fortress. Furthermore, he had not been informed that the Powhatan had been + detached from his squadron, and he expected to meet her at the mouth of + the harbor. There his ships lay idle until the fort was surrendered, + waiting for the Powhatan—for whose detachment from the squadron + Seward was responsible. + </p> + <p> + To return to the world of intrigue at Washington, however, it must not be + supposed, as is so often done, that Fort Sumter was the one concern of the + new government during its first six weeks. In fact, the subject occupied + but a fraction of Lincoln's time. Scarcely second in importance was that + matter so curiously bound up with the relief of the forts—the + getting in hand of the strangely vain glorious Secretary of State. Mention + has already been made of All-Fools' Day, 1861. Several marvelous things + took place on that day. Strangest of all was the presentation of a paper + by the Secretary of State to his chief, entitled "Thoughts for the + President's Consideration". Whether it be regarded as a state paper or as + a biographical detail in the career of Seward, it proves to be quite the + most astounding thing in the whole episode. The "Thoughts" outlined a + course of policy by which the buoyant Secretary intended to make good his + prophecy of domestic peace within ninety days. Besides calmly patronizing + Lincoln, assuring him that his lack of "a policy either domestic or + foreign" was "not culpable and... even unavoidable," the paper warned him + that "policies...both domestic and foreign" must immediately be adopted, + and it proceeded to point out what they ought to be. Briefly stated, the + one true policy which he advocated at home was to evacuate Sumter (though + Pickens for some unexplained reason might be safely retained) and then, in + order to bring the Southerners back into the Union, to pick quarrels with + both Spain and France; to proceed as quickly as possible to war with both + powers; and to have the ultimate satisfaction of beholding the reunion of + the country through the general enthusiasm that was bound to come. + Finally, the paper intimated that the Secretary of State was the man to + carry this project through to success. + </p> + <p> + All this is not opera bouffe, but serious history. It must have taxed + Lincoln's sense of humor and strained his sense of the fitness of things + to treat such nonsense with the tactful forbearance which he showed and to + relegate it to the pigeonhole without making Seward angry. Yet this he + contrived to do; and he also managed, gently but firmly, to make it plain + that the President intended to exercise his authority as the chief + magistrate of the nation. His forbearance was further shown in passing + over without rebuke Seward's part in the affair of Sumter, which might so + easily have been made to appear treacherous, and in shouldering himself + with all responsibility for the failure of the Charleston expedition. In + the wave of excitement following the surrender, even so debonair a + minister as Seward must have realized how fortunate it was for him that + his chief did not tell all he knew. About this time Seward began to + perceive that Lincoln had a will of his own, and that it was not safe to + trifle further with the President. Seward thereupon ceased his + interference. + </p> + <p> + It was in the dark days preceding the fall of Sumter that a crowd of + office-seekers gathered at Washington, most of them men who had little + interest in anything but the spoils. It is a distressing commentary on the + American party system that, during the most critical month of the most + critical period of American history, much of the President's time was + consumed by these political vampires who would not be put off, even though + a revolution was in progress and nations, perhaps, were dying and being + born. "The scramble for office," wrote Stanton, "is terrible." Seward + noted privately: "Solicitants for office besiege the President.... My + duties call me to the White House two or three times a day. The grounds, + halls, stairways, closets, are filled with applicants who render ingress + and egress difficult." + </p> + <p> + Secretary Welles has etched the Washington of that time in his coldly + scornful way: + </p> + <p> + "A strange state of things existed at that time in Washington. The + atmosphere was thick with treason. Party spirit and old party differences + prevailed, however, amidst these accumulated dangers. Secession was + considered by most persons as a political party question, not as + rebellion. Democrats to a large extent sympathized with the Rebels more + than with the Administration, which they opposed, not that they wished + Secession to be successful and the Union divided, but they hoped that + President Lincoln and the Republicans would, overwhelmed by obstacles and + embarrassments, prove failures. The Republicans on the other hand, were + scarcely less partisan and unreasonable. Patriotism was with them no test, + no shield from party malevolence. They demanded the proscription and + exclusion of such Democrats as opposed the Rebel movement and clung to the + Union, with the same vehemence that they demanded the removal of the worst + Rebels who advocated a dissolution of the Union. Neither party appeared to + be apprehensive of, or to realize the gathering storm." + </p> + <p> + Seen against such a background, the political and diplomatic frivolity of + the Secretary of State is not so inexplicable as it would otherwise be. + This background, as well as the intrigue of the Secretary, helps us to + understand Lincoln's great task inside his Cabinet. At first the Cabinet + was a group of jealous politicians new to this sort of office, drawn from + different parties, and totally lacking in a cordial sense of previous + action together. None of them, probably, when they first assembled had any + high opinion of their titular head. He was looked upon as a political + makeshift. The best of them had to learn to appreciate the fact that this + strange, ungainly man, sprung from plainest origin, without formal + education, was a great genius. By degrees, however, the large minds in the + Cabinet became his cordial admirers. While Lincoln was quietly, gradually + exercising his strong will upon Seward, he was doing the same with the + other members of his council. Presently they awoke—the majority of + them at least—to the truth that he, for all his odd ways, was their + master. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the gradual readjustment of all factions in the North was + steadily going forward. The Republicans were falling into line behind the + Government; and by degrees the distinction between Seward and Lincoln, in + the popular mind, faded into a sort of composite picture called "the + Administration." Lincoln had the reward of his long forbearance with his + Secretary. For Seward it must be said that, however he had intrigued + against his chief at Washington, he did not intrigue with the country. + Admitting as he had, too, that he had met his master, he took the defeat + as a good sportsman and threw all his vast party influence into the scale + for Lincoln's fortunes. Thus, as April wore on, the Republican party + settled down to the idea that it was to follow the Government at + Washington upon any course that might develop. + </p> + <p> + The Democrats in the North were anti-Southern in larger proportion, + probably, than at any other time during the struggle of the sections. We + have seen that numbers of them had frankly declared for the Union. + Politics had proved weaker than propinquity. There was a moment when it + seemed—delusively, as events proved—that the North was united + as one man to oppose the South. + </p> + <p> + There is surely not another day in our history that has witnessed so much + nervous tension as Saturday, April 13, 1861, for on that morning the + newspapers electrified the North with the news that Sumter had been fired + on from Confederate batteries on the shore of Charleston Harbor. In the + South the issue was awaited confidently, but many minds at least were in + that state of awed suspense natural to a moment which the thoughtful see + is the stroke of fate. In the North, the day passed for the most part in a + quiet so breathless that even the most careless could have foretold the + storm which broke on the following day. The account of this crisis which + has been given by Lincoln's private secretary is interesting: + </p> + <p> + "That day there was little change in the business routine of the Executive + office. Mr. Lincoln was never liable to sudden excitement or sudden + activity.... So while the Sumter telegrams were on every tongue...leading + men and officials called to learn or impart the news. The Cabinet, as by + common impulse, came together and deliberated. All talk, however, was + brief, sententious, formal. Lincoln said but little beyond making + inquiries about the current reports and criticizing the probability or + accuracy of their details, and went on as usual receiving visitors, + listening to suggestions, and signing routine papers throughout the day." + Meanwhile the cannon were booming at Charleston. The people came out on + the sea-front of the lovely old city and watched the duel of the cannon + far down the harbor, and spoke joyously of the great event. They saw the + shells of the shore batteries ignite portions of the fortress on the + island. They watched the fire of the defenders—driven by the flames + into a restricted area—slacken and cease. At last the flag of the + Union fluttered down from above Fort Sumter. + </p> + <p> + When the news flashed over the North, early Sunday morning, April 14th, + the tension broke. For many observers then and afterward, the only North + discernible that fateful Sabbath was an enraged, defiant, impulsive + nation, forgetful for the moment of all its differences, and uniting all + its voices in one hoarse cry for vengeance. There seemed to be no other + thought. Lincoln gave it formal utterance, that same day, by assembling + his Cabinet and drawing up a proclamation which called for 75,000 + volunteer troops. + </p> + <p> + An incident of this day which is as significant historically as any other + was on the surface no more than a friendly talk between two men. Douglas + called at the White House. For nearly two hours he and Lincoln conferred + in private. Hitherto it had been a little uncertain what course Douglas + was going to take. In the Senate, though condemning disunion, he had + opposed war. Few matters can have troubled Lincoln more deeply than the + question which way Douglas's immense influence would be thrown. The + question was answered publicly in the newspapers of Monday, April 15th. + Douglas announced that while he was still "unalterably opposed to the + Administration on all its political issues, he was prepared to sustain the + President in the exercise of all his constitutional functions to preserve + the Union, and maintain the Government, and defend the federal capital." + </p> + <p> + There remained of Douglas's life but a few months. The time was filled + with earnest speechmaking in support of the Government. He had started + West directly following his conference with Lincoln. His speeches in Ohio, + Indiana, Illinois, were perhaps the greatest single force in breaking up + his own following, putting an end to the principle of doing nothing, and + forcing every Democrat to come out and show his colors. In Shakespeare's + phrase, it was—"Under which king, Bezonian? speak or die!" In + Douglas's own phrase: "There can be no neutrals in this war; ONLY PATRIOTS—OR + TRAITORS." + </p> + <p> + Side by side with Douglas's manifesto to the Democrats there appeared in + the Monday papers Lincoln's call for volunteers. The militia of several + Northern States at once responded. + </p> + <p> + On Wednesday, the 17th of April, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment + entrained for Washington. Two days later it was in Baltimore. There it was + attacked by a mob; the soldiers fired; and a number of civilians were + killed as well as several soldiers. + </p> + <p> + These shots at Baltimore aroused the Southern party in Maryland. Led by + the Mayor of the city, they resolved to prevent the passage of other + troops across their State to Washington. Railway tracks were torn up by + order of the municipal authorities, and bridges were burnt. The telegraph + was cut. As in a flash, after issuing his proclamation, Lincoln found + himself isolated at Washington with no force but a handful of troops and + the government clerks. And while Maryland rose against him on one side, + Virginia joined his enemies on the other. The day the Sixth Massachusetts + left Boston, Virginia seceded. The Virginia militia were called to their + colors. Preparations were at once set on foot for the seizure of the great + federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry and the Navy Yard at Norfolk. The next + day a handful of federal troops, fearful of being overpowered at Harper's + Ferry, burned the arsenal and withdrew to Washington. For the same reason + the buildings of the great Navy Yard were blown up or set on fire, and the + ships at anchor were sunk. So desperate and unprepared were the Washington + authorities that they took these extreme measures to keep arms and + ammunition out of the hands of the Virginians. So hastily was the + destruction carried out, that it was only partially successful and at both + places large stores of ammunition were seized by the Virginia troops. + While Washington was isolated, and Lincoln did not know what response the + North had made to his proclamation, Robert E. Lee, having resigned his + commission in the federal army, was placed in command of the Virginia + troops. + </p> + <p> + The secretaries of Lincoln have preserved a picture of his desperate + anxiety, waiting, day after day, for relief from the North which he hoped + would speedily come by sea. Outwardly he maintained his self-control. But + once, on the afternoon of the 23d, the business of the day being over, the + Executive office being deserted, after walking the floor alone in silent + thought for nearly half an hour, he stopped and gazed long and wistfully + out of the window down the Potomac in the direction of the expected ships; + and, unconscious of other presence in the room, at length broke out with + irrepressible anguish in the repeated exclamation, "Why don't they come! + Why don't they come!" + </p> + <p> + During these days of isolation, when Washington, with the telegraph + inoperative, was kept in an appalling uncertainty, the North rose. There + was literally a rush to volunteer. "The heather is on fire," wrote George + Ticknor, "I never before knew what a popular excitement can be." As fast + as possible militia were hurried South. The crack New York regiment, the + famous, dandified Seventh, started for the front amid probably the most + tempestuous ovation which until that time was ever given to a military + organization in America. Of the march of the regiment down Broadway, one + of its members wrote, "Only one who passed as we did, through the tempest + of cheers two miles long, can know the terrible enthusiasm of the + occasion." + </p> + <p> + To reach Washington by rail was impossible. The Seventh went by boat to + Annapolis. The same course was taken by a regiment of Massachusetts + mechanics, the Eighth. Landing at Annapolis, the two regiments, dandies + and laborers, fraternized at once in the common bond of loyalty to the + Union. A branch railway led from Annapolis to the main line between + Washington and Baltimore. The rails had been torn up. The Massachusetts + mechanics set to work to relay them. The Governor of Maryland protested. + He was disregarded. The two regiments toiled together a long day and + through the night following, between Annapolis and the Washington + junction, bringing on their baggage and cannon over relaid tracks. There, + a train was found which the Seventh appropriated. At noon, on the 25th of + April, that advance guard of the Northern hosts entered Washington, and + Lincoln knew that he had armies behind him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. LINCOLN + </h2> + <p> + The history of the North had virtually become, by April, 1861, the history + of Lincoln himself, and during the remaining four years of the President's + life it is difficult to separate his personality from the trend of + national history. Any attempt to understand the achievements and the + omissions of the Northern people without undertaking an intelligent + estimate of their leader would be only to duplicate the story of "Hamlet" + with Hamlet left out. According to the opinion of English military + experts*, "Against the great military genius of certain Southern leaders + fate opposed the unbroken resolution and passionate devotion to the Union, + which he worshiped, of the great Northern President. As long as he lived + and ruled the people of the North, there could be no turning back." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Wood and Edmonds. "The Civil War in the United States." +</pre> + <p> + Lincoln has been ranked with Socrates; but he has also been compared with + Rabelais. He has been the target of abuse that knew no mercy; but he has + been worshiped as a demigod. The ten big volumes of his official biography + are a sustained, intemperate eulogy in which the hero does nothing that is + not admirable; but as large a book could be built up out of + contemporaneous Northern writings that would paint a picture of + unmitigated blackness—and the most eloquent portions of it would be + signed by Wendell Phillips. + </p> + <p> + The real Lincoln is, of course, neither the Lincoln of the official + biography nor the Lincoln of Wendell Phillips. He was neither a saint nor + a villain. What he actually was is not, however, so easily stated. + Prodigious men are never easy to sum up; and Lincoln was a prodigious man. + The more one studies him, the more individual he appears to be. By degrees + one comes to understand how it was possible for contemporaries to hold + contradictory views of him and for each to believe frantically that his + views were proved by facts. For anyone who thinks he can hit off in a few + neat generalities this complex, extraordinary personality, a single + warning may suffice. Walt Whitman, who was perhaps the most original + thinker and the most acute observer who ever saw Lincoln face to face has + left us his impression; but he adds that there was something in Lincoln's + face which defied description and which no picture had caught. After + Whitman's conclusion that "One of the great portrait painters of two or + three hundred years ago is needed," the mere historian should proceed with + caution. + </p> + <p> + There is historic significance in his very appearance. His huge, + loose-knit figure, six feet four inches high, lean, muscular, ungainly, + the evidence of his great physical strength, was a fit symbol of those + hard workers, the children of the soil, from whom he sprang. His face was + rugged like his figure, the complexion swarthy, cheek bones high, and + bushy black hair crowning a great forehead beneath which the eyes were + deep-set, gray, and dreaming. A sort of shambling powerfulness formed the + main suggestion of face and figure, softened strangely by the mysterious + expression of the eyes, and by the singular delicacy of the skin. The + motions of this awkward giant lacked grace; the top hat and black frock + coat, sometimes rusty, which had served him on the western circuit + continued to serve him when he was virtually the dictator of his country. + It was in such dress that he visited the army, where he towered above his + generals. + </p> + <p> + Even in a book of restricted scope, such as this, one must insist upon the + distinction between the private and public Lincoln, for there is as yet no + accepted conception of him. What comes nearest to an accepted conception + is contained probably in the version of the late Charles Francis Adams. He + tells us how his father, the elder Charles Francis Adams, ambassador to + London, found Lincoln in 1861 an offensive personality, and he insists + that Lincoln under strain passed through a transformation which made the + Lincoln of 1864 a different man from the Lincoln of 1861. Perhaps; but + without being frivolous, one is tempted to quote certain old-fashioned + American papers that used to label their news items "important if true." + </p> + <p> + What then, was the public Lincoln? What explains his vast success? As a + force in American history, what does he count for? Perhaps the most + significant detail in an answer to these questions is the fact that he had + never held conspicuous public office until at the age of fifty-two he + became President. Psychologically his place is in that small group of + great geniuses whose whole significant period lies in what we commonly + think of as the decline of life. There are several such in history: Rome + had Caesar; America had both Lincoln and Lee. By contrasting these + instances with those of the other type, the egoistic geniuses such as + Alexander or Napoleon, we become aware of some dim but profound dividing + line separating the two groups. The theory that genius, at bottom, is pure + energy seems to fit Napoleon; but does it fit these other minds who appear + to meet life with a certain indifference, with a carelessness of their own + fate, a willingness to leave much to chance? That irresistible passion for + authority which Napoleon had is lacking in these others. Their basal + inspiration seems to resemble the impulse of the artist to express, rather + than the impulse of the man of action to possess. Had it not been for + secession, Lee would probably have ended his days as an exemplary + superintendent of West Point. And what of Lincoln? He dabbled in politics, + early and without success; he left politics for the law, and to the law he + gave during many years his chief devotion. But the fortuitous break-up of + parties, with the revival of the slavery issue, touched some hidden + spring; the able provincial lawyer felt again the political impulse; he + became a famous maker of political phrases; and on this literary basis he + became the leader of a party. + </p> + <p> + Too little attention has been paid to this progression of Lincoln through + literature into politics. The ease with which he drifted from one to the + other is also still to be evaluated. Did it show a certain slackness, a + certain aimlessness, at the bottom of his nature? Had it, in a way, some + sort of analogy—to compare homespun with things Olympian—to + the vein of frivolity in the great Caesar? One is tempted to think so. + Surely, here was one of those natures which need circumstance to compel + them to greatness and which are not foredoomed, Napoleon-like, to seize + greatness. Without encroaching upon the biographical task, one may borrow + from biography this insistent echo: the anecdotes of Lincoln sound over + and over the note of easy-going good nature; but there is to be found in + many of the Lincoln anecdotes an overtone of melancholy which lingers + after one's impression of his good nature. Quite naturally, in such a + biographical atmosphere, we find ourselves thinking of him at first as a + little too good-humored, a little too easy-going, a little prone to fall + into reverie. We are not surprised when we find his favorite poem + beginning "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud." + </p> + <p> + This enigmatical man became President in his fifty-second year. We have + already seen that his next period, the winter of 1860-61, has its + biographical problems. The impression which he made on the country as + President-elect was distinctly unfavorable. Good humor, or opportunism, or + what you will, brought together in Lincoln's Cabinet at least three men + more conspicuous in the ordinary sense than he was himself. We forget, + today, how insignificant he must have seemed in a Cabinet that embraced + Seward, Cameron, and Chase—all large national figures. What would + not history give for a page of self-revelation showing us how he felt in + the early days of that company! Was he troubled? Did he doubt his ability + to hold his own? Was he fatalistic? Was his sad smile his refuge? Did he + merely put things by, ignoring tomorrow until tomorrow should arrive? + </p> + <p> + However we may guess at the answers to such questions, one thing now + becomes certain. His quality of good humor began to be his salvation. It + is doubtful if any President except Washington had to manage so difficult + a Cabinet. Washington had seen no solution to the problem but to let + Jefferson go. Lincoln found his Cabinet often on the verge of a split, + with two powerful factions struggling to control it and neither ever + gaining full control. Though there were numerous withdrawals, no resigning + secretary really split Lincoln's Cabinet. By what turns and twists and + skillful maneuvers Lincoln prevented such a division and kept such + inveterate enemies as Chase and Seward steadily at their jobs—Chase + during three years, Seward to the end—will partly appear in the + following pages; but the whole delicate achievement cannot be properly + appreciated except in detailed biography. + </p> + <p> + All criticism of Lincoln turns eventually on one question: Was he an + opportunist? Not only his enemies in his own time but many politicians of + a later day were eager to prove that he was the latter—indeed, + seeking to shelter their own opportunism behind the majesty of his + example. A modern instance will perhaps make vivid this long standing + debate upon Lincoln and his motives. Merely for historic illumination and + without becoming invidious, we may recall the instance of President Wilson + and the resignation of his Secretary of War in 1916 because Congress would + not meet the issue of preparedness. The President accepted the resignation + without forcing the issue, and Congress went on fiddling while Rome + burned. Now, was the President an opportunist, merely waiting to see what + course events would take, or was he a political strategist, astutely + biding his time? Similar in character is this old debate upon Lincoln, + which is perhaps best focussed in the removal of Secretary Blair which we + shall have to note in connection with the election of 1864. + </p> + <p> + It is difficult for the most objective historian to deal with such + questions without obtruding his personal views, but there is nothing + merely individual in recording the fact that the steady drift of opinion + has been away from the conception of Lincoln as an opportunist. What once + caused him to be thus conceived appears now to have been a failure to + comprehend intelligently the nature of his undertaking. More and more, the + tendency nowadays is to conceive his career as one of those few instances + in which the precise faculties needed to solve a particular problem were + called into play at exactly the critical moment. Our confusions with + regard to Lincoln have grown out of our failure to appreciate the + singularity of the American people, and their ultra-singularity during the + years in which he lived. It remains to be seen hereafter what strange + elements of sensibility, of waywardness, of lack of imagination, of + undisciplined ardor, of selfishness, of deceitfulness, of treachery, + combined with heroic ideality, made up the character of that complex + populace which it was Lincoln's task to control. But he did more than + control it: he somehow compounded much of it into something like a unit. + To measure Lincoln's achievement in this respect, two things must be + remembered: on the one hand, his task was not as arduous as it might have + been, because the most intellectual part of the North had definitely + committed itself either irretrievably for, or irreconcilably against, his + policy. Lincoln, therefore, did not have to trouble himself with this + portion of the population. On the other hand, that part which he had to + master included such emotional rhetoricians as Horace Greeley; such fierce + zealots as Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, who made him trouble indeed, + and Benjamin Wade, whom we have met already; such military egoists as + McClellan and Pope; such crafty double-dealers as his own Secretary of the + Treasury; such astute grafters as Cameron; such miserable creatures as + certain powerful capitalists who sacrificed his army to their own lust for + profits filched from army contracts. + </p> + <p> + The wonder of Lincoln's achievement is that he contrived at last to extend + his hold over all these diverse elements; that he persuaded some, + outwitted others, and overcame them all. The subtlety of this task would + have ruined any statesman of the driving sort. Explain Lincoln by any + theory you will, his personality was the keystone of the Northern arch; + subtract it, and the arch falls. The popular element being as complex and + powerful as it was, how could the presiding statesman have mastered the + situation if he had not been of so peculiar a sort that he could influence + all these diverse and powerful interests, slowly, by degrees, without + heat, without the imperative note, almost in silence, with the universal, + enfolding irresistibility of the gradual things in nature, of the sun and + the rain. Such was the genius of Lincoln—all but passionless, yet so + quiet that one cannot but believe in the great depth of his nature. + </p> + <p> + We are, even today, far from a definitive understanding of Lincoln's + statecraft, but there is perhaps justification for venturing upon one + prophecy. The farther from him we get and the more clearly we see him in + perspective, the more we shall realize his creative influence upon his + party. A Lincoln who is the moulder of events and the great creator of + public opinion will emerge at last into clear view. In the Lincoln of his + ultimate biographer there will be more of iron than of a less enduring + metal in the figure of the Lincoln of present tradition. Though none of + his gentleness will disappear, there will be more emphasis placed upon his + firmness, and upon such episodes as that of December, 1860, when his + single will turned the scale against compromise; upon his steadiness in + the defeat of his party at the polls in 1862; or his overruling of the + will of Congress in the summer of 1864 on the question of reconstruction; + or his attitude in the autumn of that year when he believed that he was + losing his second election. Behind all his gentleness, his slowness, + behind his sadness, there will eventually appear an inflexible purpose, + strong as steel, unwavering as fate. + </p> + <p> + The Civil War was in truth Lincoln's war. Those modern pacifists who claim + him for their own are beside the mark. They will never get over their + illusions about Lincoln until they see, as all the world is beginning to + see, that his career has universal significance because of its bearing on + the universal modern problem of democracy. It will not do ever to forget + that he was a man of the people, always playing the hand of the people, in + the limited social sense of that word, though playing it with none of the + heat usually met with in the statesmen of successful democracy from Cleon + to Robespierre, from Andrew Jackson to Lloyd George. His gentleness does + not remove Lincoln from that stern category. Throughout his life, besides + his passion for the Union, besides his antipathy to slavery, there dwelt + in his very heart love of and faith in the plain people. We shall never + see him in true historic perspective until we conceive him as the + instrument of a vast social idea—the determination to make a + government based on the plain people successful in war. + </p> + <p> + He did not scruple to seize power when he thought the cause of the people + demanded it, and his enemies were prompt to accuse him of holding to the + doctrine that the end justified the means—a hasty conclusion which + will have to be reconsidered; what concerns us more closely is the + definite conviction that he felt no sacrifice too great if it advanced the + happiness of the generality of mankind. + </p> + <p> + The final significance of Lincoln as a statesman of democracy is brought + out most clearly in his foreign relations. Fate put it into the hands of + England to determine whether his Government should stand or fall. Though + it is doubtful how far the turning of the scale of English policy in + Lincoln's favor was due to the influence of the rising power of English + democracy, it is plain that Lincoln thought of himself as having one + purpose with that movement which he regarded as an ally. Beyond all doubt + among the most grateful messages he ever received were the New Year + greetings of confidence and sympathy which were sent by English workingmen + in 1863. A few sentences in his "Letter to the Workingmen of London" help + us to look through his eyes and see his life and its struggles as they + appeared to him in relation to world history: + </p> + <p> + "As these sentiments [expressed by the English workmen] are manifestly the + enduring support of the free institutions of England, so am I sure that + they constitute the only reliable basis for free institutions throughout + the world.... The resources, advantages, and power of the American people + are very great, and they have consequently succeeded to equally great + responsibilities. It seems to have devolved upon them to test whether a + government established on the principles of human freedom can be + maintained against an effort to build one upon the exclusive foundation of + human bondage. They will rejoice with me in the new evidence which your + proceedings furnish that the magnanimity they are exhibiting is justly + estimated by the true friends of freedom and humanity in foreign + countries." + </p> + <p> + Written at the opening of that terrible year, 1863, these words are a + forward link with those more celebrated words spoken toward its close at + Gettysburg. Perhaps at no time during the war, except during the few days + immediately following his own reelection a year later, did Lincoln come so + near being free from care as then. Perhaps that explains why his + fundamental literary power reasserted itself so remarkably, why this + speech of his at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg on + the 19th of November, 1863, remains one of the most memorable orations + ever delivered: + </p> + <p> + "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this + continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the + proposition that all men are created equal. + </p> + <p> + "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or + any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a + great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that + field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that + that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should + do this. + </p> + <p> + "But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot + hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, + have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will + little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget + what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here + to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly + advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task + remaining before us: that from these honored dead we take increased + devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of + devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died + in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; + and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, + shall not perish from the earth." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. THE RULE OF LINCOLN + </h2> + <p> + The fundamental problem of the Lincoln Government was the raising of + armies, the sudden conversion of a community which was essentially + industrial into a disciplined military organization. The accomplishment of + so gigantic a transformation taxed the abilities of two Secretaries of + War. The first, Simon Cameron, owed his place in the Cabinet to the double + fact of being one of the ablest of political bosses and of standing high + among Lincoln's competitors for the Presidential nomination. Personally + honest, he was also a political cynic to whom tradition ascribes the + epigram defining an honest politician as one who "when he is bought, will + stay bought." As Secretary of War he showed no particular ability. + </p> + <p> + In 1861, when the tide of enthusiasm was in flood, and volunteers in hosts + were responding to acts of Congress for the raising and maintenance of a + volunteer army, Cameron reported in December that the Government had on + foot 660,971 men and could have had a million except that Congress had + limited the number of volunteers to be received. When this report was + prepared, Lincoln was, so to speak, in the trough of two seas. The + devotion which had been offered to him in April, 1861, when the North + seemed to rise as one man, had undergone a reaction. Eight months without + a single striking military success, together with the startling defeat at + Bull Run, had had their inevitable effect. Democracies are mercurial; + variability seems to be part of the price of freedom. With childlike faith + in their cause, the Northern people, in midsummer, were crying, "On to + Richmond!" In the autumn, stung by defeat, they were ready to cry, "Down + with Lincoln." + </p> + <p> + In a subsequent report, the War Department confessed that at the beginning + of hostilities, "nearly all our arms and ammunition" came from foreign + countries. One great reason why no military successes relieve the gloom of + 1861 was that, from a soldier's point of view, there were no armies. + Soldiers, it is true, there were in myriads; but arms, ammunition, and + above all, organization were lacking. The supplies in the government + arsenals had been provided for an army of but a few thousand. Strive as + they would, all the factories in the country could not come anywhere near + making arms for half a million men; nor did the facilities of those days + make it possible for munition plants to spring up overnight. Had it not + been that the Confederacy was equally hard pushed, even harder pushed, to + find arms and ammunition, the war would have ended inside Seward's ninety + days, through sheer lack of powder. + </p> + <p> + Even with the respite given by the unpreparedness of the South, and while + Lincoln hurriedly collected arms and ammunition from abroad, the startled + nation, thus suddenly forced into a realization of what war meant, lost + its head. From its previous reckless trust in sheer enthusiasm, it reacted + to a distrust of almost everything. Why were the soldiers not armed? Why + did not millions of rounds of cartridges fall like manna out of the sky? + Why did not the crowds of volunteers become armies at a word of command? + One of the darkest pages in American history records the way in which the + crowd, undisciplined to endure strain, turned upon Lincoln in its desire + to find in the conduct of their leader a pretext for venting upon him the + fierceness of their anxiety. Such a pretext they found in his treatment of + Fremont. + </p> + <p> + The singular episode of Fremont's arrogance in 1861 is part of the story + of the border States whose friendship was eagerly sought by both sides—Maryland, + Kentucky, Missouri, and those mountainous counties which in time were to + become West Virginia. To retain Maryland and thus to keep open the + connection between the Capital and the North was one of Lincoln's deepest + anxieties. By degrees the hold of the Government in Maryland was made + secure, and the State never seceded. Kentucky, too, held to the Union, + though, during many anxious months in 1861, Lincoln did not know whether + this State was to be for him or against him. The Virginia mountains, from + the first, seemed a more hopeful field, for the mountaineers had opposed + the Virginia secession and, as soon as it was accomplished, had begun + holding meetings of protest. In the meantime George B. McClellan, with the + rank of general bestowed upon him by the Federal Government, had been + appointed to command the militia of Ohio. He was sent to assist the + insurgent mountaineers, and with him went the Ohio militia. From this + situation and from the small engagements with Confederate forces in which + McClellan was successful, there resulted the separate State of West + Virginia and the extravagant popular notion that McClellan was a great + general. His successes were contrasted in the ordinary mind with the + crushing defeat at Bull Run, which happened at about the same time. + </p> + <p> + The most serious of all these struggles in the border States, however, was + that which took place in Missouri, where, owing to the strength of both + factions and their promptness in organizing, real war began immediately. A + Union army led by General Nathaniel Lyon attacked the Confederates with + great spirit at Wilson's Creek but was beaten back in a fierce and bloody + battle in which their leader was killed. + </p> + <p> + Even before these events Fremont had been appointed to chief command in + Missouri, and here he at once began a strange course of dawdling and + posing. His military career must be left to the military historians—who + have not ranked him among the great generals. Civil history accuses him, + if not of using his new position to make illegitimate profits, at least of + showing reckless favoritism toward those who did. It is hardly unfair to + say that Lincoln, in bearing with Fremont as long as he did, showed a + touch of amiable weakness; and yet, it must be acknowledged that the + President knew that the country was in a dangerous mood, that Fremont was + immensely popular, and that any change might be misunderstood. Though + Lincoln hated to appear anything but a friend to a fallen political rival, + he was at last forced to act. Frauds in government contracts at St. Louis + were a public scandal, and the reputation of the government had to be + saved by the removal of Fremont in November, 1861. As an immediate + consequence of this action the overstrained nerves of great numbers of + people snapped. Fremont's personal followers, as well as the abolitionists + whom he had actively supported while in command in Missouri, and all that + vast crowd of excitable people who are unable to stand silent under + strain, clamored against Lincoln in the wildest and most absurd vein. He + was accused of being a "dictator"; he was called an "imbecile"; he ought + to be impeached, and a new party, with Fremont as its leader, should be + formed to prosecute the war. But through all this clamor Lincoln kept his + peace and let the heathen rage. + </p> + <p> + Toward the end of the year, popular rage turned suddenly on Cameron, who, + as Secretary of War, had taken an active but proper part in the + investigation of Fremont's conduct. It was one of those tremulous moments + when people are desperately eager to have something done and are ready to + believe anything. Though McClellan, now in chief command of the Union + forces, had an immense army which was fast getting properly equipped, + month faded into month without his advancing against the enemy. Again the + popular cry was raised, "On to Richmond!" It was at this moment of + military inactivity and popular restlessness that charges of peculation + were brought forward against Cameron. + </p> + <p> + These charges both were and were not well founded. Himself a rich man, it + is not likely that Cameron profited personally by government contracts, + even though the acrimonious Thad Stevens said of his appointment as + Secretary that it would add "another million to his fortune." There seems + little doubt, however, that Cameron showered lucrative contracts upon his + political retainers. And no boss has ever held the State of Pennsylvania + in a firmer grip. His tenure of the Secretaryship of War was one means to + that end. + </p> + <p> + The restless alarm of the country at large expressed itself in such + extravagant words as these which Senator Grimes wrote to Senator + Fessenden: "We are going to destruction as fast as imbecility, corruption, + and the wheels of time can carry us." So dissatisfied, indeed, was + Congress with the conduct of the war that it appointed a committee of + investigation. During December, 1861, and January, 1862, the committee was + summoning generals before it, questioning them, listening to all manner of + views, accomplishing nothing, but rendering more and more feverish an + atmosphere already surcharged with anxiety. On the floors of Congress + debate raged as to who was responsible for the military inaction—for + the country's "unpreparedness," we should say today—and as to + whether Cameron was honest. Eventually the House in a vote of censure + condemned the Secretary of War. + </p> + <p> + Long before this happened, however, Lincoln had interfered and very + characteristically removed the cause of trouble, while taking upon himself + the responsibility for the situation, by nominating Cameron minister to + Russia, and by praising him for his "ability, patriotism, and fidelity to + the public trust." Though the President had not sufficient hold upon the + House to prevent the vote of censure, his influence was strong in the + Senate, and the new appointment of Cameron was promptly confirmed. + </p> + <p> + There was in Washington at this time that grim man who had served briefly + as Attorney-General in the Cabinet of Buchanan—Edwin M. Stanton. He + despised the President and expressed his opinion in such words as "the + painful imbecility of Lincoln." The two had one personal recollection in + common: long before, in a single case, at Cincinnati, the awkward Lincoln + had been called in as associate counsel to serve the convenience of + Stanton, who was already a lawyer of national repute. To his less-known + associate Stanton showed a brutal rudeness that was characteristic. It + would have been hard in 1861 to find another man more difficult to get on + with. Headstrong, irascible, rude, he had a sharp tongue which he + delighted in using; but he was known to be inflexibly honest, and was + supposed to have great executive ability. He was also a friend of + McClellan, and if anybody could rouse that tortoise-like general, Stanton + might be supposed to be the man. He had been a valiant Democrat, and + Democratic support was needed by the government. Lincoln astonished him + with his appointment as Secretary of War in January, 1862. Stanton + justified the President's choice, and under his strong if ruthless hand + the War Department became sternly efficient. The whole story of Stanton's + relations to his chief is packed, like the Arabian genius in the + fisherman's vase, into one remark of Lincoln's. "Did Stanton tell you I + was a fool?" said Lincoln on one occasion, in the odd, smiling way he had. + "Then I expect I must be one, for he is almost always right, and generally + says what he means." + </p> + <p> + In spite of his efficiency and personal force, Stanton was unable to move + his friend McClellan, with whom he soon quarreled. Each now sought in his + own way to control the President, though neither understood Lincoln's + character. From McClellan, Lincoln endured much condescension of a kind + perilously near impertinence. To Stanton, Lincoln's patience seemed a + mystery; to McClellan—a vain man, full of himself—the + President who would merely smile at this bullyragging on the part of one + of his subordinates seemed indeed a spiritless creature. Meanwhile + Lincoln, apparently devoid of sensibility, was seeking during the anxious + months of 1862, in one case, merely how to keep his petulant Secretary in + harness; in the other, how to quicken his tortoise of a general. + </p> + <p> + Stanton made at least one great blunder. Though he had been three months + in office, and McClellan was still inactive, there were already several + successes to the credit of the Union arms. The Monitor and Virginia + (Merrimac) had fought their famous duel, and Grant had taken Fort + Donelson. The latter success broke through the long gloom of the North and + caused, as Holmes wrote, "a delirium of excitement." Stanton rashly + concluded that he now had the game in his hands, and that a sufficient + number of men had volunteered. This civilian Secretary of War, who had + still much to learn of military matters, issued an order putting a stop to + recruiting. Shortly afterwards great disaster befell the Union arms. + McClellan, before Richmond, was checked in May. Early in July, his + peninsula campaign ended disastrously in the terrible "Seven Days' + Battle." + </p> + <p> + Anticipating McClellan's failure, Lincoln had already determined to call + for more troops. On July 1st, he called upon the Governors of the States + to provide him with 300,000 men to serve three years. But the volunteering + enthusiasm—explain it as you will—had suffered a check. The + psychological moment had passed. So slow was the response to the call of + July 1st, that another appeal was made early in August, this time for + 300,000 men to serve only nine months. But this also failed to rouse the + country. A reinforcement of only 87,000 men was raised in response to this + emergency call. The able lawyer in the War Department had still much to + learn about men and nations. + </p> + <p> + After this check, terrible incidents of war came thick and fast—the + defeat at Second Manassas, in late August; the horrible drawn battle of + Antietam-Sharpsburg, in September; Fredericksburg, that carnival of + slaughter, in December; the dearly bought victory of Murfreesboro, which + opened 1863. There were other disastrous events at least as serious. + Foreign affairs* were at their darkest. Within the political coalition + supporting Lincoln, contention was the order of the day. There was general + distrust of the President. Most alarming of all, that ebb of the wave of + enthusiasm which began in midsummer, 1861, reached in the autumn of 1862 + perhaps its lowest point. The measure of the reaction against Lincoln was + given in the Congressional election, in which, though the Government still + retained a working majority, the Democrats gained thirty-three seats. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * See Chapter IX. +</pre> + <p> + If there could be such a thing as a true psychological history of the war, + one of its most interesting pages would determine just how far Stanton was + responsible, through his strange blunder over recruiting, for the check to + enthusiasm among the Northern people. With this speculation there is + connected a still unsolved problem in statistics. To what extent did the + anti-Lincoln vote, in 1862, stand for sympathy with the South, and how far + was it the hopeless surrender of Unionists who felt that their cause was + lost? Though certainty on this point is apparently impossible, there can + be no doubt that at the opening of 1863, the Government felt it must apply + pressure to the flagging spirits of its supporters. In order to reenforce + the armies and to push the war through, there was plainly but one course + to be followed—conscription. + </p> + <p> + The government leaders in Congress brought in a Conscription Act early in + the year. The hot debates upon this issue dragged through a month's time, + and now make instructive reading for the present generation that has + watched the Great War*. The Act of 1863 was not the work of soldiers, but + was literally "made in Congress." Stanton grimly made the best of it, + though he unwaveringly condemned some of its most conspicuous provisions. + His business was to retrieve his blunder of the previous year, and he was + successful. Imperfect as it was, the Conscription Act, with later + supplementary legislation, enabled him to replace the wastage of the Union + armies and steadily to augment them. At the close of the war, the Union + had on foot a million men with an enrolled reserve of two millions and a + half, subject to call. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The battle over conscription in England was anticipated in + America sixty-four years ago. Bagot says that the average + British point of view may be expressed thus: "What I am + sayin' is this here as I was a sayin' yesterday." The + Anglo-Saxon mind is much the same the world over. In + America, today, the enemies of effective military + organization would do well to search the arguments of their + skillful predecessors in 1888, who fought to the last ditch + for a military system that would make inescapable "peace at + any price." For the modern believers in conscription, one + of their best bits of political thunder is still the defense + of it by Lincoln. +</pre> + <p> + The Act provided for a complete military census, for which purpose the + country was divided into enrollment districts. Every able-bodied male + citizen, or intending citizen, between the ages of twenty and forty-five, + unless exempted for certain specified reasons, was to be enrolled as a + member of the national forces; these forces were to be called to the + colors—"drafted," the term was—as the Government found need of + them; each successive draft was to be apportioned among the districts in + the ratio of the military population, and the number required was to be + drawn by lot; if the district raised its quota voluntarily, no draft would + be made; any drafted man could offer a substitute or could purchase his + discharge for three hundred dollars. The latter provision especially was + condemned by Stanton. It was seized upon by demagogues as a device for + giving rich men an advantage over poor men. + </p> + <p> + American politics during the war form a wildly confused story, so + intricate that it cannot be made clear in a brief statement. But this + central fact may be insisted upon: in the North, there were two political + groups that were the poles around which various other groups revolved and + combined, only to fly asunder and recombine, with all the maddening + inconstancy of a kaleidoscope. The two irreconcilable elements were the + "war party" made up of determined men resolved to see things through, and + the "copperheads"* who for one reason or another united in a faithful + struggle for peace at any price. Around the copperheads gathered the + various and singular groups who helped to make up the ever fluctuating + "peace party." It is an error to assume that this peace party was animated + throughout by fondness for the Confederacy. Though many of its members + were so actuated, the core of the party seems to have been that strange + type of man who sustained political evasion in the old days, who thought + that sweet words can stop bullets, whose programme in 1863 called for a + cessation of hostilities and a general convention of all the States, and + who promised as the speedy result of a debauch of talk a carnival of + bright eyes glistening with the tears of revived affection. With these + strange people in 1863 there combined a number of different types: the + still stranger, still less creditable visionary, of whom much hereafter; + the avowed friends of the principle of state rights; all those who + distrusted the Government because of its anti-slavery sympathies; Quakers + and others with moral scruples against war; and finally, sincere legalists + to whom the Conscription Act appeared unconstitutional. In the spring of + 1863 the issue of conscription drew the line fairly sharply between the + two political coalitions, though each continued to fluctuate, more or + less, to the end of the war. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The term arose, it has been said, from the use of the + copper cent with its head of Liberty as a peace button. But + a more plausible explanation associates the peace advocates + with the deadly copperhead snake. +</pre> + <p> + The peace party of 1863 has been denounced hastily rather than carefully + studied. Its precise machinations are not fully known, but the ugly fact + stands forth that a portion of the foreign population of the North was + roused in 1863 to rebellion. The occasion was the beginning of the first + draft under the new law, in July, 1863, and the scene of the rebellion was + the City of New York. The opponents of conscription had already made + inflammatory attacks on the Government. Conspicuous among them was Horatio + Seymour, who had been elected Governor of New York in that wave of + reaction in the autumn of 1862. Several New York papers joined the + crusade. In Congress, the Government had already been threatened with + civil war if the act was enforced. Nevertheless, the public drawing by lot + began on the days announced. In New York the first drawing took place on + Saturday, July 12th, and the lists were published in the Sunday papers. As + might be expected, many of the men drawn were of foreign birth, and all + day Sunday, the foreign quarter of New York was a cauldron boiling. + </p> + <p> + On Monday, the resumption of the drawing was the signal for revolt. A mob + invaded one of the conscription offices, drove off the men in charge, and + set fire to the building. In a short while, the streets were filled with + dense crowds of foreignborn workmen shouting, "Down with the rich men," + and singing, "We'll hang Horace Greeley on a sour apple tree." Houses of + prominent citizens were attacked and set on fire, and several drafting + offices were burned. Many negroes who were seized were either clubbed to + death or hanged to lamp posts. Even an orphan asylum for colored children + was burned. The office of the "Tribune" was raided, gutted, and set on + fire. Finally a dispatch to Stanton, early in the night, reported that the + mob had taken possession of the city. + </p> + <p> + The events of the next day were no less shocking. The city was almost + stripped of soldiers, as all available reserves had already been hurried + south when Lee was advancing toward Gettysburg. But such militia as could + be mustered, with a small force of federal troops, fought the mob in the + streets. Barricades were carried by storm; blood was freely shed. It was + not, however, until the fourth day that the rebellion was finally quelled, + chiefly by New York regiments, hurried north by Stanton—among them + the famous Seventh—which swept the streets with cannon. + </p> + <p> + The aftermath of the New York riots was a correspondence between Lincoln + and Seymour. The latter had demanded a suspension of the draft until the + courts could decide on the constitutionality of the Conscription Act. + Lincoln refused. With ten thousand troops now assembled in New York, the + draft was resumed, and there was no further trouble. + </p> + <p> + The resistance to the Government in New York was but the most terrible + episode in a protracted contention which involves, as Americans are + beginning to see, one of the most fundamental and permanent questions of + Lincoln's rule: how can the exercise of necessary war powers by the + President be reconciled with the guarantees of liberty in the + Constitution? It is unfortunate that Lincoln did not draw up a fully + rounded statement of his own theory regarding this problem, instead of + leaving it to be inferred from detached observations and from his actions. + Apparently, he felt there was nothing to do but to follow the Roman + precedent and, in a case of emergency, frankly permit the use of + extraordinary power. We may attribute to him that point of view expressed + by a distinguished Democrat of our own day: "Democracy has to learn how to + use the dictator as a necessary war tool."* Whether Lincoln set a good + model for democracy in this perilous business is still to be determined. + His actions have been freely labeled usurpation. The first notorious + instance occurred in 1861, during the troubles in Maryland, when he + authorized military arrests of suspected persons. For the release of one + of these, a certain Merryman, Chief Justice Taney issued a writ of habeas + corpus**. Lincoln authorized his military representatives to disregard the + writ. In 1862 he issued a proclamation suspending the privileges of the + writ of habeas corpus in cases of persons charged with "discouraging + volunteer enlistments, resisting military drafts, or guilty of any + disloyal practice...." Such persons were to be tried by military + commissions. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *President Edwin A. Alderman, of the University of Virginia. + + ** The Constitution permits the suspension of the privileges + of the writ of habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or + invasion the public safety may require it," but fails to + provide a method of suspension. Taney held that the power + to suspend lay with Congress. Five years afterward, when + Chase was Chief Justice, the Supreme Court, in ex parte + Milligan, took the same view and further declared that even + Congress could not deprive a citizen of his right to trial + by jury so long as the local civil courts are in operation. + The Confederate experience differed from the Federal + inasmuch as Congress kept control of the power to suspend + the writ. But both governments made use of such suspension + to set up martial law in districts where the local courts + were open but where, from one cause or another, the + Administration had not confidence in their effectiveness. + Under ex parte Milligan, both Presidents and both Congresses + were guilty of usurpation. The mere layman waits for the + next great hour of trial to learn whether this + interpretation will stand. In the Milligan case the Chief + Justice and three others dissented. +</pre> + <p> + There can be little doubt that this proclamation caused something like a + panic in many minds, filled them with the dread of military despotism, and + contributed to the reaction against Lincoln in the autumn of 1862. Under + this proclamation many arrests were made and many victims were sent to + prison. So violent was the opposition that on March 3, 1863, Congress + passed an act which attempted to bring the military and civil courts into + cooperation, though it did not take away from the President all the + dictatorial power which he had assumed. The act seems; however, to have + had little general effect, and it was disregarded in the most celebrated + of the cases of military arrest, that of Clement L. Vallandigham. + </p> + <p> + A representative from Ohio and one of the most vituperative anti-Lincoln + men in Congress, Vallandigham in a sensational speech applied to the + existing situation Chatham's words, "My lords, you cannot conquer + America." He professed to see before him in the future nothing "but + universal political and social revolution, anarchy, and bloodshed, + compared with which the Reign of Terror in France was a merciful + visitation." To escape such a future, he demanded an armistice, to be + followed by a friendly peace established through foreign mediation. + </p> + <p> + Returning to Ohio after the adjournment of Congress, Vallandigham spoke to + a mass-meeting in a way that was construed as rank treason by General + Burnside who was in command at Cincinnati. Vallandigham was arrested, + tried by court martial, and condemned to imprisonment. There was an + immediate hue and cry, in consequence of which Burnside, who reported the + affair, felt called upon also to offer to resign. Lincoln's reply was + characteristic: "When I shall wish to supersede you I shall let you know. + All the Cabinet regretted the necessity for arresting, for instance, + Vallandigham, some perhaps doubting there was a real necessity for it; but + being done, all were for seeing you through with it." Lincoln, however, + commuted the sentence to banishment and had Vallandigham sent through the + lines into the Confederacy. + </p> + <p> + It seems quite plain that the condemnation of Lincoln on this issue of + usurpation was not confined to the friends of the Confederacy, nor has it + been confined to his enemies in later days. One of Lincoln's most ardent + admirers, the historian Rhodes, condemns his course unqualifiedly. "There + can be no question," he writes, "that from the legal point of view the + President should have rescinded the sentence and released Vallandigham." + Lincoln, he adds, "stands responsible for the casting into prison of + citizens of the United States on orders as arbitrary as the + lettres-de-cachet of Louis XIV." Since Mr. Rhodes, uncompromising + Unionist, can write as he does upon this issue, it is plain that the + opposition party cannot be dismissed as through and through disunionist. + </p> + <p> + The trial of Vallandigham made him a martyr and brought him the Democratic + nomination for Governor of Ohio*. His followers sought to make the issue + of the campaign the acceptance or rejection of military despotism. In + defense of his course Lincoln wrote two public letters in which he gave + evidence of the skill which he had acquired as a lawyer before a jury by + the way in which he played upon the emotions of his readers. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Edward Everett Hale's famous story "The Man Without a + Country", though it got into print too late to affect the + election, was aimed at Vallandigham. That quaint allegory + on the lack of patriotism became a temporary classic. +</pre> + <p> + "Long experience [he wrote] has shown that armies cannot be maintained + unless desertion shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. The + case requires, and the law and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. + Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not + touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is none + the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, or + friend into a public meeting, and there working upon his feelings till he + is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause + for a wicked administration and a contemptible government, too weak to + arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in such a case to + silence the agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but, + withal, a great mercy." + </p> + <p> + His real argument may be summed up in these words of his: + </p> + <p> + "You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may override all the + guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea of conserving the public + safety—when I may choose to say the public safety requires it. This + question, divested of the phraseology calculated to represent me as + struggling for an arbitrary prerogative, is either simply a question who + shall decide, or an affirmation that nobody shall decide, what the public + safety does require in cases of rebellion or invasion. + </p> + <p> + "The Constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur for + decision, but it does not expressly declare who is to decide it. By + necessary implication, when rebellion or invasion comes, the decision is + to be made, from time to time; and I think the man, whom for the time, the + people have under the Constitution, made the commander-in-chief of their + army and navy, is the man who holds the power and bears the responsibility + of making it. If he uses the power justly, the same people will probably + justify him; if he abuses it, he is in their hands to be dealt with by all + the modes they have reserved to themselves in the Constitution." + </p> + <p> + Lincoln virtually appealed to the Northern people to secure efficiency by + setting him momentarily above all civil authority. He asked them in + substance, to interpret their Constitution by a show of hands. No + thoughtful person can doubt the risks of such a method; yet in Ohio, in + 1863, the great majority—perhaps everyone who believed in the war—accepted + Lincoln's position. Between their traditional system of legal juries and + the new system of military tribunals the Ohio voters made their choice + without hesitation. They rejected Vallandigham and sustained the Lincoln + candidate by a majority of over a hundred thousand. That same year in New + York the anti-Lincoln candidate for Secretary of State was defeated by + twenty-nine thousand votes. + </p> + <p> + Though these elections in 1863 can hardly be called the turning-point in + the history of the Lincoln Government, yet it was clear that the tide of + popularity which had ebbed so far away from Lincoln in the autumn of 1862 + was again in the flood. Another phase of his stormy course may be thought + of as having ended. And in accounting for this turn of the tide it must + not be forgotten that between the nomination and the defeat of a + Vallandigham the bloody rebellion in New York had taken place, Gettysburg + had been fought, and Grant had captured Vicksburg. The autumn of 1863 + formed a breathing space for the war party of the North. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. THE CRUCIAL MATTER + </h2> + <p> + It is the custom of historians to measure the relative strength of North + and South chiefly in terms of population. The North numbered 23,000,000 + inhabitants; the South, about 9,000,000, of which the slave population + amounted to 3,500,000. But these obvious statistics only partially + indicate the real situation. Not what one has, but what one is capable of + using is, of course, the true measure of strength. If, in 1861, either + side could have struck swiftly and with all its force, the story of the + war would have been different. The question of relative strength was in + reality a question of munitions. Both powers were glaringly unprepared. + Both had instant need of great supplies of arms and ammunition, and both + turned to European manufacturers for aid. Those Americans who, in a later + war, wished to make illegal the neutral trade in munitions forgot that the + international right of a belligerent to buy arms from a neutral had + prevented their own destruction in 1861. In the supreme American crisis, + agents of both North and South hurried to Europe in quest of munitions. On + the Northern side the work was done chiefly by the three ministers, + Charles Francis Adams, at London; William L. Dayton, at Paris; and Henry + S. Sanford, at Brussels; by an able special agent, Colonel George L. + Schuyler; and by the famous banking-house of Baring Brothers, which one + might almost have called the European department of the United States + Treasury. + </p> + <p> + The eager solicitude of the War Department over the competition of the two + groups of agents in Europe informs a number of dispatches that are, today, + precious admonitions to the heedless descendants of that dreadful time. As + late as October, 1861, the Acting Secretary of War wrote to Schuyler, one + of whose shipments had been delayed: "The Department earnestly hopes to + receive...the 12,000 Enfield rifles and the remainder of the 27,000, which + you state you have purchased, by the earliest steamer following. Could you + appreciate the circumstances by which we are surrounded, you would readily + understand the urgent necessity there is for the immediate delivery of all + the arms you are authorized to purchase. The Department expects to hear + that you have been able to conclude the negotiations for the 48,000 rifles + from the French government arsenals." That the Confederate Government + acted even more promptly than the Union Government appears from a letter + of Sanford to Seward in May: "I have vainly expected orders," he + complains, "for the purchase of arms for the Government, and am tempted to + order from Belgium all they can send over immediately.... Meanwhile the + workshops are filling with orders from the South.... It distresses me to + think that while we are in want of them, Southern money is taking them + away to be used against us." + </p> + <p> + At London, Adams took it upon himself to contract for arms in advance of + instructions. He wrote to Seward: "Aware of the degree to which I exceed + my authority in taking such a step, nothing but a conviction of the need + in which the country stands of such assistance and the joint opinion of + all the diplomatic agents of the United States...in Paris, has induced me + to overcome my scruples." How real was the necessity of which this able + diplomat was so early conscious, is demonstrated at every turn in the + papers of the War Department. Witness this brief dispatch from Harrisburg: + "All ready to leave but no arms. Governor not willing to let us leave + State without them, as act of Assembly forbids. Can arms be sent here?" + When this appeal was made, in December, 1861, arms were pouring into the + country from Europe, and the crisis had passed. But if this appeal had + been made earlier in the year, the inevitable answer may be guessed from a + dispatch which the Ordnance Office sent, as late as September, to the + authorities of West Virginia, refusing to supply them with arms because + the supplies were exhausted, and adding, "Every possible exertion is being + made to obtain additional supplies by contract, by manufacture, and by + purchase, and as soon as they can be procured by any means, in any way, + they will be supplied." + </p> + <p> + Curiously enough, not only the Confederacy but various States of the North + were more expeditious in this all-important matter than Cameron and the + War Department. Schuyler's first dispatch from London gives this singular + information: "All private establishments in Birmingham and London are now + working for the States of Ohio, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, except the + London Armory, whose manufacture is supposed to go to the Rebels, but of + this last fact I am not positively informed. I am making arrangements to + secure these establishments for our Government, if desirable after the + present State contracts expire. On the Continent, Messrs, Dayton and + Sanford...have been making contracts and agreements of various kinds, of + which you are by this time informed." Soon afterward, from Paris, he made + a long report detailing the difficulties of his task, the limitations of + the existing munitions plants in Europe, and promising among other things + those "48,000 rifles from the French government arsenals" for which, in + the letter already quoted, the War Department yearned. It was an enormous + labor; and, strive as he would, Schuyler found American mail continuing to + bring him such letters as this from the Assistant Secretary of War in + October: "I notice with much regret that [in the latest consignment] there + were no guns sent, as it was confidently expected that 20,000 would arrive + by the [steamship] Fulton, and accordingly arrangements had been made to + distribute them through the different States. Prompt and early shipments + of guns are desirable. We hope to hear by next steamer that you have + shipped from 80,000 to 100,000 stand." + </p> + <p> + The last word on the problem of munitions, which was so significant a + factor in the larger problem, is the report of the United States Ordnance + Office for the first year of the war. It shows that between April, 1861, + and June, 1862, the Government purchased from American manufacturers + somewhat over 30,000 rifles, and that from European makers it purchased + 726,000. + </p> + <p> + From these illustrations it is therefore obvious that the true measure of + the immediate strength of the American contestants in 1861 was the extent + of their ability to supply themselves from Europe; and this, stated more + concretely, became the question as to which was the better able to keep + its ports open and receive the absolutely essential European aid. Lincoln + showed his clear realization of the situation when he issued, immediately + after the first call for volunteers, a proclamation blockading the + Southern coasts. Whether the Northern people at the time appreciated the + significance of this order is a question. Amid the wild and vain clamor of + the multitude in 1861, with its conventional and old-fashioned notion of + war as a thing of trumpets and glittering armies, the North seems wholly + to have ignored its fleet; and yet in the beginning this resource was its + only strength. + </p> + <p> + The fleet was small, to be sure, but its task was at first also small. + There were few Southern ports which were doing a regular business with + Europe, and to close these was not difficult. As other ports opened and + the task of blockade grew, the Northern navy also increased. Within a few + months, to the few observers who did not lose their heads, it was plain + that the North had won the first great contest of the war. It had so + hampered Southern trade that Lincoln's advantage in arming the North from + Europe was ten to one. At the very time when detractors of Lincoln were + hysterical over the removal of Fremont, when Grimes wrote to Fessenden + that the country was going to the dogs as fast as imbecility could carry + it, this great achievement had quietly taken place. An expedition sailing + in August from Fortress Monroe seized the forts which commanded Hatteras + Inlet off the coast of North Carolina. In November, Commander Dupont, U. + S. N., seized Port Royal, one of the best harbors on the coast of South + Carolina, and established there a naval base. Thenceforth, while the open + Northern ports received European munitions without hindrance, it was a + risky business getting munitions into the ports of the South. Only the + boldest traders would attempt to "run the blockade," to evade the Federal + patrol ships by night and run into a Southern port. + </p> + <p> + However, for one moment in the autumn of 1861, it seemed as if all the + masterful work of the Northern navy would be undone by the Northern people + themselves in backing up the rashness of Captain Charles Wilkes, of the + war-ship San Jacinto. On the high seas he overhauled the British mail + steamer, Trent. Aboard her were two Confederate diplomatic agents, James + M. Mason and John Slidell, who had run the blockade from Charleston to + Havana and were now on their way to England. Wilkes took off the two + Confederates as prisoners of war. The crowd in the North went wild. "We do + not believe," said the New York Times, "that the American heart ever + thrilled with more sincere delight." + </p> + <p> + The intemperate joy of the crowd over the rashness of Wilkes was due in + part to a feeling of bitterness against the British Government. In May, + 1861, the Queen had issued a proclamation of neutrality, whose + justification in international law was hotly debated at the time and was + generally denied by Northerners. England was the great cotton market of + the world. To the excited Northern mind, in 1861, there could be but one + explanation of England's action: a partisan desire to serve the South, to + break up the blockade, and to secure cotton. Whether such was the real + purpose of the ministry then in power is now doubted; but at that time it + was the beginning of a sharp contention between the two Governments. The + Trent affair naturally increased the tension. So keen was the indignation + of all classes of Englishmen that it seemed, for a moment, as if the next + step would be war. + </p> + <p> + In America, the prompt demand for the release of Mason and Slidell was + met, at first, in a spirit equally bellicose. Fortunately there were cool + and clear heads that at once condemned Wilkes's action as a gross breach + of international law. Prominent among these was Sumner. The American + Government, however, admitted the justice of the British demand and the + envoys were released. + </p> + <p> + Relations with the United States now became a burning issue in English + politics. There were three distinct groups in Parliament. The + representatives of the aristocracy, whether Liberals or Conservatives, in + the main sympathized with the South. So did most of the large + manufacturers whose business interests were affected by cotton. Great + bitterness grew up among the Northerners against both these groups, partly + because in the past many of their members had condemned slavery and had + said scornful things about America for tolerating it. To these Northerners + the Englishmen replied that Lincoln himself had declared the war was not + over slavery; that it was an ordinary civil war not involving moral + issues. Nevertheless, the third Parliamentary group insisted that the + American war, no matter what the motives of the participants, would, in + the event of a Northern victory, bring about the abolition of slavery, + whereas, if the South won, the result would be the perpetuation of + slavery. This third group, therefore, threw all its weight on the side of + the North. In this group Lincoln recognized his allies, and their cause he + identified with his own in his letter to English workmen which was quoted + in the previous chapter. Their leaders in Parliament were Richard Cobden, + W. E. Forster, and John Bright. All these groups were represented in the + Liberal party, which, for the moment, was in power. + </p> + <p> + In the Cabinet itself there was a "Northern" and a "Southern" faction. + Then, too, there were some who sympathized with the North but who felt + that its cause was hopeless—so little did they understand the + relative strength of the two sections—and who felt that the war was + a terrible proof of the uselessness of mere suffering. Gladstone, in later + days, wished to be thought of as having been one of these, though at the + time, a famous utterance of his was construed in the North as a + declaration of hostility. To a great audience at Newcastle he said in + October, 1862: "We may have our own opinions about slavery; we may be for + or against the South; but there is no doubt that Jefferson Davis and other + leaders of the South have made an army; they are making, it appears, a + navy; and they have made, what is more than either—they have made a + nation." + </p> + <p> + The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, wished to intervene in the American + war and bring about an amicable separation into two countries, and so, + apparently, did the Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell. Recently, the + American minister had vainly protested against the sailing of a ship known + as 290 which was being equipped at Liverpool presumably for the service of + the Confederacy, and which became the famous Alabama. For two years it + roved the ocean destroying Northern commerce, and not until it was sunk at + last in a battle with the U. S. S. Kearsarge did all the maritime + interests of the North breathe again freely. In time and as a result of + arbitration, England paid for the ships sunk by the Alabama. But in 1862, + the protests of the American minister fell on deaf ears. + </p> + <p> + It must be added that the sailing of the Alabama from Liverpool was due + probably to the carelessness of British officials rather than to + deliberate purpose. And yet the fact is clear that about the first of + October, 1862, the British ministry was on the verge of intervening to + secure recognition of the independence of the Southern confederacy. The + chief motive pressing them forward was the distress in England caused by + the lack of cotton which resulted from the American blockade. In 1860, the + South had exported 615,000 bales; in 1861, only 10,127 bales. In 1862 half + the spindles of Manchester were idle; the workmen were out of employment; + the owners were without dividends. It was chiefly by these manufacturing + capitalists that pressure was put upon the ministry, and it was in the + manufacturing district that Gladstone, thinking the Government was likely + to intervene, made his allusion to the South as a nation. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the Emperor of the French was considering a proposal to England + and Russia to join with him in mediation between the American + belligerents. On October 28, 1862, Napoleon III gave audience to the + Confederate envoy at Paris, discussed the Southern cause in the most + friendly manner, questioned him upon the Maryland campaign, plainly + indicated his purpose to attempt intervention, and at parting cordially + shook hands with him. Within a few days the Emperor made good his implied + promise. + </p> + <p> + The month of November, 1862, is one of the turning-points in American + foreign relations. Both Russia and England rejected France's proposal. The + motive usually assigned to the Emperor Alexander is his hatred of + everything associated with slavery. His own most famous action was the + liberation of the Russian serfs. The motives of the British ministry, + however, appear more problematical. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Rhodes thinks he can discern evidence that Adams communicated + indirectly to Palmerston the contents of a dispatch from Seward which + indicated that the United States would accept war rather than mediation. + Palmerston had kept his eyes upon the Maryland campaign, and Lee's + withdrawal did not increase his confidence in the strength of the South. + Lord Russell, two months previous, had flatly told the Confederate envoy + at London that the South need not hope for recognition unless it could + establish itself without aid, and that "the fluctuating events of the war, + the alternation of defeat and victory," composed such a contradictory + situation that "Her Majesty's Government are still determined to wait." + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the veiled American warning—assuming it was conveyed to + Palmerston, which seems highly probable—was not the only diplomatic + innuendo of the autumn of 1862 that has escaped the pages of history. + Slidell at Paris, putting together the statements of the British + Ambassador and those of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, found in + them contradictions as to what was going on between the two governments in + relation to America. He took a hand by attempting to inspire M. Drouyn de + L'huys with distrust of England, telling him he "HAD SEEN...a letter from + a leading member of the British Cabinet...in which he very plainly + insinuated that France was playing an unfair game," trying to use England + as Napoleon's catspaw. Among the many motives that may well have animated + the Palmerston Government in its waiting policy, a distrust of Napoleon + deserves to be considered. + </p> + <p> + It is scarcely rash, however, to find the chief motive in home politics. + The impetuous Gladstone at Newcastle lost his head and spoke too soon. The + most serious effect of his premature utterance was the prompt reaction of + the "Northern party" in the Cabinet and in the country. Whatever + Palmerston's secret desires were, he was not prepared to take the high + hand, and he therefore permitted other members of the Cabinet to state in + public that Gladstone had been misunderstood. In an interview with Adams, + Lord Russell, "whilst endeavoring to excuse Mr. Gladstone," assured him + that "the policy of the Government was to adhere to a strict neutrality + and leave the struggle to settle itself." In the last analysis, the + Northern party in England was gaining ground. The news from America, + possibly, and Gladstone's rashness, certainly, roused it to increased + activity. Palmerston, whose tenure of power was none too secure, dared not + risk a break that might carry the disaffected into the ranks of the + Opposition. + </p> + <p> + From this time forward the North rapidly grew in favor in British public + opinion, and its influence upon the Government speedily increased. + </p> + <p> + Says Lord Charnwood in his recent life of Lincoln: "The battle of Antietam + was followed within five days by an event which made it impossible for any + government of this country to take action unfriendly to the North." He + refers of course to the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on + September 23, 1862. Lord Charnwood's remark may be too dramatic. But there + can be no doubt that the Emancipation Proclamation was the turning-point + in Lincoln's foreign policy; and because of it, his friends in England + eventually forced the Government to play into his hands, and so frustrated + Napoleon's scheme for intervention. Consequently Lincoln was able to + maintain the blockade by means of which the South was strangled. Thus, at + bottom, the crucial matter was Emancipation. + </p> + <p> + Lincoln's policy with regard to slavery passed through three distinct + stages. As we have seen, he proposed, at first, to pledge the Government + not to interfere with slavery in the States where it then existed. This + was his maximum of compromise. He would not agree to permitting its + extension into new territory. He maintained this position through 1861, + when it was made an accusation against him by the Abolitionists and + contributed to the ebb of his popularity. It also played a great part in + the episode of Fremont. At a crucial moment in Fremont's career, when his + hold upon popularity seemed precarious, he set at naught the policy of the + President and issued an order (August 30, 1861), which confiscated all + property and slaves of those who were in arms against the United States or + actively aiding the enemy, and which created a "bureau of abolition." + Whether Fremont was acting from conviction or "playing politics" may be + left to his biographers. In a most tactful letter Lincoln asked him to + modify the order so as to conform to the Confiscation Act of Congress; and + when Fremont proved obdurate, Lincoln ordered him to do so. In the outcry + against Lincoln when Fremont was at last removed, the Abolitionists rang + the changes on this reversal of his policy of military abolition. + </p> + <p> + Another Federal General, Benjamin F. Butler, in the course of 1861, also + raised the issue, though not in the bold fashion of Fremont. Runaway + slaves came to his camp on the Virginia coast, and he refused to surrender + them to the owners. He took the ground that, as they had probably been + used in building Confederate fortifications, they might be considered + contraband of war. He was sustained by Congress, which passed what is + commonly called the First Confiscation Act providing that slaves used by + Confederate armies in military labor should, if captured, be "forfeited"—which + of course meant that they should be set free. But this did not settle what + should be done with runaways whose masters, though residents of seceded + States, were loyal to the Union. The War Department decided that they + should be held until the end of the war, when probably there would be made + "just compensation to loyal masters." + </p> + <p> + This first stage of Lincoln's policy rested upon the hope that the Union + might be restored without prolonged war. He abandoned this hope about the + end of the year. Thereupon, his policy entered its second stage. In the + spring of 1862 he formulated a plan for gradual emancipation with + compensation. The slaves of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and + the District of Columbia were to be purchased at the rate of $400 each, + thus involving a total expenditure of $173,000,000. Although Congress + adopted the joint resolution recommended by the President, the "border + States" would not accept the plan. But Congress, by virtue of its plenary + power, freed the slaves by purchase in the District of Columbia, and + prohibited slavery in all the territories of the United States. + </p> + <p> + During the second stage of his policy Lincoln again had to reverse the + action of an unruly general. The Federal forces operating from their base + at Port Royal had occupied a considerable portion of the Carolina coast. + General Hunter issued an order freeing all the slaves in South Carolina, + Georgia, and Florida. In countermanding the order, Lincoln made another + futile appeal to the people of the border States to adopt some plan of + compensated emancipation. + </p> + <p> + "I do not argue," he said; "I beseech you to make arguments for + yourselves. You cannot, if you would be blind to the signs of the times. I + beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if it may + be, far above personal and partisan politics. This proposal makes common + cause for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the + Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of + heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So much + good has not been done by one effort in all past time, as in the + providence of God it is now your high privilege to do. May the vast future + not have to lament that you neglected it." + </p> + <p> + This persuasive attitude and reluctance to force the issue had greatly + displeased the Abolitionists. Their most gifted orator, Wendell Phillips, + reviled Lincoln with all the power of his literary genius, and with a fury + that might be called malevolent. Meanwhile, a Second Confiscation Act + proclaimed freedom for the slaves of all those who supported the + Confederate Government. Horace Greeley now published in the "New York + Tribune" an editorial entitled, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions." He + denounced Lincoln's treatment of Fremont and Hunter and demanded radical + action. Lincoln replied in a letter now famous. "I would save the Union," + said he, "I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution.... If I + could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I + could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do + that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe + it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not + believe it would help to save the Union." + </p> + <p> + However, at the very time when he wrote this remarkable letter, he had in + his own mind entered upon the third stage of his policy. He had even then + discussed with his Cabinet an announcement favoring general emancipation. + The time did not seem to them ripe. It was decided to wait until a Federal + victory should save the announcement from appearing to be a cry of + desperation. Antietam, which the North interpreted as a victory, gave + Lincoln his opportunity. + </p> + <p> + The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to the States in arms against + the Federal Government. Such States were given three months in which to + return to the Union. Thereafter, if they did not return, their slaves + would be regarded by that Government as free. No distinction was made + between slaves owned by supporters of the Confederacy and those whose + owners were in opposition to it. The Proclamation had no bearing on those + slave States which had not seceded. Needless to add, no seceded State + returned, and a second Proclamation making their slaves theoretically free + was in due time issued on the first of January, 1863. + </p> + <p> + It must not be forgotten that this radical change of policy was made in + September, 1862. We have already heard of the elections which took place + soon after—those elections which mark perhaps the lowest ebb of + Lincoln's popularity, when Seymour was elected Governor of New York, and + the peace party gained over thirty seats in Congress. It is a question + whether, as a purely domestic measure, the Emancipation Proclamation was + not, for the time, an injury to the Lincoln Government. And yet it was the + real turning-point in the fortunes of the North. It was the central fact + in the maintenance of the blockade. + </p> + <p> + In England at this time the cotton famine was at its height. Nearly a + million people in the manufacturing districts were wholly dependent upon + charity. This result of the blockade had been foreseen by the Confederate + Government which was confident that the distress of England's working + people would compel the English ministry to intervene and break the + blockade. The employers in England whose loss was wholly financial, did as + the Confederates hoped they would do. The workmen, however, took a + different course. Schooled by a number of able debaters, they fell into + line with that third group of political leaders who saw in the victory of + the North, whatever its motives, the eventual extinction of slavery. To + these people, the Emancipation Proclamation gave a definite programme. It + was now, the leaders argued, no longer a question of eventual effect; the + North had proclaimed a motive and that motive was the extinction of + slavery. Great numbers of Englishmen of all classes who had hitherto held + back from supporting Cobden and Bright now ranged themselves on their + side. Addresses of praise and sympathy "began to pour into the Legation of + the United States in a steady and ever swelling stream." An immense + popular demonstration took place at Exeter Hall. Cobden, writing to + Sumner, described the new situation in British politics, in a letter + amounting to an assurance that the Government never again would attempt to + resist the popular pressure in favor of the North. + </p> + <p> + On the last day of 1862 a meeting of workingmen at Manchester, where the + cotton famine was causing untold misery, adopted one of those New Year + greetings to Lincoln. Lincoln's reply expressed with his usual directness + his own view of the sympathetic relation that had been established between + the democratic classes of the two countries: + </p> + <p> + "I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the workingmen at + Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis. It has + been often and studiously represented that the attempt to overthrow this + Government, which was built upon the foundation of human rights, and to + substitute for it one which should rest exclusively on the basis of human + slavery, was likely to obtain the favor of Europe. Through the action of + our disloyal citizens, the workingmen of Europe have been subjected to + severe trials, for the purpose of forcing their sanction to that attempt. + Under the circumstances, I cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon + the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not + been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an energetic and + reinspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth, and of the ultimate + triumph of justice, humanity, and freedom. I do not doubt that the + sentiments you have expressed will be sustained by your great nation; and, + on the other hand, I have no hesitation in assuring you that they will + excite admiration, esteem, and the most reciprocal feelings of friendship + among the American people. I hail this interchange of sentiment, + therefore, as an augury that whatever else may happen, whatever misfortune + may befall your country or my own, the peace and friendship which now + exists between the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make + them, perpetual." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY + </h2> + <p> + Though the defeat of the Democrats at the polls in 1863 and the now + definitely friendly attitude of England had done much to secure the + stability of the Lincoln Government, this success was due in part to a + figure which now comes to the front and deserves attentive consideration. + Indeed the work of Salmon Portland Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, forms + a bridge, as one might say, between the first and second phases of + Lincoln's administration. + </p> + <p> + The interesting Englishman who is the latest biographer of Lincoln says of + Chase: "Unfortunately, this imposing person was a sneak." But is Lord + Charnwood justified in that surprising characterization? He finds support + in the testimony of Secretary Welles, who calls Chase, "artful dodger, + unstable, and unreliable." And yet there is another side, for it is the + conventional thing in America to call him our greatest finance minister + since Hamilton, and even a conspicuous enemy said of him, at a crucial + moment, that his course established his character "as an honest and frank + man." + </p> + <p> + Taking these contradictory estimates as hints of a contradiction in the + man, we are forced to the conclusion that Chase was a professional in + politics and an amateur in finance. Perhaps herein is the whole + explanation of the two characteristics of his financial policy—his + reluctance to lay taxes, and his faith in loans. His two eyes did not see + things alike. One was really trying to make out the orthodox path of + finance; the other was peering along the more devious road of popular + caprice. + </p> + <p> + The opening of the war caught the Treasury, as it caught all branches of + the Government, utterly unprepared. Between April and July, 1861, Chase + had to borrow what he could. When Congress met in July, his real career as + director of financial policy began—or, as his enemies think, failed + to begin. At least, he failed to urge upon Congress the need of new taxes + and appeared satisfied with himself asking for an issue of $240,000,000 in + bonds bearing not less than seven per cent interest. Congress voted to + give him $250,000,000 of which $50,000,000 might be interest-bearing + treasury notes; made slight increases in duties; and Prepared for excise + and direct taxation the following year. Later in the year Congress laid a + three per cent tax on all incomes in excess of $800. + </p> + <p> + When Congress reassembled in December, 1861, expenditures were racing + ahead of receipts, and there was a deficit of $143,000,000. It must not be + forgotten that this month was a time of intense excitability and of + nervous reaction. Fremont had lately been removed, and the attack on + Cameron had begun. At this crucial moment the situation was made still + more alarming by the action of the New York banks, followed by all other + banks, in suspending specie payments. They laid the responsibility upon + Chase. A syndicate of banks in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia had come + to the aid of the Government, but when they took up government bonds, + Chase had required them to pay the full value cash down, though they had + asked permission to hold the money on deposit and to pay it as needed on + requisition by the Government. Furthermore, in spite of their protest, + Chase issued treasury notes, which the banks had to receive from their + depositors, who nevertheless continued to demand specie. On January 1, + 1862, the banks owed $459,000,000 and had in specie only $87,000,000. + Chase defended his course by saying that the financial crisis was not due + to his policy—or lack of policy, as it would now seem—but to a + general loss of faith in the outcome of the war. + </p> + <p> + There now arose a moral crisis for this "imposing person" who was + Secretary of the Treasury—a crisis with regard to which there are + still differences of opinion. While he faced his problem silently, the + Committee on Ways and Means in the House took the matter in hand: Its + solution was an old one which all sound theorists on finance unite in + condemning—the issue of irredeemable paper money. And what did the + Secretary of the Treasury do? Previously, as Governor of Ohio, he had + denounced paper money as, in effect, a fraud upon society. Long after, + when the tide of fortune had landed him in the high place of Supreme + Justice, he returned to this view and condemned as unconstitutional the + law of 1862 establishing a system of paper money. But at the time when + that law was passed Chase, though he went through the form of protesting, + soon acquiesced. Before long he was asking Congress to allow a further + issue of what he had previously called "fraudulent" money. + </p> + <p> + The answer to the question whether Chase should have stuck to his + principles and resigned rather than acquiesce in the paper money + legislation turns on that other question—how were the politician and + the financier related in his make-up? + </p> + <p> + Before Congress and the Secretary had finished, $450,000,000 were issued. + Prices naturally rose, and there was speculation in gold. Even before the + first issue of paper money, the treasury notes had been slightly below + par. In January, 1863, a hundred dollars in paper would bring, in New + York, only $69.00 in gold; a year later, after falling, rising, and + falling again, the value was $64.00; in July and August, 1864, it was at + its lowest, $39.00; when the war closed, it had risen to $67.00. There was + powerful protest against the legislation responsible for such a condition + of affairs. Justin Morrill, the author of the Morrill tariff, said, "I + would as soon provide Chinese wooden guns for the army as paper money + alone for the army. It will be a breach of public faith. It will injure + creditors; it will increase prices; it will increase many fold the cost of + the war." Recent students agree, in the main, that his prophecies were + fulfilled; and a common estimate of the probable increase in the cost of + the war through the use of paper money and the consequent inflation of + prices is $600,000,000. + </p> + <p> + There was much more financial legislation in 1862; but Chase continued to + stand aside and allow Congress the lead in establishing an excise law, an + increase in the income tax, and a higher tariff—the last of which + was necessitated by the excise law which has been described as a bill + "that taxed everything." To enable American manufacturers to bear the + excise duties levied upon their business, protection was evoked to secure + them the possession of their field by excluding foreign competition. All + these taxes, however, produced but a fraction of the Government's revenue. + Borrowing, the favorite method of the Secretary, was accepted by Congress + as the main resource. It is computed that by means of taxation there was + raised in the course of the war $667,163,247.00, while during the same + period the Government borrowed $2,621,916,786.00. + </p> + <p> + Whatever else he may think of Chase, no one denies that in 1862 he had + other interests besides finance. Lincoln's Cabinet in those days was far + from an harmonious body. All through its history there was a Chase faction + and a Seward faction. The former had behind them the Radical Republicans, + while the latter relied upon the support of the moderates. This division + in the Republican party runs deep through the politics of the time. There + seems to be good reason to think that Chase was not taken by surprise when + his radical allies in Congress, in December, 1862, demanded of Lincoln the + removal of Seward. It will be remembered that the elections of the autumn + of 1862 had gone against Lincoln. At this moment of dismay, the friends of + Chase struck their blow. Seward instantly offered his resignation. But + Lincoln skillfully temporized. Thereupon, Chase also resigned. Judging + from the scanty evidence we have of his intention, we may conclude that he + thought he had Lincoln in a corner and that he expected either to become + first minister or the avowed chief of an irresistible opposition. But he + seems to have gone too fast for his followers. Lincoln had met them, + together with his Cabinet, in a conference in December, 1862, and frankly + discussed the situation, with the result that some of them wavered. When + Lincoln informed both Seward and Chase that he declined to accept their + resignations, both returned—Seward with alacrity, Chase with + reluctance. One of the clues to Lincoln's cabinet policy was his + determination to keep both these factions committed to the Government, + without allowing himself to be under the thumb of either. + </p> + <p> + During the six months following the cabinet crisis Chase appears at his + best. A stupendous difficulty lay before him and he attacked it manfully. + The Government's deficit was $276,900,000. Of the loans authorized in 1862—the + "five-twenties" as they were called, bringing six per cent and to run from + five to twenty years at the Government's pleasure—-the sales had + brought in, to December, 1862, only $23,750,000, though five hundred + million had been expected. The banks in declining to handle these bonds + laid the blame on the Secretary, who had insisted that all purchasers + should take them at par. + </p> + <p> + It is not feasible, in a work of this character, to enter into the + complexities of the financial situation of 1863, or to determine just what + influences caused a revolution in the market for government bonds. But two + factors must be mentioned. Chase was induced to change his attitude and to + sell to banks large numbers of bonds at a rate below par, thus enabling + the banks to dispose of them at a profit. He also called to his aid Jay + Cooke, an experienced banker, who was allowed a commission of one-half per + cent on all bonds sold up to $10,000,000 and three-eighths of one per cent + after that. Cooke organized a countrywide agency system, with twenty-five + hundred subagents through whom he offered directly to the people bonds in + small denominations. By all manner of devices, patriotism and the purchase + of bonds were made to appear the same thing, and before the end of the + year $400,000,000 in five-twenty bonds had been sold. This campaign to + dispose of the five-twenties was the turning-point in war finance, and + later borrowings encountered no such difficulties as those of 1862 and + 1863. + </p> + <p> + Better known today than this precarious legislation is the famous Act of + 1863, which was amended in the next year and which forms the basis of our + present system of national banks. To Chase himself the credit for this + seems to be due. Even in 1861 he advised Congress to establish a system of + national banks, and he repeated the advice before it was finally taken. + The central feature of this system which he advocated is one with which we + are still familiar: permission to the banks accepting government + supervision to deposit government bonds in the Treasury and to acquire in + return the right to issue bank-notes to the amount of ninety per cent of + the value of the bonds. + </p> + <p> + There can be no doubt that Chase himself rated very highly his own + services to his country. Nor is there any doubt that, alone among + Lincoln's close associates, he continued until the end to believe himself + a better man than the President. He and his radical following made no + change in their attitude to Lincoln, though Chase pursued a course of + confidential criticism which has since inspired the characterization of + him as a "sneak," while his followers were more outspoken. In the summer + of 1863 Chase was seriously talked of as the next President, and before + the end of the year Chase clubs were being organized in all the large + cities to promote his candidacy. Chase himself took the adroit position of + not believing that any President should serve a second term. + </p> + <p> + Early in 1864 the Chase organization sent out a confidential circular + signed by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas setting forth the case against Lincoln + as a candidate and the case in favor of Chase. Unfortunately for Chase, + this circular fell into the hands of a newspaper and was published. Chase + at once wrote to Lincoln denying any knowledge of the circular but + admitting his candidacy and offering his resignation. No more remarkable + letter was written by Lincoln than his reply to Chase, in which he showed + that he had long fully understood the situation, and which he closed with + these words: "Whether you shall remain at the head of the Treasury + Department is a question which I do not allow myself to consider from any + standpoint other than my judgment of the public service, and, in that + view, I do not perceive occasion for change." + </p> + <p> + The Chase boom rapidly declined. The deathblow was given by a caucus of + the Union members of the legislature of his own State nominating Lincoln + "at the demand of the people and the soldiers of Ohio." The defeat + embittered Chase. For several months, however, he continued in the + Cabinet, and during this time he had the mortification of seeing Lincoln + renominated in the National Union Convention amid a great display of + enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + More than once in the past, Chase had offered his resignation. On one + occasion Lincoln had gone to his house and had begged him to reconsider + his decision. Soon after the renomination, Chase again offered his + resignation upon the pretext of a disagreement with the President over + appointments to office. This time, however, Lincoln felt the end had come + and accepted the resignation. Chase's successor in the Treasury was + William Pitt Fessenden, Senator from Maine. During most of the summer of + 1864 Chase stood aside, sullen and envious, watching the progress of + Lincoln toward a second election. So much did his bitterness affect his + judgment that he was capable of writing in his diary his belief that + Lincoln meant to reverse his policy and consent to peace with slavery + reestablished. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. NORTHERN LIFE DURING THE WAR + </h2> + <p> + The real effects of war on the life of nations is one of those old and + complicated debates which lie outside the scope of a volume such as this. + Yet in the particular case of the Northern people it is imperative to + answer two questions both of which have provoked interminable discussion: + Was the moral life of the North good or bad in the war years? Was its + commercial life sound? + </p> + <p> + As to the moral question, contemporary evidence seems at first sight + contradictory. The very able Englishman who represented the "Times", + William H. Russell, gives this ugly picture of an American city in 1863: + </p> + <p> + "Every fresh bulletin from the battlefield of Chickamauga, during my three + weeks' stay in Cincinnati, brought a long list of the dead and wounded of + the Western army, many of whom, of the officers, belonged to the best + families of the place. Yet the signs of mourning were hardly anywhere + perceptible; the noisy gaiety of the town was not abated one jot." + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, a private manuscript of a Cincinnati family describes + the "intense gloom hanging over the city like a pall" during the period of + that dreadful battle. The memories of old people at Cincinnati in after + days—if they had belonged to the "loyal" party—contained only + sad impressions of a city that was one great hospital where "all our best + people" worked passionately as volunteer assistants of the government + medical corps. + </p> + <p> + A third fact to be borne in mind in connection with this apparent + contradiction in evidence is the source of the greater fortunes of + Cincinnati, a large proportion of which are to be traced, directly or + indirectly to government contracts during the war. In some cases the + merciless indifference of the Cincinnati speculators to the troubles of + their country are a local scandal to this day, and it is still told, + sometimes with scorn, sometimes with amusement, how perhaps the greatest + of these fortunes was made by forcing up the price of iron at a time when + the Government had to have iron, cost what it might. + </p> + <p> + Thus we no sooner take up the moral problem of the times than we find + ourselves involved in the commercial question, for here, as always, morals + and business are intertwined. Was the commercial management of the North + creditable to the Government and an honor to the people? The surest way to + answer such questions is to trace out with some fullness the commercial + and industrial conditions of the North during the four years of war. + </p> + <p> + The general reader who looks for the first time into the matter is likely + to be staggered by what statistics seem to say. Apparently they contradict + what he is accustomed to hear from popular economists about the waste of + war. He has been told in the newspapers that business is undermined by the + withdrawal of great numbers of men from "productive" consumption of the + fruits of labor and their engagement as soldiers in "unproductive" + consumption. But, to his astonishment, he finds that the statistics of + 1861-1865 show much increase in Northern business—as, for example, + in 1865, the production of 142 million pounds of wool against 60 million + in 1860. The government reports show that 13 million tons of coal were + mined in 1860 and 21 million in 1864; in 1860, the output of pig iron was + 821,000 tons, and 1,014,282 tons in 1864; the petroleum production rose + from 21 million gallons in 1860 to 128 million in 1862; the export of + corn, measured in money, shows for 1860 a business of $2,399,808 compared + with $10,592,704 for 1863; wheat exporting showed, also, an enormous + increase, rising from 14 millions in 1860 to 46 millions in 1863. There + are, to be sure, many statistics which seem to contradict these. Some of + them will be mentioned presently. And yet, on the whole, it seems safe to + conclude that the North, at the close of the third year of war was + producing more and was receiving larger profits than in 1860. + </p> + <p> + To deal with this subject in its entirety would lead us into the + labyrinths of complex economic theory, yet two or three simple facts + appear so plain that even the mere historian may venture to set them + forth. When we look into the statistics which seem to show a general + increase of business during the war, we find that in point of fact this + increase was highly specialized. All those industries that dealt with the + physical necessities of life and all those that dealt peculiarly with + armies flourished amazingly. And yet there is another side to the story, + for there were other industries that were set back and some that almost, + if not entirely, disappeared. A good instance is the manufacture of cotton + cloth. When the war opened, 200,000 hands were employed in this + manufacture in New England. With the sealing up of the South and the + failure of the cotton supply, their work temporarily ceased. What became + of the workmen? Briefly, one of three things happened: some went into + other trades, such as munitions, in which the war had created an abnormal + demand for labor; a great number of them became soldiers; and many of them + went West and became farmers or miners. Furthermore, many whose trades + were not injured by the war left their jobs and fled westward to escape + conscription. Their places were left open to be filled by operatives from + the injured trades. In one or another of these ways the laborer who was + thrown out of work was generally able to recover employment. But it is + important to remember that the key to the labor situation at that time was + the vast area of unoccupied land which could be had for nothing or next to + nothing. This fact is brought home by a comparison of the situation of the + American with that of the English workman during the cotton famine. + According to its own ideas England was then fully cultivated. There was no + body of land waiting to be thrown open, as an emergency device, to a host + of new-made agriculturists. When the cotton-mills stopped at Manchester, + their operatives had practically no openings but in other industrial + occupations. As such opportunities were lacking, they became objects of + charity until they could resume their work. As a country with a great + reserve of unoccupied land, the United States was singularly fortunate at + this economic crisis. + </p> + <p> + One of the noteworthy features of Northern life during the war is that + there was no abnormal increase in pauperism. A great deal has been written + upon the extensive charities of the time, but the term is wrongly applied, + for what is really referred to is the volunteer aid given to the + Government in supporting the armies. This was done on a vast scale, by all + classes of the population—that is, by all who supported the Union + party, for the separation between the two parties was bitter and + unforgiving. But of charity in the ordinary sense of the care of the + destitute there was no significant increase because there was no peculiar + need. Here again the fact that the free land could be easily reached is + the final explanation. There was no need for the unemployed workman to + become a pauper. He could take advantage of the Homestead Act*, which was + passed in 1862, and acquire a farm of 160 acres free; or he could secure + at almost nominal cost farm-land which had been given to railways as an + inducement to build. Under the Homestead Act, the Government gave away + land amounting to 2,400,000 acres before the close of the war. The + Illinois Central alone sold to actual settlers 221,000 acres in 1863 and + 264,000 in 1864. It was during the war, too, that the great undertaking of + the transcontinental railway was begun, partly for military and partly for + commercial reasons. In this project, both as a field of labor and as a + stimulus to Western settlement, there is also to be found one more device + for the relief of the labor situation in the East. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *This Act, which may be regarded as the culmination of the + long battle of the Northern dreamers to win "land for the + landless," provided that every settler who was, or intended + to be, a citizen might secure 180 acres of government land + by living on it and cultivating it for five years. +</pre> + <p> + There is no more important phenomenon of the time than the shifting of + large masses of population from the East to the West, while the war was in + progress. This fact begins to indicate why there was no shortage in the + agricultural output. The North suffered acutely from inflation of prices + and from a speculative wildness that accompanied the inflation, but it did + not suffer from a lack of those things that are produced by the soil—food, + timber, metals, and coal. In addition to the reason just mentioned—the + search for new occupation by Eastern labor which had been thrown out of + employment—three other causes helped to maintain the efficiency of + work in the mines, in the forests, and on the farms. These three factors + were immigration, the labor of women, and labor-saving machines. + </p> + <p> + Immigration, naturally, fell off to a certain degree but it did not become + altogether negligible. It is probable that 110,000 able-bodied men came + into the country while war was in progress—a poor offset to the many + hundred thousand who became soldiers, but nevertheless a contribution that + counted for something. + </p> + <p> + Vastly more important, in the work of the North, was the part taken by + women. A pathetic detail with which in our own experience the world has + again become familiar was the absence of young men throughout most of the + North, and the presence of women new to the work in many occupations, + especially farming. A single quotation from a home missionary in Iowa + tells the whole story: + </p> + <p> + "I will mention that I met more women driving teams on the road and saw + more at work in the fields than men. They seem to have said to their + husbands in the language of a favorite song, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Just take your gun and go; + For Ruth can drive the oxen, John, + And I can use the hoe!' +</pre> + <p> + "I went first to Clarinda, and the town seemed deserted. Upon inquiry for + former friends, the frequent answer was, 'In the army.' From Hawleyville + almost all the thoroughly loyal male inhabitants had gone; and in one + township beyond, where I formerly preached, there are but seven men left, + and at Quincy, the county seat of Adams County, but five." + </p> + <p> + Even more important than the change in the personnel of labor were the new + machines of the day. During the fifteen years previous to the war American + ingenuity had reached a high point. Such inventions as the sewing machine + and the horse-reaper date in their practical forms from that period, and + both of these helped the North to fight the war. Their further + improvement, and the extension of the principles involved to many new + forms of machinery, sprang from the pressing need to make up for the loss + of men who were drained by the army from the farms and the workshops. It + was the horse-reaper, the horse-rake, the horse-thresher that enabled + women and boys to work the farms while husbands, fathers, and elder + brothers were at the front. + </p> + <p> + All these causes maintained Northern farming at a high pitch of + productivity. This efficiency is implied in some of the figures already + quoted, but many others could be cited. For example, in 1859, the total + production of wheat for the whole country was 173 million bushels; in + 1862, the North alone produced 177 millions; even in 1864, with over a + million men under arms, it still produced 160 million bushels. + </p> + <p> + It must be remembered that the great Northern army produced nothing while + it consumed the products of agriculture and manufacture—food, + clothing, arms, ammunition, cannon, wagons, horses, medical stores—at + a rate that might have led a poetical person to imagine the army as a + devouring dragon. Who, in the last analysis, provided all these supplies? + Who paid the soldiers? Who supplemented their meager pay and supported + their families? The people, of course; and they did so both directly and + indirectly. In taxes and loans they paid to the Government about three + thousand millions of dollars. Their indirect assistance was perhaps as + great, though it is impossible today to estimate with any approach to + accuracy the amount either in money or service. Among obvious items are + the collections made by the Sanitary Commission for the benefit of the + hospital service, amounting to twenty-five million dollars, and about six + millions raised by the Christian Commission. In a hundred other ways both + individuals and localities strained their resources to supplement those of + the Government. Immense subscription lists were circulated to raise funds + for the families of soldiers. The city of Philadelphia alone spent in this + way in a single year $600,000. There is also evidence of a vast amount of + unrecorded relief of needy families by the neighbors, and in the farming + districts, such assistance, particularly in the form of fuel during + winter, was very generally given. + </p> + <p> + What made possible this enormous total of contributions was, in a word, + the general willingness of those supporting the war to forego luxuries. + They ceased buying a great multitude of unnecessary things. But what + became of the labor that had previously supplied the demand for luxuries? + A part of it went the way of all other Northern labor—into new + trades, into the army, or to the West—and a part continued to + manufacture luxuries: for their market, though curtailed, was not + destroyed. There were, indeed, two populations in the North, and they were + separated by an emotional chasm. Had all the North been a unit in feeling, + the production of articles of luxury might have ceased. Because of this + emotional division of the North, however, this business survived; for the + sacrifice of luxurious expenditure was made by only a part of the + population, even though it was the majority. + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, the whole matter was adjusted voluntarily without systematic + government direction, since there was nothing in the financial policy of + the Government to correspond to conscription. Consequently, both in the + way of loans and in the way of contributions, as well as in the matter of + unpaid service, the entire burden fell upon the war party alone. In the + absence of anything like economic conscription, if such a phrase may be + used, those Northerners who did not wish to lend money, or to make + financial sacrifice, or to give unpaid service, were free to pursue their + own bent. The election of 1864 showed that they formed a market which + amounted to something between six and nine millions. There is no reason to + suppose that these millions in 1864 spent less on luxuries than they did + in 1860. Two or three items are enough. In 1860, the importation of silk + amounted to 32 million dollars; in 1862, in spite of inflated prices, it + had shrunk to 7 millions; the consumption of malt liquors shrank from 101 + million gallons in 1860 to 62 million gallons in 1863; of coffee, hardly + to be classed as a luxury, there were consumed in 1861, 184 million pounds + and in 1863, 80 millions. + </p> + <p> + The clue to the story of capital is to be found in this fact, too often + forgotten, that there was an economic-political division cutting deep + through every stratum of the Northern people. Their economic life as well + as their political life was controlled on the one hand by a devotion to + the cause of the war, and on the other hand by a hatred of that cause or + by cynical indifference. And we cannot insist too positively that the + Government failed very largely to take this fact into account. The + American spirit of invention, so conspicuous at that time in mechanics, + did not apply itself to the science of government. Lincoln confessedly was + not a financier; his instinct was at home only in problems that could be + stated in terms of men. Witness his acceptance of conscription and his + firmness in carrying it through, as a result of which he saved the + patriotic party from bearing the whole burden of military service. But + there was no parallel conservation of power in the field of industry. The + financial policy, left in the hands of Chase, may truly be described as + barren of ideas. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the "loyal" North + was left at the mercy of its domestic enemies and a prey to parasites by + Chase's policy of loans instead of taxes and of voluntary support instead + of enforced support. + </p> + <p> + The consequence of this financial policy was an immense opportunity for + the "disloyally" and the parasites to make huge war profits out of the + "loyals" and the Government. Of course, it must not be supposed that + everyone who seized the chance to feather his nest was so careless or so + impolitic as to let himself be classed as a "disloyal." An incident of the + autumn of 1861 shows the temper of those professed "loyals" who were + really parasites. The background of the incident is supplied by a report + of the Quartermaster-General: + </p> + <p> + "Governors daily complain that recruiting will stop unless clothing is + sent in abundance and immediately to the various recruiting camps and + regiments. With every exertion, this department has not been able to + obtain clothing to supply these demands, and they have been so urgent that + troops before the enemy have been compelled to do picket duty in the late + cold nights without overcoats, or even coats, wearing only thin summer + flannel blouses.... Could 150,000 suits of clothing, overcoats, coats, and + pantaloons be placed today, in depot, it would scarce supply the calls now + before us. They would certainly leave no surplus." + </p> + <p> + The Government attempted to meet this difficulty in the shortest possible + time by purchasing clothing abroad. But such disregard of home industry, + the "patriotism" of the New England manufacturers could not endure. Along + with the report just quoted, the Quartermaster-General forwarded to the + Secretary of War a long argumentative protest from a committee of the + Boston Board of Trade against the purchase of army clothing in Europe. Any + American of the present day can guess how the protest was worded and what + arguments were used. Stripped of its insincerity, it signified this: the + cotton mills were inoperative for lack of material; their owners saw no + chance to save their dividends except by re-equipment as woolen mills; the + existing woolen mills also saw a great chance to force wool upon the + market as a substitute for cotton. In Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, and + Illinois, the growers of wool saw the opportunity with equal clearness. + But, one and all, these various groups of parasites saw that their game + hinged on one condition: the munitions market must be kept open until they + were ready to monopolize government contracts. If soldiers contracted + pneumonia doing picket duty on cold nights, in their summer blouses, that + was but an unfortunate incident of war. + </p> + <p> + Very different in spirit from the protest of the Boston manufacturers is a + dispatch from the American minister at Brussels which shows what American + public servants, in contrast with American manufacturers, were about. + Abroad the agents of North and South were fighting a commercial duel in + which each strove to monopolize the munitions market. The United States + Navy, seeing things from an angle entirely different from that of the + Boston Board of Trade, ably seconded the ministers by blockading the + Southern ports and by thus preventing the movement of specie and cotton to + Europe. As a consequence, fourmonth notes which had been given by Southern + agents with their orders fell due, had to be renewed, and began to be held + in disfavor. Agents of the North, getting wind of these hitches in + negotiations, eagerly sought to take over the unpaid Confederate orders. + All these details of the situation help to explain the jubilant tone of + this dispatch from Brussels late in November, 1861: + </p> + <p> + "I have now in my hands complete control of the principal rebel contracts + on the continent, viz.: 206,000 yards of cloth ready for delivery, already + commencing to move forward to Havre; gray but can be dyed blue in twenty + days; 100,000 yards deliverable from 15th of December to 26th of January, + light blue army cloth, same as ours; 100,000 blankets; 40,000 guns to be + shipped in ten days; 20,000 saber bayonets to be delivered in six + weeks.... The winter clothing for 100,000 men taken out of their hands, + when they cannot replace it, would almost compensate for Bull Run. There + is no considerable amount of cloth to be had in Europe; the stocks are + very short." + </p> + <p> + The Secretary of War was as devoid of ideas as the Secretary of the + Treasury was and even less equipped with resisting power. Though he could + not undo the work already done by the agents of the Government abroad, he + gave way as rapidly as possible to the allied parasites whose + headquarters, at the moment, were in Boston. The story grows uglier as we + proceed. Two powerful commercial combinations took charge of the policy of + the woolen interests—the National Woolgrowers' Association and the + National Association of Wool Manufacturers, which were soon in control of + this immense industry. Woolen mills sprang up so fast that a report of the + New York Chamber of Commerce pronounced their increase "scarcely + credible." So great was the new market created by the Government demand, + and so ruthless were the parasites in forcing up prices, that dividends on + mill stock rose to 10, 15, 25, and even 40 per cent. And all the while the + wool growers and the wool manufacturers were clamoring to Congress for + protection of the home industry, exclusion of the wicked foreign + competition, and all in the name of their devoted "patriotism"—patriotism + with a dividend of 40 per cent! + </p> + <p> + Of course, it is not meant that every wool grower and every woolen + manufacturer was either a "disloyal" or a parasite. By no means. Numbers + of them were to be found in that great host of "loyals" who put their + dividends into government bonds and gave their services unpaid as + auxiliaries of the Commissary Department or the Hospital Service of the + Army. What is meant is that the abnormal conditions of industry, + uncorrected by the Government, afforded a glaring opportunity for + unscrupulous men of business who, whatever their professions, cared a + hundred times more for themselves than for their country. To these was due + the pitiless hampering of the army in the interest of the wool-trade. For + example, many uniforms paid for at outrageous prices, turned out to be + made of a miserable cheap fabric, called "shoddy," which resisted weather + scarcely better than paper. This fraud gave the word "shoddy" its present + significance in our American speech and produced the phrase—applied + to manufacturers newly become rich—"shoddy aristocracy." An even + more shameful result of the selfishness of the manufacturers and of the + weakness of the Government was the use of cloth for uniforms not of the + regulation colors, with the result that soldiers sometimes fired upon + their comrades by mistake. + </p> + <p> + The prosperity of the capitalists who financed the woolen business did not + extend to the labor employed in it. One of the ugliest details of the time + was the resolute attempt of the parasites to seize the whole amount of the + abnormal profits they wrung from the Government and from the people. For + it must not be forgotten that the whole nation had to pay their prices. It + is estimated that prices in the main advanced about 100 per cent while + wages were not advanced more than sixty per cent. It is not strange that + these years of war form a period of bitter antagonism between labor and + capital. + </p> + <p> + What went on in the woolen business is to be found more or less in every + business. Immense fortunes sprang up over night. They had but two roots: + government contracts and excessive profits due to war prices. The gigantic + fortunes which characterized the North at the end of the war are thus + accounted for. The so-called prosperity of the time was a class prosperity + and was absorbed by parasites who fattened upon the necessities of the + Government and the sacrifices of the people. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. THE MEXICAN EPISODE + </h2> + <p> + That French demagogue whom Victor Hugo aptly called Napoleon the Little + was a prime factor in the history of the Union and the Confederacy. The + Confederate side of his intrigue will be told in its proper place. Here, + let us observe him from the point of view of Washington. + </p> + <p> + It is too much to attempt to pack into a sentence or two the complicated + drama of deceit, lies, and graft, through which he created at last a + pretext for intervention in the affairs of Mexico; it is enough that in + the autumn of 1862 a French army of invasion marched from Vera Cruz upon + Mexico City. We have already seen that about this same time Napoleon + proposed to England and Russia a joint intervention with France between + North and South—a proposal which, however, was rejected. This + Mexican venture explains why the plan was suggested at that particular + time. + </p> + <p> + Disappointed in England and Russia, Napoleon unexpectedly received + encouragement, as he thought, from within the United States through the + medium of the eccentric editor of the "New York Tribune". We shall have + occasion to return later to the adventures of Horace Greeley—that + erratic individual who has many good and generous acts to his credit, as + well as many foolish ones. For the present we have to note that toward the + close of 1862 he approached the French Ambassador at Washington with a + request for imperial mediation between the North and the South. Greeley + was a type of American that no European can understand: he believed in + talk, and more talk, and still more talk, as the cure for earthly ills. He + never could understand that anybody besides himself could have strong + convictions. When he told the Ambassador that the Emperor's mediation + would lead to a reconciliation of the sections, he was doubtless sincere + in his belief. The astute European diplomat, who could not believe such + simplicity, thought it a mask. When he asked for, and received, permission + to pass the Federal lines and visit Richmond, he interpreted the permit in + the light of his assumption about Greeley. At Richmond, he found no desire + for reunion. Putting this and that together, he concluded that the North + wanted to give up the fight and would welcome mediation to save its face. + The dreadful defeat at Fredericksburg fell in with this reasoning. His + reports on American conditions led Napoleon, in January, 1863, to attempt + alone what he had once hoped to do supported by England and Russia. He + proposed his good offices to the Government at Washington as a mediator + between North and South. + </p> + <p> + Hitherto, Washington had been very discreet about Mexico. Adroit hints not + to go too far had been given Napoleon in full measure, but there was no + real protest. The State Department now continued this caution and in the + most polite terms declined Napoleon's offer. Congress, however, took the + matter more grimly, for throughout the dealings with Napoleon, it had been + at odds with Lincoln. It now passed the first of a series of resolutions + which expressed the will of the country, if not quite the will of the + President, by resolving that any further proposal of mediation would be + regarded by it as "an unfriendly act." + </p> + <p> + Napoleon then resumed his scheming for joint intervention, while in the + meantime his armies continued to fight their way until they entered Mexico + City in June, 1863. The time had now come when Napoleon thought it + opportune to show his hand. Those were the days when Lee appeared + invincible, and when Chancellorsville crowned a splendid series of + triumphs. In England, the Southern party made a fresh start; and societies + were organized to aid the Confederacy. At Liverpool, Laird Brothers were + building, ostensibly for France, really for the Confederacy, two ironclads + supposed to outclass every ship in the Northern navy. In France, 100,000 + unemployed cotton hands were rioting for food. To raise funds for the + Confederacy the great Erlanger banking-house of Paris negotiated a loan + based on cotton which was to be delivered after the breaking of the + blockade. Napoleon dreamed of a shattered American union, two enfeebled + republics, and a broad way for his own scheme in Mexico. + </p> + <p> + In June an English politician of Southern sympathies, Edward Roebuck, went + over to France, was received by the Emperor, and came to an understanding + with him. Roebuck went home to report to the Southern party that Napoleon + was ready to intervene, and that all he waited for was England's + cooperation. A motion "to enter into negotiations with the Great Powers of + Europe for the purpose of obtaining their cooperation in the recognition" + of the Confederacy was introduced by Roebuck in the House of Commons. + </p> + <p> + The debate which followed was the last chance of the Southern party and, + as events proved, the last chance of Napoleon. How completely the British + ministry was now committed to the North appears in the fact that + Gladstone, for the Government, opposed Roebuck's motion. John Bright + attacked it in what Lord Morley calls "perhaps the most powerful and the + noblest speech of his life." The Southern party was hardly resolute in + their support of Roebuck and presently he withdrew his motion. + </p> + <p> + But there were still the ironclads at Liverpool. We have seen that earlier + in the war, the carelessness of the British authorities had permitted the + escape of ship 290, subsequently known as the Confederate + commerce-destroyer, Alabama. The authorities did not wish to allow a + repetition of the incident. But could it be shown that the Laird ships + were not really for a French purchaser? It was in the course of diplomatic + conversations that Mr. Adams, speaking of the possible sailing of the + ships, made a remark destined to become famous: "It would be superfluous + in me to point out to your lordship that this is war." At jest, the + authorities were satisfied. The ships were seized and in the end bought + for the British Navy. + </p> + <p> + Again Napoleon stood alone. Not only had he failed to obtain aid from + abroad, but in France itself his Mexican schemes were widely and bitterly + condemned. Yet he had gone too far to recede, and what he had been aiming + at all along was now revealed. An assembly of Mexican notables, convened + by the general of the invaders, voted to set up an imperial government and + offered the crown to Napoleon's nominee, the Archduke Maximilian of + Austria. + </p> + <p> + And now the Government at Washington was faced with a complicated problem. + What about the Monroe Doctrine? Did the Union dare risk war with France? + Did it dare pass over without protest the establishment of monarchy on + American soil by foreign arms? Between these horns of a dilemma, the + Government maintained its precarious position during another year. + Seward's correspondence with Paris was a masterpiece of evasion. He + neither protested against the intervention of Napoleon nor acknowledged + the authority of Maximilian. Apparently, both he and Lincoln were divided + between fear of a French alliance with the Confederacy and fear of + premature action in the North that would render Napoleon desperate. Just + how far they comprehended Napoleon and his problems is an open question. + </p> + <p> + Whether really comprehending or merely trusting to its instinct, Congress + took a bolder course. Two men prove the antagonists of a parliamentary + duel—Charles Sumner, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign + Relations, and Henry Winter Davis, chairman of the corresponding committee + of the House. Sumner played the hand of the Administration. Fiery + resolutions demanding the evacuation of Mexico or an American declaration + of war were skillfully buried in the silence of Sumner's committee. But + there was nevertheless one resolution that affected history: it was a + ringing condemnation of the attempt to establish a monarchy in Mexico. In + the House, a joint resolution which Davis submitted was passed without one + dissenting vote. When it came to the Senate, Sumner buried it as he had + buried earlier resolutions. None the less it went out to the world + attended by the news of the unanimous vote in the House. + </p> + <p> + Shortly afterwards, the American Ambassador at Paris called upon the + imperial Foreign Secretary, M. Drouyn de L'huys. News of this resolution + had preceded him. He was met by the curt question, "Do you bring peace or + war?" Again, the Washington Government was skillfully evasive. The + Ambassador was instructed to explain that the resolution had not been + inspired by the President and "the French Government would be seasonably + apprized of any change of policy...which the President might at any future + time think it proper to adopt." + </p> + <p> + There seems little doubt that Lincoln's course was very widely condemned + as timid. When we come to the political campaign of 1864, we shall meet + Henry Winter Davis among his most relentless personal enemies. + Dissatisfaction with Lincoln's Mexican policy has not been sufficiently + considered in accounting for the opposition to him, inside the war party, + in 1864. To it may be traced an article in the platform of the war party, + adopted in June, 1864, protesting against the establishment of monarchy + "in near proximity to the United States." In the same month Maximilian + entered Mexico City. + </p> + <p> + The subsequent moves of Napoleon are explained elsewhere.* The central + fact in the story is his virtual change of attitude, in the summer of + 1864. The Confederate agent at Paris complained of a growing coolness. + Before the end of the summer, the Confederate Secretary of State was + bitter in his denunciation of Napoleon for having deserted the South. + Napoleon's puppet Maximilian refused to receive an envoy from the + Confederacy. Though Washington did not formally protest against the + presence of Maximilian in Mexico, it declined to recognize his Government, + and that Government continued unrecognized at Washington throughout the + war. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *Nathaniel W. Stephenson, "The Day of the Confederacy". (In + "The Chronicles of America"). +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. THE PLEBISCITE OF 1864 + </h2> + <p> + Every great revolution among Anglo-Saxon people—perhaps among all + people—has produced strange types of dreamers. In America, however, + neither section could claim a monopoly of such types, and even the + latter-day visionaries who can see everything in heaven and earth, + excepting fact, had their Northern and Southern originals in the time of + the great American war. Among these is a strange congregation which + assembled in the spring of 1864 and which has come to be known, from its + place of meeting, as the Cleveland Convention. Its coming together was the + result of a loose cooperation among several minor political groups, all of + which were for the Union and the war, and violently opposed to Lincoln. So + far as they had a common purpose, it was to supplant Lincoln by Fremont in + the next election. + </p> + <p> + The Convention was notable for the large proportion of agnostics among its + members. A motion was made to amend a resolution that "the Rebellion must + be put down" by adding the words "with God's assistance." This touch of + piety was stormily rejected. Another group represented at Cleveland was + made up of extreme abolitionists under the leadership of that brilliant + but disordered genius, Wendell Phillips. He sent a letter denouncing + Lincoln and pledging his support of Fremont because of the latter's + "clearsighted statesmanship and rare military ability." The convention + declared itself a political party, under the style of the Radical + Democracy, and nominated Fremont for President. + </p> + <p> + There was another body of dreamers, still more singular, who were also + bitter opponents of Lincoln. They were, however, not in favor of war. + Their political machinery consisted of secret societies. As early as 1860, + the Knights of the Golden Circle were active in Indiana, where they did + yeoman service for Breckinridge. Later this society acquired some + underground influence in other States, especially in Ohio, and did its + share in bringing about the victories at the polls in the autumn of 1862, + when the Democrats captured the Indiana legislature. + </p> + <p> + The most serious charge against the Golden Circle was complicity in an + attempt to assassinate Oliver P. Morton, Governor of Indiana, who was + fired at, one night, as he was leaving the state house. When Morton + demanded an investigation of the Golden Circle, the legislature refused to + sanction it. On his own authority and with Federal aid he made + investigations and published a report which, if it did not actually prove + treason, came dangerously near to proof. Thereafter, this society drops + out of sight, and its members appear to have formed the new Order of the + American Knights, which in its turn was eclipsed by the Sons of Liberty. + There were several other such societies all organized on a military plan + and with a great pretense of arming their members. This, however, had to + be done surreptitiously. Boxes of rifles purchased in the East were + shipped West labeled "Sunday-school books," and negotiations were even + undertaken with the Confederacy to bring in arms by way of Canada. At a + meeting of the supreme council of the Sons of Liberty, in New York, + February 22, 1864, it was claimed that the order had nearly a million + members, though the Government secret service considered half a million a + more exact estimate. + </p> + <p> + As events subsequently proved, the societies were not as formidable as + these figures would imply. Most of the men who joined them seem to have + been fanciful creatures who loved secrecy for its own sake. While real + men, North and South, were laying down their lives for their principles, + these make-believe men were holding bombastic initiations and taking oaths + such as this from the ritual of the American Knights: "I do further + solemnly promise and swear, that I will ever cherish the sublime lessons + which the sacred emblems of our order suggest, and will, so far as in me + lies, impart those lessons to the people of the earth, where the mystic + acorn falls from its parent bough, in whose visible firmament Orion, + Arcturus, and the Pleiades ride in their cold resplendent glories, and + where the Southern Cross dazzles the eye of degraded humanity with its + coruscations of golden light, fit emblem of Truth, while it invites our + sacred order to consecrate her temples in the four corners of the earth, + where moral darkness reigns and despotism holds sway.... Divine essence, + so help me that I fail not in my troth, lest I shall be summoned before + the tribunal of the order, adjudged and condemned to certain and shameful + death, while my name shall be recorded on the rolls of infamy. Amen." + </p> + <p> + The secret orders fought hard to prevent the Lincoln victory in the + elections of 1863. Even before that time their leaders had talked + mysteriously of another disruption of the Union and the formation of a + Northwestern Confederacy in alliance with the South. The scheme was known + to the Confederates, allusions to it are to be found in Southern + newspapers, and even the Confederate military authorities considered it. + Early in 1863, General Beauregard thought the Confederates might "get into + Ohio and call upon the friends of Vallandigham to rise for his defense and + support; then...call upon the whole Northwest to join in the movement, + form a confederacy of their own, and join us by a treaty of alliance, + offensive and defensive." Reliance on the support of the societies was the + will-o'-the-wisp that deceived General John Morgan in his desperate + attempt to carry out Beauregard's programme. Though brushed aside as a + mere detail by military historians, Morgan's raid, with his force of + irregular cavalry, in July, 1863, through Indiana and Ohio, was one of the + most romantic episodes of the war. But it ended in his defeat and capture. + While his gallant troopers rode to their destruction, the men who loved to + swear by Arcturus and to gabble about the Pleiades showed the fiber to be + expected of such people, and stayed snug in their beds. + </p> + <p> + But neither their own lack of hardihood nor the disasters of their + Southern friends could dampen their peculiar ardor. Their hero was + Vallandigham. That redoubtable person had fixed his headquarters in + Canada, whence he directed his partisans in their vain attempt to elect + him Governor of Ohio. Their next move was to honor him with the office of + Supreme Commander of the Sons of Liberty, and now Vallandigham resolved to + win the martyr's crown in very fact. In June, 1864, he prepared for the + dramatic effect by carefully advertising his intention and came home. But + to his great disappointment Lincoln ignored him, and the dramatic + martyrdom which he had planned did not come off. + </p> + <p> + There still existed the possibility of a great uprising, and to that end + arrangements were made with Southern agents in Canada. Confederate + soldiers, picked men, made their way in disguise to Chicago. There the + worshipers of Arcturus were to join them in a mighty multitude; the + Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas in Chicago were to be liberated; + around that core of veterans, the hosts of the Pleiades were to rally. All + this was to coincide with the assembling at Chicago of the Democratic + national convention, in which Vallandigham was to appear. The organizers + of the conspiracy dreamed that the two events might coalesce; that the + convention might be stampeded by their uprising; that a great part, if not + the whole, of the convention would endorse the establishment of a + Northwestern Confederacy. + </p> + <p> + Alas for him who builds on the frame of mind that delights in cheap + rhetoric while Rome is afire! At the moment of hazard, the Sons of Liberty + showed the white feather, were full of specious words, would not act. The + Confederate soldiers, indignant at this second betrayal, had to make their + escape from the country. + </p> + <p> + It must not be supposed that this Democratic national convention was made + up altogether of Secessionists. The peace party was still, as in the + previous year, a strange complex, a mixture of all sorts and conditions. + Its cohesion was not so much due to its love of peace as to its dislike of + Lincoln and its hatred of his party. Vallandigham was a member of the + committee on resolutions. The permanent chairman was Governor Seymour of + New York. The Convention was called to order by August Belmont, a + foreigner by birth, the American representative of the Rothschilds. He was + the head and front of that body of Northern capital which had so long + financed the South and which had always opposed the war. In opening the + Convention he said: "Four years of misrule by a sectional, fanatical, and + corrupt party have brought our country to the verge of ruin." In the + platform Lincoln was accused of a list of crimes which it had become the + habit of the peace party to charge against him. His administration was + described as "four years of failure," and McClellan was nominated for + President. + </p> + <p> + The Republican managers called a convention at Baltimore in June, 1864, + with a view to organizing a composite Union Party in which the War + Democrats were to participate. Their plan was successful. The second place + on the Union ticket was accepted by a War Democrat, Andrew Johnson, of + Tennessee. Lincoln was renominated, though not without opposition, and he + was so keenly aware that he was not the unanimous choice of the Union + Party that he permitted the fact to appear in a public utterance soon + afterward. "I do not allow myself," he said, in addressing a delegation of + the National Union League, "to suppose that either the Convention or the + League have concluded to decide that I am either the greatest or the best + man in America, but rather they have concluded it is not best to swap + horses while crossing the river, and have further concluded that I am not + so poor a horse that they might not make a botch of it in trying to swap." + </p> + <p> + But the Union Party was so far from being a unit that during the summer + factional quarrels developed within its ranks. All the elements that were + unfriendly to Lincoln took heart from a dispute between the President and + Congress with regard to reconstruction in Louisiana, over a large part of + which Federal troops had established a civil government on the President's + authority. As an incident in the history of reconstruction, this whole + matter has its place in another volume.* But it also has a place in the + history of the presidential campaign of 1864. Lincoln's plan of + reconstruction was obnoxious to the Radicals in Congress inasmuch as it + did not definitely abolish slavery in Louisiana, although it required the + new Government to give its adherence to the Emancipation Proclamation. + Congress passed a bill taking reconstruction out of the President's hands + and definitely requiring the reconstructed States to abolish slavery. + Lincoln took the position that Congress had no power over slavery in the + States. When his Proclamation was thrown in his teeth, he replied, "I + conceive that I may in an emergency do things on military grounds which + cannot be done constitutionally by Congress." Incidentally there was a + further disagreement between the President and the Radicals over negro + suffrage. Though neither scheme provided for it, Lincoln would extend it, + if at all, only to the exceptional negroes, while the Radicals were ready + for a sweeping extension. But Lincoln refused to sign their bill and it + lapsed. Thereupon Benjamin Wade of Ohio and Henry Winter Davis of Maryland + issued a savage denunciation of Lincoln which has been known ever since as + the "Wade-Davis Manifesto". + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Walter L. Fleming, "The Sequel of Appomattox". In "The + Chronicles of America". +</pre> + <p> + There was a faction in the Union Party which we may justly name the + Vindictives. The "Manifesto" gave them a rallying cry. At a conference in + New York they decided to compel the retirement of Lincoln and the + nomination of some other candidate. For this purpose a new convention was + to be called at Cincinnati in September. In the ranks of the Vindictives + at this time was the impetuous editor of the "New York Tribune", Horace + Greeley. His presence there calls for some explanation. Perhaps the most + singular figure of the time, he was one of the most irresponsible and yet, + through his paper, one of the most influential. He had a trick of phrase + which, somehow, made him appear oracular to the plain people, especially + in the rural districts—the very people on whom Lincoln relied for a + large part of his support. Greeley knew his power, and his mind was not + large enough to carry the knowledge well. Furthermore, his was the sort of + nature that relates itself to life above all through the sensibilities. + Kipling speaks scornfully of people who if their "own front door is shut + will swear the world is warm." They are relations in the full blood of + Horace Greeley. + </p> + <p> + In July, when the breach between the President and the Vindictives was + just beginning to be evident, Greeley was pursuing an adventure of his + own. Among the least sensible minor incidents of the war were a number of + fantastic attempts of private persons to negotiate peace. With one + exception they had no historic importance. The exception is a negotiation + carried on by Greeley, which seems to have been the ultimate cause of his + alliance with the Vindictives. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of July, 1864, gold was selling in New York at 285. There + was distress and discontent throughout the country. The horrible slaughter + of the Wilderness, still fresh in everybody's mind, had put the whole + Union Party into mourning. The impressionable Greeley became frantic for + peace peace at any price. At the psychological moment word was conveyed to + him that two persons in Canada held authority from the Confederacy to + enter into negotiations for peace. Greeley wrote to Lincoln demanding + negotiations because "our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying country longs + for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh conscriptions, of further + wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of human blood." + </p> + <p> + Lincoln consented to a negotiation but stipulated that Greeley himself + should become responsible for its conduct. Though this was not what + Greeley wanted for his type always prefers to tell others what to do—he + sullenly accepted. He proceeded to Niagara to meet the reputed + commissioners of the Confederacy. The details of the futile conference do + not concern us. The Confederate agents were not empowered to treat for + peace—at least not on any terms that would be considered at + Washington. Their real purpose was far subtler. Appreciating the delicate + balance in Northern politics, they aimed at making it appear that Lincoln + was begging for terms. Lincoln, who foresaw this possible turn of events, + had expressly limited Greeley to negotiations for "the integrity of the + whole Union and the abandonment of slavery." Greeley chose to believe that + these instructions, and not the subtlety of the Confederate agents and his + own impulsiveness, were the cause of the false position in which the + agents now placed him. They published an account of the episode, thus + effecting an exposure which led to sharp attacks upon Greeley by the + Northern press. In the bitterness of his mortification Greeley then went + from one extreme to the other and joined the Vindictives. + </p> + <p> + Less than three weeks after the conference at Niagara, the "Wade-Davis + Manifesto" appeared. It was communicated to the country through the + columns of Greeley's paper on the 5th of August. Greeley, who so short a + time before was for peace at any price, went the whole length of reaction + by proclaiming that "Mr. Lincoln is already beaten.... We must have + another ticket to save us from utter overthrow. If we had such a ticket as + could be made by naming Grant, Butler, or Sherman for President and + Farragut for Vice, we could make a fight yet." + </p> + <p> + At about this same time the chairman of the Republican national committee, + who was a Lincoln man, wrote to the President that the situation was + desperate. Lincoln himself is known to have made a private memorandum + containing the words, "It seems extremely probable that this + Administration will not be reelected." On the 1st of September, 1864, with + three presidential candidates in the field, Northern politics were + bewildering, and the country was shrouded in the deepest gloom. The + Wilderness campaign, after slaughter unparalleled, had not in the popular + mind achieved results. Sherman, in Georgia, though his losses were not as + terrible as Grant's, had not yet done anything to lighten the gloom. Not + even Farragut's victory in Mobile Bay, in August, far-reaching as it + proved to be, reassured the North. A bitter cry for peace went up even + from lovers of the Union whose hearts had failed. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the brilliant strategist in Georgia was pressing his drive for + political as well as for military effect. To rouse those Unionists who had + lost heart was part of his purpose when he hurled his columns against + Atlanta, from which Hood was driven in one of the most disastrous of + Confederate defeats. On the 3rd of September Lincoln issued a proclamation + appointing a day of thanksgiving for these great victories of Sherman and + Farragut. + </p> + <p> + On that day, it would seem, the tide turned in Northern politics. Some + historians are content with Atlanta as the explanation of all that + followed; but there are three separate events of importance that now + occurred as incidents in the complicated situation. In the first place, + three weeks later the radical opposition had collapsed; the plan for a new + convention was abandoned; the Vindictive leaders came out in support of + Lincoln. Almost simultaneously occurred the remaining two surprising + events. Fremont withdrew from his candidacy in order to do his "part + toward preventing the election of the Democratic candidate." And Lincoln + asked for the resignation of a member of his Cabinet, Postmaster-General + Montgomery Blair, who was the especial enemy of the Vindictives. + </p> + <p> + The official biographers of Lincoln* keep these three events separate. + They hold that Blair's removal was wholly Lincoln's idea, and that from + chivalrous reasons he would not abandon his friend as long as he seemed to + be losing the game. The historian Rhodes writes confidently of a bargain + with Fremont, holding that Blair was removed to terminate a quarrel with + Fremont which dated back even to his own removal in 1861. A possible third + theory turns upon Chase, whose hostility to Blair was quite equal to that + of the illbalanced Fremont. It had been stimulated the previous winter by + a fierce arraignment of Chase made by Blair's brother in Congress, in + which Chase was bluntly accused of fraud and of making money, or allowing + his friends to make money, through illicit trade in cotton. And Chase was + a man of might among the Vindictives. The intrigue, however, never comes + to the foreground in history, but lurks in the background thick with + shadows. Once or twice among those shadows we seem to catch a glimpse of + the figure of Thurlow Weed, the master-politician of the time. Taking one + thing with another, we may risk the guess that somehow the two radical + groups which were both relentless against Blair were led to pool their + issues, and that Blair's removal was the price Lincoln paid not to one + faction of radicals but to the whole unmerciful crowd. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *His private secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay. +</pre> + <p> + Whatever complex of purposes lay back of the triple coincidence, the + latter part of September saw a general reunion of the factions within the + Union Party, followed by a swift recovery of strength. When the election + came, Lincoln received an electoral vote of 212 against 21, and a popular + vote of 2,330,552 against 1,835,985. + </p> + <p> + The inevitable question arises as to what was the real cause of this + success. It is safe to say that the political campaign contained some + adroit strategy; that Sherman was without doubt an enormous factor; that + the Democrats made numerous blunders; and that the secret societies had an + effect other than they intended. However, the real clue seems to be found + in one sentence from a letter written by Lowell to Motley when the outlook + for his party was darkest: "The mercantile classes are longing for peace, + but I believe that the people are more firm than ever." Of the great, + silent mass of the people, the true temper seems to be struck off in a + popular poem of the time, written in response to one of the calls for more + troops, a poem with refrains built on the model of this couplet: + </p> + <p> + "We're coming from the hillside, we're coming from the shore, We're + coming, Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. LINCOLN'S FINAL INTENTIONS + </h2> + <p> + The victory of the Union Party in November enabled Lincoln to enjoy for a + brief period of his career as President what may be thought of as a lull + in the storm. He knew now that he had at last built up a firm and powerful + support. With this assured, his policy, both domestic and foreign—the + key to which was still the blockade—might be considered victorious + at all points. There remains to be noticed, however, one event of the year + 1864 which was of vital importance in maintaining the blockade. + </p> + <p> + It is a principle of international law that a belligerent must itself + attend to the great task of suppressing contraband trade with its enemy. + Lincoln was careful to observe this principle. Though British merchants + were frankly speculating in contraband trade, he made no demand upon the + British Government to relieve him of the difficulty of stopping it. + England also took the legitimate position under international law and + warned her merchants that, while it was none of the Government's business + to prevent such trade, they practised it at their own risk, subject to + well-understood penalties agreed upon among nations. The merchants + nevertheless continued to take the risk, while both they and the + authorities of the Confederacy thought they saw a way of minimizing the + danger. Instead of shipping supplies direct to the Confederate ports they + shipped them to Matamoros, in Mexico, or to the West Indies. As these + ports were in neutral territory, the merchants thought their goods would + be safe against capture until they left the Mexican or West Indian port on + their brief concluding passage to the territory of the Confederacy. + Nassau, then a petty West India town, was the chief depot of such trade + and soon became a great commercial center. To it came vast quantities of + European goods which were then transferred to swift, small vessels, or + "blockade-runners," which took a gambler's chance and often succeeded in + eluding the Federal patrol ships and in rushing their cargoes safe into a + Confederate port. + </p> + <p> + Obviously, it was a great disadvantage to the United States to allow + contraband supplies to be accumulated, without interference, close to the + blockaded coast, and the Lincoln Government determined to remove this + disadvantage. With this end in view it evoked the principle of the + continuous voyage, which indeed was not new, but which was destined to + become fixed in international law by the Supreme Court of the United + States. American cruisers were instructed to stop British ships sailing + between the British ports of Liverpool and Nassau; they were to use the + recognized international rights of visit and search; and if there was + evidence that the cargo was not destined for actual consumption at Nassau, + they were to bring the ship into an American port to be dealt with by an + American prize court. When such arrests began, the owners clamored to the + British Government, and both dealers in contraband and professional + blockade-runners worked themselves into a fury because American cruisers + watched British ports and searched British ships on the high seas. With + regard to this matter, the British Government and the Government at + Washington had their last important correspondence during the war. The + United States stood firm for the idea that when goods were ultimately + intended for the Confederacy, no matter how roundabout the journey, they + could be considered as making a single continuous voyage and were liable + to capture from the day they left Liverpool. Early in 1865, the Supreme + Court of the United States fully developed the principle of continuous + voyage in four celebrated cases that are now among the landmarks of + international law.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * The Great war has once again led to controversy over this + subject, so vital to neutral states. +</pre> + <p> + This was the last step in making the blockade effective. Thereafter, it + slowly strangled the South. The Federal armies enormously overmatched the + Southern, and from November, 1864, their continuance in the field was made + sure. Grim work still lay before Lincoln, but the day of anxiety was past. + In this moment of comparative ease, the aged Chief Justice Taney died, and + Lincoln appointed to that high position his ungenerous rival, Chase. + </p> + <p> + Even now Lincoln had not established himself as a leader superior to + party, but he had the satisfaction, early in 1865, of seeing the ranks of + the opposition begin to break. Naturally, the Thirteenth Amendment to the + Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, appeared to + Lincoln as in a way the consummation of his labors. When the House voted + on the resolution to send this amendment to the States, several Democrats + joined the government forces. Two nights afterward, speaking to a + serenading party at the White House, Lincoln made a brief speech, part of + which is thus reported by his secretaries: "He thought this measure was a + very fitting if not an indispensable adjunct to the winding up of the + great difficulty. He wished the reunion of all the States perfected, and + so effected as to remove all causes of disturbance in the future; and to + attain this end, it was necessary that the original disturbing cause + should, if possible, be rooted out." + </p> + <p> + An event which in its full detail belongs to Confederate rather than to + Union history took place soon after this. At Hampton Roads, Lincoln and + Seward met Confederate commissioners who had asked for a parley—with + regard to peace. Nothing came of the meeting, but the conference gave rise + to a legend, false in fact and yet true in spirit, according to which + Lincoln wrote on a sheet of paper the word "Union," pushed it across to + Alexander H. Stephens and said, "Write under that anything you please." + </p> + <p> + This fiction expresses Lincoln's attitude toward the sinking Confederacy. + On his return from Hampton Roads he submitted to his Cabinet a draft of a + message which he proposed to send to Congress. He recommended the + appropriation of $400,000,000 to be distributed among the slave states on + condition that war cease before April 1, 1865. Not a member of the Cabinet + approved. His secretary, Mr. Nicolay, writes: "The President, in evident + surprise and sorrow at the want of statesmanlike liberality shown by his + executive council, folded and laid away the draft of his message...." With + a deep sigh he added, "But you are all opposed to me, and I will not send + the message." + </p> + <p> + His second inauguration passed without striking incidents. Chase, as Chief + Justice, administered the oath. The second inaugural address contained + words which are now famous: "With malice towards none; with charity for + all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us + strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to + care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his + orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting + peace among ourselves, and with all nations." + </p> + <p> + That gigantic system of fleets and armies, the creation of which was due + to Lincoln, was closing tight around the dying Confederacy. Five weeks + after the inauguration Lee surrendered, and the war was virtually at an + end. What was to come after was inevitably the overshadowing topic of the + hour. Many anecdotes represent Lincoln, in these last few days of his + life, as possessed by a high though melancholy mood of extreme mercy. + Therefore, much has been inferred from the following words, in his last + public address, made on the night of the 11th of April: "In the present + situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new + announcement to the people of the South. I am considering and shall not + fail to act when action shall be proper." + </p> + <p> + What was to be done for the South, what treatment should be accorded the + Southern leaders, engrossed the President and his Cabinet at the meeting + on the 14th of April, which was destined to be their last. Secretary + Welles has preserved the spirit of the meeting in a striking anecdote. + Lincoln said that no one need expect he would "take any part in hanging or + killing those men, even the worst of them. Frighten them out of the + country, open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off;" said he, + throwing up his hands as if scaring sheep. "Enough lives have been + sacrificed; we must extinguish our resentments if we expect harmony and + union." + </p> + <p> + While Lincoln was thus arming himself with a valiant mercy, a band of + conspirators at an obscure boardinghouse in Washington were planning his + assassination. Their leader was John Wilkes Booth, an actor, brother of + the much abler Edwin Booth. There seems little doubt that he was insane. + Around him gathered a small group of visionary extremists in whom much + brooding upon Southern wrongs had produced an unbalanced condition. Only a + morbid interest can attach today to the strange cunning with which Booth + laid his plans, thinking of himself all the while as a reincarnation of + the Roman Brutus. + </p> + <p> + On the night of the 14th of April, the President attended a performance of + "Our American Cousin". While the play was in progress, Booth stole into + the President's box, came close behind him, and shot him through the head. + Lincoln never spoke again and, shortly after seven next morning, ceased + breathing. + </p> + <p> + At the same time, a futile attempt was made upon the life of Seward. Booth + temporarily escaped. Later he was overtaken and shot. His accomplices were + hanged. + </p> + <p> + The passage of sixty years has proved fully necessary to the placing of + Lincoln in historic perspective. No President, in his own time, with the + possible exception of Washington, was so bitterly hated and so fiercely + reviled. On the other hand, none has been the object of such intemperate + hero-worship. However, the greatest of the land were, in the main, quick + to see him in perspective and to recognize his historic significance. It + is recorded of Davis that in after days he paid a beautiful tribute to + Lincoln and said, "Next to the destruction of the Confederacy, the death + of Abraham Lincoln was the darkest day the South has known." + </p> + <p> + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + </p> + <p> + There are two general histories, of conspicuous ability, that deal with + this period: + </p> + <p> + J. F. Rhodes, "History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850", + 7 vols. (1893-1906), and J. B. McMaster, "History of the People of the + United States", 7 vols. (1883-1912). McMaster has the more "modern" point + of view and is excellent but dry, without any sense of narrative. Rhodes + has a somewhat older point of view. For example, he makes only a casual + reference, in a quotation, to the munitions problem of 1861, though + analyzing with great force and candor such constitutional issues as the + arrests under the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. The other + strong points in his work are its sense of narrative, its freedom from + hero-worship, its independence of conventional views of Northern leaders. + As to the South, it suffers from a certain Narrowness of vision due to the + comparative scantiness of the material used. The same may be said of + McMaster. + </p> + <p> + For Lincoln, there is no adequate brief biography. Perhaps the best is the + most recent, "Abraham Lincoln", by Lord Charnwood ("Makers of the + Nineteenth Century", 1917). It has a kind of cool detachment that hardly + any biographer had shown previously, and yet this coolness is joined with + extreme admiration. Short biographies worth considering are John T. Morse, + Jr., "Abraham Lincoln" ("American Statesmen" Series, 2 vols., 1893), and + Ida M. Tarbell, "Life of Abraham Lincoln", 2 vols. (1900). The official + biography is in ten volumes, "Abraham Lincoln, a History", by his + secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay (1890). It is a priceless + document and as such is little likely to be forgotten. But its events are + so numerous that they swamp the figure of Lincoln and yet are not numerous + enough to constitute a definitive history of the times. It is wholly + eulogistic. The same authors edited "The Writings of Abraham Lincoln" + (Biographical Edition, 2 vols., 1894), which has since been expanded + (1905) and now fills twelve volumes. It is the definitive presentation of + Lincoln's mind. A book much sought after by his enemies is William Henry + Herndon and Jesse William Weik, "The History and Personal Recollections of + Abraham Lincoln", 8 vols. (1889; unexpurgated edition). It contains about + all we know of his early life and paints a picture of sordid ugliness. Its + reliability has been disputed. No study of Lincoln is complete unless one + has marched through the "Diary" of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 3 + vols. (1911), which is our most important document showing Lincoln in his + Cabinet. Important sidelights on his character and development are shown + in Ward Hill Lamon, "Recollections of Lincoln" (1911); David Homer Bates, + "Lincoln in the Telegraph Office" (1907); and Frederick Trevor Hill, + "Lincoln as a Lawyer" (1906). A bibliography of Lincoln is in the twelfth + volume of the latest edition of the "Writings". + </p> + <p> + The lesser statesmen of the time, both Northern and Southern, still, as a + rule, await proper treatment by detached biographers. Two Northerners have + had such treatment, in Allen Johnson's "Stephen A. Douglas" (1908), and + Frederic Bancroft's "Life of William H. Seward", 2 vols. (1900). Good, but + without the requisite detachment, is Moorfield Storey's "Charles Sumner", + ("American Statesmen Series", 1900). With similar excellences but with the + same defect, though still the best in its field, is Albert Bushnell Hart's + "Salmon P. Chase" ("American Statesmen Series", 1899). Among the Southern + statesmen involved in the events of this volume, only the President of the + Confederacy has received adequate reconsideration in recent years, in + William E. Dodd's "Jefferson Davis" (1907). The latest life of "Robert + Toombs", by Ulrich B. Phillips (1914), is not definitive, but the best + extant. The great need for adequate lives of Stephens and Yancey is not at + all met by the obsolete works—R. M. Johnston and W. M. Browne, "Life + of Alexander H. Stephens" (1878), and J. W. Du Bose, "The Life and Times + of William Lowndes Yancey" (1892). There is a brief biography of Stephens + by Louis Pendleton, in the "American Crisis Biographies". Most of the + remaining biographies of the period, whether Northern or Southern, are + either too superficial or too partisan to be recommended for general use. + Almost alone in their way are the delightful "Confederate Portraits", by + Gamaliel Bradford (1914), and the same author's "Union Portraits" (1916). + </p> + <p> + Upon conditions in the North during the war there is a vast amount of + material; but little is accessible to the general reader. A book of great + value is Emerson Fite's Social and Industrial Conditions in the North + during the Civil War (1910). Out of unnumbered books of reminiscence, one + stands forth for the sincerity of its disinterested, if sharp, observation—W. + H. Russell's "My Diary North and South" (1868). Two newspapers are + invaluable: The "New York Tribune" for a version of events as seen by the + war party, "The New York Herald" for the opposite point of view; the + Chicago papers are also important, chiefly the "Times" and "Tribune"; the + "Republican "of Springfield, Mass., had begun its distinguished career, + while the "Journal" and "Advertiser" of Boston revealed Eastern New + England. For the Southern point of view, no papers are more important than + the Richmond "Examiner", the Charleston "Mercury", and the New Orleans + "Picayune". Financial and economic problems are well summed up in D. R. + Dewey's "Financial History of the United States" (3d edition, 1907), and + in E. P. Oberholzer's "Jay Cooks", 2 vols. (1907). Foreign affairs are + summarized adequately in C. F. Adams's "Charles Francis Adams" ("American + Statesmen Series", 1900), John Bigelow's "France and the Confederate Navy" + (1888), A. P. Martin's "Maximilian in Mexico" (1914), and John Bassett + Moore's "Digest of International Law", 8 vols. (1906). + </p> + <p> + The documents of the period ranging from newspapers to presidential + messages are not likely to be considered by the general reader, but if + given a fair chance will prove fascinating. Besides the biographical + edition of Lincoln's Writings, should be named, first of all, "The + Congressional Globe" for debates in Congress; the "Statutes at Large"; the + "Executive Documents", published by the Government and containing a great + number of reports; and the enormous collection issued by the War + Department under the title "Official Records of the Union and Confederate + Armies", 128 vols. (1880-1901), especially the groups of volumes known as + second and third series. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by +Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION *** + +***** This file should be named 2836-h.htm or 2836-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/2836/ + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library Of St. Gregory's +University, Alev Akman, Dianne Bean, Alison Henry, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/2836.txt b/2836.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..20d2a8f --- /dev/null +++ b/2836.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5613 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Abraham Lincoln and the Union + A Chronicle of the Embattled North, Volume 29 In The + Chronicles Of America Series + +Author: Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +Editor: Allen Johnson + +Posting Date: December 6, 2008 [EBook #2836] +Release Date: September, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION *** + + + + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library Of St. Gregory's +University, Alev Akman, Dianne Bean, and Alison Henry + + + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION, + +A CHRONICLE OF THE EMBATTLED NORTH + +Volume 29 In The Chronicles Of America Series + +By Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +Allen Johnson, Editor + + +New Haven: Yale University Press Toronto: Glasgow + +Brook & Co. London: Humphrey Milford + +Oxford University Press + +1918 + + + + +PREFACE + +In spite of a lapse of sixty years, the historian who attempts to +portray the era of Lincoln is still faced with almost impossible demands +and still confronted with arbitrary points of view. It is out of the +question, in a book so brief as this must necessarily be, to meet all +these demands or to alter these points of view. Interests that are +purely local, events that did not with certainty contribute to the final +outcome, gossip, as well as the mere caprice of the scholar--these must +obviously be set aside. + +The task imposed upon the volume resolves itself, at bottom, into just +two questions: Why was there a war? Why was the Lincoln Government +successful? With these two questions always in mind I have endeavored, +on the one hand, to select and consolidate the pertinent facts; on the +other, to make clear, even at the cost of explanatory comment, their +relations in the historical sequence of cause and effect. This purpose +has particularly governed the use of biographical matter, in which the +main illustration, of course, is the career of Lincoln. Prominent as it +is here made, the Lincoln matter all bears in the last analysis on one +point--his control of his support. On that the history of the North +hinges. The personal and private Lincoln it is impossible to present +within these pages. The public Lincoln, including the character of his +mind, is here the essential matter. + +The bibliography at the close of the volume indicates the more important +books which are at the reader's disposal and which it is unfortunate not +to know. + +NATHANIEL W. STEPHENSON. Charleston, S. C., March, 1918. + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION + + + +INDEX + + +I. THE TWO NATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC + +II. THE PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION + +III. THE POLITICIANS AND THE NEW DAY + +IV. THE CRISIS + +V. SECESSION + +VI. WAR + +VII. LINCOLN + +VIII. THE RULE OF LINCOLN + +IX. THE CRUCIAL MATTER + +X. THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY + +XI. NORTHERN LIFE DURING THE WAR + +XII. THE MEXICAN EPISODE + +XIII. THE PLEBISCITE OF 1864 + +XIV. LINCOLN'S FINAL INTENTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TWO NATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC + + +"There is really no Union now between the North and the South.... No two +nations upon earth entertain feelings of more bitter rancor toward each +other than these two nations of the Republic." + +This remark, which is attributed to Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, +provides the key to American politics in the decade following the +Compromise of 1850. To trace this division of the people to its ultimate +source, one would have to go far back into colonial times. There was a +process of natural selection at work, in the intellectual and economic +conditions of the eighteenth century, which inevitably drew together +certain types and generated certain forces. This process manifested +itself in one form in His Majesty's plantations of the North, and in +another in those of the South. As early as the opening of the nineteenth +century, the social tendencies of the two regions were already so far +alienated that they involved differences which would scarcely admit of +reconciliation. It is a truism to say that these differences gradually +were concentrated around fundamentally different conceptions of +labor--of slave labor in the South, of free labor in the North. + +Nothing, however, could be more fallacious than the notion that this +growing antagonism was controlled by any deliberate purpose in either +part of the country. It was apparently necessary that this Republic in +its evolution should proceed from confederation to nationality through +an intermediate and apparently reactionary period of sectionalism. In +this stage of American history, slavery was without doubt one of the +prime factors involved, but sectional consciousness, with all its +emotional and psychological implications, was the fundamental impulse of +the stern events which occurred between 1850 and 1865. + +By the middle of the nineteenth century the more influential Southerners +had come generally to regard their section of the country as a distinct +social unit. The next step was inevitable. The South began to regard +itself as a separate political unit. It is the distinction of Calhoun +that he showed himself toward the end sufficiently flexible to become +the exponent of this new political impulse. With all his earlier fire +he encouraged the Southerners to withdraw from the so-called national +parties, Whig and Democratic, to establish instead a single Southern +party, and to formulate, by means of popular conventions, a single +concerted policy for the entire South. + +At that time such a policy was still regarded, from the Southern point +of view, as a radical idea. In 1851, a battle was fought at the polls +between the two Southern ideas--the old one which upheld separate state +independence, and the new one which virtually acknowledged Southern +nationality. The issue at stake was the acceptance or the rejection of +a compromise which could bring no permanent settlement of fundamental +differences. + +Nowhere was the battle more interesting than in South Carolina, for it +brought into clear light that powerful Southern leader who ten years +later was to be the masterspirit of secession--Robert Barnwell Rhett. In +1851 he fought hard to revive the older idea of state independence +and to carry South Carolina as a separate state out of the Union. +Accordingly it is significant of the progress that the consolidation +of the South had made at this date that on this issue Rhett encountered +general opposition. This difference of opinion as to policy was not +inspired, as some historians have too hastily concluded, by national +feeling. Scarcely any of the leaders of the opposition considered the +Federal Government supreme over the State Government. They opposed Rhett +because they felt secession to be at that moment bad policy. They saw +that, if South Carolina went out of the Union in 1851, she would go +alone and the solidarity of the South would be broken. They were not +lacking in sectional patriotism, but their conception of the best +solution of the complex problem differed from that advocated by Rhett. +Their position was summed up by Langdon Cheves when he said, "To secede +now is to secede from the South as well as from the Union." On the basis +of this belief they defeated Rhett and put off secession for ten years. + +There is no analogous single event in the history of the North, +previous to the war, which reveals with similar clearness a sectional +consciousness. On the surface the life of the people seemed, indeed, to +belie the existence of any such feeling. The Northern capitalist class +aimed steadily at being non-sectional, and it made free use of the word +national. We must not forget, however, that all sorts of people talked +of national institutions, and that the term, until we look closely +into the mind of, the person using it, signifies nothing. Because the +Northern capitalist repudiated the idea of sectionalism, it does not +follow that he set up any other in its place. Instead of accomplishing +anything so positive, he remained for the most part a negative quantity. + +Living usually somewhere between Maine and Ohio, he made it his chief +purpose to regulate the outflow of manufactures from that industrial +region and the inflow of agricultural produce. The movement of the +latter eastward and northward, and the former westward and southward, +represents roughly but graphically the movement of the business of that +time. The Easterner lived in fear of losing the money which was owed him +in the South. As the political and economic conditions of the day made +unlikely any serious clash of interest between the East and the West, he +had little solicitude about his accounts beyond the Alleghanies. But a +gradually developing hostility between North and South was accompanied +by a parallel anxiety on the part of Northern capital for its Southern +investments and debts. When the war eventually became inevitable, +$200,000,000 were owed by Southerners to Northerners. For those days +this was an indebtedness of no inconsiderable magnitude. The Northern +capitalists, preoccupied with their desire to secure this account, were +naturally eager to repudiate sectionalism, and talked about national +interests with a zeal that has sometimes been misinterpreted. Throughout +the entire period from 1850 to 1865, capital in American politics played +for the most part a negative role, and not until after the war did it +become independent of its Southern interests. + +For the real North of that day we must turn to those Northerners who +felt sufficient unto themselves and whose political convictions were +unbiased by personal interests which were involved in other parts of the +country. We must listen to the distinct voices that gave utterance to +their views, and we must observe the definite schemes of their political +leaders. Directly we do this, the fact stares us in the face that the +North had become a democracy. The rich man no longer played the role +of grandee, for by this time there had arisen those two groups which, +between them, are the ruin of aristocracy--the class of prosperous +laborers and the group of well-to-do intellectuals. Of these, the latter +gave utterance, first, to their faith in democracy, and then, with all +the intensity of partisan zeal, to their sense of the North as the +agent of democracy. The prosperous laborers applauded this expression +of an opinion in which they thoroughly believed and at the same time gave +their willing support to a land policy that was typically Northern. + +American economic history in the middle third of the century is +essentially the record of a struggle to gain possession of public land. +The opposing forces were the South, which strove to perpetuate by this +means a social system that was fundamentally aristocratic, and the +North, which sought by the same means to foster its ideal of democracy. +Though the South, with the aid of its economic vassal, the Northern +capitalist class, was for some time able to check the land-hunger of +the Northern democrats, it was never able entirely to secure the control +which it desired, but was always faced with the steady and continued +opposition of the real North. On one occasion in Congress, the heart +of the whole matter was clearly shown, for at the very moment when the +Northerners of the democratic class were pressing one of their frequent +schemes for free land, Southerners and their sympathetic Northern +henchmen were furthering a scheme that aimed at the purchase of Cuba. +From the impatient sneer of a Southerner that the Northerners sought to +give "land to the landless" and the retort that the Southerners seemed +equally anxious to supply "niggers to the niggerless," it can be seen +that American history is sometimes better summed up by angry politicians +than by historians. + +We must be on our guard, however, against ascribing to either side +too precise a consciousness of its own motives. The old days when the +American Civil War was conceived as a clear-cut issue are as a watch in +the night that has passed, and we now realize that historical movements +are almost without exception the resultants of many motives. We have +come to recognize that men have always misapprehended themselves, +contradicted themselves, obeyed primal impulses, and then deluded +themselves with sophistications upon the springs of action. In a word, +unaware of what they are doing, men allow their aesthetic and dramatic +senses to shape their conceptions of their own lives. + +That "great impersonal artist," of whom Matthew Arnold has so much to +say, is at work in us all, subtly making us into illusions, first to +ourselves and later to the historian. It is the business of history, as +of analytic fiction, both to feel the power of these illusions and to +work through them in imagination to the dim but potent motives on which +they rest. We are prone to forget that we act from subconscious quite as +often as from conscious influences, from motives that arise out of the +dim parts of our being, from the midst of shadows that psychology has +only recently begun to lift, where senses subtler than the obvious make +use of fear, intuition, prejudice, habit, and illusion, and too often +play with us as the wind with blown leaves. + +True as this is of man individually, it is even more fundamentally true +of man collectively, of parties, of peoples. It is a strikingly accurate +description of the relation of the two American nations that now found +themselves opposed within the Republic. Neither fully understood the +other. Each had a social ideal that was deeper laid than any theory of +government or than any commercial or humanitarian interest. Both knew +vaguely but with sure instinct that their interests and ideals +were irreconcilable. Each felt in its heart the deadly passion of +self-preservation. It was because, in both North and South, men were +subtly conscious that a whole social system was the issue at stake, and +because on each side they believed in their own ideals with their whole +souls, that, when the time came for their trial by fire, they went to +their deaths singing. + +In the South there still obtained the ancient ideal of territorial +aristocracy. Those long traditions of the Western European peoples +which had made of the great landholder a petty prince lay beneath the +plantation life of the Southern States. The feudal spirit, revived in a +softer world and under brighter skies, gave to those who participated in +it the same graces and somewhat the same capacities which it gave to the +knightly class in the days of Roland--courage, frankness, generosity, +ability in affairs, a sense of responsibility, the consciousness +of caste. The mode of life which the planters enjoyed and which the +inferior whites regarded as a social paradise was a life of complete +deliverance from toil, of disinterested participation in local +government, of absolute personal freedom--a life in which the mechanical +action of law was less important than the more human compulsion of +social opinion, and in which private differences were settled under the +code of honor. + +This Southern life was carried on in the most appropriate environment. +On a landed estate, often larger than many of Europe's baronies, stood +the great house of the planter, usually a graceful example of colonial +architecture, surrounded by stately gardens. This mansion was the center +of a boundless hospitality; guests were always coming and going; the +hostess and her daughters were the very symbols of kindliness and ease. +To think of such houses was to think of innumerable joyous days; +of gentlemen galloping across country after the hounds; of coaches +lumbering along avenues of noble oaks, bringing handsome women to visit +the mansion; of great feastings; of nights of music and dancing; above +all, of the great festival of Christmas, celebrated much as had been the +custom in "Merrie England" centuries before. + +Below the surface of this bright world lay the enslaved black race. In +the minds of many Southerners--it was always a secret burden from which +they saw no means of freeing themselves. To emancipate the slaves, and +thereby to create a population of free blacks, was generally considered, +from the white point of view, an impossible solution of the problem. +The Southerners usually believed that the African could be tamed only +in small groups and when constantly surrounded by white influence, as in +the case of house servants. Though a few great capitalists had taken +up the idea that the deliberate exploitation of the blacks was the high +prerogative of the whites, the general sentiment of the Southern people +was more truly expressed by Toombs when he said: "The question is not +whether we could be more prosperous and happy with these three and a +half million slaves in Africa, and their places filled with an equal +number of hardy, intelligent, and enterprising citizens of the superior +race; but it is simply whether, while we have them among us, we would be +most prosperous with them in freedom or in bondage." + +The Southern people, in the majority of instances, had no hatred of the +blacks. In the main they led their free, spirited, and gracious life, +convinced that the maintenance of slavery was but making the best of +circumstances which were beyond their control. It was these Southern +people who were to hear from afar the horrible indictment of all +their motives by the Abolitionists and who were to react in a growing +bitterness and distrust toward everything Northern. + +But of these Southern people the average Northerner knew nothing. +He knew the South only on its least attractive side of professional +politics. For there was a group of powerful magnates, rich planters or +"slave barons," who easily made their way into Congress, and who played +into the hands of the Northern capitalists, for a purpose similar to +theirs. It was these men who forced the issue upon slavery; they warned +the common people of the North to mind their own business; and for doing +so they were warmly applauded by the Northern capitalist class. It was +therefore in opposition to the whole American world of organized capital +that the Northern masses demanded the use of "the Northern hammer"--as +Sumner put it, in one of his most furious speeches--in their aim to +destroy a section where, intuitively, they felt their democratic ideal +could not be realized. + +And what was that ideal? Merely to answer democracy is to dodge the +fundamental question. The North was too complex in its social structure +and too multitudinous in its interests to confine itself to one type +of life. It included all sorts and conditions of men--from the most +gracious of scholars who lived in romantic ease among his German and +Spanish books, and whose lovely house in Cambridge is forever associated +with the noble presence of Washington, to the hardy frontiersman, +breaking the new soil of his Western claim, whose wife at sunset shaded +her tired eyes, under a hand rough with labor, as she stood on the +threshold of her log cabin, watching for the return of her man across +the weedy fields which he had not yet fully subdued. Far apart as were +Longfellow and this toiler of the West, they yet felt themselves to be +one in purpose. + +They were democrats, but not after the simple, elementary manner of the +democrats at the opening of the century. In the North, there had come +to life a peculiar phase of idealism that had touched democracy with +mysticism and had added to it a vague but genuine romance. This new +vision of the destiny of the country had the practical effect of making +the Northerners identify themselves in their imaginations with all +mankind and in creating in them an enthusiastic desire, not only to give +to every American a home of his own, but also to throw open the gates of +the nation and to share the wealth of America with the poor of all the +world. In very truth, it was their dominating passion to give "land to +the landless." Here was the clue to much of their attitude toward the +South. Most of these Northern dreamers gave little or no thought to +slavery itself; but they felt that the section which maintained such a +system so committed to aristocracy that any real friendship with it was +impossible. + +We are thus forced to conceive the American Republic in the years +immediately following the Compromise of 1850 as, in effect, a dual +nation, without a common loyalty between the two parts. Before long the +most significant of the great Northerners of the time was to describe +this impossible condition by the appropriate metaphor of a house +divided against itself. It was not, however, until eight years after the +division of the country had been acknowledged in 1850 that these +words were uttered. In those eight years both sections awoke to the +seriousness of the differences that they had admitted. Both perceived +that, instead of solving their problem in 1850, they had merely drawn +sharply the lines of future conflict. In every thoughtful mind there +arose the same alternative questions: Is there no solution but fighting +it out until one side destroys the other, or we end as two nations +confessedly independent? Or is there some conceivable new outlet for +this opposition of energy on the part of the sections, some new mode of +permanent adjustment? + +It was at the moment when thinking men were asking these questions that +one of the nimblest of politicians took the center of the stage. Stephen +A. Douglas was far-sighted enough to understand the land-hunger of +the time. One is tempted to add that his ear was to the ground. The +statement will not, however, go unchallenged, for able apologists have +their good word to say for Douglas. Though in the main, the traditional +view of him as the prince of political jugglers still holds its own, let +us admit that his bold, rough spirit, filled as it was with political +daring, was not without its strange vein of idealism. And then let us +repeat that his ear was to the ground. Much careful research has indeed +been expended in seeking to determine who originated the policy which, +about 1853, Douglas decided to make his own. There has also been much +dispute about his motives. Most of us, however, see in his course of +action an instance of playing the game of politics with an audacity that +was magnificent. + +His conduct may well have been the result of a combination of motives +which included a desire to retain the favor of the Northwest, a wish +to pave the way to his candidacy for the Presidency, the intention to +enlist the aid of the South as well as that of his own locality, and +perhaps the hope that he was performing a service of real value to his +country. That is, he saw that the favor of his own Northwest would be +lavished upon any man who opened up to settlement the rich lands beyond +Iowa and Missouri which were still held by the Indians, and for which +the Westerners were clamoring. Furthermore, they wanted a railroad that +would reach to the Pacific. There were, however, local entanglements and +political cross-purposes which involved the interests of the free State +of Illinois and those of the slave State of Missouri. + +Douglas's great stroke was a programme for harmonizing all these +conflicting interests and for drawing together the West and the South. +Slaveholders were to be given what at that moment they wanted most--an +opportunity to expand into that territory to the north and west of +Missouri which had been made free by the Compromise of 1820, while the +free Northwest was to have its railroad to the coast and also its chance +to expand into the Indian country. Douglas thus became the champion of a +bill which would organize two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, but +which would leave the settlers in each to decide whether slavery or free +labor should prevail within their boundaries. This territorial scheme +was accepted by a Congress in which the Southerners and their Northern +allies held control, and what is known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was +signed by President Pierce on May 30,1854.* + + *The origin of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill has been a much + discussed subject among historians in recent years. The + older view that Douglas was simply playing into the hands of + the "slavepower" by sacrificing Kansas, is no longer + tenable. This point has been elaborated by Allen Johnson in + his study of Douglas ("Stephen A. Douglas: a Study in + American Politics"). In his "Repeal of the Missouri + Compromise", P.O. Ray contends that the legislation of 1854 + originated in a factional controversy in Missouri, and that + Douglas merely served the interests of the proslavery group + led by Senator David R. Atchinson of Missouri. Still + another point of view is that presented in the "Genesis of + the Kansas-Nebraska Act," by F. H. Hodder, who would explain + not only the division of the Nebraska Territory into Kansas + and Nebraska, but the object of the entire bill by the + insistent efforts of promoters of the Pacific railroad + scheme to secure a right of way through Nebraska. This + project involved the organization of a territorial + government and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. + Douglas was deeply interested in the western railroad + interests and carried through the necessary legislation. + + + +CHAPTER II. THE PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION + +In order to understand Douglas one must understand the Democratic party +of 1854 in which Douglas was a conspicuous leader. The Democrats boasted +that they were the only really national party and contended that their +rivals, the Whigs and the Know-Nothings, were merely the representatives +of localities or classes. Sectionalism was the favorite charge which the +Democrats brought against their enemies; and yet it was upon these very +Democrats that the slaveholders had hitherto relied, and it was upon +certain members of this party that the label, "Northern men with +Southern principles," had been bestowed. + +The label was not, however, altogether fair, for the motives of the +Democrats were deeply rooted in their own peculiar temperament. In the +last analysis, what had held their organization together, and what had +enabled them to dominate politics for nearly the span of a generation, +was their faith in a principle that then appealed powerfully, and that +still appeals, to much in the American character. This was the principle +of negative action on the part of the government--the old idea that the +government should do as little as possible and should confine itself +practically to the duties of the policeman. This principle has seemed +always to express to the average mind that traditional individualism +which is an inheritance of the Anglo-Saxon race. In America, in the +middle of the nineteenth century, it reenforced that tradition of local +independence which was strong throughout the West and doubly strong in +the South. Then, too, the Democratic party still spoke the language of +the theoretical Democracy inherited from Jefferson. And Americans have +always been the slaves of phrases! + +Furthermore, the close alliance of the Northern party machine with +the South made it, generally, an object of care for all those Northern +interests that depended on the Southern market. As to the Southerners, +their relation with this party has two distinct chapters. The first +embraced the twenty years preceding the Compromise of 1850, and may +be thought of as merging into the second during three or four years +following the great equivocation. In that period, while the antislavery +crusade was taking form, the aim of Southern politicians was mainly +negative. "Let us alone," was their chief demand. Though aggressive +in their policy, they were too far-sighted to demand of the North any +positive course in favor of slavery. The rise of a new type of Southern +politician, however, created a different situation and began a second +chapter in the relation between the South and the Democratic party +machine in the North. But of that hereafter. + +Until 1854, it was the obvious part of wisdom for Southerners to +cooperate as far as possible with that party whose cardinal idea was +that the government should come as near as conceivable to a system +of non-interference; that it should not interfere with business, and +therefore oppose a tariff; that it should not interfere with local +government, and therefore applaud states rights; that it should not +interfere with slavery, and therefore frown upon militant abolition. +Its policy was, to adopt a familiar phrase, one of masterly inactivity. +Indeed it may well be called the party of political evasion. It was a +huge, loose confederacy of differing political groups, embracing paupers +and millionaires, moderate anti-slavery men and slave barons, all of +whom were held together by the unreliable bond of an agreement not to +tread on each other's toes. + +Of this party Douglas was the typical representative, both in strength +and weakness. He had all its pliability, its good humor, its broad and +easy way with things, its passion for playing politics. Nevertheless, in +calling upon the believers in political evasion to consent for this +once to reverse their principle and to endorse a positive action, he had +taken a great risk. Would their sporting sense of politics as a gigantic +game carry him through successfully? He knew that there was a hard fight +before him, but with the courage of a great political strategist, +and proudly confident in his hold upon the main body of his party, he +prepared for both the attacks and the defections that were inevitable. + +Defections, indeed, began at once. Even before the bill had been passed, +the "Appeal of the Independent Democrats" was printed in a New York +paper, with the signatures of members of Congress representing both the +extreme anti-slavery wing of the Democrats and the organized Free-Soil +party. The most famous of these names were those of Chase and Sumner, +both of whom had been sent to the Senate by a coalition of Free-Soilers +and Democrats. With them was the veteran abolitionist, Giddings of +Ohio. The "Appeal" denounced Douglas as an "unscrupulous politician" +and sounded both the warcries of the Northern masses by accusing him of +being engaged in "an atrocious plot to exclude from a vast unoccupied +region immigrants from the Old World and free laborers from our own +States." + +The events of the spring and summer of 1854 may all be grouped under +two heads--the formation of an anti-Nebraska party, and the quick rush +of sectional patriotism to seize the territory laid open by the +Kansas-Nebraska Act. The instantaneous refusal of the Northerners to +confine their settlement to Nebraska, and their prompt invasion of +Kansas; the similar invasion from the South; the support of both +movements by societies organized for that purpose; the war in Kansas +all the details of this thrilling story have been told elsewhere.* The +political story alone concerns us here. + + *See Jesse Macy, "The Anti-Slavery Crusade". (In "The + Chronicles of America".) + +When the fight began there were four parties in the field: the +Democrats, the Whigs, the Free-Soilers, and the Know-Nothings. + +The Free-Soil party, hitherto a small organization, had sought to make +slavery the main issue in politics. Its watchword was "Free soil, free +speech, free labor, and free men." It is needless to add that it was +instantaneous in its opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. + +The Whigs at the moment enjoyed the greatest prestige, owing to the +association with them of such distinguished leaders as Webster and Clay. +In 1854, however, as a party they were dying, and the very condition +that had made success possible for the Democrats made it impossible for +the Whigs, because the latter stood for positive ideas, and aimed to be +national in reality and not in the evasive Democratic sense of the term. +For, as a matter of fact, on analysis all the greater issues of the day +proved to be sectional. The Whigs would not, like the Democrats, adopt a +negative attitude toward these issues, nor would they consent to become +merely sectional. Yet at the moment negation and sectionalism were the +only alternatives, and between these millstones the Whig organization +was destined to be ground to bits and to disappear after the next +Presidential election. + +Even previous to 1854, numbers of Whigs had sought a desperate outlet +for their desire to be positive in politics and had created a new party +which during a few years was to seem a reality and then vanish together +with its parent. The one chance for a party which had positive ideas +and which wished not to be sectional was the definite abandonment of +existing issues and the discovery of some new issue not connected with +sectional feeling. Now, it happened that a variety of causes, social and +religious, had brought about bad blood between native and foreigner, in +some of the great cities, and upon the issue involved in this condition +the failing spirit of the Whigs fastened. A secret society which had +been formed to oppose the naturalization of foreigners quickly became a +recognized political party. As the members of the Society answered all +questions with "I do not know," they came to be called "Know-Nothings," +though they called themselves "Americans." In those states where +the Whigs had been strongest--Massachusetts, New York, and +Pennsylvania--this last attempt to apply their former temper, though not +their principles, had for a moment some success; but it could not escape +the fierce division which was forced on the country by Douglas. As a +result, it rapidly split into factions, one of which merged with the +enemies of Douglas, while the other was lost among his supporters. + +What would the great dying Whig party leave behind it? This was the +really momentous question in 1854. Briefly, this party bequeathed +the temper of political positivism and at the same time the dread of +sectionalism. The inner clue to American politics during the next few +years is, to many minds, to be found largely in the union of this old +Whig temper with a new-born sectional patriotism, and, to other minds, +in the gradual and reluctant passing of the Whig opposition to a +sectional party. But though this transformation of the wrecks of +Whiggism began immediately, and while the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was +still being hotly debated in Congress, it was not until 1860 that it was +completed. + +In the meantime various incidents had shown that the sectional +patriotism of the North, the fury of the abolitionists, and the positive +temper in politics, were all drawing closer together. Each of these +tendencies can be briefly illustrated. For example, the rush to Kansas +had begun, and the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society was preparing to +assist settlers who were going west. In May, there occurred at Boston +one of the most conspicuous attempts to rescue a fugitive slave, in +which a mob led by Thomas Wentworth Higginson attacked the guards of +Anthony Burns, a captured fugitive, killed one of them, but failed to +get the slave, who was carried to a revenue cutter between lines of +soldiers and returned to slavery. Among numerous details of the hour the +burning of Douglas in effigy is perhaps worth passing notice. In duly +the anti-Nebraska men of Michigan held a convention, at which they +organized as a political party and nominated a state ticket. Of their +nominees, two had hitherto ranked themselves as Free-Soilers, three as +anti-slavery Democrats, and five as Whigs. For the name of their party +they chose "Republican," and as the foundation of their platform the +resolution "That, postponing and suspending all differences with +regard to political economy or administrative policy," they would "act +cordially and faithfully in unison," opposing the extension of slavery, +and would "cooperate and be known as 'Republicans' until the contest be +terminated." + +The history of the next two years is, in its main outlines, the story +of the war in Kansas and of the spread of this new party throughout the +North. It was only by degrees, however, that the Republicans absorbed +the various groups of anti-Nebraska men. What happened at this time in +Illinois may be taken as typical, and it is particularly noteworthy +as revealing the first real appearance of Abraham Lincoln in American +history. + +Though in 1854 he was not yet a national figure, Lincoln was locally +accredited with keen political insight, and was, regarded in Illinois as +a strong lawyer. The story is told of him that, while he was attending +court on the circuit, he heard the news of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in +a tavern and sat up most of the night talking about it. Next morning +he used a phrase destined to become famous. "I tell you," said he to a +fellow lawyer, "this nation cannot exist half slave and half free." + +Lincoln, however, was not one of the first to join the Republicans. +In Illinois, in 1854, Lincoln resigned his seat in the legislature to +become the Whig candidate for United States senator, to succeed the +Democratic colleague of Douglas. But there was little chance of +his election, for the real contest was between the two wings of the +Democrats, the Nebraska men and the anti-Nebraska men, and Lincoln +withdrew in favor of the candidate of the latter, who was elected. + +During the following year, from the midst of his busy law practice, +Lincoln watched the Whig party go to pieces. He saw a great part of its +vote lodge temporarily among the Know-Nothings, but before the end of +the year even they began to lose their prominence. In the autumn, from +the obscurity of his provincial life, he saw, far off, Seward, the most +astute politician of the day, join the new movement. In New York, the +Republican state convention and the Whig state convention merged into +one, and Seward pronounced a baptismal oration upon the Republican party +of New York. + +In the House of Representatives which met in December, 1855, the +anti-Nebraska men were divided among themselves, and the Know-Nothings +held the balance of power. No candidate for the speakership, however, +was able to command a majority, and finally, after it had been agreed +that a plurality would be sufficient, the contest closed, on the one +hundred and thirty-third ballot, with the election of a Republican, N. +P. Banks. Meanwhile in the South, the Whigs were rapidly leaving the +party, pausing a moment with the Know-Nothings, only to find that their +inevitable resting-place, under stress of sectional feeling, was with +the Democrats. + +On Washington's birthday, 1856, the Know-Nothing national convention met +at Philadelphia. It promptly split upon the subject of slavery, and +a portion of its membership sent word offering support to another +convention which was sitting at Pittsburgh, and which had been called to +form a national organization for the Republican party. A third assembly +held on this same day was composed of the newspaper editors of Illinois, +and may be looked upon as the organization of the Republican party in +that state. At the dinner following this informal convention, Lincoln, +who was one of the speakers, was toasted as "the next United States +Senator." + +Some four months afterward, in Philadelphia, the Republicans held their +first national convention. Only a few years previous its members +had called themselves by various names--Democrats, Free-Soilers, +Know-Nothings, Whigs. The old hostilities of these different groups had +not yet died out. Consequently, though Seward was far and away the most +eminent member of the new party, he was not nominated for President. +That dangerous honor was bestowed upon a dashing soldier and explorer of +the Rocky Mountains and the Far West, John C. Fremont.* + + *For an account of Fremont, see Stewart Edward White, "The + Forty-Niners" (in "The Chronicles of America"), Chapter II. + +The key to the political situation in the North, during that momentous +year, was to be found in the great number of able Whigs who, seeing +that their own party was lost but refusing to be sidetracked by the +make-believe issue of the Know-Nothings, were now hesitating what to do. +Though the ordinary politicians among the Republicans doubtless wished +to conciliate these unattached Whigs, the astuteness of the leaders was +too great to allow them to succumb to that temptation. They seem to have +feared the possible effect of immediately incorporating in their ranks, +while their new organization was still so plastic, the bulk of those +conservative classes which were, after all, the backbone of this +irreducible Whig minimum. + +The Republican campaign was conducted with a degree of passion that had +scarcely been equaled in America before that day. To the well-ordered +spirit of the conservative classes the tone which the Republicans +assumed appeared shocking. Boldly sectional in their language, sweeping +in their denunciation of slavery, the leaders of the campaign made +bitter and effective use of a number of recent events. "Uncle Tom's +Cabin", published in 1852, and already immensely popular, was used as a +political tract to arouse, by its gruesome picture of slavery, a hatred +of slaveholders. Returned settlers from Kansas went about the North +telling horrible stories of guerrilla warfare, so colored as to throw +the odium all on one side. The scandal of the moment was the attack made +by Preston Brooks on Sumner, after the latter's furious diatribe in the +Senate, which was published as "The Crime Against Kansas". With double +skill the Republicans made equal capital out of the intellectual +violence of the speech and the physical violence of the retort. In +addition to this, there was ready to their hands the evidence of +Southern and Democratic sympathy with a filibustering attempt to conquer +the republic of Nicaragua, where William Walker, an American adventurer, +had recently made himself dictator. Walker had succeeded in having his +minister acknowledged by the Democratic Administration, and in obtaining +the endorsement of a great Democratic meeting which was held in New +York. It looked, therefore, as if the party of political evasion had an +anchor to windward, and that, in the event of their losing in Kansas, +they intended to placate their Southern wing by the annexation of +Nicaragua. + +Here, indeed, was a stronger political tempest than Douglas, weatherwise +though he was, had foreseen. How was political evasion to brave it? With +a courage quite equal to the boldness of the Republicans, the Democrats +took another tack and steered for less troubled waters. Their convention +at Cincinnati was temperate and discreet in all its expressions, and for +President it nominated a Northerner, James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, a +man who was wholly dissociated in the public mind from the struggle over +Kansas. + +The Democratic party leaders knew that they already had two strong +groups of supporters. Whatever they did, the South would have to go +along with them, in its reaction against the furious sectionalism of the +Republicans. Besides the Southern support, the Democrats counted upon +the aid of the professional politicians--those men who considered +politics rather as a fascinating game than as serious and difficult work +based upon principle. Upon these the Democrats could confidently rely, +for they already had, in Douglas in the North and Toombs in the South, +two master politicians who knew this type and its impulses intimately, +because they themselves belonged to it. But the Democrats needed the +support of a third group. If they could only win over the Northern +remnant of the Whigs that was still unattached, their position would be +secure. In their efforts to obtain this additional and very necessary +reinforcement, they decided to appear as temperate and restrained as +possible--a well bred party which all mild and conservative men could +trust. + +This attitude they formulated in connection with Kansas, which at that +time had two governments: one, a territorial government, set up by +emigrants from the South; the other, a state government, under the +constitution drawn up at Topeka by emigrants from the North. One +authorized slavery; the other prohibited slavery; and both had appealed +to Washington for recognition. It was with this quite definite issue +that Congress was chiefly concerned in the spring of 1856. During the +summer Toombs introduced a bill securing to the settlers of Kansas +complete freedom of action and providing for an election of delegates +to a convention to draw up a state constitution which would determine +whether slavery or freedom was to prevail--in other words, whether +Kansas was to be annexed to the South or to the North. This bill was +merely the full expression of what Douglas had aimed at in 1854 and of +what was nicknamed "popular sovereignty"--the right of the locality to +choose for itself between slave and free labor. + +Two years before, such a measure would have seemed radical. But in +politics time is wonderfully elastic. Those two years had been packed +with turmoil. Kansas had been the scene of a bloody conflict. Regardless +of which side had a majority on the ground, extremists on each side had +demanded recognition for the government set up by their own party. By +contrast, Toombs's offer to let the majority rule appeared temperate. + +The Republicans saw instantly that they must discredit the proposal +or the ground would be cut from under them. Though the bill passed the +Senate, they were able to set it aside in the House in favor of a bill +admitting Kansas as a free state with the Topeka constitution. The +Democrats thereupon accused the Republicans of not wanting peace and of +wishing to keep up the war-cry "Bleeding Kansas" until election time. + +That, throughout the country, the two parties continued on the lines +of policy they had chosen may be seen from an illustration. A House +committee which had gone to Kansas to investigate submitted two reports, +one of which, submitted by a Democratic member, told the true story of +the murders committed by John Brown at Pottawatomie. And yet, while +the Republicans spread everywhere their shocking tales of murders of +free-state settlers, the Democrats made practically no use of this +equally shocking tale of the murder of slaveholders. Apparently they +were resolved to appear temperate and conservative to the bitter end. + +And they had their reward. Or, perhaps the fury of the Republicans had +its just deserts. From either point of view, the result was a choice of +evils on the part of the reluctant Whigs, and that choice was expressed +in the following words by as typical a New Englander as Rufus Choate: +"The first duty of Whigs," wrote Choate to the Maine State central +committee, "is to unite with some organization of our countrymen +to defeat and dissolve the new geographical party calling itself +Republican.... The question for each and every one of us is...by what +vote can I do most to prevent the madness of the times from working its +maddest act the very ecstasy of its madness--the permanent formation and +the actual triumph of a party which knows one half of America only +to hate and dread it. If the Republican party," Choate continued, +"accomplishes its object and gives the government to the North, I turn +my eyes from the consequences. To the fifteen states of the South that +government will appear an alien government. It will appear worse. It +will appear a hostile government. It will represent to their eye a +vast region of states organized upon anti-slavery, flushed by triumph, +cheered onward by the voice of the pulpit, tribune, and press; +its mission, to inaugurate freedom and put down the oligarchy; its +constitution, the glittering and sounding generalities of natural +right which make up the Declaration of Independence.... Practically the +contest, in my judgment, is between Mr. Buchanan and Colonel Fremont. In +these circumstances, I vote for Mr. Buchanan." + +The party of political evasion thus became the refuge of the old +original Whigs who were forced to take advantage of any port in a storm. +Buchanan was elected by an overwhelming majority. To the careless +eye, Douglas had been justified by results; his party had triumphed as +perhaps never before; and yet, no great political success was ever +based upon less stable foundations. To maintain this position, those +Northerners who reasoned as Choate did were a necessity; but to keep +them in the party of political evasion would depend upon the ability of +this party to play the game of politics without acknowledging sectional +bias. Whether this difficult task could be accomplished would depend +upon the South. Toombs, on his part, was anxious to continue making the +party of evasion play the great American game of politics, and in +his eagerness he perhaps overestimated his hold upon the South. This, +however, remains to be seen. + +Already another faction had formed around William L. Yancey of +Alabama--a faction as intolerant of political evasion as the Republicans +themselves, and one that was eager to match the sectional Northern party +by a sectional Southern party. It had for the moment fallen into line +with the Toombs faction because, like the Whigs, it had not the courage +to do otherwise. The question now was whether it would continue fearful, +and whether political evasion would continue to reign. + +The key to the history of the next four years is in the growth of this +positive Southern party, which had the inevitable result of forcing the +Whig remainder to choose, not as in 1856 between a positive sectional +policy and an evasive nonsectional policy, but in 1860 between two +policies both of which were at once positive and sectional. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE POLITICIANS AND THE NEW DAY + +The South had thus far been kept in line with the cause of political +evasion by a small group of able politicians, chief among whom were +Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, and Alexander H. Stephens. Curiously enough +all three were Georgians, and this might indeed be called the day of +Georgia in the history of the South. + +A different type of man, however, and one significant of a divergent +point of view, had long endeavored to shake the leadership of the +Georgian group. Rhett in South Carolina, Jefferson Davis in Mississippi, +and above all Yancey in Alabama, together with the interests and +sentiment which they represented, were almost ready to contest the +orthodoxy of the policy of "nothing doing." To consolidate the interests +behind them, to arouse and fire the sentiment on which they relied, was +now the confessed purpose of these determined men. So little attention +has hitherto been given to motive in American politics that the modern +student still lacks a clear-cut and intelligent perception of these +various factions. In spite of this fact, however, these men may safely +be regarded as being distinctly more intellectual, and as having +distinctly deeper natures, than the men who came together under +the leadership of Toombs and Cobb, and who had the true provincial +enthusiasm for politics as the great American sport. + +The factions of both Toombs and Yancey were intensely Southern and, +whenever a crisis might come, neither meant to hesitate an instant over +striking hard for the South. Toombs, however, wanted to prevent such a +situation, while Yancey was anxious to force one. The former conceived +felicity as the joy of playing politics on the biggest stage, and he +therefore bent all his strength to preserving the so-called national +parties; the latter, scornful of all such union, was for a separate +Southern community. + +Furthermore, no man could become enthusiastic about political evasion +unless by nature he also took kindly to compromise. So, Toombs and his +followers were for preserving the negative Democratic position of 1856. +In a formal paper of great ability Stephens defended that position when +he appeared for reelection to Congress in 1857. Cobb, who had entered +Buchanan's Cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury, and who spoke hopefully +of making Kansas a slave state, insisted nevertheless that such a change +must be "brought about by the recognized principles of carrying out the +will of the majority which is the great doctrine of the Kansas Bill." +To Yancey, as to the Republicans, Kansas was a disputed border-land for +which the so-called two nations were fighting. + +The internal Southern conflict between these two factions began anew +with the Congressional elections of 1857. It is worth observing that the +make-up of these factions was almost a resurrection of the two groups +which, in 1850, had divided the South on the question of rejecting the +Compromise. In a letter to Stephens in reference to one of the Yancey +men, Cobb prophesied: "McDonald will utterly fail to get up a new +Southern Rights party. Burnt children dread the fire, and he cannot get +up as strong an organization as he did in 1850. Still it is necessary +to guard every point, as McDonald is a hard hand to deal with." For the +moment, he foretold events correctly. The Southern elections of 1857 did +not break the hold of the moderates. + +Yancey turned to different machinery, quite as useful for his purpose. +This he found in the Southern commercial conventions, which were held +annually. At this point there arises a vexed question which has, of +late, aroused much discussion. Was there then what we should call +today a slave "interest"? Was organized capital deliberately exploiting +slavery? And did Yancey play into its hands?* The truth seems to be +that, between 1856 and 1860, both the idealist parties, the Republicans +and the Secessionists, made peace with, shall we say, the Mammon of +unrighteousness, or merely organized capital? The one joined hands with +the iron interest of the North; the other, with the slave interest of +the South. The Republicans preached the domination of the North and a +protective tariff; the Yancey men preached the independence of the South +and the reopening of the slave trade. + + * For those who would be persuaded that there was such a + slave interest, perhaps the best presentation is to be found + in Professor Dodd's Life of Jefferson Davis. + +These two issues Yancey, however, failed to unite, though the commercial +convention of 1859 at last gave its support to a resolution that all +laws, state or federal, prohibiting the African slave trade ought to be +repealed. That great body of Northern capital which had dealings with +the South was ready, as it always had been, to finance any scheme that +Southern business desired. Slavers were fitted out in New York, and +the city authorities did not prevent their sailing. Against this somber +background stands forth that much admired action of Lewis Cass of +Michigan, Buchanan's Secretary of State. Already the slave trade was +in process of revival, and the British Navy, impelled by the powerful +anti-slavery sentiment in England, was active in its suppression. +American ships suspected of being slavers were visited and searched. +Cass seized his opportunity, and declaring that such things "could not +be submitted to by an independent nation without dishonor," sent out +American warships to prevent this interference. Thereupon the British +government consented to give up trying to police the ocean against +slavers. It is indeed true, therefore, that neither North nor South has +an historical monopoly of the support of slavery! + +It is but fair to add that, so far as the movement to reopen the slave +trade found favor outside the slave barons and their New York allies, +it was advocated as a means of political defense, of increasing Southern +population as an offset to the movement of free emigration into the +North, and of keeping the proportion of Southern representation in +Congress. Stephens, just after Cass had successfully twisted the lion's +tail, took this position in a speech that caused a sensation. In a +private letter he added, "Unless we get immigration from abroad, we +shall have few more slave states. This great truth seems to take the +people by surprise. Some shrink from it as they would from death. Still, +it is as true as death." The scheme, however, never received general +acceptance; and in the constitution of the Southern Confederacy there +was a section prohibiting the African slave trade. On the other of +these two issues--the independence of the South--Yancey steadily +gained ground. With each year from 1856 to 1860, a larger proportion of +Southerners drew out of political evasion and gave adherence to the +idea of presenting an ultimatum to the North, with secession as an +alternative. + +Meanwhile, Buchanan sent to Kansas, as Governor, Robert J. Walker, +one of the most astute of the Democrats of the opposite faction and a +Mississippian. The tangled situation which Walker found, the details +of his attempt to straighten it out, belong in another volume.* It is +enough in this connection merely to mention the episode of the Lecompton +convention in the election of which the Northern settlers refused to +participate, though Walker had promised that they should have full +protection and a fair count as well as that the work of the convention +should be submitted to a popular vote. This action of Walker's was one +more cause of contention between the warring factions in the South. The +fact that he had met the Northerners half-way was seized upon by the +Yancey men as evidence of the betrayal of the South by the Democratic +moderates. On the other hand, Cobb, writing of the situation in Kansas, +said that "a large majority are against slavery and... our friends regard +the fate of Kansas as a free state pretty well fixed... the pro-slavery +men, finding that Kansas was likely to become a Black Republican State, +determined to unite with the free-state Democrats." Here is the clue to +Walker's course. As a strict party man, he preferred to accept Kansas +free, with Democrats in control, rather than risk losing it altogether. + + * See Jesse Macy, "The Anti-Slavery Crusade". (In "The + Chronicles of America".) + +The next step in the affair is one of the unsolved problems in American +history. Buchanan suddenly changed front, disgraced Walker, and threw +himself into the arms of the Southern extremists. Though his reasons +for doing so have been debated to this day, they have not yet been +established beyond dispute. What seems to be the favorite explanation +is that Buchanan was in a panic. What brought him to that condition may +have been the following events. + +The free-state men, by refusing to take part in electing the convention, +had given control to the slaveholders, who proved they were not slow to +seize their opportunity. They drew up a constitution favoring slavery, +but this constitution, Walker had promised, was to be submitted in +referendum. If the convention decided, however, not to submit the +constitution, would not Congress have the right to accept it and admit +Kansas as a Mate? This question was immediately raised. It now became +plain that, by refusing to take part in the election, the free-state +Kansans had thrown away a great tactical advantage. Of this blunder in +generalship the Yancey men took instant advantage. It was known that +the proportion of Free-Soilers in Kansas was very great--perhaps a +majority--and the Southerners reasoned that they should not be obliged +to give up the advantage they had won merely to let their enemies +retrieve their mistake. Jefferson Davis formulated this position in +an address to the Mississippi Legislature in which he insisted that +Congress, not the Kansas electorate, was entitled to create the Kansas +constitution, that the Convention was a properly chosen body, and that +its work should stand. What Davis said in a stately way, others said in +a furious way. Buchanan stated afterward that he changed front because +certain Southern States had threatened that, if he did not abandon +Walker, they would secede. + +Be that as it may, Buchanan did abandon Walker and threw all the +influence of the Administration in favor of admitting Kansas with the +Lecompton constitution. But would this be true to that principle of +"popular sovereignty" which was the very essence of the Kansas-Nebraska +Act? Would it be true to the principle that each locality should decide +for itself between slavery and freedom? On this issue the Southerners +were fairly generally agreed and maintained that there was no obligation +to go behind the work of the convention. Not so, however, the great +exponent of popular sovereignty, Douglas. Rising in his place in the +Senate, he charged the President with conspiring to defeat the will of +the majority in Kansas. "If Kansas wants a slave state constitution," +said he, "she has a right to it; if she wants a free state constitution, +she has a right to it. It is none of my business which way the slavery +clause is decided. I care not whether it is voted up or down." + +There followed one of those prolonged legislative battles for which the +Congress of the United States is justly celebrated. Furious oratory, +propositions, counter-propositions, projected compromises, other +compromises, and at the end nothing positive. But Douglas had defeated +the attempt to bring in Kansas with the Lecompton constitution. As to +the details of the story, they include such distinguished happenings as +a brawling, all-night session when "thirty men, at least, were engaged +in the fisticuff," and one Representative knocked another down. + +Douglas was again at the center of the stage, but his term as Senator +was nearing its end. He and the President had split their party. Pursued +by the vengeful malice of the Administration, Douglas went home in +1858 to Illinois to fight for his reelection. His issue, of course, +was popular sovereignty. His temper was still the temper of political +evasion. How to hold fast to his own doctrine, and at the same time +keep to his programme of "nothing doing"; how to satisfy the negative +Democrats of the North without losing his last hold on the positive +men of the South--such were his problems, and they were made still more +difficult by a recent decision of the Supreme Court. + +The now famous case of Dred Scott had been decided in the previous +year. Its bewildering legal technicalities may here be passed over; +fundamentally, the real question involved was the status of a negro, +Dred Scott. A slave who had been owned in Missouri, and who had been +taken by his master to the State of Illinois, to the free territory +of Minnesota, and then back to Missouri, now claimed to be free. The +Supreme Court undertook to decide whether his residence in Minnesota +rendered him free, and also whether any negro of slave descent could +be a citizen of the United States. The official opinion of the Court, +delivered by Chief Justice Taney, decided both questions against +the suppliant. It was held that the "citizens" recognized by the +Constitution did not include negroes. So, even if Scott were free, he +could not be considered a citizen entitled to bring suit in the Federal +Courts. Furthermore, he could not be considered free, in spite of his +residence in Minnesota, because, as the Court now ruled, Congress, when +it enacted the Missouri Compromise, had exceeded its authority; +the enactment had never really been in force; there was no binding +prohibition of slavery in the Northwestern territories. + +If this decision was good law, all the discussion about popular +sovereignty went for nothing, and neither an act of Congress nor the +vote of the population of a territory, whether for or against slavery, +was of any value whatsoever. Nothing mattered until the newmade state +itself took action after its admission to the Union. Until that time, no +power, national or local, could lawfully interfere with the introduction +of slaves. In the case of Kansas, it was no longer of the least +importance what became of the Lecompton constitution or of any other +that the settlers might make. The territory was open to settlement +by slaveholders and would continue to be so as long as it remained +a territory. The same conditions existed in Nebraska and in all the +Northwest. The Dred Scott decision was accepted as orthodox Democratic +doctrine by the South, by the Administration, and by the "Northern men +with Southern principles." The astute masters of the game of politics +on the Democratic side struck the note of legality. This was law, the +expression of the highest tribunal of the Republic; what more was to be +said? Though in truth there was but one other thing to be said, and that +revolutionary, the Republicans, nevertheless, did not falter over it. +Seward announced it in a speech in Congress on "Freedom in Kansas," when +he uttered this menace: "We shall reorganize the Court and thus reform +its political sentiments and practices." + +In the autumn of 1858 Douglas attempted to perform the acrobatic feat +of reconciling the Dred Scott decision, which as a Democrat he had +to accept, with that idea of popular sovereignty without which his +immediate followers could not be content. In accepting the Republican +nomination as Douglas's opponent for the senatorship, Lincoln used these +words which have taken rank among his most famous utterances: "A house +divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot +endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union +to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it +will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. +Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, +and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it +is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it +forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well +as new--North as well as South." + +No one had ever so tellingly expressed the death-grapple of the sections: +slavery the weapon of one, free labor the weapon of the other. Though +Lincoln was at that time forty-nine years old, his political experience, +in contrast with that of Douglas, was negligible. He afterward aptly +described his early life in that expressive line from Gray, "The short +and simple annals of the poor." He lacked regular schooling, and it +was altogether from the practice of law that he had gained such formal +education as he had. In law, however, he had become a master, and his +position, to judge from the class of cases entrusted to him, was second +to none in Illinois. To that severe yet wholesome cast of mind which +the law establishes in men naturally lofty, Lincoln added the +tonic influence of a sense of style--not the verbal acrobatics of a +rhetorician, but that power to make words and thought a unit which +makes the artist of a man who has great ideas. How Lincoln came by this +literary faculty is, indeed, as puzzling as how Burns came by it. But +there it was, disciplined by the court room, made pungent by familiarity +with plain people, stimulated by constant reading of Shakespeare, and +chastened by study of the Bible. + +It was arranged that Douglas and Lincoln should tour the State together +in a series of joint debates. As a consequence there followed a most +interesting opposition of methods in the use of words, a contest between +the method formed in Congress at a time when Congress was a perfect +rhetorical academy, and that method of using words which was based on +an arduous study of Blackstone, Shakespeare, and Isaiah. Lincoln issued +from the debates one of the chief intellectual leaders of America, and +with a place in English literature; Douglas came out a Senator from +Illinois. + +But though Douglas kept his following together, and though Lincoln was +voted down, to Lincoln belonged the real strategic victory. In order +to save himself with his own people, Douglas had been forced to make +admissions that ruined him with the South. Because of these admissions +the breach in the party of political evasion became irreparable. It was +in the debate at Freeport that Douglas's fate overtook him, for Lincoln +put this question: "Can the people of a United States territory, in +any lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, +exclude slavery from its limits, prior to the formation of a state +constitution?" + +Douglas answered in his best style of political thunder. "It matters +not," he said, "what way the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to +the abstract question whether slavery may or may not go into a territory +under the Constitution; the people have the lawful means to introduce it +or exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist +a day or an hour anywhere unless it is supported by local police +regulations. Those police regulations can only be established by the +local legislatures; and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will +elect representatives to that body who will by unfriendly legislation +effectually prevent the introduction of it into their midst. If, on the +contrary, they are for it, their legislation will favor its extension. +Hence, no matter what the decision of the Supreme Court may be on +that abstract question, still the right of the people to make a slave +territory or a free territory is perfect and complete under the Nebraska +Bill." + +As to the moral aspect of his actions, Douglas must ultimately be judged +by the significance which this position in which he placed himself +assumed in his own mind. Friendly critics excuse him: an interpretation +of the Dred Scott decision which explained it away as an irresponsible +utterance on a subject outside the scope of the case, a mere obiter +dictum, is the justification which is called in to save him from +the charge of insincerity. His friends, today, admit that this +interpretation was bad law, but maintain that it may have been good +morals, and that Douglas honestly held it. But many of us have not yet +advanced so far in critical generosity, and cannot help feeling that +Douglas's position remains political legerdemain--an attempt by a great +officer of the government, professing to defend the Supreme Court, to +show the people how to go through the motions of obedience to the Court +while defeating its intention. If not double-dealing in a strict sense, +it must yet be considered as having in it the temper of double-dealing.* +This was, indeed, the view of many men of his own day and, among them, +of Lincoln. Yet the type of man on whom the masters of the game of +politics relied saw nothing in Douglas's position at which to be +disturbed. It was merely playing politics, and if that absorbing sport +required one to carry water on both shoulders, why--play the game! +Douglas was the man for people like that. They cheered him to the echo +and sent him back to the Senate. So well was this type understood by +some of Lincoln's friends that they had begged him, at least according +to tradition, not to put the question at Freeport, as by doing so he +would enable Douglas to save himself with his constituency. Lincoln saw +further, however. He understood better than they the forces then at work +in America. The reply reported of him was: "If Douglas answers, he can +never be President, and the battle of 1860 is worth a hundred of this." + + * There are three ways of regarding Douglas's position: (1) + As a daring piece of evasion designed to hold all the + Democrats together; (2) as an attempt to secure his locality + at all costs, taking his chances on the South; (3) as a + sincere expression of the legal interpretation mentioned + above. It is impossible in attempting to choose among these + to escape wholly one's impression of the man's character. + +Well might Yancey and his followers receive with a shout of joy the +"Freeport Doctrine," as Douglas's supreme evasion was called. Should +Southerners trust any longer the man who had evolved from the principle +of let-'em-alone to the principle of double-dealing? However, the +Southerners were far from controlling the situation. Though the events +of 1858 had created discord in the Democratic party, they had not +consolidated the South. Men like Toombs and Stephens were still hopeful +of keeping the States together in the old bond of political evasion. The +Democratic machine, damaged though it was, had not yet lost its hold on +the moderate South, and while that continued to be the case, there was +still power in it. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE CRISIS + +The Southern moderates in 1859 form one of those political groups, +numerous enough in history, who at a crisis arrest our imagination +because of the irony of their situation. Unsuspecting, these men went +their way, during the last summer of the old regime, busy with the +ordinary affairs of state, absorbed in their opposition to the Southern +radicals, never dreaming of the doom that was secretly moving toward +them through the plans of John Brown. In the soft brilliancy of the +Southern summer when the roses were in bloom, many grave gentlemen +walked slowly up and down together under the oaks of their plantation +avenues, in the grateful dusk, talking eagerly of how the scales +trembled in Southern politics between Toombs and Yancey, and questioning +whether the extremists could ride down the moderate South and reopen the +slave trade. In all their wondering whether Douglas would ever come back +to them or would prove the blind Samson pulling down their temple about +their ears, there was never a word about the approaching shadow which +was so much more real than the shades of the falling night, and yet so +entirely shut away from their observation. + +In this summer, Stephens withdrew as he thought from public life. +With an intensely sensitive nature, he had at times flashes of strange +feeling which an unsophisticated society would regard as prophetic +inspirations. When he left Washington "on the beautiful morning of the +5th of March, 1859, he stood at the stern of the boat for some minutes +gazing back at the capital." He had announced his intention of not +standing again as a Representative, and one of his fellow-passengers +asked jokingly whether he was thinking of his return as a Senator. +Stephen's reply was full of emotion, "No, I never expect to see +Washington again unless I am brought here as a prisoner of war." During +the summer he endeavored to cast off his intuition of approaching +disaster. At his plantation, "Liberty Hall," he endeavored to be content +with the innumerable objects associated with his youth; he tried to feel +again the grace of the days that were gone, the mysterious loveliness of +the Southern landscape with its immense fields, its forests, its great +empty spaces filled with glowing sunshine. He tried to possess his +troubled soul with the severe intellectual ardor of the law. But his +gift of second sight would not rest. He could not overcome his intuition +that, for all the peace and dreaminess of the outward world, destiny +was upon him. Looking out from his spiritual seclusion, he beheld what +seemed to him complete political confusion, both local and national. His +despairing mood found expression a little later in the words: "Indeed +if we were now to have a Southern convention to determine upon the true +policy of the South either in the Union or out of it, I should expect to +see just as much profitless discussion, disagreement, crimination, and +recrimination amongst the members of it from different states and from +the same state, as we witness in the present House of Representatives +between Democrats, Republicans, and Americans." + +Among the sources of confusion Stephens saw, close at home, was the +Southern battle over the reopening of the slave trade. The reality +of that issue had been made plain in May, 1859, when the Southern +commercial congress at Vicksburg entertained at the same time two +resolutions: one, that the convention should urge all Southern States +to amend their constitutions by a clause prohibiting the increase +of African slavery; the other, that the convention urge all the +Legislatures of Southern States to present memorials to Congress asking +the repeal of the law against African slave trade. Of these opposed +resolutions, the latter was adopted on the last day of the convention*, +though the moderates fought hard against it. + + *It is significant that the composition of these Southern + commercial congresses and the Congress of the whole Southern + people was strikingly different in personnel. Very few + members of the commercial congresses reappear in the + Confederate Congress. + +The split between Southern moderates and Southern radicals was further +indicated by their differing attitudes toward the adventurers from +the United States in Central America. The Vicksburg Convention +adopted resolutions which were thinly veiled endorsements of southward +expansion. In the early autumn another Nicaraguan expedition was nipped +in the bud by the vigilance of American naval forces. Cobb, prime factor +in the group of Southern moderates as well as Secretary of the Treasury, +wrote to Buchanan expressing his satisfaction at the event, mentioning +the work of his own department in bringing it about, and also alluding +to his arrangements to prevent slave trading off the Florida coast. + +But the spirit of doubt was strong even among the moderates. Douglas was +the target. Stephens gives a glimpse of it in a letter written during +his last session in Congress. "Cobb called on me Saturday night," he +writes. "He is exceedingly bitter against Douglas. I joked him a good +deal, and told him he had better not fight, or he would certainly be +whipped; that is, in driving Douglas out of the Democratic party. +He said that if Douglas ever was restored to the confidence of the +Democracy of Georgia, it would be over his dead body politically. This +shows his excitement, that is all. I laughed at him, and told him he +would run his feelings and his policy into the ground." The anger +of Cobb, who was himself a confessed candidate for the Democratic +nomination, was imperiling the Democratic national machine which Toombs +was still struggling so resolutely to hold together. Indeed, as late as +the autumn of 1859 the machine still held together. + +Then came the man of destiny, the bolt from the blue, the end of the +chapter. A marvelous fanatic--a sort of reincarnation of the grimmest +of the Covenanters--by one daring act shattered the machine and made +impossible any further coalition on the principle of "nothing doing." +This man of destiny was John Brown, whose attack on Harper's Ferry took +place October 16th, and whose execution by the authorities of Virginia +on the charges of murder and treason occurred on the 2nd of December. + +The incident filled the South with consternation. The prompt +condemnation of it by many Republican leaders did not offset, in the +minds of Southerners, the fury of praise accorded by others. The South +had a ghastly tradition derived chiefly from what is known as Nat +Turner's Rebellion in Virginia, a tradition of the massacre of white +women and children by negroes. As Brown had set opt to rouse a slave +rebellion, every Southerner familiar with his own traditions shuddered, +identifying in imagination John Brown and Nat Turner. Horror became rage +when the Southerners heard of enthusiastic applause in Boston and of +Emerson's description of Brown as "that new saint" who was to "make the +gallows glorious like the cross." In the excitement produced by remarks +such as this, justice was not done to Lincoln's censure. In his speech +at Cooper Institute in New York, in February, 1860, Lincoln had said: +"John Brown's effort...in its philosophy corresponds with the many +attempts related in history at the assassination of kings and emperors. +An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people, until he fancies +himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the attempt +which ends in little else than in his own execution." A few months +afterwards, the Republican national convention condemned the act of +Brown as "among the gravest of crimes." + +An immediate effect of the John Brown episode was a passionate outburst +from all the radical press of the South in defense of slavery. The +followers of Yancey made the most of their opportunity. The men who +voted at Vicksburg to reopen the slave trade could find no words to +measure their hatred of every one who, at this moment of crisis, would +not declare slavery a blessing. Many of the men who opposed the slave +traders also felt that, in the face of possible slave insurrection, +the peril of their families was the one paramount consideration. +Nevertheless, it is easy for the special pleader to give a +wrong impression of the sentiment of the time. A grim desire for +self-preservation took possession of the South, as well as a deadly fear +of any person or any thing that tended directly or indirectly to incite +the blacks to insurrection. Northerners of abolitionist sympathies were +warned to leave the country, and in some cases they were tarred and +feathered. + +Great anger was aroused by the detection of book-agents who were +distributing a furious polemic against slavery, "The Impending Crisis +of the South: How to Meet It", by Hinton Rowan Helper, a Southerner of +inferior social position belonging to the class known as poor whites. +The book teemed with such sentences as this, addressing slaveholders: +"Do you aspire to become victims of white non-slave-holding vengeance by +day and of barbarous massacres by the negroes at night?" It is scarcely +strange, therefore, that in 1859 no Southerner would hear a good word of +anyone caught distributing the book. And yet, in the midst of all this +vehement exaltation of slavery, the fight to prevent a reopening of +the slave trade went bravely on. Stephens, writing to a friend who was +correspondent for the "Southern Confederacy", in Atlanta, warned him in +April, 1860, "neither to advocate disunion or the opening of the slave +trade. The people here at present I believe are as much opposed to it +as they are at the North; and I believe the Northern people could be +induced to open it sooner than the Southern people." + +The winter of 1859-1860 witnessed a famous congressional battle over +the speakership. The new Congress which met in December contained +109 Republicans, 101 Democrats, and 27 Know-Nothings. The Republican +candidate for speaker was John Sherman of Ohio. As the first ballot +showed that he could not command a majority, a Democrat from Missouri +introduced this resolution "Whereas certain members of this House, now +in nomination for speaker, did endorse the book hereinafter mentioned, +resolved, That the doctrines and sentiments of a certain book, called +'The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It', are insurrectionary +and hostile to the peace and tranquillity of the country, and that no +member of this House, who has indorsed or recommended it, is fit to be +speaker of the House." + +During two months there were strange scenes in the House, while the +clerk acted as temporary speaker and furious diatribes were thundered +back and forth across the aisle that separated Republicans from +Democrats, with a passage of fisticuffs or even a drawn pistol to add +variety to the scene. The end of it all was a deal. Pennington, of the +"People's Party" of New Jersey, who had supported Sherman but had not +endorsed Helper, was given the Republican support; a Know-Nothing was +made sergeant-at-arms; and Know-Nothing votes added to the Republican +votes made Pennington speaker. In many Northern cities the news of his +election was greeted with the great salute of a hundred guns, but at +Richmond the papers came out in mourning type. + +Two great figures now advanced to the center of the Congressional +stage--Jefferson Davis, Senator from Mississippi, a lean eagle of a man +with piercing blue eyes, and Judah P. Benjamin, Senator from Louisiana, +whose perpetual smile cloaked an intellect that was nimble, keen, and +ruthless. Both men were destined to play leading roles in the lofty +drama of revolution; each was to experience a tragic ending of his +political hope, one in exile, the other in a solitary proscription amid +the ruins of the society for which he had sacrificed his all. These men, +though often spoken of as mere mouthpieces of Yancey, were in reality +quite different from him both in temper and in point of view. + +Davis, who was destined eventually to become the target of Yancey's +bitterest enmity, had refused ten years before to join in the secession +movement which ignored Calhoun's doctrine that the South had become a +social unit. Though a believer in slavery under the conditions of the +moment, Davis had none of the passion of the slave baron for slavery at +all costs. Furthermore, as events were destined to show in a startlingly +dramatic way, he was careless of South Carolina's passion for state +rights. He was a practical politician, but not at all the old type of +the party of political evasion, the type of Toombs. No other man of the +moment was on the whole so well able to combine the elements of Southern +politics against those more negative elements of which Toombs was the +symbol. The history of the Confederacy shows that the combination which +Davis now effected was not as thorough as he supposed it was. But at the +moment he appeared to succeed and seemed to give common purpose to the +vast majority of the Southern people. With his ally Benjamin, he struck +at the Toombs policy of a National Democratic party. + +On the day following the election of Pennington, Davis introduced in +the Senate a series of resolutions which were to serve as the Southern +ultimatum, and which demanded of Congress the protection of slavery +against territorial legislatures. This was but carrying to its logical +conclusion that Dred Scott decision which Douglas and his followers +proposed to accept. If Congress could not restrict slavery in the +territories, how could its creature, a territorial legislature do so? +And yet the Douglas men attempted to take away the power from Congress +and to retain it for the territorial legislatures. Senator Pugh of Ohio +had already locked horns with Davis on this point, and had attempted to +show that a territorial Legislature was independent of Congress. "Then +I would ask the Senator further," retorted the logical Davis, "why it is +he makes an appropriation to pay members of the territorial legislature; +how it is that he invests the Governor with veto power over their acts; +and how it is that he appoints judges to decide upon the validity of +their acts." + +In the Democratic convention which met at Charleston in April, 1860, the +waning power of political evasion made its last real stand against the +rising power of political positivism. To accept Douglas and the idea +that somehow territorial legislatures were free to do what Congress +could not do, or to reject Douglas and endorse Davis's ultimatum--that +in substance was the issue. "In this convention where there should be +confidence and harmony," said the "Charleston Mercury", "it is plain +that men feel as if they were going into a battle." In the committee on +resolutions where the States were equally represented, the majority were +anti-Douglas; they submitted a report affirming Davis's position that +territorial legislatures had no right to prohibit slavery and that the +Federal Government should protect slavery against them. The minority +refused to go further than an approval of the Dred Scott case and a +pledge to abide by all future decisions of the Supreme Court. After +both reports had been submitted, there followed the central event of the +convention--the now famous speech by Yancey which repudiated political +evasion from top to bottom, frankly defended slavery, and demanded +either complete guarantees for its continued existence or, as an +alternative, Southern independence. Pugh instantly replied and summed up +Yancey's speech as a demand upon Northern Democrats to say that slavery +was right, and that it was their duty not only to let slavery alone but +to aid in extending it. "Gentlemen of the South," he exclaimed, "you +mistake us--you mistake us--we will not do it." + +In the full convention, where the representation of the States was not +equal, the Douglas men, after hot debate, forced the adoption of the +minority report. Thereupon the Alabama delegation protested and formally +withdrew from the convention, and other delegations followed. There was +wild excitement in Charleston, where that evening in the streets Yancey +addressed crowds that cheered for a Southern republic. The remaining +history of the Democratic nominations is a matter of detail. The +Charleston convention adjourned without making nominations. Each of +its fragments reorganized as a separate convention, and ultimately +two Democratic tickets were put into the field, with Breckinridge of +Kentucky as the candidate on the Yancey ticket and Douglas on the other. + +While the Democrats were thus making history through their fateful +break-up into separate parties, a considerable number of the so-called +best people of the country determined that they had nowhere politically +to lay their heads. A few of the old Whigs were still unable to +consort either with Republicans or with Democrats, old or new. The +Know-Nothings, likewise, though their number had been steadily melting +away, had not entirely disappeared. To unite these political remnants +in any definite political whole seemed beyond human ingenuity. A common +sentiment, however, they did have--a real love of the Union and a +real unhappiness, because its existence appeared to be threatened. +The outcome was that they organized the Constitutional Union Party, +nominating for President John Bell of Tennessee, and for Vice President +Edward Everett of Massachusetts. Their platform was little more than +a profession of love of the Union and a condemnation of sectional +selfishness. + +This Bell and Everett ticket has a deeper significance than has +generally been admitted. It reveals the fact that the sentiment of +Union, in distinction from the belief in the Union, had become a real +force in American life. There could be no clearer testimony to the +strength of this feeling than this spectacle of a great congregation of +moderate people, unable to agree upon anything except this sentiment, +stepping between the sectional parties like a resolute wayfarer going +forward into darkness along a perilous strand between two raging seas. +That this feeling of Union was the same thing as the eager determination +of the Republicans, in 1860, to control the Government is one of those +historical fallacies that have had their day. The Republican party +became, in time and under stress of war, the refuge of this sentiment +and proved sufficiently far-sighted to merge its identity temporarily in +the composite Union party of 1864. But in 1860 it was still a sectional +party. Among its leaders Lincoln was perhaps the only Unionist in the +same sense as Bell and Everett. + +Perhaps the truest Unionists of the North, outside the Constitutional +Union Party, in 1860, were those Democrats in the following of Douglas +who, after fighting to the last ditch against both the sectional +parties, were to accept, in 1861, the alternative of war rather than +dissolution. The course of Douglas himself, as we shall see hereafter, +showed that in his mind there was a fixed limit of concession beyond +which he could not go. When circumstances forced him to that limit, +the sentiment of Union took control of him, swept aside his political +jugglery, abolished his time-serving, and drove him into cooperation +with his bitterest foes that the Union might be saved. Nor was the pure +sentiment of Union confined to the North and West. Though undoubtedly +the sentiment of locality was more powerful through the South, yet when +the test came in the election of 1860, the leading candidate of the +upper South, in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, was John Bell, the +Constitutional Unionist. In every Southern State this sentiment was able +to command a considerable part of the vote.* + + *A possible exception was South Carolina. As the + presidential electors were appointed by the legislature, + there is no certain record of minority sentiment. + +Widely different in temper were those stern and resolute men whose +organization, in perfect fighting trim, faced eagerly the divided +Democrats. The Republicans had no division among themselves upon +doctrine. Such division as existed was due to the ordinary rivalry +of political leaders. In the opinion of all his enemies and of most +Americans, Seward was the Republican man of the hour. During much of +1859 he had discreetly withdrawn from the country and had left to his +partisans the conduct of his campaign, which seems to have been going +well when he returned in the midst of the turmoil following the death +of John Brown. Nevertheless he was disturbed over his prospects, for he +found that in many minds, both North and South, he was looked upon +as the ultimate cause of all the turmoil. His famous speech on the +"irrepressible conflict" was everywhere quoted as an exultant prophecy +of these terrible latter days. + +It was long the custom to deny to Seward any good motive in a speech +which he now delivered, just as it was to deny Webster any good motive +for his famous 7th of March speech. But such criticism is now less +frequent than it used to be. Both men were seeking the Presidency; +both, we may fairly believe, were shocked by the turmoil of political +currents; each tried oiling the waters, and in the attempt each +ruined his candidacy. Seward's speech in condemnation of John Brown +in February, 1860, was an appeal to the conservative North against the +radical North, and to many of his followers it seemed a change of front. +It certainly gained him no new friends and it lost him some old ones, so +that his star as a presidential candidate began its decline. + +The first ballot in the Republican convention surprised the country. +Of the votes, 233 were necessary for a choice. Seward had only 173 1/2. +Next to him, with 102 votes, stood none of the leading candidates, but +the comparatively obscure Lincoln. A gap of more than 50 votes separated +Lincoln from Cameron, Chase, and Bates. On the second ballot Seward +gained 11 votes, while Lincoln gained 79. The enemies of Seward, finding +it impossible to combine on any of the conspicuous candidates, were +moving toward Lincoln, the man with fewest enemies. The third ballot +gave Lincoln the nomination. + +We have seen that one of the basal questions of the time was which new +political group should absorb the Whig remainder. The Constitutional +Union party aimed to accomplish this. The Republicans sought to +out-maneuver them. They made their platform as temperate as they could +and yet consistent with the maintenance of their opposition to Douglas +and popular sovereignty; and they went no further in their anti-slavery +demands than that the territories should be preserved for free labor. + +Another basal question had been considered in the Republican platform. +Where would Northern capital stand in the reorganization of parties? +Was capital, like men, to become frankly sectional or would it remain +impersonal, careless how nations rose or fell, so long as dividends +continued? To some extent capital had given an answer. When, in the +excitement following the John Brown incident, a Southern newspaper +published a white list of New York merchants whose political views +should commend them to Southerners, and a black list of those who +were objectionable, many New Yorkers sought a place in the white list. +Northern capital had done its part in financing the revived slave trade. +August Belmont, the New York representative of the Rothschilds, was one +of the close allies of Davis, Yancey, and Benjamin in their war upon +Douglas. In a word, a great portion of Northern capital had its heart +where its investments were--in the South. But there was other capital +which obeyed the same law, and which had investments in the North; +and with this capital the Republicans had been trafficking. They had +succeeded in winning over the powerful manufacturing interests of +Pennsylvania, the pivotal State that had elected Buchanan in 1856. + +The steps by which the new party of enthusiasm made its deal with the +body of capital which was not at one with Belmont and the Democrats are +not essential to the present narrative. Two facts suffice. In 1857 a +great collapse in American business--"the panic of fifty-seven"--led +the commercial world to turn to the party in power for some scheme of +redress. But their very principles, among which was non-intervention in +business, made the Democrats feeble doctors for such a need, and +they evaded the situation. The Republicans, with their insistence on +positivism in government, had therefore an opportunity to make a new +application of the doctrine of governmental aid to business. In the +spring of 1860, the Republican House of Representatives passed the +Morrill tariff bill, consideration of which was postponed by the +Democratic Senate. But it served its purpose: it was a Republican +manifesto. The Republicans felt that this bill, together with their +party platform, gave the necessary guarantee to the Pennsylvania +manufacturers, and they therefore entered the campaign confident they +would carry Pennsylvania nor was their confidence misplaced. + +The campaign was characterized by three things: by an ominous quiet +coupled with great intensity of feeling; by the organization of huge +party societies in military form--"Wide-awakes" for Lincoln, numbering +400,000, and "Minute Men" for Breckenridge, with a membership chiefly +Southern; and by the perfect frankness, in all parts of the South, of +threats of secession in case the Republicans won. + +In none of the States which eventually seceded were any votes cast for +Lincoln, with the exception of a small number in Virginia. In almost all +the other Southern States and in the slave-holding border States, all +the other candidates made respectable showings. In Virginia, Tennessee, +and Kentucky, Bell led. But everywhere else in the other slave-holding +States Breckinridge led, excepting in Missouri where Douglas won by a +few hundred. Every free State except New Jersey went for Lincoln. +And yet he did not have a majority of the popular vote, which stood: +Lincoln, 1,866,459; Douglas, 1,376,957; Breckinridge, 849,781; Bell, +588,879*. The majority against Lincoln was nearly a million. The +distribution of the votes was such that Lincoln had in the Electoral +College, 180 electors; Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Douglas, 12. In +neither House of Congress did the Republicans have a majority. + + *The figures of the popular vote are variously given by + different compilers. These are taken from Stanwood, "A + History of the Presidency". + + + +CHAPTER V. SECESSION + +In tracing American history from 1854 to 1860 we cannot fail to observe +that it reduces itself chiefly to a problem in that science which +politicians understand so well--applied psychology. Definite types +of men moulded by the conditions of those days are the determining +factors--not the slavery question in itself; not, primarily, economic +forces; not a theory of government, nor a clash of theories; not any one +thing; but the fluid, changeful forces of human nature, battling with +circumstances and expressing themselves in the fashion of men's minds. +To say this is to acknowledge the fatefulness of sheer feeling. Davis +described the situation exactly when he said, in 1860, "A sectional +hostility has been substituted for a general fraternity." To his own +question, "Where is the remedy?" he gave the answer, "In the hearts of +the people." There, after all, is the conclusion of the whole matter. +The strife between North and South had ceased to be a thing of the head; +it had become a thing of the heart. Granted the emotions of 1860, +the way in which our country staggered into war has all the terrible +fascination of a tragedy on the theme of fate. + +That a secession movement would begin somewhere in the South before the +end of 1860 was a foregone conclusion. South Carolina was the logical +place, and in South Carolina the inevitable occurred. The presidential +election was quickly followed by an election of delegates, on the 6th of +December, to consider in convention the relations of the State with the +Union. The arguments before the Convention were familiar and had been +advocated since 1851. The leaders of the disunionists were the same +who had led the unsuccessful movement of ten years before. The central +figure was Rhett, who never for a moment had wavered. Consumed his life +long by the one idea of the independence of South Carolina, that stern +enthusiast pressed on to a triumphant conclusion. The powers which had +defeated him in 1851 were now either silent or converted, so that +there was practically no opposition. In a burst of passionate zeal the +independence of South Carolina was proclaimed on December 20, 1860, by +an ordinance of secession. + +Simultaneously, by one of those dramatic coincidences which make history +stranger than fiction, Lincoln took a step which supplemented this +action and established its tragic significance. What that step was will +appear in a moment. + +Even before the secession began, various types of men in politics had +begun to do each after his kind. Those whom destiny drove first into a +corner were the lovers of political evasion. The issue was forced upon +them by the instantaneous demand of the people of South Carolina for +possession of forts in Charleston Harbor which were controlled by the +Federal Government. Anticipating such a demand, Major Robert Anderson, +the commandant at Charleston, had written to Buchanan on the 23d of +November that "Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney must be garrisoned +immediately, if the Government determines to keep command of this +harbor." + +In the mind of every American of the party of political evasion, there +now began a sad, internal conflict. Every one of them had to choose +among three courses: to shut his eyes and to continue to wail that the +function of government is to do nothing; to make an end of political +evasion and to come out frankly in approval of the Southern position; +or to break with his own record, to emerge from his evasions on the +opposite side, and to confess himself first and before all a supporter +of the Union. One or another of these three courses, sooner or later, +every man of the President's following chose. We shall see presently the +relative strength of the three groups into which that following broke +and what strange courses sometimes tragic, sometimes comic--two of the +three pursued. For the moment our concern is how the division manifested +itself among the heads of the party at Washington. + +The President took the first of the three courses. He held it with the +nervous clutch of a weak nature until overmastered by two grim men who +gradually hypnotized his will. The turning-point for Buchanan, and the +last poor crisis in his inglorious career, came on Sunday, December +30th. Before that day arrived, his vacillation had moved his friends to +pity and his enemies to scorn. One of his best friends wrote privately, +"The President is pale with fear"; and the hostile point of view found +expression in such comments as this, "Buchanan, it is said, divides +his time between praying and crying. Such a perfect imbecile never held +office before." + +With the question what to do about the forts hanging over his bewildered +soul, Buchanan sent a message to Congress on December 4, 1860, in which +he sought to defend the traditional evasive policy of his party. He +denied the constitutional right of secession, but he was also denied his +own right to oppose such a course. Seward was not unfair to the mental +caliber of the message when he wrote to his wife that Buchanan showed +"conclusively that it is the duty of the President to execute the +laws--unless somebody opposes him; and that no State has a right to go +out of the Union unless it wants to." + +This message of Buchanan's hastened the inevitable separation of the +Democratic party into its elements. The ablest Southern member of the +Cabinet, Cobb, resigned. He was too strong an intellect to continue +the policy of "nothing doing" now that the crisis had come. He was too +devoted a Southerner to come out of political evasion except on one +side. On the day Cobb resigned the South Carolina Representatives called +on Buchanan and asked him not to make any change in the disposition +of troops at Charleston, and particularly not to strengthen Sumter, +a fortress on an island in the midst of the harbor, without at least +giving notice to the state authorities. What was said in this interview +was not put in writing but was remembered afterward in different ways +with unfortunate consequences. + +Every action of Buchanan in this fateful month continued the +disintegration of his following. Just as Cobb had to choose between his +reasonings as a Democratic party man and his feelings as a Southerner, +so the aged Cass, his Secretary of State, and an old personal friend, +now felt constrained to choose between his Democratic reasoning and +his Northern sympathies, and resigned from the Cabinet on the 11th of +December. Buchanan then turned instinctively to the strongest natures +that remained among his close associates. It is a compliment to the +innate force of Jeremiah S. Black, the Attorney-General, that Buchanan +advanced him to the post of Secretary of State and allowed him to name +as his successor in the Attorney-Generalship Edwin M. Stanton. Both were +tried Democrats of the old style, "let-'em-alone" sort; and both had +supported the President in his Kansas policy. But each, like every +other member of his party, was being forced by circumstances to make his +choice among the three inevitable courses, and each chose the Northern +side. At once the question of the moment was whether the new Secretary +of State and his powerful henchmen would hypnotize the President. + +For a couple of weeks the issue hung in the balance. Then there +appeared at Washington commissioners from South Carolina "empowered to +treat...for the delivery of forts...and other real estate" held by +the Federal Government within their State. On the day following their +arrival, Buchanan was informed by telegraph that Anderson had dismantled +Fort Moultrie on the north side of the harbor, had spiked its guns, +and had removed its garrison to the island fortress, Sumter, which +was supposed to be far more defensible. At Charleston his action was +interpreted as preparation for war; and all South Carolinians saw in +it a violation of a pledge which they believed the President had given +their congressmen, three weeks previous, in that talk which had not been +written down. Greatly excited and fearful of designs against them, the +South Carolina commissioners held two conferences with the President +on the 27th and 28th of December. They believed that he had broken his +word, and they told him so. Deeply agitated and refusing to admit +that he had committed himself at the earlier conference, he said that +Anderson had acted on his own responsibility, but he refused to order +him back to the now ruined Fort Moultrie. One remark which he let fall +has been remembered as evidence of his querulous state of mind: "You +are pressing me too importunately" exclaimed the unhappy President; +"you don't give me time to consider; you don't give me time to say my +prayers; I always say my prayers when required to act upon any great +state affair." One remembers Hampden "seeking the Lord" about ship +money, and one realizes that the same act may have a vastly different +significance in different temperaments. + +Buchanan, however, was virtually ready to give way to the demand of the +commissioners. He drew up a paper to that effect and showed it to the +Cabinet. Then the turning-point came. In a painful interview, Black, +long one of his most trusted friends, told him of his intention to +resign, and that Stanton would go with him and probably also the +Postmaster-General, Holt. The idea of losing the support of these strong +personalities terrified Buchanan, who immediately fell into a panic. +Handing Black the paper he had drawn up, Buchanan begged him to retain +office and to alter the paper as he saw fit. To this Black agreed. The +demand for the surrender of the forts was refused; Anderson was not +ordered back to Moultrie; and for the brief remainder of Buchanan's +administration Black acted as prime minister. + +A very powerful section of the Northern democracy, well typified by +their leaders at Washington, had thus emerged from political evasion +on the Northern side. These men, known afterwards as War Democrats, +combined with the Republicans to form the composite Union party which +supported Lincoln. It is significant that Stanton eventually reappeared +in the Cabinet as Lincoln's Secretary of War, and that along with him +appeared another War Democrat, Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the +Navy. With them, at last, Douglas, the greatest of all the old Democrats +of the North, took his position. What became of the other factions of +the old Democratic party remains to be told. + +While Buchanan, early in the month, was weeping over the pitilessness +of fate, more practical Northerners were grappling with the question +of what was to be done about the situation. In their thoughts they +anticipated a later statesman and realized that they were confronted by +a condition and not by a theory. Secession was at last a reality. Which +course should they take? + +What strikes us most forcibly, as we look back upon that day, is the +widespread desire for peace. The abolitionists form a conspicuous +example. Their watchword was "Let the erring sisters go in peace." +Wendell Phillips, their most gifted orator, a master of spoken style at +once simple and melodious, declaimed splendidly against war. Garrison, +in "The Liberator", followed his example. Whittier put the same feeling +into his verse: + +They break the links of Union; shall we light The flames of hell to weld +anew the chain On that red anvil where each blow is pain? + +Horace Greeley said in an editorial in the "New York Tribune": "If the +cotton states shall decide that they can do better out of the Union +than in it, we shall insist on letting them go in peace. Whenever a +considerable section of our Union shall deliberately resolve to go out, +we shall resist all coercive measures designed to keep them in. We hope +never to live in a republic where one section is pinned to the residue +by bayonets." + +The Democrats naturally clung to their traditions, and, even when they +went over, as Black and Stanton did, to the Anti-Southern group, they +still hoped that war would not be the result. Equally earnest against +war were most of the Republicans, though a few, to be sure, were ready +to swing the "Northern hammer." Summer prophesied that slavery would +"go down in blood." But the bulk of the Republicans were for a sectional +compromise, and among them there was general approbation of a scheme +which contemplated reviving the line of the Missouri Compromise, and +thus frankly admitting the existence of two distinct sections, and +guaranteeing to each the security of its own institutions. The greatest +Republican boss of that day, Thurlow Weed, came out in defense of this +plan. + +No power was arrayed more zealously on the side of peace of any kind +than the power of money. It was estimated that two hundred millions of +dollars were owed by Southerners to Northerners. War, it was reasoned, +would cause the cancellation of these obligations. To save their +Southern accounts, the moneyed interests of the North joined the +extremists of Abolition in pleading to let the erring sisters go +in peace, if necessary, rather than provoke them to war and the +confiscation of debts. It was the dread of such an outcome--which +finally happened and ruined many Northern firms--that caused the +stock-market in New York to go up and down with feverish uncertainty. +Banks suspended payment in Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. +The one important and all-engrossing thing in the mind's eye of all +the financial world at this moment was that specter of unpaid Southern +accounts. + +At this juncture, Senator Crittenden of Kentucky submitted to the Senate +a plan which has been known ever since as the Crittenden Compromise. It +was similar to Weed's plan, but it also provided that the division of +the country on the Missouri Compromise line should be established by +a constitutional amendment, which would thus forever solidify +sectionalism. Those elements of the population generally called the +conservative and the responsible were delighted. Edward Everett wrote to +Crittenden, "I saw with great satisfaction your patriotic movement, and +I wish from the bottom of my heart it might succeed"; and August Belmont +in a letter to Crittenden spoke for the moneyed interest: "I have yet +to meet the first Union-loving man, in or out of politics, who does not +approve your compromise proposition...." + +The Senate submitted the Compromise to a Committee of Thirteen. In this +committee the Southern leaders, Toombs and Davis, were both willing to +accept the Compromise, if a majority of the Republican members would +agree. Indeed, if the Republicans would agree to it, there seemed +no reason why a new understanding between the sections might not be +reached, and no reason why sectionalism, if accepted as the basis of the +government, might not solve the immediate problem and thus avert war. + +In this crisis all eyes were turned to Seward, that conspicuous +Republican who was generally looked upon as the real head of his +party. And Seward, at that very moment, was debating whether to accept +Lincoln's offer of the Secretaryship of State, for he considered it +vital to have an understanding with Lincoln on the subject of the +Compromise. He talked the matter over with Weed, and they decided that +Weed should go to Springfield and come to terms with Lincoln. It was the +interview between Weed and Lincoln held, it seems, on the very day on +which the Ordinance of Secession was adopted--which gave to that day its +double significance. + +Lincoln refused point-blank to accept the compromise and he put his +refusal in writing. The historic meaning of his refusal, and the +significance of his determination not to solve the problem of the hour +by accepting a dual system of government based on frankly sectional +assumptions, were probably, in a measure, lost on both Weed and Seward. +They had, however, no misunderstanding of its practical effect. This +crude Western lawyer had certain ideas from which he would not budge, +and the party would have to go along with him. Weed and Seward therefore +promptly fell into line, and Seward accepted the Secretaryship and came +out in opposition to the Compromise. Other Republicans with whom Lincoln +had communicated by letter made known his views, and Greeley announced +them in The Tribune. The outcome was the solid alignment of all the +Republicans in Congress against the Compromise. As a result, this last +attempt to reunite the sections came to nothing. + +Not more than once or twice, if ever, in American history, has there +been such an anxious New Year's Day as that which ushered in 1861. A +few days before, a Republican Congressman had written to one of his +constituents: "The heavens are indeed black and an awful storm is +gathering...I see no way that either North or South can escape its +fury." Events were indeed moving fast toward disaster. The garrison at +Sumter was in need of supplies, and in the first week of the new year +Buchanan attempted to relieve its wants. But a merchant vessel, the Star +of the West, by which supplies were sent, was fired upon by the South +Carolina authorities as it approached the harbor and was compelled to +turn back. This incident caused the withdrawal from the Cabinet of the +last opposition members--Thompson, of Mississippi, the Secretary of the +Interior, and Thomas, of Maryland, the Secretary of the Treasury. In the +course of the month five Southern States followed South Carolina out +of the Union, and their Senators and Representatives resigned from the +Congress of the United States. + +The resignation of Jefferson Davis was communicated to the Senate in a +speech of farewell which even now holds the imagination of the student, +and which to the men of that day, with the Union crumbling around +them, seemed one of the most mournful and dramatic of orations. Davis +possessed a beautiful, melodious voice; he had a noble presence, tall, +erect, spare, even ascetic, with a flashing blue eye. He was deeply +moved by the occasion; his address was a requiem. That he withdrew in +sorrow but with fixed determination, no one who listened to him could +doubt. Early in February, the Southern Confederacy was formed with Davis +as its provisional President. With the prophetic vision of a logical +mind, he saw that war was inevitable, and he boldly proclaimed his +vision. In various speeches on his way South, he had assured the +Southern people that war was coming, and that it would be long and +bloody. + +The withdrawal of these Southern members threw the control of the House +into the hands of the Republicans. Their realization of their power +was expressed in two measures which also passed the Senate; Kansas was +admitted--as a State with an anti-slavery constitution; and the Morrill +tariff, which they had failed to pass the previous spring, now +became law. Thus the Republicans began redeeming their pledges to the +anti-slavery men on the one hand and to the commercial interest on the +other. The time had now arrived for the Republican nominee to proceed +from Springfield to Washington. The journey was circuitous in order to +enable Lincoln to speak at a number of places. Never before, probably, +had the Northern people felt such tense strain as at that moment; never +had they looked to an incoming President with such anxious doubt. +Would he prevent war? Or, if he could not do that, would he be able +to extricate the country--Heaven alone knew how!--without a terrible +ordeal? Since his election, Lincoln had remained quietly at Springfield. +Though he had influenced events through letters to Congressmen, his one +conspicuous action during that winter was the defeat of the Crittenden +Compromise. The Southern President had called upon his people to put +their house in order as preparation for war. What, now, had Lincoln to +say to the people of the North? + +The biographers of Lincoln have not satisfactorily revealed the state of +his mind between election and inauguration. We may safely guess that his +silence covered a great internal struggle. Except for his one action in +defeating the Compromise, he had allowed events to drift; but by that +one action he had taken upon himself the responsibility for the drift. +Though the country at that time did not fully appreciate this aspect of +the situation, who now can doubt that Lincoln did? His mind was always a +lonely one. His very humor has in it, so often, the note of solitude, +of one who is laughing to make the best of things, of one who is +spiritually alone. During those months when the country drifted from +its moorings, and when war was becoming steadily more probable, Lincoln, +after the manner of the prophets, wrestled alone with the problems which +he saw before him. From the little we know of his inward state, it is +hard for us to conclude that he was happy. A story which is told by his +former partner, Mr. Herndon, seems significant. As Lincoln was leaving +his unpretentious law-office for the last time, he turned to Mr. Herndon +and asked him not to take down their old sign. "Let it hang there +undisturbed," said he. "Give our clients to understand that the election +of a President makes no difference in the firm.... If I live, I'm coming +back some time, and then we'll go right on practising law as if nothing +had happened." + +How far removed from self-sufficiency was the man whose thoughts, on +the eve of his elevation to the Presidency, lingered in a provincial law +office, fondly insistent that only death should prevent his returning +some time and resuming in those homely surroundings the life he had +led previous to his greatness. In a mood of wistfulness and of intense +preoccupation, he began his journey to Washington. It was not the mood +from which to strike fire and kindle hope. To the anxious, listening +country his speeches on the journey to Washington were disappointing. +Perhaps his strangely sensitive mind felt too powerfully the fatefulness +of the moment and reacted with a sort of lightness that did not really +represent the real man. Be that as it may, he was never less convincing +than at that time. Nor were people impressed by his bearing. Often he +appeared awkward, too much in appearance the country lawyer. He acted as +a man who was ill at ease and he spoke as a man who had nothing to say. +Gloom darkened the North as a consequence of these unfortunate speeches, +for they expressed an optimism which we cannot believe he really felt, +and which hurt him in the estimation of the country. "There is no +crisis but an artificial one," was one of his ill-timed assurances, and +another, "There is nothing going wrong.... There is nothing that really +hurts any one." Of his supporters some were discouraged; others were +exasperated; and an able but angry partisan even went so far as to write +in a private letter, "Lincoln is a Simple Susan." + +The fourth of March arrived, and with it the end of Lincoln's +blundering. One good omen for the success of the new Administration was +the presence of Douglas on the inaugural platform. He had accepted fate, +deeply as it wounded him, and had come out of the shattered party of +evasion on the side of his section. For the purpose of showing his +support of the administration at this critical time, he had taken a +place on the stand where Lincoln was to speak. By one of those curious +little dramatic touches with which chance loves to embroider history, +the presence of Douglas became a gracious detail in the memory of the +day. Lincoln, worn and awkward, continued to hold his hat in his hand. +Douglas, with the tact born of social experience, stepped forward and +took it from him without--exposing Lincoln's embarrassment. + +The inaugural address which Lincoln now pronounced had little similarity +to those unfortunate utterances which he had made on the journey to +Washington. The cloud that had been over him, whatever it was, had +lifted. Lincoln was ready for his great labor. The inaugural contained +three main propositions. Lincoln pledged himself not to interfere +directly or indirectly with slavery in the States where it then existed; +he promised to support the enforcement of the fugitive slave law; and he +declared he would maintain the Union. "No State," said he, "upon its own +mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union.... To the extent of my +ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins +upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the +States.... In doing this, there need be no bloodshed or violence; and +there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national authority. +The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess +the property and places belonging to the government." Addressing the +Southerners, he said: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, +and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government +will not assail you.... We are not enemies but friends.... The mystic +cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to +every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet +swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will +be, by the better angels of our nature." + +Gentle, as was the phrasing of the inaugural, it was perfectly firm, and +it outlined a policy which the South would not accept, and which, in the +opinion of the Southern leaders, brought them a step nearer war. Wall +Street held the same belief, and as a consequence the price of stocks +fell. + + + +CHAPTER VI. WAR + +On the day following the inauguration, commissioners of the newly formed +Confederacy appeared at Washington and applied to the Secretary of State +for recognition as envoys of a foreign power. Seward refused them such +recognition. But he entered into a private negotiation with them which +is nearly, if not quite, the strangest thing in our history. Virtually, +Seward intrigued against Lincoln for control of the Administration. The +events of the next five weeks have an importance out of all proportion +to the brevity of the time. This was Lincoln's period of final +probation. The psychological intensity of this episode grew from the +consciousness in every mind that now, irretrievably, destiny was to be +determined. War or peace, happiness or adversity, one nation or two--all +these were in the balance. Lincoln entered the episode a doubtful +quantity, not with certainty the master even in his own Cabinet. He +emerged dominating the situation, but committed to the terrible course +of war. + +One cannot enter upon this great episode, truly the turning point in +American history, without pausing for a glance at the character of +Seward. The subject is elusive. His ablest biographer* plainly is so +constantly on guard not to appear an apologist that he ends by reducing +his portrait to a mere outline, wavering across a background of +political details. The most recent study of Seward** surely reveals +between the lines the doubtfulness of the author about pushing his +points home. The different sides of the man are hard to reconcile. Now +he seemed frank and honest; again subtle and insincere. As an active +politician in the narrow sense, he should have been sagacious and +astute, yet he displayed at the crisis of his life the most absolute +fatuity. At times he had a buoyant and puerile way of disregarding +fact and enveloping himself in a world of his own imagining. He could +bluster, when he wished, like any demagogue; and yet he could be +persuasive, agreeable, and even personally charming. + + *Frederic Bancroft, "Life of William H. Seward". + + ** Gamaliel Bradford, "Union Portraits". + +But of one thing with regard to Seward, in the first week of March, +1861, there can be no doubt: he thought himself a great statesman--and +he thought Lincoln "a Simple Susan." He conceived his role in the new +administration to involve a subtle and patient manipulation of his +childlike superior. That Lincoln would gradually yield to his spell +and insensibly become his figurehead; that he, Seward, could save the +country and would go down to history a statesman above compare, he took +for granted. Nor can he fairly be called conceited, either; that is part +of his singularity. + +Lincoln's Cabinet was, as Seward said, a compound body. With a view to +strengthening his position, Lincoln had appointed to cabinet positions +all his former rivals for the Republican nomination. Besides Seward, +there was Chase as Secretary of the Treasury; Simon Cameron of +Pennsylvania as Secretary of War; Edward Bates of Missouri as +Attorney-General. The appointment of Montgomery Blair of Maryland as +Postmaster-General was intended to placate the border Slave States. The +same motive dictated the later inclusion of James Speed of Kentucky in +the Cabinet. The Black-Stanton wing of the Democrats was represented in +the Navy Department by Gideon Welles, and in course of time in the War +Department also, when Cameron resigned and Stanton succeeded him. The +West of that day was represented by Caleb B. Smith of Indiana. + +Seward disapproved of the composition of the Cabinet so much that, +almost at the last moment, he withdrew his acceptance of the State +Department. It was Lincoln's gentleness of argument which overcame his +reluctance to serve. We may be sure, however, that Seward failed to +observe that Lincoln's tactlessness in social matters did not extend to +his management of men in politics; we may feel sure that what remained +in his mind was Lincoln's unwillingness to enter office without William +Henry Seward as Secretary of State. + +The promptness with which Seward assumed the role of prime minister +bears out this inference. The same fact also reveals a puzzling detail +of Seward's character which amounted to obtuseness--his forgetfulness +that appointment to cabinet offices had not transformed his old +political rivals Chase and Cameron, nor softened the feelings of an +inveterate political enemy, Welles, the Secretary of the Navy. The +impression which Seward made on his colleagues in the first days of the +new Government has been thus sharply recorded by Welles: "The Secretary +of State was, of course, apprised of every meeting [of ministers] and +never failed in his attendance, whatever was the subject-matter, +and though entirely out of his official province. He was vigilantly +attentive to every measure and movement in other Departments, however +trivial--as much so as to his own--watched and scrutinized every +appointment that was made, or proposed to be made, but was not +communicative in regard to the transaction of the State Department." +So eager was Seward to keep all the threads of affairs in his own hands +that he tried to persuade Lincoln not to hold cabinet meetings but +merely to consult with particular ministers, and with the Secretary +of State, as occasion might demand. A combined protest from the other +Secretaries, however, caused the regular holding of Cabinet meetings. + +With regard to the Confederacy, Seward's policy was one of +non-resistance. For this he had two reasons. The first of these was +his rooted delusion that the bulk of the Southerners were opposed to +secession and, if let alone, would force their leaders to reconsider +their action. He might have quoted the nursery rhyme, "Let them alone +and they'll come home"; it would have been like him and in tune with +a frivolous side of his nature. He was quite as irresponsible when he +complacently assured the North that the trouble would all blow over +within ninety days. He also believed that any display of force would +convert these hypothetical Unionists of the South from friends to +enemies and would consolidate opinion in the Confederacy to produce +war. In justice to Seward it must be remembered that on this point time +justified his fears. + +His dealings with the Confederate commissioners show that he was playing +to gain time, not with intent to deceive the Southerners but to acquire +that domination over Lincoln which he felt was his by natural right. +Intending to institute a peace policy the moment he gained this +ascendency, he felt perfectly safe in making promises to the +commissioners through mutual friends. He virtually told them that Sumter +would eventually be given up and that all they need do was to wait. + +Seward brought to bear upon the President the opinions of various +military men who thought the time had passed when any expedition for the +relief of Sumter could succeed. For some time Lincoln seemed about +to consent, though reluctantly, to Seward's lead in the matter of the +forts. He was pulled up standing, however, by the threatened resignation +of the Postmaster-General, Blair. After a conference with leading +Republican politicians the President announced to his Cabinet that +his policy would include the relief of Sumter. "Seward," says Welles, +"...was evidently displeased." + +Seward now took a new tack. Fort Pickens, at Pensacola, was a problem +similar to that of Sumter at Charleston. Both were demanded by the +Confederates, and both were in need of supplies. But Fort Pickens lay +to one side, so to speak, of the public mind, and there was not +conspicuously in the world's eye the square issue over it that there +was over Sumter. Seward conceived the idea that, if the President's +attention were diverted from Sumter to Pickens and a relief expedition +were sent to the latter but none to the former, his private negotiations +with the Confederates might still be kept going; Lincoln might yet be +hypnotized; and at last all would be well. + +On All-Fools' Day, 1861, in the midst of a press of business, he +obtained Lincoln's signature to some dispatches, which Lincoln, it +seems, discussed with him hurriedly and without detailed consideration. +There were now in preparation two relief expeditions, one to carry +supplies to Pensacola, the other to Charleston. Neither was to fight +if it was not molested. Both were to be strong enough to fight if +their commanders deemed it necessary. As flagship of the Charleston +expedition, Welles had detailed the powerful warship Powhatan, which +was rapidly being made ready at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Such was the +situation as Welles understood it when he was thinking of bed late on +the night of the 6th of April. Until then he had not suspected that +there was doubt and bewilderment about the Powhatan at Brooklyn. One +of those dispatches which Lincoln had so hastily signed provided for +detaching the Powhatan from the Charleston expedition and sending it +safe out of harm's way to Pensacola. The commander of the ship had +before him the conflicting orders, one from the President, one from the +Secretary of the Navy. He was about to sail under the President's +orders for Pensacola; but wishing to make sure of his authority, he +had telegraphed to Washington. Gideon Welles was a pugnacious man. His +dislike for Seward was deepseated. Imagine his state of mind when it was +accidently revealed to him that Seward had gone behind his back and had +issued to naval officers orders which were contradictory to his own! +The immediate result was an interview that same night between Seward and +Welles in which, as Welles coldly admitted in after days, the Secretary +of the Navy showed "some excitement." Together they went, about +midnight, to the White House. Lincoln had some difficulty recalling the +incident of the dispatch on the 1st of April; but when he did remember, +he took the responsibility entirely upon himself, saying he had had +no purpose but to strengthen the Pickens expedition, and no thought of +weakening the expedition to Charleston. He directed Seward to telegraph +immediately cancelling the order detaching the Powhatan. Seward made a +desperate attempt to put him off, protesting, it was too late to send +a telegram that night. "But the President was imperative," writes +Secretary Welles, in describing the incident, and a dispatch was sent. + +Seward then, doubtless in his agitation, did a strange thing. Instead +of telegraphing in the President's name, the dispatch which he sent read +merely, "Give up the Powhatan...Seward." When this dispatch was received +at Brooklyn, the Powhatan was already under way and had to be overtaken +by a fast tug. In the eyes of her commander, however, a personal +telegram from the Secretary of State appeared as of no weight against +the official orders of the President, and he continued his voyage to +Pensacola. + +The mercurial temper of Seward comes out even in the caustic narrative +written afterwards by Welles. Evidently Seward was deeply mortified and +depressed by the incident. He remarked, says Welles, that old as he was +he had learned a lesson, and that was that he had better attend to his +own business. "To this," commented his enemy, "I cordially assented." + +Nevertheless Seward's loss of faith in himself was only momentary. A +night's sleep was sufficient to restore it. His next communication to +the commissioners shows that he was himself again, sure that destiny +owed him the control of the situation. On the following day the +commissioners had got wind of the relief expedition and pressed him for +information, recalling his assurance that nothing would be done to their +disadvantage. In reply, still through a third person, Seward sent them +the famous message, over the precise meaning of which great debate has +raged: "Faith as to Sumter fully kept; wait and see." If this infatuated +dreamer still believed he could dominate Lincoln, still hoped at the +last moment to arrest the expedition to Charleston, he was doomed to +bitterest disappointment. + +On the 9th of April, the expedition to Fort Sumter sailed, but without, +as we have seen, the assistance of the much needed warship, the +Powhatan. As all the world knows, the expedition had been too long +delayed and it accomplished nothing. Before it arrived, the surrender +of Sumter had been demanded and refused--and war had begun. During the +bombardment of Sumter, the relief expedition appeared beyond the bar, +but its commander had no vessels of such a character as to enable him +to carry aid to the fortress. Furthermore, he had not been informed that +the Powhatan had been detached from his squadron, and he expected to +meet her at the mouth of the harbor. There his ships lay idle until the +fort was surrendered, waiting for the Powhatan--for whose detachment +from the squadron Seward was responsible. + +To return to the world of intrigue at Washington, however, it must not +be supposed, as is so often done, that Fort Sumter was the one concern +of the new government during its first six weeks. In fact, the subject +occupied but a fraction of Lincoln's time. Scarcely second in importance +was that matter so curiously bound up with the relief of the forts--the +getting in hand of the strangely vain glorious Secretary of State. +Mention has already been made of All-Fools' Day, 1861. Several marvelous +things took place on that day. Strangest of all was the presentation of +a paper by the Secretary of State to his chief, entitled "Thoughts for +the President's Consideration". Whether it be regarded as a state paper +or as a biographical detail in the career of Seward, it proves to be +quite the most astounding thing in the whole episode. The "Thoughts" +outlined a course of policy by which the buoyant Secretary intended to +make good his prophecy of domestic peace within ninety days. Besides +calmly patronizing Lincoln, assuring him that his lack of "a policy +either domestic or foreign" was "not culpable and... even unavoidable," +the paper warned him that "policies...both domestic and foreign" must +immediately be adopted, and it proceeded to point out what they ought to +be. Briefly stated, the one true policy which he advocated at home was +to evacuate Sumter (though Pickens for some unexplained reason might be +safely retained) and then, in order to bring the Southerners back into +the Union, to pick quarrels with both Spain and France; to proceed as +quickly as possible to war with both powers; and to have the ultimate +satisfaction of beholding the reunion of the country through the general +enthusiasm that was bound to come. Finally, the paper intimated that the +Secretary of State was the man to carry this project through to success. + +All this is not opera bouffe, but serious history. It must have taxed +Lincoln's sense of humor and strained his sense of the fitness of things +to treat such nonsense with the tactful forbearance which he showed and +to relegate it to the pigeonhole without making Seward angry. Yet this +he contrived to do; and he also managed, gently but firmly, to make it +plain that the President intended to exercise his authority as the chief +magistrate of the nation. His forbearance was further shown in passing +over without rebuke Seward's part in the affair of Sumter, which might +so easily have been made to appear treacherous, and in shouldering +himself with all responsibility for the failure of the Charleston +expedition. In the wave of excitement following the surrender, even so +debonair a minister as Seward must have realized how fortunate it was +for him that his chief did not tell all he knew. About this time Seward +began to perceive that Lincoln had a will of his own, and that it was +not safe to trifle further with the President. Seward thereupon ceased +his interference. + +It was in the dark days preceding the fall of Sumter that a crowd of +office-seekers gathered at Washington, most of them men who had little +interest in anything but the spoils. It is a distressing commentary on +the American party system that, during the most critical month of the +most critical period of American history, much of the President's time +was consumed by these political vampires who would not be put off, even +though a revolution was in progress and nations, perhaps, were dying +and being born. "The scramble for office," wrote Stanton, "is +terrible." Seward noted privately: "Solicitants for office besiege the +President.... My duties call me to the White House two or three times a +day. The grounds, halls, stairways, closets, are filled with applicants +who render ingress and egress difficult." + +Secretary Welles has etched the Washington of that time in his coldly +scornful way: + +"A strange state of things existed at that time in Washington. +The atmosphere was thick with treason. Party spirit and old party +differences prevailed, however, amidst these accumulated dangers. +Secession was considered by most persons as a political party question, +not as rebellion. Democrats to a large extent sympathized with the +Rebels more than with the Administration, which they opposed, not that +they wished Secession to be successful and the Union divided, but they +hoped that President Lincoln and the Republicans would, overwhelmed by +obstacles and embarrassments, prove failures. The Republicans on the +other hand, were scarcely less partisan and unreasonable. Patriotism was +with them no test, no shield from party malevolence. They demanded +the proscription and exclusion of such Democrats as opposed the Rebel +movement and clung to the Union, with the same vehemence that they +demanded the removal of the worst Rebels who advocated a dissolution of +the Union. Neither party appeared to be apprehensive of, or to realize +the gathering storm." + +Seen against such a background, the political and diplomatic frivolity +of the Secretary of State is not so inexplicable as it would otherwise +be. This background, as well as the intrigue of the Secretary, helps +us to understand Lincoln's great task inside his Cabinet. At first the +Cabinet was a group of jealous politicians new to this sort of office, +drawn from different parties, and totally lacking in a cordial sense +of previous action together. None of them, probably, when they first +assembled had any high opinion of their titular head. He was looked upon +as a political makeshift. The best of them had to learn to appreciate +the fact that this strange, ungainly man, sprung from plainest origin, +without formal education, was a great genius. By degrees, however, the +large minds in the Cabinet became his cordial admirers. While Lincoln +was quietly, gradually exercising his strong will upon Seward, he was +doing the same with the other members of his council. Presently they +awoke--the majority of them at least--to the truth that he, for all his +odd ways, was their master. + +Meanwhile the gradual readjustment of all factions in the North was +steadily going forward. The Republicans were falling into line behind +the Government; and by degrees the distinction between Seward and +Lincoln, in the popular mind, faded into a sort of composite picture +called "the Administration." Lincoln had the reward of his long +forbearance with his Secretary. For Seward it must be said that, however +he had intrigued against his chief at Washington, he did not intrigue +with the country. Admitting as he had, too, that he had met his master, +he took the defeat as a good sportsman and threw all his vast party +influence into the scale for Lincoln's fortunes. Thus, as April wore on, +the Republican party settled down to the idea that it was to follow the +Government at Washington upon any course that might develop. + +The Democrats in the North were anti-Southern in larger proportion, +probably, than at any other time during the struggle of the sections. +We have seen that numbers of them had frankly declared for the Union. +Politics had proved weaker than propinquity. There was a moment when it +seemed--delusively, as events proved--that the North was united as one +man to oppose the South. + +There is surely not another day in our history that has witnessed so +much nervous tension as Saturday, April 13, 1861, for on that morning +the newspapers electrified the North with the news that Sumter had been +fired on from Confederate batteries on the shore of Charleston Harbor. +In the South the issue was awaited confidently, but many minds at +least were in that state of awed suspense natural to a moment which the +thoughtful see is the stroke of fate. In the North, the day passed for +the most part in a quiet so breathless that even the most careless could +have foretold the storm which broke on the following day. The account +of this crisis which has been given by Lincoln's private secretary is +interesting: + +"That day there was little change in the business routine of the +Executive office. Mr. Lincoln was never liable to sudden excitement +or sudden activity.... So while the Sumter telegrams were on every +tongue...leading men and officials called to learn or impart the news. +The Cabinet, as by common impulse, came together and deliberated. All +talk, however, was brief, sententious, formal. Lincoln said but little +beyond making inquiries about the current reports and criticizing the +probability or accuracy of their details, and went on as usual +receiving visitors, listening to suggestions, and signing routine papers +throughout the day." Meanwhile the cannon were booming at Charleston. +The people came out on the sea-front of the lovely old city and watched +the duel of the cannon far down the harbor, and spoke joyously of the +great event. They saw the shells of the shore batteries ignite +portions of the fortress on the island. They watched the fire of the +defenders--driven by the flames into a restricted area--slacken and +cease. At last the flag of the Union fluttered down from above Fort +Sumter. + +When the news flashed over the North, early Sunday morning, April 14th, +the tension broke. For many observers then and afterward, the only North +discernible that fateful Sabbath was an enraged, defiant, impulsive +nation, forgetful for the moment of all its differences, and uniting all +its voices in one hoarse cry for vengeance. There seemed to be no other +thought. Lincoln gave it formal utterance, that same day, by assembling +his Cabinet and drawing up a proclamation which called for 75,000 +volunteer troops. + +An incident of this day which is as significant historically as any +other was on the surface no more than a friendly talk between two men. +Douglas called at the White House. For nearly two hours he and Lincoln +conferred in private. Hitherto it had been a little uncertain what +course Douglas was going to take. In the Senate, though condemning +disunion, he had opposed war. Few matters can have troubled Lincoln more +deeply than the question which way Douglas's immense influence would be +thrown. The question was answered publicly in the newspapers of Monday, +April 15th. Douglas announced that while he was still "unalterably +opposed to the Administration on all its political issues, he +was prepared to sustain the President in the exercise of all his +constitutional functions to preserve the Union, and maintain the +Government, and defend the federal capital." + +There remained of Douglas's life but a few months. The time was filled +with earnest speechmaking in support of the Government. He had started +West directly following his conference with Lincoln. His speeches in +Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, were perhaps the greatest single force in +breaking up his own following, putting an end to the principle of doing +nothing, and forcing every Democrat to come out and show his colors. +In Shakespeare's phrase, it was--"Under which king, Bezonian? speak or +die!" In Douglas's own phrase: "There can be no neutrals in this war; +ONLY PATRIOTS--OR TRAITORS." + +Side by side with Douglas's manifesto to the Democrats there appeared in +the Monday papers Lincoln's call for volunteers. The militia of several +Northern States at once responded. + +On Wednesday, the 17th of April, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment +entrained for Washington. Two days later it was in Baltimore. There it +was attacked by a mob; the soldiers fired; and a number of civilians +were killed as well as several soldiers. + +These shots at Baltimore aroused the Southern party in Maryland. Led +by the Mayor of the city, they resolved to prevent the passage of other +troops across their State to Washington. Railway tracks were torn up +by order of the municipal authorities, and bridges were burnt. The +telegraph was cut. As in a flash, after issuing his proclamation, +Lincoln found himself isolated at Washington with no force but a handful +of troops and the government clerks. And while Maryland rose against him +on one side, Virginia joined his enemies on the other. The day the Sixth +Massachusetts left Boston, Virginia seceded. The Virginia militia were +called to their colors. Preparations were at once set on foot for the +seizure of the great federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry and the Navy Yard +at Norfolk. The next day a handful of federal troops, fearful of being +overpowered at Harper's Ferry, burned the arsenal and withdrew to +Washington. For the same reason the buildings of the great Navy Yard +were blown up or set on fire, and the ships at anchor were sunk. So +desperate and unprepared were the Washington authorities that they took +these extreme measures to keep arms and ammunition out of the hands of +the Virginians. So hastily was the destruction carried out, that it was +only partially successful and at both places large stores of ammunition +were seized by the Virginia troops. While Washington was isolated, +and Lincoln did not know what response the North had made to his +proclamation, Robert E. Lee, having resigned his commission in the +federal army, was placed in command of the Virginia troops. + +The secretaries of Lincoln have preserved a picture of his desperate +anxiety, waiting, day after day, for relief from the North which +he hoped would speedily come by sea. Outwardly he maintained his +self-control. But once, on the afternoon of the 23d, the business of +the day being over, the Executive office being deserted, after walking +the floor alone in silent thought for nearly half an hour, he stopped +and gazed long and wistfully out of the window down the Potomac in the +direction of the expected ships; and, unconscious of other presence in +the room, at length broke out with irrepressible anguish in the repeated +exclamation, "Why don't they come! Why don't they come!" + +During these days of isolation, when Washington, with the telegraph +inoperative, was kept in an appalling uncertainty, the North rose. +There was literally a rush to volunteer. "The heather is on fire," wrote +George Ticknor, "I never before knew what a popular excitement can +be." As fast as possible militia were hurried South. The crack New York +regiment, the famous, dandified Seventh, started for the front amid +probably the most tempestuous ovation which until that time was ever +given to a military organization in America. Of the march of the +regiment down Broadway, one of its members wrote, "Only one who passed +as we did, through the tempest of cheers two miles long, can know the +terrible enthusiasm of the occasion." + +To reach Washington by rail was impossible. The Seventh went by boat +to Annapolis. The same course was taken by a regiment of Massachusetts +mechanics, the Eighth. Landing at Annapolis, the two regiments, dandies +and laborers, fraternized at once in the common bond of loyalty to the +Union. A branch railway led from Annapolis to the main line between +Washington and Baltimore. The rails had been torn up. The Massachusetts +mechanics set to work to relay them. The Governor of Maryland protested. +He was disregarded. The two regiments toiled together a long day and +through the night following, between Annapolis and the Washington +junction, bringing on their baggage and cannon over relaid tracks. +There, a train was found which the Seventh appropriated. At noon, on +the 25th of April, that advance guard of the Northern hosts entered +Washington, and Lincoln knew that he had armies behind him. + + + +CHAPTER VII. LINCOLN + +The history of the North had virtually become, by April, 1861, the +history of Lincoln himself, and during the remaining four years of the +President's life it is difficult to separate his personality from the +trend of national history. Any attempt to understand the achievements +and the omissions of the Northern people without undertaking an +intelligent estimate of their leader would be only to duplicate the +story of "Hamlet" with Hamlet left out. According to the opinion of +English military experts*, "Against the great military genius of certain +Southern leaders fate opposed the unbroken resolution and passionate +devotion to the Union, which he worshiped, of the great Northern +President. As long as he lived and ruled the people of the North, there +could be no turning back." + + * Wood and Edmonds. "The Civil War in the United States." + +Lincoln has been ranked with Socrates; but he has also been compared +with Rabelais. He has been the target of abuse that knew no mercy; but +he has been worshiped as a demigod. The ten big volumes of his official +biography are a sustained, intemperate eulogy in which the hero does +nothing that is not admirable; but as large a book could be built up +out of contemporaneous Northern writings that would paint a picture of +unmitigated blackness--and the most eloquent portions of it would be +signed by Wendell Phillips. + +The real Lincoln is, of course, neither the Lincoln of the official +biography nor the Lincoln of Wendell Phillips. He was neither a saint +nor a villain. What he actually was is not, however, so easily stated. +Prodigious men are never easy to sum up; and Lincoln was a prodigious +man. The more one studies him, the more individual he appears to be. By +degrees one comes to understand how it was possible for contemporaries +to hold contradictory views of him and for each to believe frantically +that his views were proved by facts. For anyone who thinks he can hit +off in a few neat generalities this complex, extraordinary personality, +a single warning may suffice. Walt Whitman, who was perhaps the most +original thinker and the most acute observer who ever saw Lincoln face +to face has left us his impression; but he adds that there was something +in Lincoln's face which defied description and which no picture had +caught. After Whitman's conclusion that "One of the great portrait +painters of two or three hundred years ago is needed," the mere +historian should proceed with caution. + +There is historic significance in his very appearance. His huge, +loose-knit figure, six feet four inches high, lean, muscular, ungainly, +the evidence of his great physical strength, was a fit symbol of those +hard workers, the children of the soil, from whom he sprang. His face +was rugged like his figure, the complexion swarthy, cheek bones high, +and bushy black hair crowning a great forehead beneath which the eyes +were deep-set, gray, and dreaming. A sort of shambling powerfulness +formed the main suggestion of face and figure, softened strangely by the +mysterious expression of the eyes, and by the singular delicacy of the +skin. The motions of this awkward giant lacked grace; the top hat and +black frock coat, sometimes rusty, which had served him on the western +circuit continued to serve him when he was virtually the dictator of his +country. It was in such dress that he visited the army, where he towered +above his generals. + +Even in a book of restricted scope, such as this, one must insist upon +the distinction between the private and public Lincoln, for there is +as yet no accepted conception of him. What comes nearest to an accepted +conception is contained probably in the version of the late Charles +Francis Adams. He tells us how his father, the elder Charles Francis +Adams, ambassador to London, found Lincoln in 1861 an offensive +personality, and he insists that Lincoln under strain passed through a +transformation which made the Lincoln of 1864 a different man from the +Lincoln of 1861. Perhaps; but without being frivolous, one is tempted +to quote certain old-fashioned American papers that used to label their +news items "important if true." + +What then, was the public Lincoln? What explains his vast success? As +a force in American history, what does he count for? Perhaps the most +significant detail in an answer to these questions is the fact that he +had never held conspicuous public office until at the age of fifty-two +he became President. Psychologically his place is in that small group of +great geniuses whose whole significant period lies in what we commonly +think of as the decline of life. There are several such in history: +Rome had Caesar; America had both Lincoln and Lee. By contrasting these +instances with those of the other type, the egoistic geniuses such as +Alexander or Napoleon, we become aware of some dim but profound dividing +line separating the two groups. The theory that genius, at bottom, is +pure energy seems to fit Napoleon; but does it fit these other minds who +appear to meet life with a certain indifference, with a carelessness of +their own fate, a willingness to leave much to chance? That irresistible +passion for authority which Napoleon had is lacking in these others. +Their basal inspiration seems to resemble the impulse of the artist to +express, rather than the impulse of the man of action to possess. Had +it not been for secession, Lee would probably have ended his days as an +exemplary superintendent of West Point. And what of Lincoln? He dabbled +in politics, early and without success; he left politics for the law, +and to the law he gave during many years his chief devotion. But the +fortuitous break-up of parties, with the revival of the slavery issue, +touched some hidden spring; the able provincial lawyer felt again the +political impulse; he became a famous maker of political phrases; and on +this literary basis he became the leader of a party. + +Too little attention has been paid to this progression of Lincoln +through literature into politics. The ease with which he drifted from +one to the other is also still to be evaluated. Did it show a certain +slackness, a certain aimlessness, at the bottom of his nature? Had +it, in a way, some sort of analogy--to compare homespun with things +Olympian--to the vein of frivolity in the great Caesar? One is +tempted to think so. Surely, here was one of those natures which need +circumstance to compel them to greatness and which are not foredoomed, +Napoleon-like, to seize greatness. Without encroaching upon the +biographical task, one may borrow from biography this insistent echo: +the anecdotes of Lincoln sound over and over the note of easy-going good +nature; but there is to be found in many of the Lincoln anecdotes an +overtone of melancholy which lingers after one's impression of his good +nature. Quite naturally, in such a biographical atmosphere, we find +ourselves thinking of him at first as a little too good-humored, a +little too easy-going, a little prone to fall into reverie. We are not +surprised when we find his favorite poem beginning "Oh, why should the +spirit of mortal be proud." + +This enigmatical man became President in his fifty-second year. We +have already seen that his next period, the winter of 1860-61, has its +biographical problems. The impression which he made on the country as +President-elect was distinctly unfavorable. Good humor, or opportunism, +or what you will, brought together in Lincoln's Cabinet at least three +men more conspicuous in the ordinary sense than he was himself. We +forget, today, how insignificant he must have seemed in a Cabinet that +embraced Seward, Cameron, and Chase--all large national figures. What +would not history give for a page of self-revelation showing us how he +felt in the early days of that company! Was he troubled? Did he doubt +his ability to hold his own? Was he fatalistic? Was his sad smile his +refuge? Did he merely put things by, ignoring tomorrow until tomorrow +should arrive? + +However we may guess at the answers to such questions, one thing now +becomes certain. His quality of good humor began to be his salvation. +It is doubtful if any President except Washington had to manage so +difficult a Cabinet. Washington had seen no solution to the problem but +to let Jefferson go. Lincoln found his Cabinet often on the verge of a +split, with two powerful factions struggling to control it and neither +ever gaining full control. Though there were numerous withdrawals, no +resigning secretary really split Lincoln's Cabinet. By what turns and +twists and skillful maneuvers Lincoln prevented such a division and +kept such inveterate enemies as Chase and Seward steadily at their +jobs--Chase during three years, Seward to the end--will partly appear +in the following pages; but the whole delicate achievement cannot be +properly appreciated except in detailed biography. + +All criticism of Lincoln turns eventually on one question: Was he an +opportunist? Not only his enemies in his own time but many politicians +of a later day were eager to prove that he was the latter--indeed, +seeking to shelter their own opportunism behind the majesty of his +example. A modern instance will perhaps make vivid this long standing +debate upon Lincoln and his motives. Merely for historic illumination +and without becoming invidious, we may recall the instance of President +Wilson and the resignation of his Secretary of War in 1916 because +Congress would not meet the issue of preparedness. The President +accepted the resignation without forcing the issue, and Congress went +on fiddling while Rome burned. Now, was the President an opportunist, +merely waiting to see what course events would take, or was he a +political strategist, astutely biding his time? Similar in character +is this old debate upon Lincoln, which is perhaps best focussed in the +removal of Secretary Blair which we shall have to note in connection +with the election of 1864. + +It is difficult for the most objective historian to deal with such +questions without obtruding his personal views, but there is nothing +merely individual in recording the fact that the steady drift of opinion +has been away from the conception of Lincoln as an opportunist. What +once caused him to be thus conceived appears now to have been a failure +to comprehend intelligently the nature of his undertaking. More and +more, the tendency nowadays is to conceive his career as one of +those few instances in which the precise faculties needed to solve a +particular problem were called into play at exactly the critical moment. +Our confusions with regard to Lincoln have grown out of our failure +to appreciate the singularity of the American people, and their +ultra-singularity during the years in which he lived. It remains to be +seen hereafter what strange elements of sensibility, of waywardness, +of lack of imagination, of undisciplined ardor, of selfishness, of +deceitfulness, of treachery, combined with heroic ideality, made up +the character of that complex populace which it was Lincoln's task to +control. But he did more than control it: he somehow compounded much of +it into something like a unit. To measure Lincoln's achievement in this +respect, two things must be remembered: on the one hand, his task was +not as arduous as it might have been, because the most intellectual part +of the North had definitely committed itself either irretrievably for, +or irreconcilably against, his policy. Lincoln, therefore, did not have +to trouble himself with this portion of the population. On the +other hand, that part which he had to master included such emotional +rhetoricians as Horace Greeley; such fierce zealots as Henry Winter +Davis of Maryland, who made him trouble indeed, and Benjamin Wade, whom +we have met already; such military egoists as McClellan and Pope; such +crafty double-dealers as his own Secretary of the Treasury; such astute +grafters as Cameron; such miserable creatures as certain powerful +capitalists who sacrificed his army to their own lust for profits +filched from army contracts. + +The wonder of Lincoln's achievement is that he contrived at last to +extend his hold over all these diverse elements; that he persuaded some, +outwitted others, and overcame them all. The subtlety of this task would +have ruined any statesman of the driving sort. Explain Lincoln by any +theory you will, his personality was the keystone of the Northern arch; +subtract it, and the arch falls. The popular element being as complex +and powerful as it was, how could the presiding statesman have mastered +the situation if he had not been of so peculiar a sort that he could +influence all these diverse and powerful interests, slowly, by degrees, +without heat, without the imperative note, almost in silence, with the +universal, enfolding irresistibility of the gradual things in nature, +of the sun and the rain. Such was the genius of Lincoln--all but +passionless, yet so quiet that one cannot but believe in the great depth +of his nature. + +We are, even today, far from a definitive understanding of Lincoln's +statecraft, but there is perhaps justification for venturing upon one +prophecy. The farther from him we get and the more clearly we see him in +perspective, the more we shall realize his creative influence upon his +party. A Lincoln who is the moulder of events and the great creator of +public opinion will emerge at last into clear view. In the Lincoln +of his ultimate biographer there will be more of iron than of a less +enduring metal in the figure of the Lincoln of present tradition. Though +none of his gentleness will disappear, there will be more emphasis +placed upon his firmness, and upon such episodes as that of December, +1860, when his single will turned the scale against compromise; upon +his steadiness in the defeat of his party at the polls in 1862; or his +overruling of the will of Congress in the summer of 1864 on the question +of reconstruction; or his attitude in the autumn of that year when +he believed that he was losing his second election. Behind all his +gentleness, his slowness, behind his sadness, there will eventually +appear an inflexible purpose, strong as steel, unwavering as fate. + +The Civil War was in truth Lincoln's war. Those modern pacifists who +claim him for their own are beside the mark. They will never get over +their illusions about Lincoln until they see, as all the world is +beginning to see, that his career has universal significance because of +its bearing on the universal modern problem of democracy. It will not do +ever to forget that he was a man of the people, always playing the hand +of the people, in the limited social sense of that word, though playing +it with none of the heat usually met with in the statesmen of successful +democracy from Cleon to Robespierre, from Andrew Jackson to Lloyd +George. His gentleness does not remove Lincoln from that stern category. +Throughout his life, besides his passion for the Union, besides his +antipathy to slavery, there dwelt in his very heart love of and faith +in the plain people. We shall never see him in true historic perspective +until we conceive him as the instrument of a vast social idea--the +determination to make a government based on the plain people successful +in war. + +He did not scruple to seize power when he thought the cause of the +people demanded it, and his enemies were prompt to accuse him of holding +to the doctrine that the end justified the means--a hasty conclusion +which will have to be reconsidered; what concerns us more closely is the +definite conviction that he felt no sacrifice too great if it advanced +the happiness of the generality of mankind. + +The final significance of Lincoln as a statesman of democracy is brought +out most clearly in his foreign relations. Fate put it into the hands of +England to determine whether his Government should stand or fall. Though +it is doubtful how far the turning of the scale of English policy in +Lincoln's favor was due to the influence of the rising power of English +democracy, it is plain that Lincoln thought of himself as having one +purpose with that movement which he regarded as an ally. Beyond all +doubt among the most grateful messages he ever received were the New +Year greetings of confidence and sympathy which were sent by English +workingmen in 1863. A few sentences in his "Letter to the Workingmen +of London" help us to look through his eyes and see his life and its +struggles as they appeared to him in relation to world history: + +"As these sentiments [expressed by the English workmen] are manifestly +the enduring support of the free institutions of England, so am I sure +that they constitute the only reliable basis for free institutions +throughout the world.... The resources, advantages, and power of the +American people are very great, and they have consequently succeeded to +equally great responsibilities. It seems to have devolved upon them to +test whether a government established on the principles of human freedom +can be maintained against an effort to build one upon the exclusive +foundation of human bondage. They will rejoice with me in the new +evidence which your proceedings furnish that the magnanimity they +are exhibiting is justly estimated by the true friends of freedom and +humanity in foreign countries." + +Written at the opening of that terrible year, 1863, these words are a +forward link with those more celebrated words spoken toward its close +at Gettysburg. Perhaps at no time during the war, except during the few +days immediately following his own reelection a year later, did Lincoln +come so near being free from care as then. Perhaps that explains why +his fundamental literary power reasserted itself so remarkably, why this +speech of his at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg +on the 19th of November, 1863, remains one of the most memorable +orations ever delivered: + +"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this +continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the +proposition that all men are created equal. + +"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, +or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met +on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion +of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their +lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper +that we should do this. + +"But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we +cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled +here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The +world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can +never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to +be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have +thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to +the great task remaining before us: that from these honored dead we +take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full +measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall +not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new +birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and +for the people, shall not perish from the earth." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE RULE OF LINCOLN + +The fundamental problem of the Lincoln Government was the raising of +armies, the sudden conversion of a community which was essentially +industrial into a disciplined military organization. The accomplishment +of so gigantic a transformation taxed the abilities of two Secretaries +of War. The first, Simon Cameron, owed his place in the Cabinet to +the double fact of being one of the ablest of political bosses and +of standing high among Lincoln's competitors for the Presidential +nomination. Personally honest, he was also a political cynic to whom +tradition ascribes the epigram defining an honest politician as one who +"when he is bought, will stay bought." As Secretary of War he showed no +particular ability. + +In 1861, when the tide of enthusiasm was in flood, and volunteers +in hosts were responding to acts of Congress for the raising and +maintenance of a volunteer army, Cameron reported in December that the +Government had on foot 660,971 men and could have had a million except +that Congress had limited the number of volunteers to be received. When +this report was prepared, Lincoln was, so to speak, in the trough of two +seas. The devotion which had been offered to him in April, 1861, when +the North seemed to rise as one man, had undergone a reaction. Eight +months without a single striking military success, together with +the startling defeat at Bull Run, had had their inevitable effect. +Democracies are mercurial; variability seems to be part of the price of +freedom. With childlike faith in their cause, the Northern people, +in midsummer, were crying, "On to Richmond!" In the autumn, stung by +defeat, they were ready to cry, "Down with Lincoln." + +In a subsequent report, the War Department confessed that at the +beginning of hostilities, "nearly all our arms and ammunition" came from +foreign countries. One great reason why no military successes relieve +the gloom of 1861 was that, from a soldier's point of view, there +were no armies. Soldiers, it is true, there were in myriads; but arms, +ammunition, and above all, organization were lacking. The supplies +in the government arsenals had been provided for an army of but a few +thousand. Strive as they would, all the factories in the country could +not come anywhere near making arms for half a million men; nor did the +facilities of those days make it possible for munition plants to spring +up overnight. Had it not been that the Confederacy was equally hard +pushed, even harder pushed, to find arms and ammunition, the war would +have ended inside Seward's ninety days, through sheer lack of powder. + +Even with the respite given by the unpreparedness of the South, and +while Lincoln hurriedly collected arms and ammunition from abroad, the +startled nation, thus suddenly forced into a realization of what +war meant, lost its head. From its previous reckless trust in sheer +enthusiasm, it reacted to a distrust of almost everything. Why were the +soldiers not armed? Why did not millions of rounds of cartridges fall +like manna out of the sky? Why did not the crowds of volunteers become +armies at a word of command? One of the darkest pages in American +history records the way in which the crowd, undisciplined to endure +strain, turned upon Lincoln in its desire to find in the conduct of +their leader a pretext for venting upon him the fierceness of their +anxiety. Such a pretext they found in his treatment of Fremont. + +The singular episode of Fremont's arrogance in 1861 is part of the +story of the border States whose friendship was eagerly sought by both +sides--Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and those mountainous counties +which in time were to become West Virginia. To retain Maryland and thus +to keep open the connection between the Capital and the North was one +of Lincoln's deepest anxieties. By degrees the hold of the Government +in Maryland was made secure, and the State never seceded. Kentucky, too, +held to the Union, though, during many anxious months in 1861, Lincoln +did not know whether this State was to be for him or against him. The +Virginia mountains, from the first, seemed a more hopeful field, for the +mountaineers had opposed the Virginia secession and, as soon as it was +accomplished, had begun holding meetings of protest. In the meantime +George B. McClellan, with the rank of general bestowed upon him by the +Federal Government, had been appointed to command the militia of Ohio. +He was sent to assist the insurgent mountaineers, and with him went the +Ohio militia. From this situation and from the small engagements with +Confederate forces in which McClellan was successful, there resulted the +separate State of West Virginia and the extravagant popular notion that +McClellan was a great general. His successes were contrasted in the +ordinary mind with the crushing defeat at Bull Run, which happened at +about the same time. + +The most serious of all these struggles in the border States, however, +was that which took place in Missouri, where, owing to the strength +of both factions and their promptness in organizing, real war began +immediately. A Union army led by General Nathaniel Lyon attacked the +Confederates with great spirit at Wilson's Creek but was beaten back in +a fierce and bloody battle in which their leader was killed. + +Even before these events Fremont had been appointed to chief command +in Missouri, and here he at once began a strange course of dawdling and +posing. His military career must be left to the military historians--who +have not ranked him among the great generals. Civil history accuses him, +if not of using his new position to make illegitimate profits, at least +of showing reckless favoritism toward those who did. It is hardly unfair +to say that Lincoln, in bearing with Fremont as long as he did, showed +a touch of amiable weakness; and yet, it must be acknowledged that the +President knew that the country was in a dangerous mood, that Fremont +was immensely popular, and that any change might be misunderstood. +Though Lincoln hated to appear anything but a friend to a fallen +political rival, he was at last forced to act. Frauds in government +contracts at St. Louis were a public scandal, and the reputation of the +government had to be saved by the removal of Fremont in November, 1861. +As an immediate consequence of this action the overstrained nerves of +great numbers of people snapped. Fremont's personal followers, as well +as the abolitionists whom he had actively supported while in command in +Missouri, and all that vast crowd of excitable people who are unable to +stand silent under strain, clamored against Lincoln in the wildest and +most absurd vein. He was accused of being a "dictator"; he was called an +"imbecile"; he ought to be impeached, and a new party, with Fremont as +its leader, should be formed to prosecute the war. But through all this +clamor Lincoln kept his peace and let the heathen rage. + +Toward the end of the year, popular rage turned suddenly on Cameron, +who, as Secretary of War, had taken an active but proper part in the +investigation of Fremont's conduct. It was one of those tremulous +moments when people are desperately eager to have something done and are +ready to believe anything. Though McClellan, now in chief command of +the Union forces, had an immense army which was fast getting properly +equipped, month faded into month without his advancing against the +enemy. Again the popular cry was raised, "On to Richmond!" It was at +this moment of military inactivity and popular restlessness that charges +of peculation were brought forward against Cameron. + +These charges both were and were not well founded. Himself a rich +man, it is not likely that Cameron profited personally by government +contracts, even though the acrimonious Thad Stevens said of his +appointment as Secretary that it would add "another million to his +fortune." There seems little doubt, however, that Cameron showered +lucrative contracts upon his political retainers. And no boss has ever +held the State of Pennsylvania in a firmer grip. His tenure of the +Secretaryship of War was one means to that end. + +The restless alarm of the country at large expressed itself in such +extravagant words as these which Senator Grimes wrote to Senator +Fessenden: "We are going to destruction as fast as imbecility, +corruption, and the wheels of time can carry us." So dissatisfied, +indeed, was Congress with the conduct of the war that it appointed a +committee of investigation. During December, 1861, and January, 1862, +the committee was summoning generals before it, questioning them, +listening to all manner of views, accomplishing nothing, but rendering +more and more feverish an atmosphere already surcharged with anxiety. +On the floors of Congress debate raged as to who was responsible for +the military inaction--for the country's "unpreparedness," we should say +today--and as to whether Cameron was honest. Eventually the House in a +vote of censure condemned the Secretary of War. + +Long before this happened, however, Lincoln had interfered and very +characteristically removed the cause of trouble, while taking upon +himself the responsibility for the situation, by nominating Cameron +minister to Russia, and by praising him for his "ability, patriotism, +and fidelity to the public trust." Though the President had not +sufficient hold upon the House to prevent the vote of censure, his +influence was strong in the Senate, and the new appointment of Cameron +was promptly confirmed. + +There was in Washington at this time that grim man who had served +briefly as Attorney-General in the Cabinet of Buchanan--Edwin M. +Stanton. He despised the President and expressed his opinion in such +words as "the painful imbecility of Lincoln." The two had one personal +recollection in common: long before, in a single case, at Cincinnati, +the awkward Lincoln had been called in as associate counsel to serve the +convenience of Stanton, who was already a lawyer of national repute. +To his less-known associate Stanton showed a brutal rudeness that was +characteristic. It would have been hard in 1861 to find another man more +difficult to get on with. Headstrong, irascible, rude, he had a sharp +tongue which he delighted in using; but he was known to be inflexibly +honest, and was supposed to have great executive ability. He was also +a friend of McClellan, and if anybody could rouse that tortoise-like +general, Stanton might be supposed to be the man. He had been a valiant +Democrat, and Democratic support was needed by the government. Lincoln +astonished him with his appointment as Secretary of War in January, +1862. Stanton justified the President's choice, and under his strong +if ruthless hand the War Department became sternly efficient. The whole +story of Stanton's relations to his chief is packed, like the Arabian +genius in the fisherman's vase, into one remark of Lincoln's. "Did +Stanton tell you I was a fool?" said Lincoln on one occasion, in the +odd, smiling way he had. "Then I expect I must be one, for he is almost +always right, and generally says what he means." + +In spite of his efficiency and personal force, Stanton was unable to +move his friend McClellan, with whom he soon quarreled. Each now sought +in his own way to control the President, though neither understood +Lincoln's character. From McClellan, Lincoln endured much condescension +of a kind perilously near impertinence. To Stanton, Lincoln's patience +seemed a mystery; to McClellan--a vain man, full of himself--the +President who would merely smile at this bullyragging on the part of +one of his subordinates seemed indeed a spiritless creature. Meanwhile +Lincoln, apparently devoid of sensibility, was seeking during the +anxious months of 1862, in one case, merely how to keep his petulant +Secretary in harness; in the other, how to quicken his tortoise of a +general. + +Stanton made at least one great blunder. Though he had been three months +in office, and McClellan was still inactive, there were already several +successes to the credit of the Union arms. The Monitor and Virginia +(Merrimac) had fought their famous duel, and Grant had taken Fort +Donelson. The latter success broke through the long gloom of the North +and caused, as Holmes wrote, "a delirium of excitement." Stanton rashly +concluded that he now had the game in his hands, and that a sufficient +number of men had volunteered. This civilian Secretary of War, who had +still much to learn of military matters, issued an order putting a stop +to recruiting. Shortly afterwards great disaster befell the Union arms. +McClellan, before Richmond, was checked in May. Early in July, his +peninsula campaign ended disastrously in the terrible "Seven Days' +Battle." + +Anticipating McClellan's failure, Lincoln had already determined to call +for more troops. On July 1st, he called upon the Governors of the +States to provide him with 300,000 men to serve three years. But the +volunteering enthusiasm--explain it as you will--had suffered a check. +The psychological moment had passed. So slow was the response to the +call of July 1st, that another appeal was made early in August, this +time for 300,000 men to serve only nine months. But this also failed +to rouse the country. A reinforcement of only 87,000 men was raised in +response to this emergency call. The able lawyer in the War Department +had still much to learn about men and nations. + +After this check, terrible incidents of war came thick and fast--the +defeat at Second Manassas, in late August; the horrible drawn battle +of Antietam-Sharpsburg, in September; Fredericksburg, that carnival of +slaughter, in December; the dearly bought victory of Murfreesboro, which +opened 1863. There were other disastrous events at least as serious. +Foreign affairs* were at their darkest. Within the political coalition +supporting Lincoln, contention was the order of the day. There was +general distrust of the President. Most alarming of all, that ebb of the +wave of enthusiasm which began in midsummer, 1861, reached in the autumn +of 1862 perhaps its lowest point. The measure of the reaction against +Lincoln was given in the Congressional election, in which, though the +Government still retained a working majority, the Democrats gained +thirty-three seats. + + * See Chapter IX. + +If there could be such a thing as a true psychological history of the +war, one of its most interesting pages would determine just how far +Stanton was responsible, through his strange blunder over recruiting, +for the check to enthusiasm among the Northern people. With this +speculation there is connected a still unsolved problem in statistics. +To what extent did the anti-Lincoln vote, in 1862, stand for sympathy +with the South, and how far was it the hopeless surrender of Unionists +who felt that their cause was lost? Though certainty on this point is +apparently impossible, there can be no doubt that at the opening of +1863, the Government felt it must apply pressure to the flagging spirits +of its supporters. In order to reenforce the armies and to push the war +through, there was plainly but one course to be followed--conscription. + +The government leaders in Congress brought in a Conscription Act early +in the year. The hot debates upon this issue dragged through a month's +time, and now make instructive reading for the present generation +that has watched the Great War*. The Act of 1863 was not the work of +soldiers, but was literally "made in Congress." Stanton grimly made +the best of it, though he unwaveringly condemned some of its most +conspicuous provisions. His business was to retrieve his blunder of +the previous year, and he was successful. Imperfect as it was, the +Conscription Act, with later supplementary legislation, enabled him to +replace the wastage of the Union armies and steadily to augment them. +At the close of the war, the Union had on foot a million men with an +enrolled reserve of two millions and a half, subject to call. + + * The battle over conscription in England was anticipated in + America sixty-four years ago. Bagot says that the average + British point of view may be expressed thus: "What I am + sayin' is this here as I was a sayin' yesterday." The + Anglo-Saxon mind is much the same the world over. In + America, today, the enemies of effective military + organization would do well to search the arguments of their + skillful predecessors in 1888, who fought to the last ditch + for a military system that would make inescapable "peace at + any price." For the modern believers in conscription, one + of their best bits of political thunder is still the defense + of it by Lincoln. + +The Act provided for a complete military census, for which purpose the +country was divided into enrollment districts. Every able-bodied +male citizen, or intending citizen, between the ages of twenty and +forty-five, unless exempted for certain specified reasons, was to be +enrolled as a member of the national forces; these forces were to be +called to the colors--"drafted," the term was--as the Government found +need of them; each successive draft was to be apportioned among the +districts in the ratio of the military population, and the number +required was to be drawn by lot; if the district raised its quota +voluntarily, no draft would be made; any drafted man could offer a +substitute or could purchase his discharge for three hundred dollars. +The latter provision especially was condemned by Stanton. It was seized +upon by demagogues as a device for giving rich men an advantage over +poor men. + +American politics during the war form a wildly confused story, so +intricate that it cannot be made clear in a brief statement. But +this central fact may be insisted upon: in the North, there were two +political groups that were the poles around which various other groups +revolved and combined, only to fly asunder and recombine, with all the +maddening inconstancy of a kaleidoscope. The two irreconcilable elements +were the "war party" made up of determined men resolved to see things +through, and the "copperheads"* who for one reason or another united +in a faithful struggle for peace at any price. Around the copperheads +gathered the various and singular groups who helped to make up the ever +fluctuating "peace party." It is an error to assume that this peace +party was animated throughout by fondness for the Confederacy. Though +many of its members were so actuated, the core of the party seems to +have been that strange type of man who sustained political evasion +in the old days, who thought that sweet words can stop bullets, whose +programme in 1863 called for a cessation of hostilities and a general +convention of all the States, and who promised as the speedy result of +a debauch of talk a carnival of bright eyes glistening with the tears +of revived affection. With these strange people in 1863 there combined +a number of different types: the still stranger, still less creditable +visionary, of whom much hereafter; the avowed friends of the principle +of state rights; all those who distrusted the Government because of its +anti-slavery sympathies; Quakers and others with moral scruples against +war; and finally, sincere legalists to whom the Conscription Act +appeared unconstitutional. In the spring of 1863 the issue of +conscription drew the line fairly sharply between the two political +coalitions, though each continued to fluctuate, more or less, to the end +of the war. + + * The term arose, it has been said, from the use of the + copper cent with its head of Liberty as a peace button. But + a more plausible explanation associates the peace advocates + with the deadly copperhead snake. + +The peace party of 1863 has been denounced hastily rather than carefully +studied. Its precise machinations are not fully known, but the ugly fact +stands forth that a portion of the foreign population of the North was +roused in 1863 to rebellion. The occasion was the beginning of the first +draft under the new law, in July, 1863, and the scene of the rebellion +was the City of New York. The opponents of conscription had already +made inflammatory attacks on the Government. Conspicuous among them was +Horatio Seymour, who had been elected Governor of New York in that wave +of reaction in the autumn of 1862. Several New York papers joined the +crusade. In Congress, the Government had already been threatened with +civil war if the act was enforced. Nevertheless, the public drawing +by lot began on the days announced. In New York the first drawing took +place on Saturday, July 12th, and the lists were published in the Sunday +papers. As might be expected, many of the men drawn were of foreign +birth, and all day Sunday, the foreign quarter of New York was a +cauldron boiling. + +On Monday, the resumption of the drawing was the signal for revolt. +A mob invaded one of the conscription offices, drove off the men in +charge, and set fire to the building. In a short while, the streets were +filled with dense crowds of foreignborn workmen shouting, "Down with +the rich men," and singing, "We'll hang Horace Greeley on a sour apple +tree." Houses of prominent citizens were attacked and set on fire, and +several drafting offices were burned. Many negroes who were seized were +either clubbed to death or hanged to lamp posts. Even an orphan asylum +for colored children was burned. The office of the "Tribune" was raided, +gutted, and set on fire. Finally a dispatch to Stanton, early in the +night, reported that the mob had taken possession of the city. + +The events of the next day were no less shocking. The city was almost +stripped of soldiers, as all available reserves had already been hurried +south when Lee was advancing toward Gettysburg. But such militia as +could be mustered, with a small force of federal troops, fought the mob +in the streets. Barricades were carried by storm; blood was freely shed. +It was not, however, until the fourth day that the rebellion was finally +quelled, chiefly by New York regiments, hurried north by Stanton--among +them the famous Seventh--which swept the streets with cannon. + +The aftermath of the New York riots was a correspondence between Lincoln +and Seymour. The latter had demanded a suspension of the draft until the +courts could decide on the constitutionality of the Conscription Act. +Lincoln refused. With ten thousand troops now assembled in New York, the +draft was resumed, and there was no further trouble. + +The resistance to the Government in New York was but the most terrible +episode in a protracted contention which involves, as Americans are +beginning to see, one of the most fundamental and permanent questions +of Lincoln's rule: how can the exercise of necessary war powers by +the President be reconciled with the guarantees of liberty in the +Constitution? It is unfortunate that Lincoln did not draw up a fully +rounded statement of his own theory regarding this problem, instead +of leaving it to be inferred from detached observations and from his +actions. Apparently, he felt there was nothing to do but to follow the +Roman precedent and, in a case of emergency, frankly permit the use +of extraordinary power. We may attribute to him that point of view +expressed by a distinguished Democrat of our own day: "Democracy has to +learn how to use the dictator as a necessary war tool."* Whether Lincoln +set a good model for democracy in this perilous business is still to be +determined. His actions have been freely labeled usurpation. The first +notorious instance occurred in 1861, during the troubles in Maryland, +when he authorized military arrests of suspected persons. For the +release of one of these, a certain Merryman, Chief Justice Taney +issued a writ of habeas corpus**. Lincoln authorized his military +representatives to disregard the writ. In 1862 he issued a proclamation +suspending the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus in cases of +persons charged with "discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting +military drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice...." Such persons +were to be tried by military commissions. + + *President Edwin A. Alderman, of the University of Virginia. + + ** The Constitution permits the suspension of the privileges + of the writ of habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or + invasion the public safety may require it," but fails to + provide a method of suspension. Taney held that the power + to suspend lay with Congress. Five years afterward, when + Chase was Chief Justice, the Supreme Court, in ex parte + Milligan, took the same view and further declared that even + Congress could not deprive a citizen of his right to trial + by jury so long as the local civil courts are in operation. + The Confederate experience differed from the Federal + inasmuch as Congress kept control of the power to suspend + the writ. But both governments made use of such suspension + to set up martial law in districts where the local courts + were open but where, from one cause or another, the + Administration had not confidence in their effectiveness. + Under ex parte Milligan, both Presidents and both Congresses + were guilty of usurpation. The mere layman waits for the + next great hour of trial to learn whether this + interpretation will stand. In the Milligan case the Chief + Justice and three others dissented. + +There can be little doubt that this proclamation caused something like +a panic in many minds, filled them with the dread of military despotism, +and contributed to the reaction against Lincoln in the autumn of 1862. +Under this proclamation many arrests were made and many victims were +sent to prison. So violent was the opposition that on March 3, 1863, +Congress passed an act which attempted to bring the military and civil +courts into cooperation, though it did not take away from the President +all the dictatorial power which he had assumed. The act seems; however, +to have had little general effect, and it was disregarded in the +most celebrated of the cases of military arrest, that of Clement L. +Vallandigham. + +A representative from Ohio and one of the most vituperative anti-Lincoln +men in Congress, Vallandigham in a sensational speech applied to the +existing situation Chatham's words, "My lords, you cannot conquer +America." He professed to see before him in the future nothing "but +universal political and social revolution, anarchy, and bloodshed, +compared with which the Reign of Terror in France was a merciful +visitation." To escape such a future, he demanded an armistice, to be +followed by a friendly peace established through foreign mediation. + +Returning to Ohio after the adjournment of Congress, Vallandigham spoke +to a mass-meeting in a way that was construed as rank treason by General +Burnside who was in command at Cincinnati. Vallandigham was arrested, +tried by court martial, and condemned to imprisonment. There was an +immediate hue and cry, in consequence of which Burnside, who reported +the affair, felt called upon also to offer to resign. Lincoln's reply +was characteristic: "When I shall wish to supersede you I shall let +you know. All the Cabinet regretted the necessity for arresting, for +instance, Vallandigham, some perhaps doubting there was a real necessity +for it; but being done, all were for seeing you through with it." +Lincoln, however, commuted the sentence to banishment and had +Vallandigham sent through the lines into the Confederacy. + +It seems quite plain that the condemnation of Lincoln on this issue of +usurpation was not confined to the friends of the Confederacy, nor has +it been confined to his enemies in later days. One of Lincoln's +most ardent admirers, the historian Rhodes, condemns his course +unqualifiedly. "There can be no question," he writes, "that from the +legal point of view the President should have rescinded the sentence and +released Vallandigham." Lincoln, he adds, "stands responsible for +the casting into prison of citizens of the United States on orders as +arbitrary as the lettres-de-cachet of Louis XIV." Since Mr. Rhodes, +uncompromising Unionist, can write as he does upon this issue, it is +plain that the opposition party cannot be dismissed as through and +through disunionist. + +The trial of Vallandigham made him a martyr and brought him the +Democratic nomination for Governor of Ohio*. His followers sought to +make the issue of the campaign the acceptance or rejection of military +despotism. In defense of his course Lincoln wrote two public letters in +which he gave evidence of the skill which he had acquired as a lawyer +before a jury by the way in which he played upon the emotions of his +readers. + + * Edward Everett Hale's famous story "The Man Without a + Country", though it got into print too late to affect the + election, was aimed at Vallandigham. That quaint allegory + on the lack of patriotism became a temporary classic. + +"Long experience [he wrote] has shown that armies cannot be maintained +unless desertion shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. +The case requires, and the law and the Constitution sanction, this +punishment. Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while +I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? +This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or +brother, or friend into a public meeting, and there working upon his +feelings till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is +fighting in a bad cause for a wicked administration and a contemptible +government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I +think that in such a case to silence the agitator and save the boy is +not only constitutional, but, withal, a great mercy." + +His real argument may be summed up in these words of his: + +"You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may override all +the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea of conserving the +public safety--when I may choose to say the public safety requires it. +This question, divested of the phraseology calculated to represent me as +struggling for an arbitrary prerogative, is either simply a question +who shall decide, or an affirmation that nobody shall decide, what the +public safety does require in cases of rebellion or invasion. + +"The Constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur for +decision, but it does not expressly declare who is to decide it. By +necessary implication, when rebellion or invasion comes, the decision is +to be made, from time to time; and I think the man, whom for the time, +the people have under the Constitution, made the commander-in-chief +of their army and navy, is the man who holds the power and bears the +responsibility of making it. If he uses the power justly, the same +people will probably justify him; if he abuses it, he is in their hands +to be dealt with by all the modes they have reserved to themselves in +the Constitution." + +Lincoln virtually appealed to the Northern people to secure efficiency +by setting him momentarily above all civil authority. He asked them +in substance, to interpret their Constitution by a show of hands. No +thoughtful person can doubt the risks of such a method; yet in Ohio, +in 1863, the great majority--perhaps everyone who believed in the +war--accepted Lincoln's position. Between their traditional system of +legal juries and the new system of military tribunals the Ohio voters +made their choice without hesitation. They rejected Vallandigham +and sustained the Lincoln candidate by a majority of over a hundred +thousand. That same year in New York the anti-Lincoln candidate for +Secretary of State was defeated by twenty-nine thousand votes. + +Though these elections in 1863 can hardly be called the turning-point in +the history of the Lincoln Government, yet it was clear that the tide +of popularity which had ebbed so far away from Lincoln in the autumn of +1862 was again in the flood. Another phase of his stormy course may be +thought of as having ended. And in accounting for this turn of the tide +it must not be forgotten that between the nomination and the defeat of +a Vallandigham the bloody rebellion in New York had taken place, +Gettysburg had been fought, and Grant had captured Vicksburg. The autumn +of 1863 formed a breathing space for the war party of the North. + + + +CHAPTER IX. THE CRUCIAL MATTER + +It is the custom of historians to measure the relative strength of North +and South chiefly in terms of population. The North numbered 23,000,000 +inhabitants; the South, about 9,000,000, of which the slave population +amounted to 3,500,000. But these obvious statistics only partially +indicate the real situation. Not what one has, but what one is capable +of using is, of course, the true measure of strength. If, in 1861, +either side could have struck swiftly and with all its force, the story +of the war would have been different. The question of relative strength +was in reality a question of munitions. Both powers were glaringly +unprepared. Both had instant need of great supplies of arms and +ammunition, and both turned to European manufacturers for aid. Those +Americans who, in a later war, wished to make illegal the neutral trade +in munitions forgot that the international right of a belligerent to buy +arms from a neutral had prevented their own destruction in 1861. In +the supreme American crisis, agents of both North and South hurried to +Europe in quest of munitions. On the Northern side the work was done +chiefly by the three ministers, Charles Francis Adams, at London; +William L. Dayton, at Paris; and Henry S. Sanford, at Brussels; by +an able special agent, Colonel George L. Schuyler; and by the famous +banking-house of Baring Brothers, which one might almost have called the +European department of the United States Treasury. + +The eager solicitude of the War Department over the competition of the +two groups of agents in Europe informs a number of dispatches that are, +today, precious admonitions to the heedless descendants of that dreadful +time. As late as October, 1861, the Acting Secretary of War wrote to +Schuyler, one of whose shipments had been delayed: "The Department +earnestly hopes to receive...the 12,000 Enfield rifles and the remainder +of the 27,000, which you state you have purchased, by the earliest +steamer following. Could you appreciate the circumstances by which we +are surrounded, you would readily understand the urgent necessity there +is for the immediate delivery of all the arms you are authorized to +purchase. The Department expects to hear that you have been able +to conclude the negotiations for the 48,000 rifles from the French +government arsenals." That the Confederate Government acted even more +promptly than the Union Government appears from a letter of Sanford to +Seward in May: "I have vainly expected orders," he complains, "for +the purchase of arms for the Government, and am tempted to order from +Belgium all they can send over immediately.... Meanwhile the workshops +are filling with orders from the South.... It distresses me to think +that while we are in want of them, Southern money is taking them away to +be used against us." + +At London, Adams took it upon himself to contract for arms in advance of +instructions. He wrote to Seward: "Aware of the degree to which I exceed +my authority in taking such a step, nothing but a conviction of the need +in which the country stands of such assistance and the joint opinion of +all the diplomatic agents of the United States...in Paris, has induced +me to overcome my scruples." How real was the necessity of which this +able diplomat was so early conscious, is demonstrated at every turn +in the papers of the War Department. Witness this brief dispatch from +Harrisburg: "All ready to leave but no arms. Governor not willing to +let us leave State without them, as act of Assembly forbids. Can arms +be sent here?" When this appeal was made, in December, 1861, arms were +pouring into the country from Europe, and the crisis had passed. But if +this appeal had been made earlier in the year, the inevitable answer may +be guessed from a dispatch which the Ordnance Office sent, as late as +September, to the authorities of West Virginia, refusing to supply +them with arms because the supplies were exhausted, and adding, "Every +possible exertion is being made to obtain additional supplies by +contract, by manufacture, and by purchase, and as soon as they can be +procured by any means, in any way, they will be supplied." + +Curiously enough, not only the Confederacy but various States of the +North were more expeditious in this all-important matter than Cameron +and the War Department. Schuyler's first dispatch from London gives +this singular information: "All private establishments in Birmingham +and London are now working for the States of Ohio, Connecticut, and +Massachusetts, except the London Armory, whose manufacture is supposed +to go to the Rebels, but of this last fact I am not positively informed. +I am making arrangements to secure these establishments for our +Government, if desirable after the present State contracts expire. On +the Continent, Messrs, Dayton and Sanford...have been making contracts +and agreements of various kinds, of which you are by this time +informed." Soon afterward, from Paris, he made a long report detailing +the difficulties of his task, the limitations of the existing munitions +plants in Europe, and promising among other things those "48,000 rifles +from the French government arsenals" for which, in the letter already +quoted, the War Department yearned. It was an enormous labor; and, +strive as he would, Schuyler found American mail continuing to bring him +such letters as this from the Assistant Secretary of War in October: "I +notice with much regret that [in the latest consignment] there were no +guns sent, as it was confidently expected that 20,000 would arrive by +the [steamship] Fulton, and accordingly arrangements had been made to +distribute them through the different States. Prompt and early shipments +of guns are desirable. We hope to hear by next steamer that you have +shipped from 80,000 to 100,000 stand." + +The last word on the problem of munitions, which was so significant +a factor in the larger problem, is the report of the United States +Ordnance Office for the first year of the war. It shows that between +April, 1861, and June, 1862, the Government purchased from American +manufacturers somewhat over 30,000 rifles, and that from European makers +it purchased 726,000. + +From these illustrations it is therefore obvious that the true measure +of the immediate strength of the American contestants in 1861 was the +extent of their ability to supply themselves from Europe; and this, +stated more concretely, became the question as to which was the better +able to keep its ports open and receive the absolutely essential +European aid. Lincoln showed his clear realization of the situation +when he issued, immediately after the first call for volunteers, a +proclamation blockading the Southern coasts. Whether the Northern people +at the time appreciated the significance of this order is a question. +Amid the wild and vain clamor of the multitude in 1861, with its +conventional and old-fashioned notion of war as a thing of trumpets and +glittering armies, the North seems wholly to have ignored its fleet; and +yet in the beginning this resource was its only strength. + +The fleet was small, to be sure, but its task was at first also small. +There were few Southern ports which were doing a regular business with +Europe, and to close these was not difficult. As other ports opened and +the task of blockade grew, the Northern navy also increased. Within a +few months, to the few observers who did not lose their heads, it was +plain that the North had won the first great contest of the war. It had +so hampered Southern trade that Lincoln's advantage in arming the North +from Europe was ten to one. At the very time when detractors of Lincoln +were hysterical over the removal of Fremont, when Grimes wrote to +Fessenden that the country was going to the dogs as fast as imbecility +could carry it, this great achievement had quietly taken place. An +expedition sailing in August from Fortress Monroe seized the forts which +commanded Hatteras Inlet off the coast of North Carolina. In November, +Commander Dupont, U. S. N., seized Port Royal, one of the best harbors +on the coast of South Carolina, and established there a naval base. +Thenceforth, while the open Northern ports received European munitions +without hindrance, it was a risky business getting munitions into the +ports of the South. Only the boldest traders would attempt to "run the +blockade," to evade the Federal patrol ships by night and run into a +Southern port. + +However, for one moment in the autumn of 1861, it seemed as if all the +masterful work of the Northern navy would be undone by the Northern +people themselves in backing up the rashness of Captain Charles Wilkes, +of the war-ship San Jacinto. On the high seas he overhauled the British +mail steamer, Trent. Aboard her were two Confederate diplomatic +agents, James M. Mason and John Slidell, who had run the blockade from +Charleston to Havana and were now on their way to England. Wilkes took +off the two Confederates as prisoners of war. The crowd in the North +went wild. "We do not believe," said the New York Times, "that the +American heart ever thrilled with more sincere delight." + +The intemperate joy of the crowd over the rashness of Wilkes was due in +part to a feeling of bitterness against the British Government. In +May, 1861, the Queen had issued a proclamation of neutrality, whose +justification in international law was hotly debated at the time and was +generally denied by Northerners. England was the great cotton market of +the world. To the excited Northern mind, in 1861, there could be but one +explanation of England's action: a partisan desire to serve the South, +to break up the blockade, and to secure cotton. Whether such was the +real purpose of the ministry then in power is now doubted; but at +that time it was the beginning of a sharp contention between the two +Governments. The Trent affair naturally increased the tension. So keen +was the indignation of all classes of Englishmen that it seemed, for a +moment, as if the next step would be war. + +In America, the prompt demand for the release of Mason and Slidell was +met, at first, in a spirit equally bellicose. Fortunately there were +cool and clear heads that at once condemned Wilkes's action as a gross +breach of international law. Prominent among these was Sumner. The +American Government, however, admitted the justice of the British demand +and the envoys were released. + +Relations with the United States now became a burning issue in +English politics. There were three distinct groups in Parliament. The +representatives of the aristocracy, whether Liberals or Conservatives, +in the main sympathized with the South. So did most of the large +manufacturers whose business interests were affected by cotton. Great +bitterness grew up among the Northerners against both these groups, +partly because in the past many of their members had condemned slavery +and had said scornful things about America for tolerating it. To these +Northerners the Englishmen replied that Lincoln himself had declared +the war was not over slavery; that it was an ordinary civil war not +involving moral issues. Nevertheless, the third Parliamentary group +insisted that the American war, no matter what the motives of the +participants, would, in the event of a Northern victory, bring about the +abolition of slavery, whereas, if the South won, the result would be +the perpetuation of slavery. This third group, therefore, threw all its +weight on the side of the North. In this group Lincoln recognized his +allies, and their cause he identified with his own in his letter to +English workmen which was quoted in the previous chapter. Their leaders +in Parliament were Richard Cobden, W. E. Forster, and John Bright. +All these groups were represented in the Liberal party, which, for the +moment, was in power. + +In the Cabinet itself there was a "Northern" and a "Southern" faction. +Then, too, there were some who sympathized with the North but who felt +that its cause was hopeless--so little did they understand the relative +strength of the two sections--and who felt that the war was a terrible +proof of the uselessness of mere suffering. Gladstone, in later days, +wished to be thought of as having been one of these, though at the time, +a famous utterance of his was construed in the North as a declaration +of hostility. To a great audience at Newcastle he said in October, 1862: +"We may have our own opinions about slavery; we may be for or against +the South; but there is no doubt that Jefferson Davis and other leaders +of the South have made an army; they are making, it appears, a navy; and +they have made, what is more than either--they have made a nation." + +The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, wished to intervene in the American +war and bring about an amicable separation into two countries, and so, +apparently, did the Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell. Recently, the +American minister had vainly protested against the sailing of a ship +known as 290 which was being equipped at Liverpool presumably for the +service of the Confederacy, and which became the famous Alabama. For two +years it roved the ocean destroying Northern commerce, and not until +it was sunk at last in a battle with the U. S. S. Kearsarge did all the +maritime interests of the North breathe again freely. In time and as a +result of arbitration, England paid for the ships sunk by the Alabama. +But in 1862, the protests of the American minister fell on deaf ears. + +It must be added that the sailing of the Alabama from Liverpool was +due probably to the carelessness of British officials rather than to +deliberate purpose. And yet the fact is clear that about the first of +October, 1862, the British ministry was on the verge of intervening to +secure recognition of the independence of the Southern confederacy. The +chief motive pressing them forward was the distress in England caused by +the lack of cotton which resulted from the American blockade. In 1860, +the South had exported 615,000 bales; in 1861, only 10,127 bales. In +1862 half the spindles of Manchester were idle; the workmen were out of +employment; the owners were without dividends. It was chiefly by these +manufacturing capitalists that pressure was put upon the ministry, +and it was in the manufacturing district that Gladstone, thinking the +Government was likely to intervene, made his allusion to the South as a +nation. + +Meanwhile the Emperor of the French was considering a proposal to +England and Russia to join with him in mediation between the American +belligerents. On October 28, 1862, Napoleon III gave audience to the +Confederate envoy at Paris, discussed the Southern cause in the most +friendly manner, questioned him upon the Maryland campaign, plainly +indicated his purpose to attempt intervention, and at parting cordially +shook hands with him. Within a few days the Emperor made good his +implied promise. + +The month of November, 1862, is one of the turning-points in American +foreign relations. Both Russia and England rejected France's proposal. +The motive usually assigned to the Emperor Alexander is his hatred of +everything associated with slavery. His own most famous action was the +liberation of the Russian serfs. The motives of the British ministry, +however, appear more problematical. + +Mr. Rhodes thinks he can discern evidence that Adams communicated +indirectly to Palmerston the contents of a dispatch from Seward which +indicated that the United States would accept war rather than mediation. +Palmerston had kept his eyes upon the Maryland campaign, and Lee's +withdrawal did not increase his confidence in the strength of the South. +Lord Russell, two months previous, had flatly told the Confederate envoy +at London that the South need not hope for recognition unless it could +establish itself without aid, and that "the fluctuating events of +the war, the alternation of defeat and victory," composed such a +contradictory situation that "Her Majesty's Government are still +determined to wait." + +Perhaps the veiled American warning--assuming it was conveyed to +Palmerston, which seems highly probable--was not the only diplomatic +innuendo of the autumn of 1862 that has escaped the pages of history. +Slidell at Paris, putting together the statements of the British +Ambassador and those of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, found in +them contradictions as to what was going on between the two governments +in relation to America. He took a hand by attempting to inspire M. +Drouyn de L'huys with distrust of England, telling him he "HAD SEEN...a +letter from a leading member of the British Cabinet...in which he very +plainly insinuated that France was playing an unfair game," trying to +use England as Napoleon's catspaw. Among the many motives that may +well have animated the Palmerston Government in its waiting policy, a +distrust of Napoleon deserves to be considered. + +It is scarcely rash, however, to find the chief motive in home politics. +The impetuous Gladstone at Newcastle lost his head and spoke too soon. +The most serious effect of his premature utterance was the prompt +reaction of the "Northern party" in the Cabinet and in the country. +Whatever Palmerston's secret desires were, he was not prepared to take +the high hand, and he therefore permitted other members of the Cabinet +to state in public that Gladstone had been misunderstood. In an +interview with Adams, Lord Russell, "whilst endeavoring to excuse Mr. +Gladstone," assured him that "the policy of the Government was to adhere +to a strict neutrality and leave the struggle to settle itself." In the +last analysis, the Northern party in England was gaining ground. The +news from America, possibly, and Gladstone's rashness, certainly, roused +it to increased activity. Palmerston, whose tenure of power was none too +secure, dared not risk a break that might carry the disaffected into the +ranks of the Opposition. + +From this time forward the North rapidly grew in favor in British public +opinion, and its influence upon the Government speedily increased. + +Says Lord Charnwood in his recent life of Lincoln: "The battle of +Antietam was followed within five days by an event which made it +impossible for any government of this country to take action unfriendly +to the North." He refers of course to the Emancipation Proclamation, +which was issued on September 23, 1862. Lord Charnwood's remark may +be too dramatic. But there can be no doubt that the Emancipation +Proclamation was the turning-point in Lincoln's foreign policy; and +because of it, his friends in England eventually forced the Government +to play into his hands, and so frustrated Napoleon's scheme for +intervention. Consequently Lincoln was able to maintain the blockade +by means of which the South was strangled. Thus, at bottom, the crucial +matter was Emancipation. + +Lincoln's policy with regard to slavery passed through three distinct +stages. As we have seen, he proposed, at first, to pledge the Government +not to interfere with slavery in the States where it then existed. This +was his maximum of compromise. He would not agree to permitting its +extension into new territory. He maintained this position through 1861, +when it was made an accusation against him by the Abolitionists and +contributed to the ebb of his popularity. It also played a great part +in the episode of Fremont. At a crucial moment in Fremont's career, when +his hold upon popularity seemed precarious, he set at naught the +policy of the President and issued an order (August 30, 1861), which +confiscated all property and slaves of those who were in arms against +the United States or actively aiding the enemy, and which created a +"bureau of abolition." Whether Fremont was acting from conviction or +"playing politics" may be left to his biographers. In a most tactful +letter Lincoln asked him to modify the order so as to conform to the +Confiscation Act of Congress; and when Fremont proved obdurate, Lincoln +ordered him to do so. In the outcry against Lincoln when Fremont was at +last removed, the Abolitionists rang the changes on this reversal of his +policy of military abolition. + +Another Federal General, Benjamin F. Butler, in the course of 1861, also +raised the issue, though not in the bold fashion of Fremont. Runaway +slaves came to his camp on the Virginia coast, and he refused to +surrender them to the owners. He took the ground that, as they had +probably been used in building Confederate fortifications, they might be +considered contraband of war. He was sustained by Congress, which passed +what is commonly called the First Confiscation Act providing that slaves +used by Confederate armies in military labor should, if captured, be +"forfeited"--which of course meant that they should be set free. But +this did not settle what should be done with runaways whose masters, +though residents of seceded States, were loyal to the Union. The War +Department decided that they should be held until the end of the war, +when probably there would be made "just compensation to loyal masters." + +This first stage of Lincoln's policy rested upon the hope that the Union +might be restored without prolonged war. He abandoned this hope about +the end of the year. Thereupon, his policy entered its second stage. In +the spring of 1862 he formulated a plan for gradual emancipation with +compensation. The slaves of Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and +the District of Columbia were to be purchased at the rate of $400 each, +thus involving a total expenditure of $173,000,000. Although Congress +adopted the joint resolution recommended by the President, the "border +States" would not accept the plan. But Congress, by virtue of its +plenary power, freed the slaves by purchase in the District of Columbia, +and prohibited slavery in all the territories of the United States. + +During the second stage of his policy Lincoln again had to reverse the +action of an unruly general. The Federal forces operating from their +base at Port Royal had occupied a considerable portion of the Carolina +coast. General Hunter issued an order freeing all the slaves in South +Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In countermanding the order, Lincoln +made another futile appeal to the people of the border States to adopt +some plan of compensated emancipation. + +"I do not argue," he said; "I beseech you to make arguments for +yourselves. You cannot, if you would be blind to the signs of the times. +I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if it +may be, far above personal and partisan politics. This proposal makes +common cause for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It +acts not the Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come gently +as the dews of heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not +embrace it? So much good has not been done by one effort in all past +time, as in the providence of God it is now your high privilege to do. +May the vast future not have to lament that you neglected it." + +This persuasive attitude and reluctance to force the issue had greatly +displeased the Abolitionists. Their most gifted orator, Wendell +Phillips, reviled Lincoln with all the power of his literary genius, +and with a fury that might be called malevolent. Meanwhile, a Second +Confiscation Act proclaimed freedom for the slaves of all those who +supported the Confederate Government. Horace Greeley now published in +the "New York Tribune" an editorial entitled, "The Prayer of Twenty +Millions." He denounced Lincoln's treatment of Fremont and Hunter and +demanded radical action. Lincoln replied in a letter now famous. "I +would save the Union," said he, "I would save it the shortest way under +the Constitution.... If I could save the Union without freeing any +slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving +others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the +colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and +what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save +the Union." + +However, at the very time when he wrote this remarkable letter, he had +in his own mind entered upon the third stage of his policy. He had +even then discussed with his Cabinet an announcement favoring general +emancipation. The time did not seem to them ripe. It was decided to wait +until a Federal victory should save the announcement from appearing +to be a cry of desperation. Antietam, which the North interpreted as a +victory, gave Lincoln his opportunity. + +The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to the States in arms against +the Federal Government. Such States were given three months in which to +return to the Union. Thereafter, if they did not return, their slaves +would be regarded by that Government as free. No distinction was made +between slaves owned by supporters of the Confederacy and those whose +owners were in opposition to it. The Proclamation had no bearing on +those slave States which had not seceded. Needless to add, no +seceded State returned, and a second Proclamation making their slaves +theoretically free was in due time issued on the first of January, 1863. + +It must not be forgotten that this radical change of policy was made in +September, 1862. We have already heard of the elections which took +place soon after--those elections which mark perhaps the lowest ebb of +Lincoln's popularity, when Seymour was elected Governor of New York, and +the peace party gained over thirty seats in Congress. It is a question +whether, as a purely domestic measure, the Emancipation Proclamation was +not, for the time, an injury to the Lincoln Government. And yet it was +the real turning-point in the fortunes of the North. It was the central +fact in the maintenance of the blockade. + +In England at this time the cotton famine was at its height. Nearly a +million people in the manufacturing districts were wholly dependent +upon charity. This result of the blockade had been foreseen by the +Confederate Government which was confident that the distress of +England's working people would compel the English ministry to intervene +and break the blockade. The employers in England whose loss was wholly +financial, did as the Confederates hoped they would do. The workmen, +however, took a different course. Schooled by a number of able debaters, +they fell into line with that third group of political leaders who +saw in the victory of the North, whatever its motives, the eventual +extinction of slavery. To these people, the Emancipation Proclamation +gave a definite programme. It was now, the leaders argued, no longer a +question of eventual effect; the North had proclaimed a motive and that +motive was the extinction of slavery. Great numbers of Englishmen of all +classes who had hitherto held back from supporting Cobden and Bright now +ranged themselves on their side. Addresses of praise and sympathy "began +to pour into the Legation of the United States in a steady and ever +swelling stream." An immense popular demonstration took place at Exeter +Hall. Cobden, writing to Sumner, described the new situation in British +politics, in a letter amounting to an assurance that the Government +never again would attempt to resist the popular pressure in favor of the +North. + +On the last day of 1862 a meeting of workingmen at Manchester, where the +cotton famine was causing untold misery, adopted one of those New +Year greetings to Lincoln. Lincoln's reply expressed with his usual +directness his own view of the sympathetic relation that had been +established between the democratic classes of the two countries: + +"I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the workingmen at +Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis. It +has been often and studiously represented that the attempt to overthrow +this Government, which was built upon the foundation of human rights, +and to substitute for it one which should rest exclusively on the basis +of human slavery, was likely to obtain the favor of Europe. Through +the action of our disloyal citizens, the workingmen of Europe have been +subjected to severe trials, for the purpose of forcing their sanction to +that attempt. Under the circumstances, I cannot but regard your decisive +utterances upon the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism +which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed +an energetic and reinspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth, +and of the ultimate triumph of justice, humanity, and freedom. I do not +doubt that the sentiments you have expressed will be sustained by your +great nation; and, on the other hand, I have no hesitation in assuring +you that they will excite admiration, esteem, and the most reciprocal +feelings of friendship among the American people. I hail this +interchange of sentiment, therefore, as an augury that whatever else may +happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country or my own, the peace +and friendship which now exists between the two nations will be, as it +shall be my desire to make them, perpetual." + + + +CHAPTER X. THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY + +Though the defeat of the Democrats at the polls in 1863 and the now +definitely friendly attitude of England had done much to secure the +stability of the Lincoln Government, this success was due in part to +a figure which now comes to the front and deserves attentive +consideration. Indeed the work of Salmon Portland Chase, Secretary of +the Treasury, forms a bridge, as one might say, between the first and +second phases of Lincoln's administration. + +The interesting Englishman who is the latest biographer of Lincoln says +of Chase: "Unfortunately, this imposing person was a sneak." But is +Lord Charnwood justified in that surprising characterization? He finds +support in the testimony of Secretary Welles, who calls Chase, "artful +dodger, unstable, and unreliable." And yet there is another side, for +it is the conventional thing in America to call him our greatest finance +minister since Hamilton, and even a conspicuous enemy said of him, at a +crucial moment, that his course established his character "as an honest +and frank man." + +Taking these contradictory estimates as hints of a contradiction in the +man, we are forced to the conclusion that Chase was a professional +in politics and an amateur in finance. Perhaps herein is the whole +explanation of the two characteristics of his financial policy--his +reluctance to lay taxes, and his faith in loans. His two eyes did not +see things alike. One was really trying to make out the orthodox path +of finance; the other was peering along the more devious road of popular +caprice. + +The opening of the war caught the Treasury, as it caught all branches of +the Government, utterly unprepared. Between April and July, 1861, Chase +had to borrow what he could. When Congress met in July, his real career +as director of financial policy began--or, as his enemies think, failed +to begin. At least, he failed to urge upon Congress the need of new +taxes and appeared satisfied with himself asking for an issue of +$240,000,000 in bonds bearing not less than seven per cent interest. +Congress voted to give him $250,000,000 of which $50,000,000 might be +interest-bearing treasury notes; made slight increases in duties; and +Prepared for excise and direct taxation the following year. Later in +the year Congress laid a three per cent tax on all incomes in excess of +$800. + +When Congress reassembled in December, 1861, expenditures were racing +ahead of receipts, and there was a deficit of $143,000,000. It must not +be forgotten that this month was a time of intense excitability and of +nervous reaction. Fremont had lately been removed, and the attack on +Cameron had begun. At this crucial moment the situation was made still +more alarming by the action of the New York banks, followed by all other +banks, in suspending specie payments. They laid the responsibility upon +Chase. A syndicate of banks in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia had +come to the aid of the Government, but when they took up government +bonds, Chase had required them to pay the full value cash down, though +they had asked permission to hold the money on deposit and to pay it as +needed on requisition by the Government. Furthermore, in spite of their +protest, Chase issued treasury notes, which the banks had to receive +from their depositors, who nevertheless continued to demand specie. +On January 1, 1862, the banks owed $459,000,000 and had in specie only +$87,000,000. Chase defended his course by saying that the financial +crisis was not due to his policy--or lack of policy, as it would now +seem--but to a general loss of faith in the outcome of the war. + +There now arose a moral crisis for this "imposing person" who was +Secretary of the Treasury--a crisis with regard to which there are +still differences of opinion. While he faced his problem silently, the +Committee on Ways and Means in the House took the matter in hand: Its +solution was an old one which all sound theorists on finance unite in +condemning--the issue of irredeemable paper money. And what did the +Secretary of the Treasury do? Previously, as Governor of Ohio, he had +denounced paper money as, in effect, a fraud upon society. Long after, +when the tide of fortune had landed him in the high place of Supreme +Justice, he returned to this view and condemned as unconstitutional the +law of 1862 establishing a system of paper money. But at the time +when that law was passed Chase, though he went through the form of +protesting, soon acquiesced. Before long he was asking Congress to allow +a further issue of what he had previously called "fraudulent" money. + +The answer to the question whether Chase should have stuck to his +principles and resigned rather than acquiesce in the paper money +legislation turns on that other question--how were the politician and +the financier related in his make-up? + +Before Congress and the Secretary had finished, $450,000,000 were +issued. Prices naturally rose, and there was speculation in gold. Even +before the first issue of paper money, the treasury notes had been +slightly below par. In January, 1863, a hundred dollars in paper would +bring, in New York, only $69.00 in gold; a year later, after falling, +rising, and falling again, the value was $64.00; in July and August, +1864, it was at its lowest, $39.00; when the war closed, it had risen to +$67.00. There was powerful protest against the legislation responsible +for such a condition of affairs. Justin Morrill, the author of the +Morrill tariff, said, "I would as soon provide Chinese wooden guns +for the army as paper money alone for the army. It will be a breach of +public faith. It will injure creditors; it will increase prices; it will +increase many fold the cost of the war." Recent students agree, in the +main, that his prophecies were fulfilled; and a common estimate of the +probable increase in the cost of the war through the use of paper money +and the consequent inflation of prices is $600,000,000. + +There was much more financial legislation in 1862; but Chase continued +to stand aside and allow Congress the lead in establishing an excise +law, an increase in the income tax, and a higher tariff--the last of +which was necessitated by the excise law which has been described as a +bill "that taxed everything." To enable American manufacturers to bear +the excise duties levied upon their business, protection was evoked +to secure them the possession of their field by excluding foreign +competition. All these taxes, however, produced but a fraction of the +Government's revenue. Borrowing, the favorite method of the Secretary, +was accepted by Congress as the main resource. It is computed that +by means of taxation there was raised in the course of the war +$667,163,247.00, while during the same period the Government borrowed +$2,621,916,786.00. + +Whatever else he may think of Chase, no one denies that in 1862 he had +other interests besides finance. Lincoln's Cabinet in those days was +far from an harmonious body. All through its history there was a Chase +faction and a Seward faction. The former had behind them the Radical +Republicans, while the latter relied upon the support of the moderates. +This division in the Republican party runs deep through the politics +of the time. There seems to be good reason to think that Chase was not +taken by surprise when his radical allies in Congress, in December, +1862, demanded of Lincoln the removal of Seward. It will be remembered +that the elections of the autumn of 1862 had gone against Lincoln. At +this moment of dismay, the friends of Chase struck their blow. Seward +instantly offered his resignation. But Lincoln skillfully temporized. +Thereupon, Chase also resigned. Judging from the scanty evidence we have +of his intention, we may conclude that he thought he had Lincoln in +a corner and that he expected either to become first minister or the +avowed chief of an irresistible opposition. But he seems to have gone +too fast for his followers. Lincoln had met them, together with his +Cabinet, in a conference in December, 1862, and frankly discussed the +situation, with the result that some of them wavered. When Lincoln +informed both Seward and Chase that he declined to accept their +resignations, both returned--Seward with alacrity, Chase with +reluctance. One of the clues to Lincoln's cabinet policy was his +determination to keep both these factions committed to the Government, +without allowing himself to be under the thumb of either. + +During the six months following the cabinet crisis Chase appears at +his best. A stupendous difficulty lay before him and he attacked it +manfully. The Government's deficit was $276,900,000. Of the loans +authorized in 1862--the "five-twenties" as they were called, bringing +six per cent and to run from five to twenty years at the Government's +pleasure---the sales had brought in, to December, 1862, only +$23,750,000, though five hundred million had been expected. The banks in +declining to handle these bonds laid the blame on the Secretary, who had +insisted that all purchasers should take them at par. + +It is not feasible, in a work of this character, to enter into the +complexities of the financial situation of 1863, or to determine just +what influences caused a revolution in the market for government bonds. +But two factors must be mentioned. Chase was induced to change his +attitude and to sell to banks large numbers of bonds at a rate below +par, thus enabling the banks to dispose of them at a profit. He also +called to his aid Jay Cooke, an experienced banker, who was allowed a +commission of one-half per cent on all bonds sold up to $10,000,000 and +three-eighths of one per cent after that. Cooke organized a countrywide +agency system, with twenty-five hundred subagents through whom he +offered directly to the people bonds in small denominations. By all +manner of devices, patriotism and the purchase of bonds were made to +appear the same thing, and before the end of the year $400,000,000 +in five-twenty bonds had been sold. This campaign to dispose of the +five-twenties was the turning-point in war finance, and later borrowings +encountered no such difficulties as those of 1862 and 1863. + +Better known today than this precarious legislation is the famous Act +of 1863, which was amended in the next year and which forms the basis +of our present system of national banks. To Chase himself the credit for +this seems to be due. Even in 1861 he advised Congress to establish +a system of national banks, and he repeated the advice before it was +finally taken. The central feature of this system which he advocated is +one with which we are still familiar: permission to the banks accepting +government supervision to deposit government bonds in the Treasury and +to acquire in return the right to issue bank-notes to the amount of +ninety per cent of the value of the bonds. + +There can be no doubt that Chase himself rated very highly his own +services to his country. Nor is there any doubt that, alone among +Lincoln's close associates, he continued until the end to believe +himself a better man than the President. He and his radical following +made no change in their attitude to Lincoln, though Chase pursued +a course of confidential criticism which has since inspired the +characterization of him as a "sneak," while his followers were more +outspoken. In the summer of 1863 Chase was seriously talked of as the +next President, and before the end of the year Chase clubs were being +organized in all the large cities to promote his candidacy. Chase +himself took the adroit position of not believing that any President +should serve a second term. + +Early in 1864 the Chase organization sent out a confidential circular +signed by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas setting forth the case against +Lincoln as a candidate and the case in favor of Chase. Unfortunately +for Chase, this circular fell into the hands of a newspaper and was +published. Chase at once wrote to Lincoln denying any knowledge of the +circular but admitting his candidacy and offering his resignation. No +more remarkable letter was written by Lincoln than his reply to Chase, +in which he showed that he had long fully understood the situation, and +which he closed with these words: "Whether you shall remain at the head +of the Treasury Department is a question which I do not allow myself +to consider from any standpoint other than my judgment of the public +service, and, in that view, I do not perceive occasion for change." + +The Chase boom rapidly declined. The deathblow was given by a caucus of +the Union members of the legislature of his own State nominating Lincoln +"at the demand of the people and the soldiers of Ohio." The defeat +embittered Chase. For several months, however, he continued in the +Cabinet, and during this time he had the mortification of seeing Lincoln +renominated in the National Union Convention amid a great display of +enthusiasm. + +More than once in the past, Chase had offered his resignation. On one +occasion Lincoln had gone to his house and had begged him to reconsider +his decision. Soon after the renomination, Chase again offered his +resignation upon the pretext of a disagreement with the President over +appointments to office. This time, however, Lincoln felt the end had +come and accepted the resignation. Chase's successor in the Treasury was +William Pitt Fessenden, Senator from Maine. During most of the summer +of 1864 Chase stood aside, sullen and envious, watching the progress of +Lincoln toward a second election. So much did his bitterness affect his +judgment that he was capable of writing in his diary his belief that +Lincoln meant to reverse his policy and consent to peace with slavery +reestablished. + + + +CHAPTER XI. NORTHERN LIFE DURING THE WAR + +The real effects of war on the life of nations is one of those old and +complicated debates which lie outside the scope of a volume such as +this. Yet in the particular case of the Northern people it is imperative +to answer two questions both of which have provoked interminable +discussion: Was the moral life of the North good or bad in the war +years? Was its commercial life sound? + +As to the moral question, contemporary evidence seems at first sight +contradictory. The very able Englishman who represented the "Times", +William H. Russell, gives this ugly picture of an American city in 1863: + +"Every fresh bulletin from the battlefield of Chickamauga, during my +three weeks' stay in Cincinnati, brought a long list of the dead and +wounded of the Western army, many of whom, of the officers, belonged to +the best families of the place. Yet the signs of mourning were hardly +anywhere perceptible; the noisy gaiety of the town was not abated one +jot." + +On the other hand, a private manuscript of a Cincinnati family describes +the "intense gloom hanging over the city like a pall" during the period +of that dreadful battle. The memories of old people at Cincinnati in +after days--if they had belonged to the "loyal" party--contained only +sad impressions of a city that was one great hospital where "all +our best people" worked passionately as volunteer assistants of the +government medical corps. + +A third fact to be borne in mind in connection with this apparent +contradiction in evidence is the source of the greater fortunes of +Cincinnati, a large proportion of which are to be traced, directly or +indirectly to government contracts during the war. In some cases the +merciless indifference of the Cincinnati speculators to the troubles +of their country are a local scandal to this day, and it is still told, +sometimes with scorn, sometimes with amusement, how perhaps the greatest +of these fortunes was made by forcing up the price of iron at a time +when the Government had to have iron, cost what it might. + +Thus we no sooner take up the moral problem of the times than we find +ourselves involved in the commercial question, for here, as always, +morals and business are intertwined. Was the commercial management of +the North creditable to the Government and an honor to the people? The +surest way to answer such questions is to trace out with some fullness +the commercial and industrial conditions of the North during the four +years of war. + +The general reader who looks for the first time into the matter is +likely to be staggered by what statistics seem to say. Apparently they +contradict what he is accustomed to hear from popular economists about +the waste of war. He has been told in the newspapers that business is +undermined by the withdrawal of great numbers of men from "productive" +consumption of the fruits of labor and their engagement as soldiers in +"unproductive" consumption. But, to his astonishment, he finds that the +statistics of 1861-1865 show much increase in Northern business--as, +for example, in 1865, the production of 142 million pounds of wool +against 60 million in 1860. The government reports show that 13 million +tons of coal were mined in 1860 and 21 million in 1864; in 1860, the +output of pig iron was 821,000 tons, and 1,014,282 tons in 1864; the +petroleum production rose from 21 million gallons in 1860 to 128 +million in 1862; the export of corn, measured in money, shows for 1860 +a business of $2,399,808 compared with $10,592,704 for 1863; wheat +exporting showed, also, an enormous increase, rising from 14 millions +in 1860 to 46 millions in 1863. There are, to be sure, many statistics +which seem to contradict these. Some of them will be mentioned +presently. And yet, on the whole, it seems safe to conclude that the +North, at the close of the third year of war was producing more and was +receiving larger profits than in 1860. + +To deal with this subject in its entirety would lead us into the +labyrinths of complex economic theory, yet two or three simple facts +appear so plain that even the mere historian may venture to set them +forth. When we look into the statistics which seem to show a general +increase of business during the war, we find that in point of fact this +increase was highly specialized. All those industries that dealt with +the physical necessities of life and all those that dealt peculiarly +with armies flourished amazingly. And yet there is another side to the +story, for there were other industries that were set back and some that +almost, if not entirely, disappeared. A good instance is the manufacture +of cotton cloth. When the war opened, 200,000 hands were employed in +this manufacture in New England. With the sealing up of the South and +the failure of the cotton supply, their work temporarily ceased. What +became of the workmen? Briefly, one of three things happened: some went +into other trades, such as munitions, in which the war had created an +abnormal demand for labor; a great number of them became soldiers; and +many of them went West and became farmers or miners. Furthermore, +many whose trades were not injured by the war left their jobs and fled +westward to escape conscription. Their places were left open to be +filled by operatives from the injured trades. In one or another of +these ways the laborer who was thrown out of work was generally able to +recover employment. But it is important to remember that the key to the +labor situation at that time was the vast area of unoccupied land which +could be had for nothing or next to nothing. This fact is brought +home by a comparison of the situation of the American with that of the +English workman during the cotton famine. According to its own ideas +England was then fully cultivated. There was no body of land waiting +to be thrown open, as an emergency device, to a host of new-made +agriculturists. When the cotton-mills stopped at Manchester, their +operatives had practically no openings but in other industrial +occupations. As such opportunities were lacking, they became objects of +charity until they could resume their work. As a country with a great +reserve of unoccupied land, the United States was singularly fortunate +at this economic crisis. + +One of the noteworthy features of Northern life during the war is that +there was no abnormal increase in pauperism. A great deal has been +written upon the extensive charities of the time, but the term is +wrongly applied, for what is really referred to is the volunteer aid +given to the Government in supporting the armies. This was done on +a vast scale, by all classes of the population--that is, by all who +supported the Union party, for the separation between the two parties +was bitter and unforgiving. But of charity in the ordinary sense of the +care of the destitute there was no significant increase because there +was no peculiar need. Here again the fact that the free land could +be easily reached is the final explanation. There was no need for the +unemployed workman to become a pauper. He could take advantage of the +Homestead Act*, which was passed in 1862, and acquire a farm of 160 +acres free; or he could secure at almost nominal cost farm-land +which had been given to railways as an inducement to build. Under the +Homestead Act, the Government gave away land amounting to 2,400,000 +acres before the close of the war. The Illinois Central alone sold to +actual settlers 221,000 acres in 1863 and 264,000 in 1864. It was during +the war, too, that the great undertaking of the transcontinental railway +was begun, partly for military and partly for commercial reasons. In +this project, both as a field of labor and as a stimulus to Western +settlement, there is also to be found one more device for the relief of +the labor situation in the East. + + *This Act, which may be regarded as the culmination of the + long battle of the Northern dreamers to win "land for the + landless," provided that every settler who was, or intended + to be, a citizen might secure 180 acres of government land + by living on it and cultivating it for five years. + +There is no more important phenomenon of the time than the shifting of +large masses of population from the East to the West, while the war was +in progress. This fact begins to indicate why there was no shortage in +the agricultural output. The North suffered acutely from inflation of +prices and from a speculative wildness that accompanied the inflation, +but it did not suffer from a lack of those things that are produced by +the soil--food, timber, metals, and coal. In addition to the reason just +mentioned--the search for new occupation by Eastern labor which had +been thrown out of employment--three other causes helped to maintain the +efficiency of work in the mines, in the forests, and on the farms. These +three factors were immigration, the labor of women, and labor-saving +machines. + +Immigration, naturally, fell off to a certain degree but it did not +become altogether negligible. It is probable that 110,000 able-bodied +men came into the country while war was in progress--a poor offset +to the many hundred thousand who became soldiers, but nevertheless a +contribution that counted for something. + +Vastly more important, in the work of the North, was the part taken by +women. A pathetic detail with which in our own experience the world has +again become familiar was the absence of young men throughout most +of the North, and the presence of women new to the work in many +occupations, especially farming. A single quotation from a home +missionary in Iowa tells the whole story: + +"I will mention that I met more women driving teams on the road and saw +more at work in the fields than men. They seem to have said to their +husbands in the language of a favorite song, + + 'Just take your gun and go; + For Ruth can drive the oxen, John, + And I can use the hoe!' + +"I went first to Clarinda, and the town seemed deserted. Upon inquiry +for former friends, the frequent answer was, 'In the army.' From +Hawleyville almost all the thoroughly loyal male inhabitants had gone; +and in one township beyond, where I formerly preached, there are but +seven men left, and at Quincy, the county seat of Adams County, but +five." + +Even more important than the change in the personnel of labor were the +new machines of the day. During the fifteen years previous to the war +American ingenuity had reached a high point. Such inventions as the +sewing machine and the horse-reaper date in their practical forms from +that period, and both of these helped the North to fight the war. Their +further improvement, and the extension of the principles involved to +many new forms of machinery, sprang from the pressing need to make up +for the loss of men who were drained by the army from the farms and the +workshops. It was the horse-reaper, the horse-rake, the horse-thresher +that enabled women and boys to work the farms while husbands, fathers, +and elder brothers were at the front. + +All these causes maintained Northern farming at a high pitch of +productivity. This efficiency is implied in some of the figures already +quoted, but many others could be cited. For example, in 1859, the total +production of wheat for the whole country was 173 million bushels; in +1862, the North alone produced 177 millions; even in 1864, with over a +million men under arms, it still produced 160 million bushels. + +It must be remembered that the great Northern army produced nothing +while it consumed the products of agriculture and manufacture--food, +clothing, arms, ammunition, cannon, wagons, horses, medical stores--at +a rate that might have led a poetical person to imagine the army as +a devouring dragon. Who, in the last analysis, provided all these +supplies? Who paid the soldiers? Who supplemented their meager pay and +supported their families? The people, of course; and they did so both +directly and indirectly. In taxes and loans they paid to the Government +about three thousand millions of dollars. Their indirect assistance was +perhaps as great, though it is impossible today to estimate with any +approach to accuracy the amount either in money or service. Among +obvious items are the collections made by the Sanitary Commission for +the benefit of the hospital service, amounting to twenty-five million +dollars, and about six millions raised by the Christian Commission. In +a hundred other ways both individuals and localities strained their +resources to supplement those of the Government. Immense subscription +lists were circulated to raise funds for the families of soldiers. The +city of Philadelphia alone spent in this way in a single year $600,000. +There is also evidence of a vast amount of unrecorded relief of +needy families by the neighbors, and in the farming districts, such +assistance, particularly in the form of fuel during winter, was very +generally given. + +What made possible this enormous total of contributions was, in a word, +the general willingness of those supporting the war to forego luxuries. +They ceased buying a great multitude of unnecessary things. But +what became of the labor that had previously supplied the demand for +luxuries? A part of it went the way of all other Northern labor--into +new trades, into the army, or to the West--and a part continued to +manufacture luxuries: for their market, though curtailed, was not +destroyed. There were, indeed, two populations in the North, and they +were separated by an emotional chasm. Had all the North been a unit in +feeling, the production of articles of luxury might have ceased. +Because of this emotional division of the North, however, this business +survived; for the sacrifice of luxurious expenditure was made by only a +part of the population, even though it was the majority. + +Furthermore, the whole matter was adjusted voluntarily without +systematic government direction, since there was nothing in the +financial policy of the Government to correspond to conscription. +Consequently, both in the way of loans and in the way of contributions, +as well as in the matter of unpaid service, the entire burden fell +upon the war party alone. In the absence of anything like economic +conscription, if such a phrase may be used, those Northerners who did +not wish to lend money, or to make financial sacrifice, or to give +unpaid service, were free to pursue their own bent. The election of 1864 +showed that they formed a market which amounted to something between six +and nine millions. There is no reason to suppose that these millions in +1864 spent less on luxuries than they did in 1860. Two or three items +are enough. In 1860, the importation of silk amounted to 32 million +dollars; in 1862, in spite of inflated prices, it had shrunk to 7 +millions; the consumption of malt liquors shrank from 101 million +gallons in 1860 to 62 million gallons in 1863; of coffee, hardly to be +classed as a luxury, there were consumed in 1861, 184 million pounds and +in 1863, 80 millions. + +The clue to the story of capital is to be found in this fact, too often +forgotten, that there was an economic-political division cutting deep +through every stratum of the Northern people. Their economic life +as well as their political life was controlled on the one hand by a +devotion to the cause of the war, and on the other hand by a hatred +of that cause or by cynical indifference. And we cannot insist too +positively that the Government failed very largely to take this fact +into account. The American spirit of invention, so conspicuous at that +time in mechanics, did not apply itself to the science of government. +Lincoln confessedly was not a financier; his instinct was at home only +in problems that could be stated in terms of men. Witness his acceptance +of conscription and his firmness in carrying it through, as a result +of which he saved the patriotic party from bearing the whole burden of +military service. But there was no parallel conservation of power in the +field of industry. The financial policy, left in the hands of Chase, may +truly be described as barren of ideas. Incidentally, it may be mentioned +that the "loyal" North was left at the mercy of its domestic enemies and +a prey to parasites by Chase's policy of loans instead of taxes and of +voluntary support instead of enforced support. + +The consequence of this financial policy was an immense opportunity for +the "disloyally" and the parasites to make huge war profits out of the +"loyals" and the Government. Of course, it must not be supposed that +everyone who seized the chance to feather his nest was so careless or so +impolitic as to let himself be classed as a "disloyal." An incident of +the autumn of 1861 shows the temper of those professed "loyals" who were +really parasites. The background of the incident is supplied by a report +of the Quartermaster-General: + +"Governors daily complain that recruiting will stop unless clothing is +sent in abundance and immediately to the various recruiting camps and +regiments. With every exertion, this department has not been able to +obtain clothing to supply these demands, and they have been so urgent +that troops before the enemy have been compelled to do picket duty in +the late cold nights without overcoats, or even coats, wearing only thin +summer flannel blouses.... Could 150,000 suits of clothing, overcoats, +coats, and pantaloons be placed today, in depot, it would scarce supply +the calls now before us. They would certainly leave no surplus." + +The Government attempted to meet this difficulty in the shortest +possible time by purchasing clothing abroad. But such disregard of home +industry, the "patriotism" of the New England manufacturers could not +endure. Along with the report just quoted, the Quartermaster-General +forwarded to the Secretary of War a long argumentative protest from +a committee of the Boston Board of Trade against the purchase of army +clothing in Europe. Any American of the present day can guess how +the protest was worded and what arguments were used. Stripped of its +insincerity, it signified this: the cotton mills were inoperative for +lack of material; their owners saw no chance to save their dividends +except by re-equipment as woolen mills; the existing woolen mills also saw +a great chance to force wool upon the market as a substitute for cotton. +In Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, the growers of wool saw +the opportunity with equal clearness. But, one and all, these various +groups of parasites saw that their game hinged on one condition: the +munitions market must be kept open until they were ready to monopolize +government contracts. If soldiers contracted pneumonia doing picket duty +on cold nights, in their summer blouses, that was but an unfortunate +incident of war. + +Very different in spirit from the protest of the Boston manufacturers +is a dispatch from the American minister at Brussels which shows what +American public servants, in contrast with American manufacturers, were +about. Abroad the agents of North and South were fighting a commercial +duel in which each strove to monopolize the munitions market. The United +States Navy, seeing things from an angle entirely different from that of +the Boston Board of Trade, ably seconded the ministers by blockading the +Southern ports and by thus preventing the movement of specie and cotton +to Europe. As a consequence, fourmonth notes which had been given by +Southern agents with their orders fell due, had to be renewed, and +began to be held in disfavor. Agents of the North, getting wind of +these hitches in negotiations, eagerly sought to take over the unpaid +Confederate orders. All these details of the situation help to explain +the jubilant tone of this dispatch from Brussels late in November, 1861: + +"I have now in my hands complete control of the principal rebel +contracts on the continent, viz.: 206,000 yards of cloth ready for +delivery, already commencing to move forward to Havre; gray but can +be dyed blue in twenty days; 100,000 yards deliverable from 15th of +December to 26th of January, light blue army cloth, same as ours; +100,000 blankets; 40,000 guns to be shipped in ten days; 20,000 saber +bayonets to be delivered in six weeks.... The winter clothing for +100,000 men taken out of their hands, when they cannot replace it, would +almost compensate for Bull Run. There is no considerable amount of cloth +to be had in Europe; the stocks are very short." + +The Secretary of War was as devoid of ideas as the Secretary of the +Treasury was and even less equipped with resisting power. Though he +could not undo the work already done by the agents of the Government +abroad, he gave way as rapidly as possible to the allied parasites whose +headquarters, at the moment, were in Boston. The story grows uglier +as we proceed. Two powerful commercial combinations took charge of the +policy of the woolen interests--the National Woolgrowers' Association +and the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, which were soon in +control of this immense industry. Woolen mills sprang up so fast that +a report of the New York Chamber of Commerce pronounced their increase +"scarcely credible." So great was the new market created by the +Government demand, and so ruthless were the parasites in forcing up +prices, that dividends on mill stock rose to 10, 15, 25, and even 40 per +cent. And all the while the wool growers and the wool manufacturers were +clamoring to Congress for protection of the home industry, exclusion +of the wicked foreign competition, and all in the name of their devoted +"patriotism"--patriotism with a dividend of 40 per cent! + +Of course, it is not meant that every wool grower and every woolen +manufacturer was either a "disloyal" or a parasite. By no means. Numbers +of them were to be found in that great host of "loyals" who put their +dividends into government bonds and gave their services unpaid as +auxiliaries of the Commissary Department or the Hospital Service of +the Army. What is meant is that the abnormal conditions of industry, +uncorrected by the Government, afforded a glaring opportunity for +unscrupulous men of business who, whatever their professions, cared a +hundred times more for themselves than for their country. To these +was due the pitiless hampering of the army in the interest of the +wool-trade. For example, many uniforms paid for at outrageous prices, +turned out to be made of a miserable cheap fabric, called "shoddy," +which resisted weather scarcely better than paper. This fraud gave +the word "shoddy" its present significance in our American speech and +produced the phrase--applied to manufacturers newly become rich--"shoddy +aristocracy." An even more shameful result of the selfishness of the +manufacturers and of the weakness of the Government was the use of cloth +for uniforms not of the regulation colors, with the result that soldiers +sometimes fired upon their comrades by mistake. + +The prosperity of the capitalists who financed the woolen business did +not extend to the labor employed in it. One of the ugliest details of +the time was the resolute attempt of the parasites to seize the whole +amount of the abnormal profits they wrung from the Government and from +the people. For it must not be forgotten that the whole nation had to +pay their prices. It is estimated that prices in the main advanced about +100 per cent while wages were not advanced more than sixty per cent. +It is not strange that these years of war form a period of bitter +antagonism between labor and capital. + +What went on in the woolen business is to be found more or less in every +business. Immense fortunes sprang up over night. They had but two +roots: government contracts and excessive profits due to war prices. The +gigantic fortunes which characterized the North at the end of the war +are thus accounted for. The so-called prosperity of the time was a +class prosperity and was absorbed by parasites who fattened upon the +necessities of the Government and the sacrifices of the people. + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE MEXICAN EPISODE + +That French demagogue whom Victor Hugo aptly called Napoleon the Little +was a prime factor in the history of the Union and the Confederacy. The +Confederate side of his intrigue will be told in its proper place. Here, +let us observe him from the point of view of Washington. + +It is too much to attempt to pack into a sentence or two the complicated +drama of deceit, lies, and graft, through which he created at last a +pretext for intervention in the affairs of Mexico; it is enough that in +the autumn of 1862 a French army of invasion marched from Vera Cruz upon +Mexico City. We have already seen that about this same time Napoleon +proposed to England and Russia a joint intervention with France between +North and South--a proposal which, however, was rejected. This Mexican +venture explains why the plan was suggested at that particular time. + +Disappointed in England and Russia, Napoleon unexpectedly received +encouragement, as he thought, from within the United States through the +medium of the eccentric editor of the "New York Tribune". We shall +have occasion to return later to the adventures of Horace Greeley--that +erratic individual who has many good and generous acts to his credit, as +well as many foolish ones. For the present we have to note that toward +the close of 1862 he approached the French Ambassador at Washington +with a request for imperial mediation between the North and the South. +Greeley was a type of American that no European can understand: he +believed in talk, and more talk, and still more talk, as the cure for +earthly ills. He never could understand that anybody besides himself +could have strong convictions. When he told the Ambassador that the +Emperor's mediation would lead to a reconciliation of the sections, he +was doubtless sincere in his belief. The astute European diplomat, who +could not believe such simplicity, thought it a mask. When he asked for, +and received, permission to pass the Federal lines and visit Richmond, +he interpreted the permit in the light of his assumption about Greeley. +At Richmond, he found no desire for reunion. Putting this and that +together, he concluded that the North wanted to give up the fight +and would welcome mediation to save its face. The dreadful defeat at +Fredericksburg fell in with this reasoning. His reports on American +conditions led Napoleon, in January, 1863, to attempt alone what he had +once hoped to do supported by England and Russia. He proposed his good +offices to the Government at Washington as a mediator between North and +South. + +Hitherto, Washington had been very discreet about Mexico. Adroit hints +not to go too far had been given Napoleon in full measure, but there was +no real protest. The State Department now continued this caution and in +the most polite terms declined Napoleon's offer. Congress, however, took +the matter more grimly, for throughout the dealings with Napoleon, it +had been at odds with Lincoln. It now passed the first of a series of +resolutions which expressed the will of the country, if not quite +the will of the President, by resolving that any further proposal of +mediation would be regarded by it as "an unfriendly act." + +Napoleon then resumed his scheming for joint intervention, while in +the meantime his armies continued to fight their way until they entered +Mexico City in June, 1863. The time had now come when Napoleon thought +it opportune to show his hand. Those were the days when Lee appeared +invincible, and when Chancellorsville crowned a splendid series of +triumphs. In England, the Southern party made a fresh start; and +societies were organized to aid the Confederacy. At Liverpool, +Laird Brothers were building, ostensibly for France, really for the +Confederacy, two ironclads supposed to outclass every ship in the +Northern navy. In France, 100,000 unemployed cotton hands were rioting +for food. To raise funds for the Confederacy the great Erlanger +banking-house of Paris negotiated a loan based on cotton which was to +be delivered after the breaking of the blockade. Napoleon dreamed of a +shattered American union, two enfeebled republics, and a broad way for +his own scheme in Mexico. + +In June an English politician of Southern sympathies, Edward Roebuck, +went over to France, was received by the Emperor, and came to an +understanding with him. Roebuck went home to report to the Southern +party that Napoleon was ready to intervene, and that all he waited for +was England's cooperation. A motion "to enter into negotiations with the +Great Powers of Europe for the purpose of obtaining their cooperation +in the recognition" of the Confederacy was introduced by Roebuck in the +House of Commons. + +The debate which followed was the last chance of the Southern party +and, as events proved, the last chance of Napoleon. How completely the +British ministry was now committed to the North appears in the fact that +Gladstone, for the Government, opposed Roebuck's motion. John Bright +attacked it in what Lord Morley calls "perhaps the most powerful and the +noblest speech of his life." The Southern party was hardly resolute in +their support of Roebuck and presently he withdrew his motion. + +But there were still the ironclads at Liverpool. We have seen that +earlier in the war, the carelessness of the British authorities had +permitted the escape of ship 290, subsequently known as the Confederate +commerce-destroyer, Alabama. The authorities did not wish to allow a +repetition of the incident. But could it be shown that the Laird +ships were not really for a French purchaser? It was in the course +of diplomatic conversations that Mr. Adams, speaking of the possible +sailing of the ships, made a remark destined to become famous: "It would +be superfluous in me to point out to your lordship that this is war." At +jest, the authorities were satisfied. The ships were seized and in the +end bought for the British Navy. + +Again Napoleon stood alone. Not only had he failed to obtain aid +from abroad, but in France itself his Mexican schemes were widely and +bitterly condemned. Yet he had gone too far to recede, and what he +had been aiming at all along was now revealed. An assembly of Mexican +notables, convened by the general of the invaders, voted to set up an +imperial government and offered the crown to Napoleon's nominee, the +Archduke Maximilian of Austria. + +And now the Government at Washington was faced with a complicated +problem. What about the Monroe Doctrine? Did the Union dare risk war +with France? Did it dare pass over without protest the establishment +of monarchy on American soil by foreign arms? Between these horns of +a dilemma, the Government maintained its precarious position during +another year. Seward's correspondence with Paris was a masterpiece of +evasion. He neither protested against the intervention of Napoleon +nor acknowledged the authority of Maximilian. Apparently, both he +and Lincoln were divided between fear of a French alliance with the +Confederacy and fear of premature action in the North that would render +Napoleon desperate. Just how far they comprehended Napoleon and his +problems is an open question. + +Whether really comprehending or merely trusting to its instinct, +Congress took a bolder course. Two men prove the antagonists of a +parliamentary duel--Charles Sumner, chairman of the Senate Committee on +Foreign Relations, and Henry Winter Davis, chairman of the corresponding +committee of the House. Sumner played the hand of the Administration. +Fiery resolutions demanding the evacuation of Mexico or an American +declaration of war were skillfully buried in the silence of Sumner's +committee. But there was nevertheless one resolution that affected +history: it was a ringing condemnation of the attempt to establish +a monarchy in Mexico. In the House, a joint resolution which Davis +submitted was passed without one dissenting vote. When it came to the +Senate, Sumner buried it as he had buried earlier resolutions. None the +less it went out to the world attended by the news of the unanimous vote +in the House. + +Shortly afterwards, the American Ambassador at Paris called upon the +imperial Foreign Secretary, M. Drouyn de L'huys. News of this resolution +had preceded him. He was met by the curt question, "Do you bring peace +or war?" Again, the Washington Government was skillfully evasive. The +Ambassador was instructed to explain that the resolution had not been +inspired by the President and "the French Government would be seasonably +apprized of any change of policy...which the President might at any +future time think it proper to adopt." + +There seems little doubt that Lincoln's course was very widely condemned +as timid. When we come to the political campaign of 1864, we shall +meet Henry Winter Davis among his most relentless personal enemies. +Dissatisfaction with Lincoln's Mexican policy has not been sufficiently +considered in accounting for the opposition to him, inside the war +party, in 1864. To it may be traced an article in the platform of the +war party, adopted in June, 1864, protesting against the establishment +of monarchy "in near proximity to the United States." In the same month +Maximilian entered Mexico City. + +The subsequent moves of Napoleon are explained elsewhere.* The central +fact in the story is his virtual change of attitude, in the summer of +1864. The Confederate agent at Paris complained of a growing coolness. +Before the end of the summer, the Confederate Secretary of State was +bitter in his denunciation of Napoleon for having deserted the South. +Napoleon's puppet Maximilian refused to receive an envoy from the +Confederacy. Though Washington did not formally protest against +the presence of Maximilian in Mexico, it declined to recognize his +Government, and that Government continued unrecognized at Washington +throughout the war. + + *Nathaniel W. Stephenson, "The Day of the Confederacy". (In + "The Chronicles of America"). + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE PLEBISCITE OF 1864 + +Every great revolution among Anglo-Saxon people--perhaps among all +people--has produced strange types of dreamers. In America, however, +neither section could claim a monopoly of such types, and even the +latter-day visionaries who can see everything in heaven and earth, +excepting fact, had their Northern and Southern originals in the time +of the great American war. Among these is a strange congregation which +assembled in the spring of 1864 and which has come to be known, from its +place of meeting, as the Cleveland Convention. Its coming together was +the result of a loose cooperation among several minor political groups, +all of which were for the Union and the war, and violently opposed to +Lincoln. So far as they had a common purpose, it was to supplant Lincoln +by Fremont in the next election. + +The Convention was notable for the large proportion of agnostics among +its members. A motion was made to amend a resolution that "the Rebellion +must be put down" by adding the words "with God's assistance." This +touch of piety was stormily rejected. Another group represented at +Cleveland was made up of extreme abolitionists under the leadership of +that brilliant but disordered genius, Wendell Phillips. He sent a letter +denouncing Lincoln and pledging his support of Fremont because of the +latter's "clearsighted statesmanship and rare military ability." The +convention declared itself a political party, under the style of the +Radical Democracy, and nominated Fremont for President. + +There was another body of dreamers, still more singular, who were also +bitter opponents of Lincoln. They were, however, not in favor of war. +Their political machinery consisted of secret societies. As early as +1860, the Knights of the Golden Circle were active in Indiana, where +they did yeoman service for Breckinridge. Later this society acquired +some underground influence in other States, especially in Ohio, and did +its share in bringing about the victories at the polls in the autumn of +1862, when the Democrats captured the Indiana legislature. + +The most serious charge against the Golden Circle was complicity in an +attempt to assassinate Oliver P. Morton, Governor of Indiana, who was +fired at, one night, as he was leaving the state house. When Morton +demanded an investigation of the Golden Circle, the legislature refused +to sanction it. On his own authority and with Federal aid he made +investigations and published a report which, if it did not actually +prove treason, came dangerously near to proof. Thereafter, this society +drops out of sight, and its members appear to have formed the new Order +of the American Knights, which in its turn was eclipsed by the Sons +of Liberty. There were several other such societies all organized on a +military plan and with a great pretense of arming their members. This, +however, had to be done surreptitiously. Boxes of rifles purchased +in the East were shipped West labeled "Sunday-school books," and +negotiations were even undertaken with the Confederacy to bring in arms +by way of Canada. At a meeting of the supreme council of the Sons of +Liberty, in New York, February 22, 1864, it was claimed that the order +had nearly a million members, though the Government secret service +considered half a million a more exact estimate. + +As events subsequently proved, the societies were not as formidable as +these figures would imply. Most of the men who joined them seem to have +been fanciful creatures who loved secrecy for its own sake. While real +men, North and South, were laying down their lives for their principles, +these make-believe men were holding bombastic initiations and taking +oaths such as this from the ritual of the American Knights: "I do +further solemnly promise and swear, that I will ever cherish the sublime +lessons which the sacred emblems of our order suggest, and will, so far +as in me lies, impart those lessons to the people of the earth, where +the mystic acorn falls from its parent bough, in whose visible firmament +Orion, Arcturus, and the Pleiades ride in their cold resplendent +glories, and where the Southern Cross dazzles the eye of degraded +humanity with its coruscations of golden light, fit emblem of Truth, +while it invites our sacred order to consecrate her temples in the four +corners of the earth, where moral darkness reigns and despotism holds +sway.... Divine essence, so help me that I fail not in my troth, lest +I shall be summoned before the tribunal of the order, adjudged and +condemned to certain and shameful death, while my name shall be recorded +on the rolls of infamy. Amen." + +The secret orders fought hard to prevent the Lincoln victory in the +elections of 1863. Even before that time their leaders had talked +mysteriously of another disruption of the Union and the formation of +a Northwestern Confederacy in alliance with the South. The scheme was +known to the Confederates, allusions to it are to be found in Southern +newspapers, and even the Confederate military authorities considered it. +Early in 1863, General Beauregard thought the Confederates might "get +into Ohio and call upon the friends of Vallandigham to rise for his +defense and support; then...call upon the whole Northwest to join in the +movement, form a confederacy of their own, and join us by a treaty +of alliance, offensive and defensive." Reliance on the support of the +societies was the will-o'-the-wisp that deceived General John Morgan +in his desperate attempt to carry out Beauregard's programme. Though +brushed aside as a mere detail by military historians, Morgan's raid, +with his force of irregular cavalry, in July, 1863, through Indiana and +Ohio, was one of the most romantic episodes of the war. But it ended +in his defeat and capture. While his gallant troopers rode to their +destruction, the men who loved to swear by Arcturus and to gabble about +the Pleiades showed the fiber to be expected of such people, and stayed +snug in their beds. + +But neither their own lack of hardihood nor the disasters of their +Southern friends could dampen their peculiar ardor. Their hero was +Vallandigham. That redoubtable person had fixed his headquarters in +Canada, whence he directed his partisans in their vain attempt to elect +him Governor of Ohio. Their next move was to honor him with the office +of Supreme Commander of the Sons of Liberty, and now Vallandigham +resolved to win the martyr's crown in very fact. In June, 1864, he +prepared for the dramatic effect by carefully advertising his intention +and came home. But to his great disappointment Lincoln ignored him, and +the dramatic martyrdom which he had planned did not come off. + +There still existed the possibility of a great uprising, and to that +end arrangements were made with Southern agents in Canada. Confederate +soldiers, picked men, made their way in disguise to Chicago. There the +worshipers of Arcturus were to join them in a mighty multitude; the +Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas in Chicago were to be liberated; +around that core of veterans, the hosts of the Pleiades were to +rally. All this was to coincide with the assembling at Chicago of the +Democratic national convention, in which Vallandigham was to appear. The +organizers of the conspiracy dreamed that the two events might coalesce; +that the convention might be stampeded by their uprising; that a +great part, if not the whole, of the convention would endorse the +establishment of a Northwestern Confederacy. + +Alas for him who builds on the frame of mind that delights in cheap +rhetoric while Rome is afire! At the moment of hazard, the Sons of +Liberty showed the white feather, were full of specious words, would not +act. The Confederate soldiers, indignant at this second betrayal, had to +make their escape from the country. + +It must not be supposed that this Democratic national convention was +made up altogether of Secessionists. The peace party was still, as +in the previous year, a strange complex, a mixture of all sorts and +conditions. Its cohesion was not so much due to its love of peace as to +its dislike of Lincoln and its hatred of his party. Vallandigham was +a member of the committee on resolutions. The permanent chairman was +Governor Seymour of New York. The Convention was called to order by +August Belmont, a foreigner by birth, the American representative of the +Rothschilds. He was the head and front of that body of Northern capital +which had so long financed the South and which had always opposed the +war. In opening the Convention he said: "Four years of misrule by a +sectional, fanatical, and corrupt party have brought our country to the +verge of ruin." In the platform Lincoln was accused of a list of crimes +which it had become the habit of the peace party to charge against +him. His administration was described as "four years of failure," and +McClellan was nominated for President. + +The Republican managers called a convention at Baltimore in June, 1864, +with a view to organizing a composite Union Party in which the War +Democrats were to participate. Their plan was successful. The second +place on the Union ticket was accepted by a War Democrat, Andrew +Johnson, of Tennessee. Lincoln was renominated, though not without +opposition, and he was so keenly aware that he was not the unanimous +choice of the Union Party that he permitted the fact to appear in a +public utterance soon afterward. "I do not allow myself," he said, in +addressing a delegation of the National Union League, "to suppose that +either the Convention or the League have concluded to decide that I am +either the greatest or the best man in America, but rather they have +concluded it is not best to swap horses while crossing the river, and +have further concluded that I am not so poor a horse that they might not +make a botch of it in trying to swap." + +But the Union Party was so far from being a unit that during the summer +factional quarrels developed within its ranks. All the elements +that were unfriendly to Lincoln took heart from a dispute between the +President and Congress with regard to reconstruction in Louisiana, over +a large part of which Federal troops had established a civil government +on the President's authority. As an incident in the history of +reconstruction, this whole matter has its place in another volume.* But +it also has a place in the history of the presidential campaign of +1864. Lincoln's plan of reconstruction was obnoxious to the Radicals in +Congress inasmuch as it did not definitely abolish slavery in Louisiana, +although it required the new Government to give its adherence to the +Emancipation Proclamation. Congress passed a bill taking reconstruction +out of the President's hands and definitely requiring the reconstructed +States to abolish slavery. Lincoln took the position that Congress had +no power over slavery in the States. When his Proclamation was thrown in +his teeth, he replied, "I conceive that I may in an emergency do things +on military grounds which cannot be done constitutionally by Congress." +Incidentally there was a further disagreement between the President and +the Radicals over negro suffrage. Though neither scheme provided for +it, Lincoln would extend it, if at all, only to the exceptional negroes, +while the Radicals were ready for a sweeping extension. But Lincoln +refused to sign their bill and it lapsed. Thereupon Benjamin Wade of +Ohio and Henry Winter Davis of Maryland issued a savage denunciation of +Lincoln which has been known ever since as the "Wade-Davis Manifesto". + + * Walter L. Fleming, "The Sequel of Appomattox". In "The + Chronicles of America". + +There was a faction in the Union Party which we may justly name the +Vindictives. The "Manifesto" gave them a rallying cry. At a conference +in New York they decided to compel the retirement of Lincoln and the +nomination of some other candidate. For this purpose a new convention +was to be called at Cincinnati in September. In the ranks of the +Vindictives at this time was the impetuous editor of the "New York +Tribune", Horace Greeley. His presence there calls for some explanation. +Perhaps the most singular figure of the time, he was one of the most +irresponsible and yet, through his paper, one of the most influential. +He had a trick of phrase which, somehow, made him appear oracular to the +plain people, especially in the rural districts--the very people on whom +Lincoln relied for a large part of his support. Greeley knew his +power, and his mind was not large enough to carry the knowledge well. +Furthermore, his was the sort of nature that relates itself to life +above all through the sensibilities. Kipling speaks scornfully of people +who if their "own front door is shut will swear the world is warm." They +are relations in the full blood of Horace Greeley. + +In July, when the breach between the President and the Vindictives was +just beginning to be evident, Greeley was pursuing an adventure of his +own. Among the least sensible minor incidents of the war were a number +of fantastic attempts of private persons to negotiate peace. With +one exception they had no historic importance. The exception is a +negotiation carried on by Greeley, which seems to have been the ultimate +cause of his alliance with the Vindictives. + +In the middle of July, 1864, gold was selling in New York at 285. +There was distress and discontent throughout the country. The horrible +slaughter of the Wilderness, still fresh in everybody's mind, had put +the whole Union Party into mourning. The impressionable Greeley became +frantic for peace peace at any price. At the psychological moment word +was conveyed to him that two persons in Canada held authority from +the Confederacy to enter into negotiations for peace. Greeley wrote to +Lincoln demanding negotiations because "our bleeding, bankrupt, almost +dying country longs for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh +conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of +human blood." + +Lincoln consented to a negotiation but stipulated that Greeley himself +should become responsible for its conduct. Though this was not what +Greeley wanted for his type always prefers to tell others what to +do--he sullenly accepted. He proceeded to Niagara to meet the reputed +commissioners of the Confederacy. The details of the futile conference +do not concern us. The Confederate agents were not empowered to treat +for peace--at least not on any terms that would be considered at +Washington. Their real purpose was far subtler. Appreciating the +delicate balance in Northern politics, they aimed at making it appear +that Lincoln was begging for terms. Lincoln, who foresaw this possible +turn of events, had expressly limited Greeley to negotiations for "the +integrity of the whole Union and the abandonment of slavery." Greeley +chose to believe that these instructions, and not the subtlety of the +Confederate agents and his own impulsiveness, were the cause of the +false position in which the agents now placed him. They published an +account of the episode, thus effecting an exposure which led to sharp +attacks upon Greeley by the Northern press. In the bitterness of his +mortification Greeley then went from one extreme to the other and joined +the Vindictives. + +Less than three weeks after the conference at Niagara, the "Wade-Davis +Manifesto" appeared. It was communicated to the country through the +columns of Greeley's paper on the 5th of August. Greeley, who so short +a time before was for peace at any price, went the whole length of +reaction by proclaiming that "Mr. Lincoln is already beaten.... We must +have another ticket to save us from utter overthrow. If we had such +a ticket as could be made by naming Grant, Butler, or Sherman for +President and Farragut for Vice, we could make a fight yet." + +At about this same time the chairman of the Republican national +committee, who was a Lincoln man, wrote to the President that the +situation was desperate. Lincoln himself is known to have made a private +memorandum containing the words, "It seems extremely probable that this +Administration will not be reelected." On the 1st of September, 1864, +with three presidential candidates in the field, Northern politics were +bewildering, and the country was shrouded in the deepest gloom. The +Wilderness campaign, after slaughter unparalleled, had not in the +popular mind achieved results. Sherman, in Georgia, though his losses +were not as terrible as Grant's, had not yet done anything to lighten +the gloom. Not even Farragut's victory in Mobile Bay, in August, +far-reaching as it proved to be, reassured the North. A bitter cry for +peace went up even from lovers of the Union whose hearts had failed. + +Meanwhile, the brilliant strategist in Georgia was pressing his drive +for political as well as for military effect. To rouse those Unionists +who had lost heart was part of his purpose when he hurled his columns +against Atlanta, from which Hood was driven in one of the most +disastrous of Confederate defeats. On the 3rd of September Lincoln +issued a proclamation appointing a day of thanksgiving for these great +victories of Sherman and Farragut. + +On that day, it would seem, the tide turned in Northern politics. Some +historians are content with Atlanta as the explanation of all that +followed; but there are three separate events of importance that now +occurred as incidents in the complicated situation. In the first place, +three weeks later the radical opposition had collapsed; the plan for a +new convention was abandoned; the Vindictive leaders came out in support +of Lincoln. Almost simultaneously occurred the remaining two surprising +events. Fremont withdrew from his candidacy in order to do his "part +toward preventing the election of the Democratic candidate." And Lincoln +asked for the resignation of a member of his Cabinet, Postmaster-General +Montgomery Blair, who was the especial enemy of the Vindictives. + +The official biographers of Lincoln* keep these three events separate. +They hold that Blair's removal was wholly Lincoln's idea, and that from +chivalrous reasons he would not abandon his friend as long as he seemed +to be losing the game. The historian Rhodes writes confidently of a +bargain with Fremont, holding that Blair was removed to terminate a +quarrel with Fremont which dated back even to his own removal in 1861. +A possible third theory turns upon Chase, whose hostility to Blair was +quite equal to that of the illbalanced Fremont. It had been stimulated +the previous winter by a fierce arraignment of Chase made by Blair's +brother in Congress, in which Chase was bluntly accused of fraud and +of making money, or allowing his friends to make money, through illicit +trade in cotton. And Chase was a man of might among the Vindictives. The +intrigue, however, never comes to the foreground in history, but lurks +in the background thick with shadows. Once or twice among those +shadows we seem to catch a glimpse of the figure of Thurlow Weed, the +master-politician of the time. Taking one thing with another, we may +risk the guess that somehow the two radical groups which were both +relentless against Blair were led to pool their issues, and that Blair's +removal was the price Lincoln paid not to one faction of radicals but to +the whole unmerciful crowd. + + *His private secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay. + +Whatever complex of purposes lay back of the triple coincidence, the +latter part of September saw a general reunion of the factions within +the Union Party, followed by a swift recovery of strength. When the +election came, Lincoln received an electoral vote of 212 against 21, and +a popular vote of 2,330,552 against 1,835,985. + +The inevitable question arises as to what was the real cause of this +success. It is safe to say that the political campaign contained some +adroit strategy; that Sherman was without doubt an enormous factor; that +the Democrats made numerous blunders; and that the secret societies had +an effect other than they intended. However, the real clue seems to be +found in one sentence from a letter written by Lowell to Motley when the +outlook for his party was darkest: "The mercantile classes are longing +for peace, but I believe that the people are more firm than ever." Of +the great, silent mass of the people, the true temper seems to be struck +off in a popular poem of the time, written in response to one of the +calls for more troops, a poem with refrains built on the model of this +couplet: + +"We're coming from the hillside, we're coming from the shore, We're +coming, Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more." + + + +CHAPTER XIV. LINCOLN'S FINAL INTENTIONS + +The victory of the Union Party in November enabled Lincoln to enjoy for +a brief period of his career as President what may be thought of as a +lull in the storm. He knew now that he had at last built up a firm +and powerful support. With this assured, his policy, both domestic and +foreign--the key to which was still the blockade--might be considered +victorious at all points. There remains to be noticed, however, one +event of the year 1864 which was of vital importance in maintaining the +blockade. + +It is a principle of international law that a belligerent must itself +attend to the great task of suppressing contraband trade with its enemy. +Lincoln was careful to observe this principle. Though British merchants +were frankly speculating in contraband trade, he made no demand upon +the British Government to relieve him of the difficulty of stopping it. +England also took the legitimate position under international law +and warned her merchants that, while it was none of the Government's +business to prevent such trade, they practised it at their own risk, +subject to well-understood penalties agreed upon among nations. The +merchants nevertheless continued to take the risk, while both they and +the authorities of the Confederacy thought they saw a way of minimizing +the danger. Instead of shipping supplies direct to the Confederate ports +they shipped them to Matamoros, in Mexico, or to the West Indies. As +these ports were in neutral territory, the merchants thought their goods +would be safe against capture until they left the Mexican or West +Indian port on their brief concluding passage to the territory of the +Confederacy. Nassau, then a petty West India town, was the chief depot +of such trade and soon became a great commercial center. To it came vast +quantities of European goods which were then transferred to swift, small +vessels, or "blockade-runners," which took a gambler's chance and often +succeeded in eluding the Federal patrol ships and in rushing their +cargoes safe into a Confederate port. + +Obviously, it was a great disadvantage to the United States to allow +contraband supplies to be accumulated, without interference, close to +the blockaded coast, and the Lincoln Government determined to remove +this disadvantage. With this end in view it evoked the principle of the +continuous voyage, which indeed was not new, but which was destined to +become fixed in international law by the Supreme Court of the United +States. American cruisers were instructed to stop British ships sailing +between the British ports of Liverpool and Nassau; they were to use the +recognized international rights of visit and search; and if there was +evidence that the cargo was not destined for actual consumption at +Nassau, they were to bring the ship into an American port to be dealt +with by an American prize court. When such arrests began, the owners +clamored to the British Government, and both dealers in contraband and +professional blockade-runners worked themselves into a fury because +American cruisers watched British ports and searched British ships on +the high seas. With regard to this matter, the British Government and +the Government at Washington had their last important correspondence +during the war. The United States stood firm for the idea that when +goods were ultimately intended for the Confederacy, no matter how +roundabout the journey, they could be considered as making a single +continuous voyage and were liable to capture from the day they left +Liverpool. Early in 1865, the Supreme Court of the United States fully +developed the principle of continuous voyage in four celebrated cases +that are now among the landmarks of international law.* + + * The Great war has once again led to controversy over this + subject, so vital to neutral states. + +This was the last step in making the blockade effective. Thereafter, it +slowly strangled the South. The Federal armies enormously overmatched +the Southern, and from November, 1864, their continuance in the field +was made sure. Grim work still lay before Lincoln, but the day of +anxiety was past. In this moment of comparative ease, the aged Chief +Justice Taney died, and Lincoln appointed to that high position his +ungenerous rival, Chase. + +Even now Lincoln had not established himself as a leader superior to +party, but he had the satisfaction, early in 1865, of seeing the ranks +of the opposition begin to break. Naturally, the Thirteenth Amendment +to the Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, +appeared to Lincoln as in a way the consummation of his labors. When +the House voted on the resolution to send this amendment to the States, +several Democrats joined the government forces. Two nights afterward, +speaking to a serenading party at the White House, Lincoln made a brief +speech, part of which is thus reported by his secretaries: "He thought +this measure was a very fitting if not an indispensable adjunct to the +winding up of the great difficulty. He wished the reunion of all the +States perfected, and so effected as to remove all causes of disturbance +in the future; and to attain this end, it was necessary that the +original disturbing cause should, if possible, be rooted out." + +An event which in its full detail belongs to Confederate rather than to +Union history took place soon after this. At Hampton Roads, Lincoln and +Seward met Confederate commissioners who had asked for a parley--with +regard to peace. Nothing came of the meeting, but the conference gave +rise to a legend, false in fact and yet true in spirit, according to +which Lincoln wrote on a sheet of paper the word "Union," pushed it +across to Alexander H. Stephens and said, "Write under that anything you +please." + +This fiction expresses Lincoln's attitude toward the sinking +Confederacy. On his return from Hampton Roads he submitted to his +Cabinet a draft of a message which he proposed to send to Congress. He +recommended the appropriation of $400,000,000 to be distributed among +the slave states on condition that war cease before April 1, 1865. Not a +member of the Cabinet approved. His secretary, Mr. Nicolay, writes: "The +President, in evident surprise and sorrow at the want of statesmanlike +liberality shown by his executive council, folded and laid away the +draft of his message...." With a deep sigh he added, "But you are all +opposed to me, and I will not send the message." + +His second inauguration passed without striking incidents. Chase, as +Chief Justice, administered the oath. The second inaugural address +contained words which are now famous: "With malice towards none; with +charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the +right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the +nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and +for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a +just and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." + +That gigantic system of fleets and armies, the creation of which was due +to Lincoln, was closing tight around the dying Confederacy. Five weeks +after the inauguration Lee surrendered, and the war was virtually at an +end. What was to come after was inevitably the overshadowing topic of +the hour. Many anecdotes represent Lincoln, in these last few days +of his life, as possessed by a high though melancholy mood of extreme +mercy. Therefore, much has been inferred from the following words, in +his last public address, made on the night of the 11th of April: "In the +present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some +new announcement to the people of the South. I am considering and shall +not fail to act when action shall be proper." + +What was to be done for the South, what treatment should be accorded the +Southern leaders, engrossed the President and his Cabinet at the meeting +on the 14th of April, which was destined to be their last. Secretary +Welles has preserved the spirit of the meeting in a striking anecdote. +Lincoln said that no one need expect he would "take any part in hanging +or killing those men, even the worst of them. Frighten them out of the +country, open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off;" said he, +throwing up his hands as if scaring sheep. "Enough lives have been +sacrificed; we must extinguish our resentments if we expect harmony and +union." + +While Lincoln was thus arming himself with a valiant mercy, a band of +conspirators at an obscure boardinghouse in Washington were planning his +assassination. Their leader was John Wilkes Booth, an actor, brother of +the much abler Edwin Booth. There seems little doubt that he was insane. +Around him gathered a small group of visionary extremists in whom much +brooding upon Southern wrongs had produced an unbalanced condition. Only +a morbid interest can attach today to the strange cunning with +which Booth laid his plans, thinking of himself all the while as a +reincarnation of the Roman Brutus. + +On the night of the 14th of April, the President attended a performance +of "Our American Cousin". While the play was in progress, Booth stole +into the President's box, came close behind him, and shot him through +the head. Lincoln never spoke again and, shortly after seven next +morning, ceased breathing. + +At the same time, a futile attempt was made upon the life of Seward. +Booth temporarily escaped. Later he was overtaken and shot. His +accomplices were hanged. + + +The passage of sixty years has proved fully necessary to the placing of +Lincoln in historic perspective. No President, in his own time, with the +possible exception of Washington, was so bitterly hated and so fiercely +reviled. On the other hand, none has been the object of such intemperate +hero-worship. However, the greatest of the land were, in the main, quick +to see him in perspective and to recognize his historic significance. It +is recorded of Davis that in after days he paid a beautiful tribute to +Lincoln and said, "Next to the destruction of the Confederacy, the death +of Abraham Lincoln was the darkest day the South has known." + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +There are two general histories, of conspicuous ability, that deal with +this period: + +J. F. Rhodes, "History of the United States from the Compromise of +1850", 7 vols. (1893-1906), and J. B. McMaster, "History of the People +of the United States", 7 vols. (1883-1912). McMaster has the more +"modern" point of view and is excellent but dry, without any sense of +narrative. Rhodes has a somewhat older point of view. For example, he +makes only a casual reference, in a quotation, to the munitions +problem of 1861, though analyzing with great force and candor such +constitutional issues as the arrests under the suspension of the writ +of habeas corpus. The other strong points in his work are its sense +of narrative, its freedom from hero-worship, its independence of +conventional views of Northern leaders. As to the South, it suffers from +a certain Narrowness of vision due to the comparative scantiness of the +material used. The same may be said of McMaster. + +For Lincoln, there is no adequate brief biography. Perhaps the best is +the most recent, "Abraham Lincoln", by Lord Charnwood ("Makers of the +Nineteenth Century", 1917). It has a kind of cool detachment that hardly +any biographer had shown previously, and yet this coolness is joined +with extreme admiration. Short biographies worth considering are John +T. Morse, Jr., "Abraham Lincoln" ("American Statesmen" Series, 2 vols., +1893), and Ida M. Tarbell, "Life of Abraham Lincoln", 2 vols. (1900). +The official biography is in ten volumes, "Abraham Lincoln, a History", +by his secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay (1890). It is a +priceless document and as such is little likely to be forgotten. But its +events are so numerous that they swamp the figure of Lincoln and yet are +not numerous enough to constitute a definitive history of the times. It +is wholly eulogistic. The same authors edited "The Writings of Abraham +Lincoln" (Biographical Edition, 2 vols., 1894), which has since been +expanded (1905) and now fills twelve volumes. It is the definitive +presentation of Lincoln's mind. A book much sought after by his enemies +is William Henry Herndon and Jesse William Weik, "The History and +Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln", 8 vols. (1889; unexpurgated +edition). It contains about all we know of his early life and paints a +picture of sordid ugliness. Its reliability has been disputed. No study +of Lincoln is complete unless one has marched through the "Diary" of +Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 3 vols. (1911), which is our most +important document showing Lincoln in his Cabinet. Important sidelights +on his character and development are shown in Ward Hill Lamon, +"Recollections of Lincoln" (1911); David Homer Bates, "Lincoln in the +Telegraph Office" (1907); and Frederick Trevor Hill, "Lincoln as a +Lawyer" (1906). A bibliography of Lincoln is in the twelfth volume of +the latest edition of the "Writings". + +The lesser statesmen of the time, both Northern and Southern, still, as +a rule, await proper treatment by detached biographers. Two Northerners +have had such treatment, in Allen Johnson's "Stephen A. Douglas" (1908), +and Frederic Bancroft's "Life of William H. Seward", 2 vols. (1900). +Good, but without the requisite detachment, is Moorfield Storey's +"Charles Sumner", ("American Statesmen Series", 1900). With similar +excellences but with the same defect, though still the best in its +field, is Albert Bushnell Hart's "Salmon P. Chase" ("American Statesmen +Series", 1899). Among the Southern statesmen involved in the events of +this volume, only the President of the Confederacy has received adequate +reconsideration in recent years, in William E. Dodd's "Jefferson Davis" +(1907). The latest life of "Robert Toombs", by Ulrich B. Phillips +(1914), is not definitive, but the best extant. The great need for +adequate lives of Stephens and Yancey is not at all met by the obsolete +works--R. M. Johnston and W. M. Browne, "Life of Alexander H. Stephens" +(1878), and J. W. Du Bose, "The Life and Times of William Lowndes +Yancey" (1892). There is a brief biography of Stephens by Louis +Pendleton, in the "American Crisis Biographies". Most of the remaining +biographies of the period, whether Northern or Southern, are either too +superficial or too partisan to be recommended for general use. Almost +alone in their way are the delightful "Confederate Portraits", by +Gamaliel Bradford (1914), and the same author's "Union Portraits" +(1916). + +Upon conditions in the North during the war there is a vast amount of +material; but little is accessible to the general reader. A book of +great value is Emerson Fite's Social and Industrial Conditions in +the North during the Civil War (1910). Out of unnumbered books of +reminiscence, one stands forth for the sincerity of its disinterested, +if sharp, observation--W. H. Russell's "My Diary North and South" +(1868). Two newspapers are invaluable: The "New York Tribune" for a +version of events as seen by the war party, "The New York Herald" for +the opposite point of view; the Chicago papers are also important, +chiefly the "Times" and "Tribune"; the "Republican "of Springfield, +Mass., had begun its distinguished career, while the "Journal" and +"Advertiser" of Boston revealed Eastern New England. For the Southern +point of view, no papers are more important than the Richmond +"Examiner", the Charleston "Mercury", and the New Orleans "Picayune". +Financial and economic problems are well summed up in D. R. Dewey's +"Financial History of the United States" (3d edition, 1907), and in +E. P. Oberholzer's "Jay Cooks", 2 vols. (1907). Foreign affairs +are summarized adequately in C. F. Adams's "Charles Francis Adams" +("American Statesmen Series", 1900), John Bigelow's "France and the +Confederate Navy" (1888), A. P. Martin's "Maximilian in Mexico" (1914), +and John Bassett Moore's "Digest of International Law", 8 vols. (1906). + +The documents of the period ranging from newspapers to presidential +messages are not likely to be considered by the general reader, but if +given a fair chance will prove fascinating. Besides the biographical +edition of Lincoln's Writings, should be named, first of all, "The +Congressional Globe" for debates in Congress; the "Statutes at Large"; +the "Executive Documents", published by the Government and containing a +great number of reports; and the enormous collection issued by the +War Department under the title "Official Records of the Union and +Confederate Armies", 128 vols. (1880-1901), especially the groups of +volumes known as second and third series. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by +Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION *** + +***** This file should be named 2836.txt or 2836.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/2836/ + +Produced by The James J. Kelly Library Of St. Gregory's +University, Alev Akman, Dianne Bean, and Alison Henry + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/2836.zip b/2836.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f86b2c --- /dev/null +++ b/2836.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..193dc58 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #2836 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2836) diff --git a/old/alatu10.txt b/old/alatu10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0acda5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/alatu10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6042 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by Stephenson + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + +*It must legally be the first thing seen when opening the book.* +In fact, our legal advisors said we can't even change margins. + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Title: Abraham Lincoln and the Union, A Chronicle of the Embattled North + +Author: Nathaniel W. Stephenson + +September, 2001 [Etext #2836] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] + +Project Gutenberg's Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by Stephenson +******This file should be named alatu10.txt or alatu10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, alatu11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, alatu10a.txt + + +THIS BOOK, VOLUME 29 IN THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA SERIES, ALLEN +JOHNSON, EDITOR, WAS DONATED TO PROJECT GUTENBERG BY THE JAMES +J. KELLY LIBRARY OF ST. GREGORY'S UNIVERSITY; THANKS TO ALEV AKMAN. + +Scanned by Dianne Bean. +Proofed by Alison Henry. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text +files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly +from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an +assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few +more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we +don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person. + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + +****** + +To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser +to view http://promo.net/pg. This site lists Etexts by +author and by title, and includes information about how +to get involved with Project Gutenberg. You could also +download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here. This +is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com, +for a more complete list of our various sites. + +To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any +Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror +sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed +at http://promo.net/pg). + +Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better. + +Example FTP session: + +ftp metalab.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext01, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + +*** + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** + +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +We are planning on making some changes in our donation structure +in 2000, so you might want to email me, hart@pobox.com beforehand. + + + + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +THIS BOOK, VOLUME 29 IN THE CHRONICLES OF AMERICA SERIES, ALLEN +JOHNSON, EDITOR, WAS DONATED TO PROJECT GUTENBERG BY THE JAMES +J. KELLY LIBRARY OF ST. GREGORY'S UNIVERSITY; THANKS TO ALEV AKMAN. + +Scanned by Dianne Bean. +Proofed by Alison Henry. + + + + + +Abraham Lincoln and the Union, A Chronicle of the Embattled North + +BY NATHANIEL W. STEPHENSON + + + + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & CO. +LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS +1918 + + + +PREFACE + +In spite of a lapse of sixty years, the historian who attempts to +portray the era of Lincoln is still faced with almost impossible +demands and still confronted with arbitrary points of view. It +is out of the question, in a book so brief as this must +necessarily be, to meet all these demands or to alter these +points of view. Interests that are purely local, events that did +not with certainty contribute to the final outcome, gossip, as +well as the mere caprice of the scholar--these must obviously be +set aside. + +The task imposed upon the volume resolves itself, at bottom, into +just two questions: Why was there a war? Why was the Lincoln +Government successful? With these two questions always in mind I +have endeavored, on the one hand, to select and consolidate the +pertinent facts; on the other, to make clear, even at the cost of +explanatory comment, their relations in the historical sequence +of cause and effect. This purpose has particularly governed the +use of biographical matter, in which the main illustration, of +course, is the career of Lincoln. Prominent as it is here made, +the Lincoln matter all bears in the last analysis on one +point--his control of his support. On that the history of the +North hinges. The personal and private Lincoln it is impossible +to present within these pages. The public Lincoln, including the +character of his mind, is here the essential matter. + +The bibliography at the close of the volume indicates the more +important books which are at the reader's disposal and which it +is unfortunate not to know. + +NATHANIEL W. STEPHENSON. Charleston, S. C., March, 1918. + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE UNION + + + +INDEX + + +I. THE TWO NATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC + +II. THE PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION + +III. THE POLITICIANS AND THE NEW DAY + +IV. THE CRISIS + +V. SECESSION + +VI. WAR + +VII. LINCOLN + +VIII. THE RULE OF LINCOLN + +IX. THE CRUCIAL MATTER + +X. THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY + +XI. NORTHERN LIFE DURING THE WAR + +XII. THE MEXICAN EPISODE + +XIII. THE PLEBISCITE OF 1864 + +XIV. LINCOLN'S FINAL INTENTIONS + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TWO NATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC + + +"There is really no Union now between the North and the South.... +No two nations upon earth entertain feelings of more bitter +rancor toward each other than these two nations of the Republic." + +This remark, which is attributed to Senator Benjamin Wade of +Ohio, provides the key to American politics in the decade +following the Compromise of 1850. To trace this division of the +people to its ultimate source, one would have to go far back into +colonial times. There was a process of natural selection at work, +in the intellectual and economic conditions of the eighteenth +century, which inevitably drew together certain types and +generated certain forces. This process manifested itself in one +form in His Majesty's plantations of the North, and in another in +those of the South. As early as the opening of the nineteenth +century, the social tendencies of the two regions were already so +far alienated that they involved differences which would scarcely +admit of reconciliation. It is a truism to say that these +differences gradually were concentrated around fundamentally +different conceptions of labor--of slave labor in the South, of +free labor in the North. + +Nothing, however, could be more fallacious than the notion that +this growing antagonism was controlled by any deliberate purpose +in either part of the country. It was apparently necessary that +this Republic in its evolution should proceed from confederation +to nationality through an intermediate and apparently reactionary +period of sectionalism. In this stage of American history, +slavery was without doubt one of the prime factors involved, but +sectional consciousness, with all its emotional and psychological +implications, was the fundamental impulse of the stern events +which occurred between 1850 and 1865. + +By the middle of the nineteenth century the more influential +Southerners had come generally to regard their section of the +country as a distinct social unit. The next step was inevitable. +The South began to regard itself as a separate political unit. +It is the distinction of Calhoun that he showed himself toward +the end sufficiently flexible to become the exponent of this new +political impulse. With all his earlier fire he encouraged the +Southerners to withdraw from the so-called national parties, Whig +and Democratic, to establish instead a single Southern party, and +to formulate, by means of popular conventions, a single concerted +policy for the entire South. + +At that time such a policy was still regarded, from the Southern +point of view, as a radical idea. In 1851, a battle was fought +at the polls between the two Southern ideas--the old one which +upheld separate state independence, and the new one which +virtually acknowledged Southern nationality. The issue at stake +was the acceptance or the rejection of a compromise which could +bring no permanent settlement of fundamental differences. + +Nowhere was the battle more interesting than in South Carolina, +for it brought into clear light that powerful Southern leader who +ten years later was to be the masterspirit of secession--Robert +Barnwell Rhett. In 1851 he fought hard to revive the older idea +of state independence and to carry South Carolina as a separate +state out of the Union. Accordingly it is significant of the +progress that the consolidation of the South had made at this +date that on this issue Rhett encountered general opposition. +This difference of opinion as to policy was not inspired, as some +historians have too hastily concluded, by national feeling. +Scarcely any of the leaders of the opposition considered the +Federal Government supreme over the State Government. They +opposed Rhett because they felt secession to be at that moment +bad policy. They saw that, if South Carolina went out of the +Union in 1851, she would go alone and the solidarity of the South +would be broken. They were not lacking in sectional patriotism, +but their conception of the best solution of the complex problem +differed from that advocated by Rhett. Their position was summed +up by Langdon Cheves when he said, "To secede now is to secede +from the South as well as from the Union." On the basis of this +belief they defeated Rhett and put off secession for ten years. + +There is no analogous single event in the history of the North, +previous to the war, which reveals with similar clearness a +sectional consciousness. On the surface the life of the people +seemed, indeed, to belie the existence of any such feeling. The +Northern capitalist class aimed steadily at being non-sectional, +and it made free use of the word national. We must not forget, +however, that all sorts of people talked of national +institutions, and that the term, until we look closely into the +mind of, the person using it, signifies nothing. Because the +Northern capitalist repudiated the idea of sectionalism, it does +not follow that he set up any other in its place. Instead of +accomplishing anything so positive, he remained for the most part +a negative quantity. + +Living usually somewhere between Maine and Ohio, he made it his +chief purpose to regulate the outflow of manufactures from that +industrial region and the inflow of agricultural produce. The +movement of the latter eastward and northward, and the former +westward and southward, represents roughly but graphically the +movement of the business of that time. The Easterner lived in +fear of losing the money which was owed him in the South. As the +political and economic conditions of the day made unlikely any +serious clash of interest between the East and the West, he had +little solicitude about his accounts beyond the Alleghanies. But +a gradually developing hostility between North and South was +accompanied by a parallel anxiety on the part of Northern capital +for its Southern investments and debts. When the war eventually +became inevitable, $200,000,000 were owed by Southerners to +Northerners. For those days this was an indebtedness of no +inconsiderable magnitude. The Northern capitalists, preoccupied +with their desire to secure this account, were naturally eager to +repudiate sectionalism, and talked about national interests with +a zeal that has sometimes been misinterpreted. Throughout the +entire period from 1850 to 1865, capital in American politics +played for the most part a negative role, and not until after the +war did it become independent of its Southern interests. + +For the real North of that day we must turn to those Northerners +who felt sufficient unto themselves and whose political +convictions were unbiased by personal interests which were +involved in other parts of the country. We must listen to the +distinct voices that gave utterance to their views, and we must +observe the definite schemes of their political leaders. +Directly we do this, the fact stares us in the face that the +North had become a democracy. The rich man no longer played the +role of grandee, for by this time there had arisen those two +groups which, between them, are the ruin of aristocracy--the +class of prosperous laborers and the group of well-to-do +intellectuals. Of these, the latter gave utterance, first, to +their faith in democracy, and then, with all the intensity of +partisan zeal, to their sense of the North as the agent of +democracy. The prosperous laborers applauded this expression of +anopinion in which they thoroughly believed and at the same time +gave their willing support to a land policy that was typically +Northern. + +American economic history in the middle third of the century is +essentially the record of a struggle to gain possession of public +land. The opposing forces were the South, which strove to +perpetuate by this means a social system that was fundamentally +aristocratic, and the North, which sought by the same means to +foster its ideal of democracy. Though the South, with the aid of +its economic vassal, the Northern capitalist class, was for some +time able to check the land-hunger of the Northern democrats, it +was never able entirely to secure the control which it desired, +but was always faced with the steady and continued opposition of +the real North. On one occasion in Congress, the heart of the +whole matter was clearly shown, for at the very moment when the +Northerners of the democratic class were pressing one of their +frequent schemes for free land, Southerners and their sympathetic +Northern henchmen were furthering a scheme that aimed at the +purchase of Cuba. From the impatient sneer of a Southerner that +the Northerners sought to give "land to the landless" and the +retort that the Southerners seemed equally anxious to supply +"niggers to the niggerless," it can be seen that American history +is sometimes better summed up by angry politicians than by +historians. + +We must be on our guard, however, against ascribing to either +side too precise a consciousness of its own motives. The old +days when the American Civil War was conceived as a clear-cut +issue are as a watch in the night that has passed, and we now +realize that historical movements are almost without exception +the resultants of many motives. We have come to recognize that +men have always misapprehended themselves, contradicted +themselves, obeyed primal impulses, and then deluded themselves +with sophistications upon the springs of action. In a word, +unaware of what they are doing, men allow their aesthetic and +dramatic senses to shape their conceptions of their own lives. + +That "great impersonal artist," of whom Matthew Arnold has so +much to say, is at work in us all, subtly making us into +illusions, first to ourselves and later to the historian. It is +the business of history, as of analytic fiction, both to feel the +power of these illusions and to work through them in imagination +to the dim but potent motives on which they rest. We are prone +to forget that we act from subconscious quite as often as from +conscious influences, from motives that arise out of the dim +parts of our being, from the midst of shadows that psychology has +only recently begun to lift, where senses subtler than the +obvious make use of fear, intuition, prejudice, habit, and +illusion, and too often play with us as the wind with blown +leaves. + +True as this is of man individually, it is even more +fundamentally true of man collectively, of parties, of peoples. +It is a strikingly accurate description of the relation of the +two American nations that now found themselves opposed within the +Republic. Neither fully understood the other. Each had a social +ideal that was deeper laid than any theory of government or than +any commercial or humanitarian interest. Both knew vaguely but +with sure instinct that their interests and ideals were +irreconcilable. Each felt in its heart the deadly passion of +self-preservation. It was because, in both North and South, men +were subtly conscious that a whole social system was the issue at +stake, and because on each side they believed in their own ideals +with their whole souls, that, when the time came for their trial +by fire, they went to their deaths singing. + +In the South there still obtained the ancient ideal of +territorial aristocracy. Those long traditions of the Western +European peoples which had made of the great landholder a petty +prince lay beneath the plantation life of the Southern States. +The feudal spirit, revived in a softer world and under brighter +skies, gave to those who participated in it the same graces and +somewhat the same capacities which it gave to the knightly class +in the days of Roland--courage, frankness, generosity, ability in +affairs, a sense of responsibility, the consciousness of caste. +The mode of life which the planters enjoyed and which the +inferior whites regarded as a social paradise was a life of +complete deliverance from toil, of disinterested participation in +local government, of absolute personal freedom--a life in which +the mechanical action of law was less important than the more +human compulsion of social opinion, and in which private +differences were settled under the code of honor. + +This Southern life was carried on in the most appropriate +environment. On a landed estate, often larger than many of +Europe's baronies, stood the great house of the planter, usually +a graceful example of colonial architecture, surrounded by +stately gardens. This mansion was the center of a boundless +hospitality; guests were always coming and going; the hostess and +her daughters were the very symbols of kindliness and ease. To +think of such houses was to think of innumerable joyous days; of +gentlemen galloping across country after the hounds; of coaches +lumbering along avenues of noble oaks, bringing handsome women to +visit the mansion; of great feastings; of nights of music and +dancing; above all, of the great festival of Christmas, +celebrated much as had been the custom in "Merrie England" +centuries before. + +Below the surface of this bright world lay the enslaved black +race. In the minds of many Southerners--it was always a secret +burden from which they saw no means of freeing themselves. To +emancipate the slaves, and thereby to create a population of free +blacks, was generally considered, from the white point of view, +an impossible solution of the problem. The Southerners usually +believed that the African could be tamed only in small groups and +when constantly surrounded by white influence, as in the case of +house servants. Though a few great capitalists had taken up the +idea that the deliberate exploitation of the blacks was the high +prerogative of the whites, the general sentiment of the Southern +people was more truly expressed by Toombs when he said: "The +question is not whether we could be more prosperous and happy +with these three and a half million slaves in Africa, and their +places filled with an equal number of hardy, intelligent, and +enterprising citizens of the superior race; but it is simply +whether, while we have them among us, we would be most prosperous +with them in freedom or in bondage." + +The Southern people, in the majority of instances, had no hatred +of the blacks. In the main they led their free, spirited, and +gracious life, convinced that the maintenance of slavery was but +making the best of circumstances which were beyond their control. +It was these Southern people who were to hear from afar the +horrible indictment of all their motives by the Abolitionists and +who were to react in a growing bitterness and distrust toward +everything Northern. + +But of these Southern people the average Northerner knew nothing. +He knew the South only on its least attractive side of +professional politics. For there was a group of powerful +magnates, rich planters or "slave barons," who easily made their +way into Congress, and who played into the hands of the Northern +capitalists, for a purpose similar to theirs. It was these men +who forced the issue upon slavery; they warned the common people +of the North to mind their own business; and for doing so they +were warmly applauded by the Northern capitalist class. It was +therefore in opposition to the whole American world of organized +capital that the Northern masses demanded the use of "the +Northern hammer"--as Sumner put it, in one of his most furious +speeches--in their aim to destroy a section where, intuitively, +they felt their democratic ideal could not be realized. + +And what was that ideal? Merely to answer democracy is to dodge +the fundamental question. The North was too complex in its +social structure and too multitudinous in its interests to +confine itself to one type of life. It included all sorts and +conditions of men--from the most gracious of scholars who lived +in romantic ease among his German and Spanish books, and whose +lovely house in Cambridge is forever associated with the noble +presence of Washington, to the hardy frontiersman, breaking the +new soil of his Western claim, whose wife at sunset shaded her +tired eyes, under a hand rough with labor, as she stood on the +threshold of her log cabin, watching for the return of her man +across the weedy fields which he had not yet fully subdued. Far +apart as were Longfellow and this toiler of the West, they yet +felt themselves to be one in purpose. + +They were democrats, but not after the simple, elementary manner +of the democrats at the opening of the century. In the North, +there had come to life a peculiar phase of idealism that had +touched democracy with mysticism and had added to it a vague but +genuine romance. This new vision of the destiny of the country +had the practical effect of making the Northerners identify +themselves in their imaginations with all mankind and in creating +in them an enthusiastic desire, not only to give to every +American a home of his own, but also to throw open the gates of +the nation and to share the wealth of America with the poor of +all the world. In very truth, it was their dominating passion to +give "land to the landless." Here was the clue to much of their +attitude toward the South. Most of these Northern dreamers gave +little or no thought to slavery itself; but they felt that the +section which maintained such a system so committed to +aristocracy that any real friendship with it was impossible. + +We are thus forced to conceive the American Republic in the years +immediately following the Compromise of 1850 as, in effect, a +dual nation, without a common loyalty between the two parts. +Before long the most significant of the great Northerners of the +time was to describe this impossible condition by the appropriate +metaphor of a house divided against itself. It was not, however, +until eight years after the division of the country had been +acknowledged in 1850 that these words were uttered. In those +eight years both sections awoke to the seriousness of the +differences that they had admitted. Both perceived that, instead +of solving their problem in 1850, they had merely drawn sharply +the lines of future conflict. In every thoughtful mind there +arose the same alternative questions: Is there no solution but +fighting it out until one side destroys the other, or we end as +two nations confessedly independent? Or is there some conceivable +new outlet for this opposition of energy on the part of the +sections, some new mode of permanent adjustment? + +It was at the moment when thinking men were asking these +questions that one of the nimblest of politicians took the center +of the stage. Stephen A. Douglas was far-sighted enough to +understand the land-hunger of the time. One is tempted to add +that his ear was to the ground. The statement will not, however, +go unchallenged, for able apologists have their good word to say +for Douglas. Though in the main, the traditional view of him as +the prince of political jugglers still holds its own, let us +admit that his bold, rough spirit, filled as it was with +political daring, was not without its strange vein of idealism. +And then let us repeat that his ear was to the ground. Much +careful research has indeed been expended in seeking to determine +who originated the policy which, about 1853, Douglas decided to +make his own. There has also been much dispute about his +motives. Most of us, however, see in his course of action an +instance of playing the game of politics with an audacity that +was magnificent. + +His conduct may well have been the result of a combination of +motives which included a desire to retain the favor of the +Northwest, a wish to pave the way to his candidacy for the +Presidency, the intention to enlist the aid of the South as well +as that of his own locality, and perhaps the hope that he was +performing a service of real value to his country. That is, he +saw that the favor of his own Northwest would be lavished upon +any man who opened up to settlement the rich lands beyond Iowa +and Missouri which were still held by the Indians, and for which +the Westerners were clamoring. Furthermore, they wanted a +railroad that would reach to the Pacific. There were, however, +local entanglements and political cross-purposes which involved +the interests of the free State of Illinois and those of the +slave State of Missouri. + +Douglas's great stroke was a programme for harmonizing all these +conflicting interests and for drawing together the West and the +South. Slaveholders were to be given what at that moment they +wanted most--an opportunity to expand into that territory to the +north and west of Missouri which had been made free by the +Compromise of 1820, while the free Northwest was to have its +railroad to the coast and also its chance to expand into the +Indian country. Douglas thus became the champion of a bill which +would organize two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska, but +which would leave the settlers in each to decide whether slavery +or free labor should prevail within their boundaries. This +territorial scheme was accepted by a Congress in which the +Southerners and their Northern allies held control, and what is +known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was signed by President Pierce +on May 30,1854.* + +*The origin of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill has been a much discussed +subject among historians in recent years. The older view that +Douglas was simply playing into the hands of the "slavepower" by +sacrificing Kansas, is no longer tenable. This point has been +elaborated by Allen Johnson in his study of Douglas ("Stephen A. +Douglas: a Study in American Politics"). In his "Repeal of the +Missouri Compromise", P.O. Ray contends that the legislation of +1854 originated in a factional controversy in Missouri, and that +Douglas merely served the interests of the proslavery group led +by Senator David R. Atchinson of Missouri. Still another point +of view is that presented in the "Genesis of the Kansas-Nebraska +Act," by F. H. Hodder, who would explain not only the division of +the Nebraska Territory into Kansas and Nebraska, but the object +of the entire bill by the insistent efforts of promoters of the +Pacific railroad scheme to secure a right of way through +Nebraska. This project involved the organization of a +territorial government and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. +Douglas was deeply interested in the western railroad interests +and carried through the necessary legislation. + + + +CHAPTER II. THE PARTY OF POLITICAL EVASION + +In order to understand Douglas one must understand the Democratic +party of 1854 in which Douglas was a conspicuous leader. The +Democrats boasted that they were the only really national party +and contended that their rivals, the Whigs and the Know-Nothings, +were merely the representatives of localities or classes. +Sectionalism was the favorite charge which the Democrats brought +against their enemies; and yet it was upon these very Democrats +that the slaveholders had hitherto relied, and it was upon +certain members of this party that the label, "Northern men with +Southern principles," had been bestowed. + +The label was not, however, altogether fair, for the motives of +the Democrats were deeply rooted in their own peculiar +temperament. In the last analysis, what had held their +organization together, and what had enabled them to dominate +politics for nearly the span of a generation, was their faith in +a principle that then appealed powerfully, and that still +appeals, to much in the American character. This was the +principle of negative action on the part of the government--the +old idea that the government should do as little as possible and +should confine itself practically to the duties of the policeman. +This principle has seemed always to express to the average mind +that traditional individualism which is an inheritance of the +Anglo-Saxon race. In America, in the middle of the nineteenth +century, it reenforced that tradition of local independence which +was strong throughout the West and doubly strong in the South. +Then, too, the Democratic party still spoke the language of the +theoretical Democracy inherited from Jefferson. And Americans +have always been the slaves of phrases! + +Furthermore, the close alliance of the Northern party machine +with the South made it, generally, an object of care for all +those Northern interests that depended on the Southern market. +As to the Southerners, their relation with this party has two +distinct chapters. The first embraced the twenty years preceding +the Compromise of 1850, and may be thought of as merging into the +second during three or four years following the great +equivocation. In that period, while the antislavery crusade was +taking form, the aim of Southern politicians was mainly negative. +"Let us alone," was their chief demand. Though aggressive in +their policy, they were too far-sighted to demand of the North +any positive course in favor of slavery. The rise of a new type +of Southern politician, however, created a different situation +and began a second chapter in the relation between the South and +the Democratic party machine in the North. But of that +hereafter. + +Until 1854, it was the obvious part of wisdom for Southerners to +cooperate as far as possible with that party whose cardinal idea +was that the government should come as near as conceivable to a +system of non-interference; that it should not interfere with +business, and therefore oppose a tariff; that it should not +interfere with local government, and therefore applaud states +rights; that it should not interfere with slavery, and therefore +frown upon militant abolition. Its policy was, to adopt a +familiar phrase, one of masterly inactivity. Indeed it may well +be called the party of political evasion. It was a huge, loose +confederacy of differing political groups, embracing paupers and +millionaires, moderate anti-slavery men and slave barons, all of +whom were held together by the unreliable bond of an agreement +not to tread on each other's toes. + +Of this party Douglas was the typical representative, both in +strength and weakness. He had all its pliability, its good +humor, its broad and easy way with things, its passion for +playing politics. Nevertheless, in calling upon the believers in +political evasion to consent for this once to reverse their +principle and to endorse a positive action, he had taken a great +risk. Would their sporting sense of politics as a gigantic game +carry him through successfully? He knew that there was a hard +fight before him, but with the courage of a great political +strategist, and proudly confident in his hold upon the main body +of his party, he prepared for both the attacks and the defections +that were inevitable. + +Defections, indeed, began at once. Even before the bill had been +passed, the "Appeal of the Independent Democrats" was printed in +a New York paper, with the signatures of members of Congress +representing both the extreme anti-slavery wing of the Democrats +and the organized Free-Soil party. The most famous of these +names were those of Chase and Sumner, both of whom had been sent +to the Senate by a coalition of Free-Soilers and Democrats. With +them was the veteran abolitionist, Giddings of Ohio. The +"Appeal" denounced Douglas as an "unscrupulous politician" and +sounded both the warcries of the Northern masses by accusing him +of being engaged in "an atrocious plot to exclude from a vast +unoccupied region immigrants from the Old World and free laborers +from our own States." + +The events of the spring and summer of 1854 may all be grouped +under two heads--the formation of an antiNebraska party, and the +quick rush of sectional patriotism to seize the territory laid +open by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The instantaneous refusal of +the Northerners to confine their settlement to Nebraska, and +their prompt invasion of Kansas; the similar invasion from the +South; the support of both movements by societies organized for +that purpose; the war in Kansas all the details of this thrilling +story have been told elsewhere.* The political story alone +concerns us here. + +*See Jesse Macy, "The Anti-Slavery Crusade". (In "The Chronicles +of America".) + + +When the fight began there were four parties in the field: the +Democrats, the Whigs, the Free-Soilers, and the Know-Nothings. + +The Free-Soil party, hitherto a small organization, had sought to +make slavery the main issue in politics. Its watchword was "Free +soil, free speech, free labor, and free men." It is needless to +add that it was instantaneous in its opposition to the +Kansas-Nebraska Act. + +The Whigs at the moment enjoyed the greatest prestige, owing to +the association with them of such distinguished leaders as +Webster and Clay. In 1854, however, as a party they were dying, +and the very condition that had made success possible for the +Democrats made it impossible for the Whigs, because the latter +stood for positive ideas, and aimed to be national in reality and +not in the evasive Democratic sense of the term. For, as a +matter of fact, on analysis all the greater issues of the day +proved to be sectional. The Whigs would not, like the Democrats, +adopt a negative attitude toward these issues, nor would they +consent to become merely sectional. Yet at the moment negation +and sectionalism were the only alternatives, and between these +millstones the Whig organization was destined to be ground to +bits and to disappear after the next Presidential election. + +Even previous to 1854, numbers of Whigs had sought a desperate +outlet for their desire to be positive in politics and had +created a new party which during a few years was to seem a +reality and then vanish together with its parent. The one chance +for a party which had positive ideas and which wished not to be +sectional was the definite abandonment of existing issues and the +discovery of some new issue not connected with sectional feeling. +Now, it happened that a variety of causes, social and religious, +had brought about bad blood between native and foreigner, in some +of the great cities, and upon the issue involved in this +condition the failing spirit of the Whigs fastened. A secret +society which had been formed to oppose the naturalization of +foreigners quickly became a recognized political party. As the +members of the Society answered all questions with "I do not +know," they came to be called "Know-Nothings," though they called +themselves "Americans." In those states where the Whigs had been +strongest --Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania--this last +attempt to apply their former temper, though not their +principles, had for a moment some success; but it could not +escape the fierce division which was forced on the country by +Douglas. As a result, it rapidly split into factions, one of +which merged with the enemies of Douglas, while the other was +lost among his supporters. + +What would the great dying Whig party leave behind it? This was +the really momentous question in 1854. Briefly, this party +bequeathed the temper of political positivism and at the same +time the dread of sectionalism. The inner clue to American +politics during the next few years is, to many minds, to be found +largely in the union of this old Whig temper with a new-born +sectional patriotism, and, to other minds, in the gradual and +reluctant passing of the Whig opposition to a sectional party. +But though this transformation of the wrecks of Whiggism began +immediately, and while the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was still being +hotly debated in Congress, it was not until 1860 that it was +completed. + +In the meantime various incidents had shown that the sectional +patriotism of the North, the fury of the abolitionists, and the +positive temper in politics, were all drawing closer together. +Each of these tendencies can be briefly illustrated. For +example, the rush to Kansas had begun, and the Massachusetts +Emigrant Aid Society was preparing to assist settlers who were +going west. In May, there occurred at Boston one of the most +conspicuous attempts to rescue a fugitive slave, in which a mob +led by Thomas Wentworth Higginson attacked the guards of Anthony +Burns, a captured fugitive, killed one of them, but failed to get +the slave, who was carried to a revenue cutter between lines of +soldiers and returned to slavery. Among numerous details of the +hour the burning of Douglas in effigy is perhaps worth passing +notice. In duly the anti-Nebraska men of Michigan held a +convention, at which they organized as a political party and +nominated a state ticket. Of their nominees, two had hitherto +ranked themselves as Free-Soilers, three as anti-slavery +Democrats, and five as Whigs. For the name of their party they +chose "Republican," and as the foundation of their platform the +resolution "That, postponing and suspending all differences with +regard to political economy or administrative policy," they would +"act cordially and faithfully in unison," opposing the extension +of slavery, and would "cooperate and be known as 'Republicans' +until the contest be terminated." + +The history of the next two years is, in its main outlines, the +story of the war in Kansas and of the spread of this new party +throughout the North. It was only by degrees, however, that the +Republicans absorbed the various groups of anti-Nebraska men. +What happened at this time in Illinois may be taken as typical, +and it is particularly noteworthy as revealing the first real +appearance of Abraham Lincoln in American history. + +Though in 1854 he was not yet a national figure, Lincoln was +locally accredited with keen political insight, and was, regarded +in Illinois as a strong lawyer. The story is told of him that, +while he was attending court on the circuit, he heard the news of +the Kansas-Nebraska Act in a tavern and sat up most of the night +talking about it. Next morning he used a phrase destined to +become famous. "I tell you," said he to a fellow lawyer, "this +nation cannot exist half slave and half free." + +Lincoln, however, was not one of the first to join the +Republicans. In Illinois, in 1854, Lincoln resigned his seat in +the legislature to become the Whig candidate for United States +senator, to succeed the Democratic colleague of Douglas. But +there was little chance of his election, for the real contest was +between the two wings of the Democrats, the Nebraska men and the +anti-Nebraska men, and Lincoln withdrew in favor of the candidate +of the latter, who was elected. + +During the following year, from the midst of his busy law +practice, Lincoln watched the Whig party go to pieces. He saw a +great part of its vote lodge temporarily among the Know-Nothings, +but before the end of the year even they began to lose their +prominence. In the autumn, from the obscurity of his provincial +life, he saw, far off, Seward, the most astute politician of the +day, join the new movement. In New York, the Republican state +convention and the Whig state convention merged into one, and +Seward pronounced a baptismal oration upon the Republican party +of New York. + +In the House of Representatives which met in December, 1855, the +anti-Nebraska men were divided among themselves, and the +Know-Nothings held the balance of power. No candidate for the +speakership, however, was able to command a majority, and +finally, after it had been agreed that a plurality would be +sufficient, the contest closed, on the one hundred and +thirty-third ballot, with the election of a Republican, N. P. +Banks. Meanwhile in the South, the Whigs were rapidly leaving +the party, pausing a moment with the Know-Nothings, only to find +that their inevitable resting-place, under stress of sectional +feeling, was with the Democrats. + +On Washington's birthday, 1856, the Know-Nothing national +convention met at Philadelphia. It promptly split upon the +subject of slavery, and a portion of its membership sent word +offering support to another convention which was sitting at +Pittsburgh, and which had been called to form a national +organization for the Republican party. A third assembly held on +this same day was composed of the newspaper editors of Illinois, +and may be looked upon as the organization of the Republican +party in that state. At the dinner following this informal +convention, Lincoln, who was one of the speakers, was toasted as +"the next United States Senator." + +Some four months afterward, in Philadelphia, the Republicans held +their first national convention. Only a few years previous its +members had called themselves by various names--Democrats, +Free-Soilers, Know-Nothings, Whigs. The old hostilities of these +different groups had not yet died out. Consequently, though +Seward was far and away the most eminent member of the new party, +he was not nominated for President. That dangerous honor was +bestowed upon a dashing soldier and explorer of the Rocky +Mountains and the Far West, John C. Fremont.* + +*For an account of Fremont, see Stewart Edward White, "The +Forty-Niners" (in "The Chronicles of America"), Chapter II. + + +The key to the political situation in the North, during that +momentous year, was to be found in the great number of able Whigs +who, seeing that their own party was lost but refusing to be +sidetracked by the make-believe issue of the Know-Nothings, were +now hesitating what to do. Though the ordinary politicians among +the Republicans doubtless wished to conciliate these unattached +Whigs, the astuteness of the leaders was too great to allow them +to succumb to that temptation. They seem to have feared the +possible effect of immediately incorporating in their ranks, +while their new organization was still so plastic, the bulk of +those conservative classes which were, after all, the backbone of +this irreducible Whig minimum. + +The Republican campaign was conducted with a degree of passion +that had scarcely been equaled in America before that day. To +the well-ordered spirit of the conservative classes the tone +which the Republicans assumed appeared shocking. Boldly +sectional in their language, sweeping in their denunciation of +slavery, the leaders of the campaign made bitter and effective +use of a number of recent events. "Uncle Tom's Cabin", published +in 1852, and already immensely popular, was used as a political +tract to arouse, by its gruesome picture of slavery, a hatred of +slaveholders. Returned settlers from Kansas went about the North +telling horrible stories of guerrilla warfare, so colored as to +throw the odium all on one side. The scandal of the moment was +the attack made by Preston Brooks on Sumner, after the latter's +furious diatribe in the Senate, which was published as "The Crime +Against Kansas". With double skill the Republicans made equal +capital out of the intellectual violence of the speech and the +physical violence of the retort. In addition to this, there was +ready to their hands the evidence of Southern and Democratic +sympathy with a filibustering attempt to conquer the republic of +Nicaragua, where William Walker, an American adventurer, had +recently made himself dictator. Walker had succeeded in having +his minister acknowledged by the Democratic Administration, and +in obtaining the endorsement of a great Democratic meeting which +was held in New York. It looked, therefore, as if the party of +political evasion had an anchor to windward, and that, in the +event of their losing in Kansas, they intended to placate their +Southern wing by the annexation of Nicaragua. + +Here, indeed, was a stronger political tempest than Douglas, +weatherwise though he was, had foreseen. How was political +evasion to brave it? With a courage quite equal to the boldness +of the Republicans, the Democrats took another tack and steered +for less troubled waters. Their convention at Cincinnati was +temperate and discreet in all its expressions, and for President +it nominated a Northerner, James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, a man +who was wholly dissociated in the public mind from the struggle +over Kansas. + +The Democratic party leaders knew that they already had two +strong groups of supporters. Whatever they did, the South would +have to go along with them, in its reaction against the furious +sectionalism of the Republicans. Besides the Southern support, +the Democrats counted upon the aid of the professional +politicians--those men who considered politics rather as a +fascinating game than as serious and difficult work based upon +principle. Upon these the Democrats could confidently rely, for +they already had, in Douglas in the North and Toombs in the +South, two master politicians who knew this type and its impulses +intimately, because they themselves belonged to it. But the +Democrats needed the support of a third group. If they could +only win over the Northern remnant of the Whigs that was still +unattached, their position would be secure. In their efforts to +obtain this additional and very necessary reinforcement, they +decided to appear as temperate and restrained as possible--a well +bred party which all mild and conservative men could trust. + +This attitude they formulated in connection with Kansas, which at +that time had two governments: one, a territorial government, set +up by emigrants from the South; the other, a state government, +under the constitution drawn up at Topeka by emigrants from the +North. One authorized slavery; the other prohibited slavery; and +both had appealed to Washington for recognition. It was with +this quite definite issue that Congress was chiefly concerned in +the spring of 1856. During the summer Toombs introduced a bill +securing to the settlers of Kansas complete freedom of action and +providing for an election of delegates to a convention to draw up +a state constitution which would determine whether slavery or +freedom was to prevail--in other words, whether Kansas was to be +annexed to the South or to the North. This bill was merely the +full expression of what Douglas had aimed at in 1854 and of what +was nicknamed "popular sovereignty"--the right of the locality to +choose for itself between slave and free labor. + +Two years before, such a measure would have seemed radical. But +in politics time is wonderfully elastic. Those two years had +been packed with turmoil. Kansas had been the scene of a bloody +conflict. Regardless of which side had a majority on the ground, +extremists on each side had demanded recognition for the +government set up by their own party. By contrast, Toombs's +offer to let the majority rule appeared temperate. + +The Republicans saw instantly that they must discredit the +proposal or the ground would be cut from under them. Though the +bill passed the Senate, they were able to set it aside in the +House in favor of a bill admitting Kansas as a free state with +the Topeka constitution. The Democrats thereupon accused the +Republicans of not wanting peace and of wishing to keep up the +war-cry "Bleeding Kansas" until election time. + +That, throughout the country, the two parties continued on the +lines of policy they had chosen may be seen from an illustration. +A House committee which had gone to Kansas to investigate +submitted two reports, one of which, submitted by a Democratic +member, told the true story of the murders committed by John +Brown at Pottawatomie. And yet, while the Republicans spread +everywhere their shocking tales of murders of free-state +settlers, the Democrats made practically no use of this equally +shocking tale of the murder of slaveholders. Apparently they +were resolved to appear temperate and conservative to the bitter +end. + +And they had their reward. Or, perhaps the fury of the +Republicans had its just deserts. From either point of view, the +result was a choice of evils on the part of the reluctant Whigs, +and that choice was expressed in the following words by as +typical a New Englander as Rufus Choate: "The first duty of +Whigs," wrote Choate to the Maine State central committee, "is to +unite with some organization of our countrymen to defeat and +dissolve the new geographical party calling itself Republican.... +The question for each and every one of us is...by what vote can I +do most to prevent the madness of the times from working its +maddest act the very ecstasy of its madness--the permanent +formation and the actual triumph of a party which knows one half +of America only to hate and dread it. If the Republican party," +Choate continued, "accomplishes its object and gives the +government to the North, I turn my eyes from the consequences. +To the fifteen states of the South that government will appear an +alien government. It will appear worse. It will appear a +hostile government. It will represent to their eye a vast region +of states organized upon anti-slavery, flushed by triumph, +cheered onward by the voice of the pulpit, tribune, and press; +its mission, to inaugurate freedom and put down the oligarchy; +its constitution, the glittering and sounding generalities of +natural right which make up the Declaration of Independence.... +Practically the contest, in my judgment, is between Mr. Buchanan +and Colonel Fremont. In these circumstances, I vote for Mr. +Buchanan." + +The party of political evasion thus became the refuge of the old +original Whigs who were forced to take advantage of any port in a +storm. Buchanan was elected by an overwhelming majority. To the +careless eye, Douglas had been justified by results; his party +had triumphed as perhaps never before; and yet, no great +political success was ever based upon less stable foundations. +To maintain this position, those Northerners who reasoned as +Choate did were a necessity; but to keep them in the party of +political evasion would depend upon the ability of this party to +play the game of politics without acknowledging sectional bias. +Whether this difficult task could be accomplished would depend +upon the South. Toombs, on his part, was anxious to continue +making the party of evasion play the great American game of +politics, and in his eagerness he perhaps overestimated his hold +upon the South. This, however, remains to be seen. + +Already another faction had formed around William L. Yancey of +Alabama--a faction as intolerant of political evasion as the +Republicans themselves, and one that was eager to match the +sectional Northern party by a sectional Southern party. It had +for the moment fallen into line with the Toombs faction because, +like the Whigs, it had not the courage to do otherwise. The +question now was whether it would continue fearful, and whether +political evasion would continue to reign. + +The key to the history of the next four years is in the growth of +this positive Southern party, which had the inevitable result of +forcing the Whig remainder to choose, not as in 1856 between a +positive sectional policy and an evasive nonsectional policy, but +in 1860 between two policies both of which were at once positive +and sectional. + + + +CHAPTER III. THE POLITICIANS AND THE NEW DAY + +The South had thus far been kept in line with the cause of +political evasion by a small group of able politicians, chief +among whom were Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, and Alexander H. +Stephens. Curiously enough all three were Georgians, and this +might indeed be called the day of Georgia in the history of the +South. + +A different type of man, however, and one significant of a +divergent point of view, had long endeavored to shake the +leadership of the Georgian group. Rhett in South Carolina, +Jefferson Davis in Mississippi, and above all Yancey in Alabama, +together with the interests and sentiment which they represented, +were almost ready to contest the orthodoxy of the policy of +"nothing doing." To consolidate the interests behind them, to +arouse and fire the sentiment on which they relied, was now the +confessed purpose of these determined men. So little attention +has hitherto been given to motive in American politics that the +modern student still lacks a clear-cut and intelligent perception +of these various factions. In spite of this fact, however, these +men may safely be regarded as being distinctly more intellectual, +and as having distinctly deeper natures, than the men who came +together under the leadership of Toombs and Cobb, and who had the +true provincial enthusiasm for politics as the great American +sport. + +The factions of both Toombs and Yancey were intensely Southern +and, whenever a crisis might come, neither meant to hesitate an +instant over striking hard for the South. Toombs, however, +wanted to prevent such a situation, while Yancey was anxious to +force one. The former conceived felicity as the joy of playing +politics on the biggest stage, and he therefore bent all his +strength to preserving the so-called national parties; the +latter, scornful of all such union, was for a separate Southern +community. + +Furthermore, no man could become enthusiastic about political +evasion unless by nature he also took kindly to compromise. So, +Toombs and his followers were for preserving the negative +Democratic position of 1856. In a formal paper of great ability +Stephens defended that position when he appeared for reelection +to Congress in 1857. Cobb, who had entered Buchanan's Cabinet as +Secretary of the Treasury, and who spoke hopefully of making +Kansas a slave state, insisted nevertheless that such a change +must be "brought about by the recognized principles of carrying +out the will of the majority which is the great doctrine of the +Kansas Bill." To Yancey, as to the Republicans, Kansas was a +disputed border-land for which the so-called two nations were +fighting. + +The internal Southern conflict between these two factions began +anew with the Congressional elections of 1857. It is worth +observing that the make-up of these factions was almost a +resurrection of the two groups which, in 1850, had divided the +South on the question of rejecting the Compromise. In a letter +to Stephens in reference to one of the Yancey men, Cobb +prophesied: "McDonald will utterly fail to get up a new Southern +Rights party. Burnt children dread the fire, and he cannot get up +as strong an organization as he did in 1850. Still it is +necessary to guard every point, as McDonald is a hard hand to +deal with." For the moment, he foretold events correctly. The +Southern elections of 1857 did not break the hold of the +moderates. + +Yancey turned to different machinery, quite as useful for his +purpose. This he found in the Southern commercial conventions, +which were held annually. At this point there arises a vexed +question which has, of late, aroused much discussion. Was there +then what we should call today a slave "interest"? Was organized +capital deliberately exploiting slavery? And did Yancey play +into its hands?* The truth seems to be that, between 1856 and +1860, both the idealist parties, the Republicans and the +Secessionists, made peace with, shall we say, the Mammon of +unrighteousness, or merely organized capital? The one joined +hands with the iron interest of the North; the other, with the +slave interest of the South. The Republicans preached the +domination of the North and a protective tariff; the Yancey men +preached the independence of the South and the reopening of the +slave trade. + +* For those who would be persuaded that there was such a slave +interest, perhaps the best presentation is to be found in +Professor Dodd's Life of Jefferson Davis. + + +These two issues Yancey, however, failed to unite, though the +commercial convention of 1859 at last gave its support to a +resolution that all laws, state or federal, prohibiting the +African slave trade ought to be repealed. That great body of +Northern capital which had dealings with the South was ready, as +it always had been, to finance any scheme that Southern business +desired. Slavers were fitted out in New York, and the city +authorities did not prevent their sailing. Against this somber +background stands forth that much admired action of Lewis Cass of +Michigan, Buchanan's Secretary of State. Already the slave trade +was in process of revival, and the British Navy, impelled by the +powerful anti-slavery sentiment in England, was active in its +suppression. American ships suspected of being slavers were +visited and searched. Cass seized his opportunity, and declaring +that such things "could not be submitted to by an independent +nation without dishonor," sent out American warships to prevent +this interference. Thereupon the British government consented to +give up trying to police the ocean against slavers. It is indeed +true, therefore, that neither North nor South has an historical +monopoly of the support of slavery! + +It is but fair to add that, so far as the movement to reopen the +slave trade found favor outside the slave barons and their New +York allies, it was advocated as a means of political defense, of +increasing Southern population as an offset to the movement of +free emigration into the North, and of keeping the proportion of +Southern representation in Congress. Stephens, just after Cass +had successfully twisted the lion's tail, took this position in a +speech that caused a sensation. In a private letter he added, +"Unless we get immigration from abroad, we shall have few more +slave states. This great truth seems to take the people by +surprise. Some shrink from it as they would from death. Still, +it is as true as death." The scheme, however, never received +general acceptance; and in the constitution of the Southern +Confederacy there was a section prohibiting the African slave +trade. On the other of these two issues--the independence of the +South--Yancey steadily gained ground. With each year from 1856 +to 1860, a larger proportion of Southerners drew out of political +evasion and gave adherence to the idea of presenting an ultimatum +to the North, with secession as an alternative. + +Meanwhile, Buchanan sent to Kansas, as Governor, Robert J. +Walker, one of the most astute of the Democrats of the opposite +faction and a Mississippian. The tangled situation which Walker +found, the details of his attempt to straighten it out, belong in +another volume.* It is enough in this connection merely to +mention the episode of the Lecompton convention in the election +of which the Northern settlers refused to participate, though +Walker had promised that they should have full protection and a +fair count as well as that the work of the convention should be +submitted to a popular vote. This action of Walker's was one +more cause of contention between the warring factions in the +South. The fact that he had met the Northerners half-way was +seized upon by the Yancey men as evidence of the betrayal of the +South by the Democratic moderates. On the other hand, Cobb, +writing of the situation in Kansas, said that "a large majority +are against slavery and...our friends regard the fate of Kansas +as a free state pretty well fixed...the pro-slavery men, finding +that Kansas was likely to become a Black Republican State, +determined to unite with the free-state Democrats." Here is the +clue to Walker's course. As a strict party man, he preferred to +accept Kansas free, with Democrats in control, rather than risk +losing it altogether. + +* See Jesse Macy, "The Anti-Slavery Crusade". (In "The +Chronicles of America".) + + +The next step in the affair is one of the unsolved problems in +American history. Buchanan suddenly changed front, disgraced +Walker, and threw himself into the arms of the Southern +extremists. Though his reasons for doing so have been debated to +this day, they have not yet been established beyond dispute. +What seems to be the favorite explanation is that Buchanan was in +a panic. What brought him to that condition may have been the +following events. + +The free-state men, by refusing to take part in electing the +convention, had given control to the slaveholders, who proved +they were not slow to seize their opportunity. They drew up a +constitution favoring slavery, but this constitution, Walker had +promised, was to be submitted in referendum. If the convention +decided, however, not to submit the constitution, would not +Congress have the right to accept it and admit Kansas as a Mate? +This question was immediately raised. It now became plain that, +by refusing to take part in the election, the free-state Kansans +had thrown away a great tactical advantage. Of this blunder in +generalship the Yancey men took instant advantage. It was known +that the proportion of Free-Soilers in Kansas was very great-- +perhaps a majority--and the Southerners reasoned that they should +not be obliged to give up the advantage they had won merely to +let their enemies retrieve their mistake. Jefferson Davis +formulated this position in an address to the Mississippi +Legislature in which he insisted that Congress, not the Kansas +electorate, was entitled to create the Kansas constitution, that +the Convention was a properly chosen body, and that its work +should stand. What Davis said in a stately way, others said in a +furious way. Buchanan stated afterward that he changed front +because certain Southern States had threatened that, if he did +not abandon Walker, they would secede. + +Be that as it may, Buchanan did abandon Walker and threw all the +influence of the Administration in favor of admitting Kansas with +the Lecompton constitution. But would this be true to that +principle of "popular sovereignty" which was the very essence of +the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Would it be true to the principle that +each locality should decide for itself between slavery and +freedom? On this issue the Southerners were fairly generally +agreed and maintained that there was no obligation to go behind +the work of the convention. Not so, however, the great exponent +of popular sovereignty, Douglas. Rising in his place in the +Senate, he charged the President with conspiring to defeat the +will of the majority in Kansas. "If Kansas wants a slave state +constitution," said he, "she has a right to it; if she wants a +free state constitution, she has a right to it. It is none of my +business which way the slavery clause is decided. I care not +whether it is voted up or down." + +There followed one of those prolonged legislative battles for +which the Congress of the United States is justly celebrated. +Furious oratory, propositions, counter-propositions, projected +compromises, other compromises, and at the end nothing positive. +But Douglas had defeated the attempt to bring in Kansas with the +Lecompton constitution. As to the details of the story, they +include such distinguished happenings as a brawling, all-night +session when "thirty men, at least, were engaged in the +fisticuff," and one Representative knocked another down. + +Douglas was again at the center of the stage, but his term as +Senator was nearing its end. He and the President had split +their party. Pursued by the vengeful malice of the +Administration, Douglas went home in 1858 to Illinois to fight +for his reelection. His issue, of course, was popular +sovereignty. His temper was still the temper of political +evasion. How to hold fast to his own doctrine, and at the same +time keep to his programme of "nothing doing"; how to satisfy the +negative Democrats of the North without losing his last hold on +the positive men of the South--such were his problems, and they +were made still more difficult by a recent decision of the +Supreme Court. + +The now famous case of Dred Scott had been decided in the +previous year. Its bewildering legal technicalities may here be +passed over; fundamentally, the real question involved was the +status of a negro, Dred Scott. A slave who had been owned in +Missouri, and who had been taken by his master to the State of +Illinois, to the free territory of Minnesota, and then back to +Missouri, now claimed to be free. The Supreme Court undertook to +decide whether his residence in Minnesota rendered him free, and +also whether any negro of slave descent could be a citizen of the +United States. The official opinion of the Court, delivered by +Chief Justice Taney, decided both questions against the +suppliant. It was held that the "citizens" recognized by the +Constitution did not include negroes. So, even if Scott were +free, he could not be considered a citizen entitled to bring suit +in the Federal Courts. Furthermore, he could not be considered +free, in spite of his residence in Minnesota, because, as the +Court now ruled, Congress, when it enacted the Missouri +Compromise, had exceeded its authority; the enactment had never +really been in force; there was no binding prohibition of slavery +in the Northwestern territories. + +If this decision was good law, all the discussion about popular +sovereignty went for nothing, and neither an act of Congress nor +the vote of the population of a territory, whether for or against +slavery, was of any value whatsoever. Nothing mattered until the +newmade state itself took action after its admission to the +Union. Until that time, no power, national or local, could +lawfully interfere with the introduction of slaves. In the case +of Kansas, it was no longer of the least importance what became +of the Lecompton constitution or of any other that the settlers +might make. The territory was open to settlement by slaveholders +and would continue to be so as long as it remained a territory. +The same conditions existed in Nebraska and in all the Northwest. +The Dred Scott decision was accepted as orthodox Democratic +doctrine by the South, by the Administration, and by the +"Northern men with Southern principles." The astute masters of +the game of politics on the Democratic side struck the note of +legality. This was law, the expression of the highest tribunal +of the Republic; what more was to be said? Though in truth there +was but one other thing to be said, and that revolutionary, the +Republicans, nevertheless, did not falter over it. Seward +announced it in a speech in Congress on "Freedom in Kansas," when +he uttered this menace: "We shall reorganize the Court and thus +reform its political sentiments and practices." + +In the autumn of 1858 Douglas attempted to perform the acrobatic +feat of reconciling the Dred Scott decision, which as a Democrat +he had to accept, with that idea of popular sovereignty without +which his immediate followers could not be content. In accepting +the Republican nomination as Douglas's opponent for the +senatorship, Lincoln used these words which have taken rank among +his most famous utterances: "A house divided against itself +cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure +permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union +to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall but I do +expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing +or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the +further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall +rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate +extinction; or its advocates will push it forward till it shall +become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new--North +as well as South." + +No one had ever so tellingly expressed the deathgrapple of the +sections: slavery the weapon of one, free labor the weapon of the +other. Though Lincoln was at that time forty-nine years old, his +political experience, in contrast with that of Douglas, was +negligible. He afterward aptly described his early life in that +expressive line from Gray, "The short and simple annals of the +poor." He lacked regular schooling, and it was altogether from +the practice of law that he had gained such formal education as +he had. In law, however, he had become a master, and his +position, to judge from the class of cases entrusted to him, was +second to none in Illinois. To that severe yet wholesome cast of +mind which the law establishes in men naturally lofty, Lincoln +added the tonic influence of a sense of style--not the verbal +acrobatics of a rhetorician, but that power to make words and +thought a unit which makes the artist of a man who has great +ideas. How Lincoln came by this literary faculty is, indeed, as +puzzling as how Burns came by it. But there it was, disciplined +by the court room, made pungent by familiarity with plain people, +stimulated by constant reading of Shakespeare, and chastened by +study of the Bible. + +It was arranged that Douglas and Lincoln should tour the State +together in a series of joint debates. As a consequence there +followed a most interesting opposition of methods in the use of +words, a contest between the method formed in Congress at a time +when Congress was a perfect rhetorical academy, and that method +of using words which was based on an arduous study of Blackstone, +Shakespeare, and Isaiah. Lincoln issued from the debates one of +the chief intellectual leaders of America, and with a place in +English literature; Douglas came out a Senator from Illinois. + +But though Douglas kept his following together, and though +Lincoln was voted down, to Lincoln belonged the real strategic +victory. In order to save himself with his own people, Douglas +had been forced to make admissions that ruined him with the +South. Because of these admissions the breach in the party of +political evasion became irreparable. It was in the debate at +Freeport that Douglas's fate overtook him, for Lincoln put this +question: "Can the people of a United States territory, in any +lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, +exclude slavery from its limits, prior to the formation of a +state constitution?" + +Douglas answered in his best style of political thunder. "It +matters not," he said, "what way the Supreme Court may hereafter +decide as to the abstract question whether slavery may or may not +go into a territory under the Constitution; the people have the +lawful means to introduce it or exclude it as they please, for +the reason that slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere +unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those police +regulations can only be established by the local legislatures; +and if the people are opposed to slavery, they will elect +representatives to that body who will by unfriendly legislation +effectually prevent the introduction of it into their midst. If, +on the contrary, they are for it, their legislation will favor +its extension. Hence, no matter what the decision of the Supreme +Court may be on that abstract question, still the right of the +people to make a slave territory or a free territory is perfect +and complete under the Nebraska Bill." + +As to the moral aspect of his actions, Douglas must ultimately be +judged by the significance which this position in which he placed +himself assumed in his own mind. Friendly critics excuse him: an +interpretation of the Dred Scott decision which explained it away +as an irresponsible utterance on a subject outside the scope of +the case, a mere obiter dictum, is the justification which is +called in to save him from the charge of insincerity. His +friends, today, admit that this interpretation was bad law, but +maintain that it may have been good morals, and that Douglas +honestly held it. But many of us have not yet advanced so far in +critical generosity, and cannot help feeling that Douglas's +position remains political legerdemain--an attempt by a great +officer of the government, professing to defend the Supreme +Court, to show the people how to go through the motions of +obedience to the Court while defeating its intention. If not +double-dealing in a strict sense, it must yet be considered as +having in it the temper of double-dealing.* This was, indeed, the +view of many men of his own day and, among them, of Lincoln. Yet +the type of man on whom the masters of the game of politics +relied saw nothing in Douglas's position at which to be +disturbed. It was merely playing politics, and if that absorbing +sport required one to carry water on both shoulders, why--play +the game! Douglas was the man for people like that. They cheered +him to the echo and sent him back to the Senate. So well was +this type understood by some of Lincoln's friends that they had +begged him, at least according to tradition, not to put the +question at Freeport, as by doing so he would enable Douglas to +save himself with his constituency. Lincoln saw further, +however. He understood better than they the forces then at work +in America. The reply reported of him was: "If Douglas answers, +he can never be President, and the battle of 1860 is worth a +hundred of this." + +* There are three ways of regarding Douglas's position: (1) As a +daring piece of evasion designed to hold all the Democrats +together; (2) as an attempt to secure his locality at all costs, +taking his chances on the South; (3) as a sincere expression of +the legal interpretation mentioned above. It is impossible in +attempting to choose among these to escape wholly one's +impression of the man's character. + + +Well might Yancey and his followers receive with a shout of joy +the "Freeport Doctrine," as Douglas's supreme evasion was called. +Should Southerners trust any longer the man who had evolved from +the principle of let-'em-alone to the principle of +double-dealing? However, the Southerners were far from +controlling the situation. Though the events of 1858 had created +discord in the Democratic party, they had not consolidated the +South. Men like Toombs and Stephens were still hopeful of +keeping the States together in the old bond of political evasion. +The Democratic machine, damaged though it was, had not yet lost +its hold on the moderate South, and while that continued to be +the case, there was still power in it. + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE CRISIS + +The Southern moderates in 1859 form one of those political +groups, numerous enough in history, who at a crisis arrest our +imagination because of the irony of their situation. +Unsuspecting, these men went their way, during the last summer of +the old regime, busy with the ordinary affairs of state, absorbed +in their opposition to the Southern radicals, never dreaming of +the doom that was secretly moving toward them through the plans +of John Brown. In the soft brilliancy of the Southern summer +when the roses were in bloom, many grave gentlemen walked slowly +up and down together under the oaks of their plantation avenues, +in the grateful dusk, talking eagerly of how the scales trembled +in Southern politics between Toombs and Yancey, and questioning +whether the extremists could ride down the moderate South and +reopen the slave trade. In all their wondering whether Douglas +would ever come back to them or would prove the blind Samson +pulling down their temple about their ears, there was never a +word about the approaching shadow which was so much more real +than the shades of the falling night, and yet so entirely shut +away from their observation. + +In this summer, Stephens withdrew as he thought from public life. +With an intensely sensitive nature, he had at times flashes of +strange feeling which an unsophisticated society would regard as +prophetic inspirations. When he left Washington "on the +beautiful morning of the 5th of March, 1859, he stood at the +stern of the boat for some minutes gazing back at the capital." +He had announced his intention of not standing again as a +Representative, and one of his fellow-passengers asked jokingly +whether he was thinking of his return as a Senator. Stephen's +reply was full of emotion, "No, I never expect to see Washington +again unless I am brought here as a prisoner of war." During the +summer he endeavored to cast off his intuition of approaching +disaster. At his plantation, "Liberty Hall," he endeavored to be +content with the innumerable objects associated with his youth; +he tried to feel again the grace of the days that were gone, the +mysterious loveliness of the Southern landscape with its immense +fields, its forests, its great empty spaces filled with glowing +sunshine. He tried to possess his troubled soul with the severe +intellectual ardor of the law. But his gift of second sight +would not rest. He could not overcome his intuition that, for all +the peace and dreaminess of the outward world, destiny was upon +him. Looking out from his spiritual seclusion, he beheld what +seemed to him complete political confusion, both local and +national. His despairing mood found expression a little later in +the words: "Indeed if we were now to have a Southern convention +to determine upon the true policy of the South either in the +Union or out of it, I should expect to see just as much +profitless discussion, disagreement, crimination, and +recrimination amongst the members of it from different states and +from the same state, as we witness in the present House of +Representatives between Democrats, Republicans, and Americans." + +Among the sources of confusion Stephens saw, close at home, was +the Southern battle over the reopening of the slave trade. The +reality of that issue had been made plain in May, 1859, when the +Southern commercial congress at Vicksburg entertained at the same +time two resolutions: one, that the convention should urge all +Southern States to amend their constitutions by a clause +prohibiting the increase of African slavery; the other, that the +convention urge all the Legislatures of Southern States to +present memorials to Congress asking the repeal of the law +against African slave trade. Of these opposed resolutions, the +latter was adopted on the last day of the convention*, though the +moderates fought hard against it. + +*It is significant that the composition of these Southern +commercial congresses and the Congress of the whole Southern +people was strikingly different in personnel. Very few members +of the commercial congresses reappear in the Confederate +Congress. + + +The split between Southern moderates and Southern radicals was +further indicated by their differing attitudes toward the +adventurers from the United States in Central America. The +Vicksburg Convention adopted resolutions which were thinly veiled +endorsements of southward expansion. In the early autumn another +Nicaraguan expedition was nipped in the bud by the vigilance of +American naval forces. Cobb, prime factor in the group of +Southern moderates as well as Secretary of the Treasury, wrote to +Buchanan expressing his satisfaction at the event, mentioning the +work of his own department in bringing it about, and also +alluding to his arrangments to prevent slave trading off the +Florida coast. + +But the spirit of doubt was strong even among the moderates. +Douglas was the target. Stephens gives a glimpse of it in a +letter written during his last session in Congress. "Cobb called +on me Saturday night," he writes. "He is exceedingly bitter +against Douglas. I joked him a good deal, and told him he had +better not fight, or he would certainly be whipped; that is, in +driving Douglas out of the Democratic party. He said that if +Douglas ever was restored to the confidence of the Democracy of +Georgia, it would be over his dead body politically. This shows +his excitement, that is all. I laughed at him, and told him he +would run his feelings and his policy into the ground." The +anger of Cobb, who was himself a confessed candidate for the +Democratic nomination, was imperiling the Democratic national +machine which Toombs was still struggling so resolutely to hold +together. Indeed, as late as the autumn of 1859 the machine +still held together. + +Then came the man of destiny, the bolt from the blue, the end of +the chapter. A marvelous fanatic--a sort of reincarnation of the +grimmest of the Covenanters--by one daring act shattered the +machine and made impossible any further coalition on the +principle of "nothing doing." This man of destiny was John +Brown, whose attack on Harper's Ferry took place October 16th, +and whose execution by the authorities of Virginia on the charges +of murder and treason occurred on the 2nd of December. + +The incident filled the South with consternation. The prompt +condemnation of it by many Republican leaders did not offset, in +the minds of Southerners, the fury of praise accorded by others. +The South had a ghastly tradition derived chiefly from what is +known as Nat Turner's Rebellion in Virginia, a tradition of the +massacre of white women and children by negroes. As Brown had +set opt to rouse a slave rebellion, every Southerner familiar +with his own traditions shuddered, identifying in imagination +John Brown and Nat Turner. Horror became rage when the +Southerners heard of enthusiastic applause in Boston and of +Emerson's description of Brown as "that new saint" who was to +"make the gallows glorious like the cross." In the excitement +produced by remarks such as this, justice was not done to +Lincoln's censure. In his speech at Cooper Institute in New +York, in February, 1860, Lincoln had said: "John Brown's +effort...in its philosophy corresponds with the many attempts +related in history at the assassination of kings and emperors. +An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people, until he +fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them. He +ventures the attempt which ends in little else than in his own +execution." A few months afterwards, the Republican national +convention condemned the act of Brown as "among the gravest of +crimes." + +An immediate effect of the John Brown episode was a passionate +outburst from all the radical press of the South in defense of +slavery. The followers of Yancey made the most of their +opportunity. The men who voted at Vicksburg to reopen the slave +trade could find no words to measure their hatred of every one +who, at this moment of crisis, would not declare slavery a +blessing. Many of the men who opposed the slave traders also felt +that, in the face of possible slave insurrection, the peril of +their families was the one paramount consideration. +Nevertheless, it is easy for the special pleader to give a wrong +impression of the sentiment of the time. A grim desire for +self-preservation took possession of the South, as well as a +deadly fear of any person or any thing that tended directly or +indirectly to incite the blacks to insurrection. Northerners of +abolitionist sympathies were warned to leave the country, and in +some cases they were tarred and feathered. + +Great anger was aroused by the detection of book-agents who were +distributing a furious polemic against slavery, "The Impending +Crisis of the South: How to Meet It", by Hinton Rowan Helper, a +Southerner of inferior social position belonging to the class +known as poor whites. The book teemed with such sentences as +this, addressing slaveholders: "Do you aspire to become victims +of white non-slave-holding vengeance by day and of barbarous +massacres by the negroes at night?" It is scarcely strange, +therefore, that in 1859 no Southerner would hear a good word of +anyone caught distributing the book. And yet, in the midst of all +this vehement exaltation of slavery, the fight to prevent a +reopening of the slave trade went bravely on. Stephens, writing +to a friend who was correspondent for the "Southern Confederacy", +in Atlanta, warned him in April, 1860, "neither to advocate +disunion or the opening of the slave trade. The people here at +present I believe are as much opposed to it as they are at the +North; and I believe the Northern people could be induced to open +it sooner than the Southern people." + +The winter of 1859-1860 witnessed a famous congressional battle +over the speakership. The new Congress which met in December +contained 109 Republicans, 101 Democrats, and 27 Know-Nothings. +The Republican candidate for speaker was John Sherman of Ohio. +As the first ballot showed that he could not command a majority, +a Democrat from Missouri introduced this resolution "Whereas +certain members of this House, now in nomination for speaker, did +endorse the book hereinafter mentioned, resolved, That the +doctrines and sentiments of a certain book, called 'The Impending +Crisis of the South: How to Meet It', are insurrectionary and +hostile to the peace and tranquillity of the country, and that no +member of this House, who has indorsed or recommended it, is fit +to be speaker of the House." + +During two months there were strange scenes in the House, while +the clerk acted as temporary speaker and furious diatribes were +thundered back and forth across the aisle that separated +Republicans from Democrats, with a passage of fisticuffs or even +a drawn pistol to add variety to the scene. The end of it all +was a deal. Pennington, of the "People's Party" of New Jersey, +who had supported Sherman but had not endorsed Helper, was given +the Republican support; a Know-Nothing was made sergeant-at-arms; +and Know-Nothing votes added to the Republican votes made +Pennington speaker. In many Northern cities the news of his +election was greeted with the great salute of a hundred guns, but +at Richmond the papers came out in mourning type. + +Two great figures now advanced to the center of the Congressional +stage--Jefferson Davis, Senator from Mississippi, a lean eagle of +a man with piercing blue eyes, and Judah P. Benjamin, Senator +from Louisiana, whose perpetual smile cloaked an intellect that +was nimble, keen, and ruthless. Both men were destined to play +leading roles in the lofty drama of revolution; each was to +experience a tragic ending of his political hope, one in exile, +the other in a solitary proscription amid the ruins of the +society for which he had sacrified his all. These men, though +often spoken of as mere mouthpieces of Yancey, were in reality +quite different from him both in temper and in point of view. + +Davis, who was destined eventually to become the target of +Yancey's bitterest enmity, had refused ten years before to join +in the secession movement which ignored Calhoun's doctrine that +the South had become a social unit. Though a believer in slavery +under the conditions of the moment, Davis had none of the passion +of the slave baron for slavery at all costs. Furthermore, as +events were destined to show in a startlingly dramatic way, he +was careless of South Carolina's passion for state rights. He +was a practical politician, but not at all the old type of the +party of political evasion, the type of Toombs. No other man of +the moment was on the whole so well able to combine the elements +of Southern politics against those more negative elements of +which Toombs was the symbol. The history of the Confederacy +shows that the combination which Davis now effected was not as +thorough as he supposed it was. But at the moment he appeared to +succeed and seemed to give common purpose to the vast majority of +the Southern people. With his ally Benjamin, he struck at the +Toombs policy of a National Democratic party. + +On the day following the election of Pennington, Davis introduced +in the Senate a series of resolutions which were to serve as the +Southern ultimatum, and which demanded of Congress the protection +of slavery against territorial legislatures. This was but +carrying to its logical conclusion that Dred Scott decision which +Douglas and his followers proposed to accept. If Congress could +not restrict slavery in the territories, how could its creature, +a territorial legislature do so? And yet the Douglas men +attempted to take away the power from Congress and to retain it +for the territorial legislatures. Senator Pugh of Ohio had +already locked horns with Davis on this point, and had attempted +to show that a territorial Legislature was independent of +Congress. "Then I would ask the Senator further," retorted the +logical Davis, "why it is he makes an appropriation to pay +members of the territorial legislature; how it is that he invests +the Governor with veto power over their acts; and how it is that +he appoints judges to decide upon the validity of their acts." + +In the Democratic convention which met at Charleston in April, +1860, the waning power of political evasion made its last real +stand against the rising power of political positivism. To +accept Douglas and the idea that somehow territorial legislatures +were free to do what Congress could not do, or to reject Douglas +and endorse Davis's ultimatum--that in substance was the issue. +"In this convention where there should be confidence and +harmony," said the "Charleston Mercury", "it is plain that men +feel as if they were going into a battle." In the committee on +resolutions where the States were equally represented, the +majority were anti-Douglas; they submitted a report affirming +Davis's position that territorial legislatures had no right to +prohibit slavery and that the Federal Government should protect +slavery against them. The minority refused to go further than an +approval of the Dred Scott case and a pledge to abide by all +future decisions of the Supreme Court. After both reports had +been submitted, there followed the central event of the +convention--the now famous speech by Yancey which repudiated +political evasion from top to bottom, frankly defended slavery, +and demanded either complete guarantees for its continued +existence or, as an alternative, Southern independence. Pugh +instantly replied and summed up Yancey's speech as a demand upon +Northern Democrats to say that slavery was right, and that it was +their duty not only to let slavery alone but to aid in extending +it. "Gentlemen of the South," he exclaimed, "you mistake us--you +mistake us--we will not do it." + +In the full convention, where the representation of the States +was not equal, the Douglas men, after hot debate, forced the +adoption of the minority report. Thereupon the Alabama +delegation protested and formally withdrew from the convention, +and other delegations followed. There was wild excitement in +Charleston, where that evening in the streets Yancey addressed +crowds that cheered for a Southern republic. The remaining +history of the Democratic nominations is a matter of detail. The +Charleston convention adjourned without making nominations. Each +of its fragments reorganized as a separate convention, and +ultimately two Democratic tickets were put into the field, with +Breckinridge of Kentucky as the candidate on the Yancey ticket +and Douglas on the other. + +While the Democrats were thus making history through their +fateful break-up into separate parties, a considerable number of +the so-called best people of the country determined that they had +nowhere politically to lay their heads. A few of the old Whigs +were still unable to consort either with Republicans or with +Democrats, old or new. The Know-Nothings, likewise, though their +number had been steadily melting away, had not entirely +disappeared. To unite these political remnants in any definite +political whole seemed beyond human ingenuity. A common +sentiment, however, they did have--a real love of the Union and a +real unhappiness, because its existence appeared to be +threatened. The outcome was that they organized the +Constitutional Union Party, nominating for President John Bell of +Tennessee, and for Vice President Edward Everett of +Massachusetts. Their platform was little more than a profession +of love of the Union and a condemnation of sectional selfishness. + +This Bell and Everett ticket has a deeper significance than has +generally been admitted. It reveals the fact that the sentiment +of Union, in distinction from the belief in the Union, had become +a real force in American life. There could be no clearer +testimony to the strength of this feeling than this spectacle of +a great congregation of moderate people, unable to agree upon +anything except this sentiment, stepping between the sectional +parties like a resolute wayfarer going forward into darkness +along a perilous strand between two raging seas. That this +feeling of Union was the same thing as the eager determination of +the Republicans, in 1860, to control the Government is one of +those historical fallacies that have had their day. The +Republican party became, in time and under stress of war, the +refuge of this sentiment and proved sufficiently far-sighted to +merge its identity temporarily in the composite Union party of +1864. But in 1860 it was still a sectional party. Among its +leaders Lincoln was perhaps the only Unionist in the same sense +as Bell and Everett. + +Perhaps the truest Unionists of the North, outside the +Constitutional Union Party, in 1860, were those Democrats in the +following of Douglas who, after fighting to the last ditch +against both the sectional parties, were to accept, in 1861, the +alternative of war rather than dissolution. The course of +Douglas himself, as we shall see hereafter, showed that in his +mind there was a fixed limit of concession beyond which he could +not go. When circumstances forced him to that limit, the +sentiment of Union took control of him, swept aside his political +jugglery, abolished his time-serving, and drove him into +cooperation with his bitterest foes that the Union might be +saved. Nor was the pure sentiment of Union confined to the North +and West. Though undoubtedly the sentiment of locality was more +powerful through the South, yet when the test came in the +election of 1860, the leading candidate of the upper South, in +Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, was John Bell, the +Constitutional Unionist. In every Southern State this sentiment +was able to command a considerable part of the vote.* + +*A possible exception was South Carolina. As the presidential +electors were appointed by the legislature, there is no certain +record of minority sentiment. + + +Widely different in temper were those stern and resolute men +whose organization, in perfect fighting trim, faced eagerly the +divided Democrats. The Republicans had no division among +themselves upon doctrine. Such division as existed was due to +the ordinary rivalry of political leaders. In the opinion of all +his enemies and of most Americans, Seward was the Republican man +of the hour. During much of 1859 he had discreetly withdrawn from +the country and had left to his partisans the conduct of his +campaign, which seems to have been going well when he returned in +the midst of the turmoil following the death of John Brown. +Nevertheless he was disturbed over his prospects, for he found +that in many minds, both North and South, he was looked upon as +the ultimate cause of all the turmoil. His famous speech on the +"irrepressible conflict" was everywhere quoted as an exultant +prophecy of these terrible latter days. + +It was long the custom to deny to Seward any good motive in a +speech which he now delivered, just as it was to deny Webster any +good motive for his famous 7th of March speech. But such +criticism is now less frequent than it used to be. Both men were +seeking the Presidency; both, we may fairly believe, were shocked +by the turmoil of political currents; each tried oiling the +waters, and in the attempt each ruined his candidacy. Seward's +speech in condemnation of John Brown in February, 1860, was an +appeal to the conservative North against the radical North, and +to many of his followers it seemed a change of front. It +certainly gained him no new friends and it lost him some old +ones, so that his star as a presidential candidate began its +decline. + +The first ballot in the Republican convention surprised the +country. Of the votes, 233 were necessary for a choice. Seward +had only 173 1/2. Next to him, with 102 votes, stood none of the +leading candidates, but the comparatively obscure Lincoln. A gap +of more than 50 votes separated Lincoln from Cameron, Chase, and +Bates. On the second ballot Seward gained 11 votes, while +Lincoln gained 79. The enemies of Seward, finding it impossible +to combine on any of the conspicuous candidates, were moving +toward Lincoln, the man with fewest enemies. The third ballot +gave Lincoln the nomination. + +We have seen that one of the basal questions of the time was +which new political group should absorb the Whig remainder. The +Constitutional Union party aimed to accomplish this. The +Republicans sought to out-maneuver them. They made their +platform as temperate as they could and yet consistent with the +maintenance of their opposition to Douglas and popular +sovereignty; and they went no further in their anti-slavery +demands than that the territories should be preserved for free +labor. + +Another basal question had been considered in the Republican +platform. Where would Northern capital stand in the +reorganization of parties? Was capital, like men, to become +frankly sectional or would it remain impersonal, careless how +nations rose or fell, so long as dividends continued? To some +extent capital had given an answer. When, in the excitement +following the John Brown incident, a Southern newspaper published +a white list of New York merchants whose political views should +commend them to Southerners, and a black list of those who were +objectionable, many New Yorkers sought a place in the white list. +Northern capital had done its part in financing the revived slave +trade. August Belmont, the New York representative of the +Rothschilds, was one of the close allies of Davis, Yancey, and +Benjamin in their war upon Douglas. In a word, a great portion +of Northern capital had its heart where its investments were--in +the South. But there was other capital which obeyed the same law, +and which had investments in the North; and with this capital the +Republicans had been trafficking. They had succeeded in winning +over the powerful manufacturing interests of Pennsylvania, the +pivotal State that had elected Buchanan in 1856. + +The steps by which the new party of enthusiasm made its deal with +the body of capital which was not at one with Belmont and the +Democrats are not essential to the present narrative. Two facts +suffice. In 1857 a great collapse in American business--"the +panic of fifty-seven"--led the commercial world to turn to the +party in power for some scheme of redress. But their very +principles, among which was non-intervention in business, made +the Democrats feeble doctors for such a need, and they evaded the +situation. The Republicans, with their insistence on positivism +in government, had therefore an opportunity to make a new +application of the doctrine of governmental aid to business. In +the spring of 1860, the Republican House of Representatives +passed the Morrill tariff bill, consideration of which was +postponed by the Democratic Senate. But it served its purpose: +it was a Republican manifesto. The Republicans felt that this +bill, together with their party platform, gave the necessary +guarantee to the Pennsylvania manufacturers, and they therefore +entered the campaign confident they would carry Pennsylvania nor +was their confidence misplaced. + +The campaign was characterized by three things: by an ominous +quiet coupled with great intensity of feeling; by the +organization of huge party societies in military +form--"Wide-awakes" for Lincoln, numbering 400,000, and "Minute +Men" for Breckenridge, with a membership chiefly Southern; and by +the perfect frankness, in all parts of the South, of threats of +secession in case the Republicans won. + +In none of the States which eventually seceded were any votes +cast for Lincoln, with the exception of a small number in +Virginia. In almost all the other Southern States and in the +slave-holding border States, all the other candidates made +respectable showings. In Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, Bell +led. But everywhere else in the other slave-holding States +Breckinridge led, excepting in Missouri where Douglas won by a +few hundred. Every free State except New Jersey went for +Lincoln. And yet he did not have a majority of the popular vote, +which stood: Lincoln, 1,866,459; Douglas, 1,376,957; +Breckinridge, 849,781; Bell, 588,879*. The majority against +Lincoln was nearly a million. The distribution of the votes was +such that Lincoln had in the Electoral College, 180 electors; +Breckinridge, 72; Bell, 39; Douglas, 12. In neither House of +Congress did the Republicans have a majority. + +*The figures of the popular vote are variously given by different +compilers. These are taken from Stanwood, "A History of the +Presidency". + + + +CHAPTER V. SECESSION + +In tracing American history from 1854 to 1860 we cannot fail to +observe that it reduces itself chiefly to a problem in that +science which politicians understand so well--applied psychology. +Definite types of men moulded by the conditions of those days are +the determining factors--not the slavery question in itself; not, +primarily, economic forces; not a theory of government, nor a +clash of theories; not any one thing; but the fluid, changeful +forces of human nature, battling with circumstances and +expressing themselves in the fashion of men's minds. To say this +is to acknowledge the fatefulness of sheer feeling. Davis +described the situation exactly when he said, in 1860, "A +sectional hostility has been substituted for a general +fraternity." To his own question, "Where is the remedy?" he gave +the answer, "In the hearts of the people." There, after all, is +the conclusion of the whole matter. The strife between North and +South had ceased to be a thing of the head; it had become a thing +of the heart. Granted the emotions of 1860, the way in which our +country staggered into war has all the terrible fascination of a +tragedy on the theme of fate. + +That a secession movement would begin somewhere in the South +before the end of 1860 was a foregone conclusion. South Carolina +was the logical place, and in South Carolina the inevitable +occurred. The presidential election was quickly followed by an +election of delegates, on the 6th of December, to consider in +convention the relations of the State with the Union. The +arguments before the Convention were familiar and had been +advocated since 1851. The leaders of the disunionists were the +same who had led the unsuccessful movement of ten years before. +The central figure was Rhett, who never for a moment had wavered. +Consumed his life long by the one idea of the independence of +South Carolina, that stern enthusiast pressed on to a triumphant +conclusion. The powers which had defeated him in 1851 were now +either silent or converted, so that there was practically no +opposition. In a burst of passionate zeal the independence of +South Carolina was proclaimed on December 20, 1860, by an +ordinance of secession. + +Simultaneously, by one of those dramatic coincidences which make +history stranger than fiction, Lincoln took a step which +supplemented this action and established its tragic significance. +What that step was will appear in a moment. + +Even before the secession began, various types of men in politics +had begun to do each after his kind. Those whom destiny drove +first into a corner were the lovers of political evasion. The +issue was forced upon them by the instantaneous demand of the +people of South Carolina for possession of forts in Charleston +Harbor which were controlled by the Federal Government. +Anticipating such a demand, Major Robert Anderson, the commandant +at Charleston, had written to Buchanan on the 23d of November +that "Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney must be garrisoned +immediately, if the Government determines to keep command of this +harbor." + +In the mind of every American of the party of political evasion, +there now began a sad, internal conflict. Every one of them had +to choose among three courses: to shut his eyes and to continue +to wail that the function of government is to do nothing; to make +an end of political evasion and to come out frankly in approval +of the Southern position; or to break with his own record, to +emerge from his evasions on the opposite side, and to confess +himself first and before all a supporter of the Union. One or +another of these three courses, sooner or later, every man of the +President's following chose. We shall see presently the relative +strength of the three groups into which that following broke and +what strange courses sometimes tragic, sometimes comic--two of +the three pursued. For the moment our concern is how the +division manifested itself among the heads of the party at +Washington. + +The President took the first of the three courses. He held it +with the nervous clutch of a weak nature until overmastered by +two grim men who gradually hypnotized his will. The +turning-point for Buchanan, and the last poor crisis in his +inglorious career, came on Sunday, December 30th. Before that +day arrived, his vacillation had moved his friends to pity and +his enemies to scorn. One of his best friends wrote privately, +"The President is pale with fear"; and the hostile point of view +found expression in such comments as this, "Buchanan, it is said, +divides his time between praying and crying. Such a perfect +imbecile never held office before." + +With the question what to do about the forts hanging over his +bewildered soul, Buchanan sent a message to Congress on December +4, 1860, in which he sought to defend the traditional evasive +policy of his party. He denied the constitutional right of +secession, but he was also denied his own right to oppose such a +course. Seward was not unfair to the mental caliber of the +message when he wrote to his wife that Buchanan showed +"conclusively that it is the duty of the President to execute the +laws--unless somebody opposes him; and that no State has a right +to go out of the Union unless it wants to." + +This message of Buchanan's hastened the inevitable separation of +the Democratic party into its elements. The ablest Southern +member of the Cabinet, Cobb, resigned. He was too strong an +intellect to continue the policy of "nothing doing" now that the +crisis had come. He was too devoted a Southerner to come out of +political evasion except on one side. On the day Cobb resigned +the South Carolina Representatives called on Buchanan and asked +him not to make any change in the disposition of troops at +Charleston, and particularly not to strengthen Sumter, a fortress +on an island in the midst of the harbor, without at least giving +notice to the state authorities. What was said in this interview +was not put in writing but was remembered afterward in different +ways with unfortunate consequences. + +Every action of Buchanan in this fateful month continued the +disintegration of his following. Just as Cobb had to choose +between his reasonings as a Democratic party man and his feelings +as a Southerner, so the aged Cass, his Secretary of State, and an +old personal friend, now felt constrained to choose between his +Democratic reasoning and his Northern sympathies, and resigned +from the Cabinet on the 11th of December. Buchanan then turned +instinctively to the strongest natures that remained among his +close associates. It is a compliment to the innate force of +Jeremiah S. Black, the Attorney-General, that Buchanan advanced +him to the post of Secretary of State and allowed him to name as +his successor in the Attorney-Generalship Edwin M. Stanton. Both +were tried Democrats of the old style, "let-'em-alone" sort; and +both had supported the President in his Kansas policy. But each, +like every other member of his party, was being forced by +circumstances to make his choice among the three inevitable +courses, and each chose the Northern side. At once the question +of the moment was whether the new Secretary of State and his +powerful henchmen would hypnotize the President. + +For a couple of weeks the issue hung in the balance. Then there +appeared at Washington commissioners from South Carolina +"empowered to treat...for the delivery of forts...and other real +estate" held by the Federal Government within their State. On +the day following their arrival, Buchanan was informed by +telegraph that Anderson had dismantled Fort Moultrie on the north +side of the harbor, had spiked its guns, and had removed its +garrison to the island fortress, Sumter, which was supposed to be +far more defensible. At Charleston his action was interpreted as +preparation for war; and all South Carolinians saw in it a +violation of a pledge which they believed the President had given +their congressmen, three weeks previous, in that talk which had +not been written down. Greatly excited and fearful of designs +against them, the South Carolina commissioners held two +conferences with the President on the 27th and 28th of December. +They believed that he had broken his word, and they told him so. +Deeply agitated and refusing to admit that he had committed +himself at the earlier conference, he said that Anderson had +acted on his own responsibility, but he refused to order him back +to the now ruined Fort Moultrie. One remark which he let fall +has been remembered as evidence of his querulous state of mind: +"You are pressing me too importunately" exclaimed the unhappy +President; "you don't give me time to consider; you don't give me +time to say my prayers; I always say my prayers when required to +act upon any great state affair." One remembers Hampden "seeking +the Lord" about ship money, and one realizes that the same act +may have a vastly different significance in different +temperaments. + +Buchanan, however, was virtually ready to give way to the demand +of the commissioners. He drew up a paper to that effect and +showed it to the Cabinet. Then the turning-point came. In a +painful interview, Black, long one of his most trusted friends, +told him of his intention to resign, and that Stanton would go +with him and probably also the Postmaster-General, Holt. The +idea of losing the support of these strong personalities +terrified Buchanan, who immediately fell into a panic. Handing +Black the paper he had drawn up, Buchanan begged him to retain +office and to alter the paper as he saw fit. To this Black +agreed. The demand for the surrender of the forts was refused; +Anderson was not ordered back to Moultrie; and for the brief +remainder of Buchanan's administration Black acted as prime +minister. + +A very powerful section of the Northern democracy, well typified +by their leaders at Washington, had thus emerged from political +evasion on the Northern side. These men, known afterwards as War +Democrats, combined with the Republicans to form the composite +Union party which supported Lincoln. It is significant that +Stanton eventually reappeared in the Cabinet as Lincoln's +Secretary of War, and that along with him appeared another War +Democrat, Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy. With +them, at last, Douglas, the greatest of all the old Democrats of +the North, took his position. What became of the other factions +of the old Democratic party remains to be told. + +While Buchanan, early in the month, was weeping over the +pitilessness of fate, more practical Northerners were grappling +with the question of what was to be done about the situation. In +their thoughts they anticipated a later statesman and realized +that they were confronted by a condition and not by a theory. +Secession was at last a reality. Which course should they take? + +What strikes us most forcibly, as we look back upon that day, is +the widespread desire for peace. The abolitionists form a +conspicuous example. Their watchword was "Let the erring sisters +go in peace." Wendell Phillips, their most gifted orator, a +master of spoken style at once simple and melodious, declaimed +splendidly against war. Garrison, in "The Liberator", followed +his example. Whittier put the same feeling into his verse: + +They break the links of Union; shall we light +The flames of hell to weld anew the chain +On that red anvil where each blow is pain? + +Horace Greeley said in an editorial in the "New York Tribune": +"If the cotton states shall decide that they can do better out of +the Union than in it, we shall insist on letting them go in +peace. Whenever a considerable section of our Union shall +deliberately resolve to go out, we shall resist all coercive +measures designed to keep them in. We hope never to live in a +republic where one section is pinned to the residue by bayonets." + +The Democrats naturally clung to their traditions, and, even when +they went over, as Black and Stanton did, to the Anti-Southern +group, they still hoped that war would not be the result. +Equally earnest against war were most of the Republicans, though +a few, to be sure, were ready to swing the "Northern hammer." +Summer prophesied that slavery would "go down in blood." But the +bulk of the Republicans were for a sectional compromise, and +among them there was general approbation of a scheme which +contemplated reviving the line of the Missouri Compromise, and +thus frankly admitting the existence of two distinct sections, +and guaranteeing to each the security of its own institutions. +The greatest Republican boss of that day, Thurlow Weed, came out +in defense of this plan. + +No power was arrayed more zealously on the side of peace of any +kind than the power of money. It was estimated that two hundred +millions of dollars were owed by Southerners to Northerners. +War, it was reasoned, would cause the cancellation of these +obligations. To save their Southern accounts, the moneyed +interests of the North joined the extremists of Abolition in +pleading to let the erring sisters go in peace, if necessary, +rather than provoke them to war and the confiscation of debts. +It was the dread of such an outcome--which finally happened and +ruined many Northern firms--that caused the stock-market in New +York to go up and down with feverish uncertainty. Banks +suspended payment in Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. +The one important and all-engrossing thing in the mind's eye of +all the financial world at this moment was that specter of unpaid +Southern accounts. + +At this juncture, Senator Crittenden of Kentucky submitted to the +Senate a plan which has been known ever since as the Crittenden +Compromise. It was similar to Weed's plan, but it also provided +that the division of the country on the Missouri Compromise line +should be established by a constitutional amendment, which would +thus forever solidify sectionalism. Those elements of the +population generally called the conservative and the responsible +were delighted. Edward Everett wrote to Crittenden, "I saw with +great satisfaction your patriotic movement, and I wish from the +bottom of my heart it might succeed"; and August Belmont in a +letter to Crittenden spoke for the moneyed interest: "I have yet +to meet the first Union-loving man, in or out of politics, who +does not approve your compromise proposition...." + +The Senate submitted the Compromise to a Committee of Thirteen. +In this committee the Southern leaders, Toombs and Davis, were +both willing to accept the Compromise, if a majority of the +Republican members would agree. Indeed, if the Republicans would +agree to it, there seemed no reason why a new understanding +between the sections might not be reached, and no reason why +sectionalism, if accepted as the basis of the government, might +not solve the immediate problem and thus avert war. + +In this crisis all eyes were turned to Seward, that conspicuous +Republican who was generally looked upon as the real head of his +party. And Seward, at that very moment, was debating whether to +accept Lincoln's offer of the Secretaryship of State, for he +considered it vital to have an understanding with Lincoln on the +subject of the Compromise. He talked the matter over with Weed, +and they decided that Weed should go to Springfield and come to +terms with Lincoln. It was the interview between Weed and +Lincoln held, it seems, on the very day on which the Ordinance of +Secession was adopted--which gave to that day its double +significance. + +Lincoln refused point-blank to accept the compromise and he put +his refusal in writing. The historic meaning of his refusal, and +the significance of his determination not to solve the problem of +the hour by accepting a dual system of government based on +frankly sectional assumptions, were probably, in a measure, lost +on both Weed and Seward. They had, however, no misunderstanding +of its practical effect. This crude Western lawyer had certain +ideas from which he would not budge, and the party would have to +go along with him. Weed and Seward therefore promptly fell into +line, and Seward accepted the Secretaryship and came out in +opposition to the Compromise. Other Republicans with whom +Lincoln had communicated by letter made known his views, and +Greeley announced them in The Tribune. The outcome was the solid +alignment of all the Republicans in Congress against the +Compromise. As a result, this last attempt to reunite the +sections came to nothing. + +Not more than once or twice, if ever, in American history, has +there been such an anxious New Year's Day as that which ushered +in 1861. A few days before, a Republican Congressman had written +to one of his constituents: "The heavens are indeed black and an +awful storm is gathering...I see no way that either North or +South can escape its fury." Events were indeed moving fast +toward disaster. The garrison at Sumter was in need of supplies, +and in the first week of the new year Buchanan attempted to +relieve its wants. But a merchant vessel, the Star of the West, +by which supplies were sent, was fired upon by the South Carolina +authorities as it approached the harbor and was compelled to turn +back. This incident caused the withdrawal from the Cabinet of +the last opposition members--Thompson, of Mississippi, the +Secretary of the Interior, and Thomas, of Maryland, the Secretary +of the Treasury. In the course of the month five Southern States +followed South Carolina out of the Union, and their Senators and +Representatives resigned from the Congress of the United States. + +The resignation of Jefferson Davis was communicated to the Senate +in a speech of farewell which even now holds the imagination of +the student, and which to the men of that day, with the Union +crumbling around them, seemed one of the most mournful and +dramatic of orations. Davis possessed a beautiful, melodious +voice; he had a noble presence, tall, erect, spare, even ascetic, +with a flashing blue eye. He was deeply moved by the occasion; +his address was a requiem. That he withdrew in sorrow but with +fixed determination, no one who listened to him could doubt. +Early in February, the Southern Confederacy was formed with Davis +as its provisional President. With the prophetic vision of a +logical mind, he saw that war was inevitable, and he boldly +proclaimed his vision. In various speeches on his way South, he +had assured the Southern people that war was coming, and that it +would be long and bloody. + +The withdrawal of these Southern members threw the control of the +House into the hands of the Republicans. Their realization of +their power was expressed in two measures which also passed the +Senate; Kansas was admitted--as a State with an anti-slavery +constitution; and the Morrill tariff, which they had failed to +pass the previous spring, now became law. Thus the Republicans +began redeeming their pledges to the anti-slavery men on the one +hand and to the commercial interest on the other. The time had +now arrived for the Republican nominee to proceed from +Springfield to Washington. The journey was circuitous in order +to enable Lincoln to speak at a number of places. Never before, +probably, had the Northern people felt such tense strain as at +that moment; never had they looked to an incoming President with +such anxious doubt. Would he prevent war? Or, if he could not +do that, would he be able to extricate the country--Heaven alone +knew how!--without a terrible ordeal? Since his election, +Lincoln had remained quietly at Springfield. Though he had +influenced events through letters to Congressmen, his one +conspicuous action during that winter was the defeat of the +Crittenden Compromise. The Southern President had called upon +his people to put their house in order as preparation for war. +What, now, had Lincoln to say to the people of the North? + +The biographers of Lincoln have not satisfactorily revealed the +state of his mind between election and inauguration. We may +safely guess that his silence covered a great internal struggle. +Except for his one action in defeating the Compromise, he had +allowed events to drift; but by that one action he had taken upon +himself the responsibility for the drift. Though the country at +that time did not fully appreciate this aspect of the situation, +who now can doubt that Lincoln did? His mind was always a lonely +one. His very humor has in it, so often, the note of solitude, +of one who is laughing to make the best of things, of one who is +spiritually alone. During those months when the country drifted +from its moorings, and when war was becoming steadily more +probable, Lincoln, after the manner of the prophets, wrestled +alone with the problems which he saw before him. From the little +we know of his inward state, it is hard for us to conclude that +he was happy. A story which is told by his former partner, Mr. +Herndon, seems significant. As Lincoln was leaving his +unpretentious law-office for the last time, he turned to Mr. +Herndon and asked him not to take down their old sign. "Let it +hang there undisturbed," said he. "Give our clients to +understand that the election of a President makes no difference +in the firm.... If I live, I'm coming back some time, and then +we'll go right on practising law as if nothing had happened." + +How far removed from self-sufficiency was the man whose thoughts, +on the eve of his elevation to the Presidency, lingered in a +provincial law office, fondly insistent that only death should +prevent his returning some time and resuming in those homely +surroundings the life he had led previous to his greatness. In a +mood of wistfulness and of intense preoccupation, he began his +journey to Washington. It was not the mood from which to strike +fire and kindle hope. To the anxious, listening country his +speeches on the journey to Washington were disappointing. +Perhaps his strangely sensitive mind felt too powerfully the +fatefulness of the moment and reacted with a sort of lightness +that did not really represent the real man. Be that as it may, +he was never less convincing than at that time. Nor were people +impressed by his bearing. Often he appeared awkward, too much in +appearance the country lawyer. He acted as a man who was ill at +ease and he spoke as a man who had nothing to say. Gloom +darkened the North as a consequence of these unfortunate +speeches, for they expressed an optimism which we cannot believe +he really felt, and which hurt him in the estimation of the +country. "There is no crisis but an artificial one," was one of +his ill-timed assurances, and another, "There is nothing going +wrong.... There is nothing that really hurts any one." Of his +supporters some were discouraged; others were exasperated; and an +able but angry partisan even went so far as to write in a private +letter, "Lincoln is a Simple Susan." + +The fourth of March arrived, and with it the end of Lincoln's +blundering. One good omen for the success of the new +Administration was the presence of Douglas on the inaugural +platform. He had accepted fate, deeply as it wounded him, and +had come out of the shattered party of evasion on the side of his +section. For the purpose of showing his support of the +administration at this critical time, he had taken a place on the +stand where Lincoln was to speak. By one of those curious little +dramatic touches with which chance loves to embroider history, +the presence of Douglas became a gracious detail in the memory of +the day. Lincoln, worn and awkward, continued to hold his hat in +his hand. Douglas, with the tact born of social experience, +stepped forward and took it from him without--exposing Lincoln's +embarrassment. + +The inaugural address which Lincoln now pronounced had little +similarity to those unfortunate utterances which he had made on +the journey to Washington. The cloud that had been over him, +whatever it was, had lifted. Lincoln was ready for his great +labor. The inaugural contained three main propositions. Lincoln +pledged himself not to interfere directly or indirectly with +slavery in the States where it then existed; he promised to +support the enforcement of the fugitive slave law; and he +declared he would maintain the Union. "No State," said he, "upon +its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union.... To the +extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution +itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be +faithfully executed in all the States.... In doing this, there +need be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none, unless +it be forced upon the national authority. The power confided to +me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and +places belonging to the government." Addressing the Southerners, +he said: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and +not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government +will not assail you.... We are not enemies but friends.... The +mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and +patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over +this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when +again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of +our nature." + +Gentle, as was the phrasing of the inaugural, it was perfectly +firm, and it outlined a policy which the South would not accept, +and which, in the opinion of the Southern leaders, brought them a +step nearer war. Wall Street held the same belief, and as a +consequence the price of stocks fell. + + + +CHAPTER VI. WAR + +On the day following the inauguration, commissioners of the newly +formed Confederacy appeared at Washington and applied to the +Secretary of State for recognition as envoys of a foreign power. +Seward refused them such recognition. But he entered into a +private negotiation with them which is nearly, if not quite, the +strangest thing in our history. Virtually, Seward intrigued +against Lincoln for control of the Administration. The events of +the next five weeks have an importance out of all proportion to +the brevity of the time. This was Lincoln's period of final +probation. The psychological intensity of this episode grew from +the consciousness in every mind that now, irretrievably, destiny +was to be determined. War or peace, happiness or adversity, one +nation or two--all these were in the balance. Lincoln entered +the episode a doubtful quantity, not with certainty the master +even in his own Cabinet. He emerged dominating the situation, +but committed to the terrible course of war. + +One cannot enter upon this great episode, truly the turning point +in American history, without pausing for a glance at the +character of Seward. The subject is elusive. His ablest +biographer* plainly is so constantly on guard not to appear an +apologist that he ends by reducing his portrait to a mere +outline, wavering across a background of political details. The +most recent study of Seward** surely reveals between the lines +the doubtfulness of the author about pushing his points home. The +different sides of the man are hard to reconcile. Now he seemed +frank and honest; again subtle and insincere. As an active +politician in the narrow sense, he should have been sagacious and +astute, yet he displayed at the crisis of his life the most +absolute fatuity. At times he had a buoyant and puerile way of +disregarding fact and enveloping himself in a world of his own +imagining. He could bluster, when he wished, like any demagogue; +and yet he could be persuasive, agreeable, and even personally +charming. + +*Frederic Bancroft, "Life of William H. Seward". +** Gamaliel Bradford, "Union Portraits". + + +But of one thing with regard to Seward, in the first week of +March, 1861, there can be no doubt: he thought himself a great +statesman --and he thought Lincoln "a Simple Susan." He +conceived his role in the new administration to involve a subtle +and patient manipulation of his childlike superior. That Lincoln +would gradually yield to his spell and insensibly become his +figurehead; that he, Seward, could save the country and would go +down to history a statesman above compare, he took for granted. +Nor can he fairly be called conceited, either; that is part of +his singularity. + +Lincoln's Cabinet was, as Seward said, a compound body. With a +view to strengthening his position, Lincoln had appointed to +cabinet positions all his former rivals for the Republican +nomination. Besides Seward, there was Chase as Secretary of the +Treasury; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania as Secretary of War; +Edward Bates of Missouri as Attorney-General. The appointment of +Montgomery Blair of Maryland as Postmaster-General was intended +to placate the border Slave States. The same motive dictated the +later inclusion of James Speed of Kentucky in the Cabinet. The +Black-Stanton wing of the Democrats was represented in the Navy +Department by Gideon Welles, and in course of time in the War +Department also, when Cameron resigned and Stanton succeeded him. +The West of that day was represented by Caleb B. Smith of +Indiana. + +Seward disapproved of the composition of the Cabinet so much +that, almost at the last moment, he withdrew his acceptance of +the State Department. It was Lincoln's gentleness of argument +which overcame his reluctance to serve. We may be sure, however, +that Seward failed to observe that Lincoln's tactlessness in +social matters did not extend to his management of men in +politics; we may feel sure that what remained in his mind was +Lincoln's unwillingness to enter office without William Henry +Seward as Secretary of State. + +The promptness with which Seward assumed the role of prime +minister bears out this inference. The same fact also reveals a +puzzling detail of Seward's character which amounted to +obtuseness--his forgetfulness that appointment to cabinet offices +had not transformed his old political rivals Chase and Cameron, +nor softened the feelings of an inveterate political enemy, +Welles, the Secretary of the Navy. The impression which Seward +made on his colleagues in the first days of the new Government +has been thus sharply recorded by Welles: "The Secretary of State +was, of course, apprised of every meeting [of ministers] and +never failed in his attendance, whatever was the subject-matter, +and though entirely out of his official province. He was +vigilantly attentive to every measure and movement in other +Departments, however trivial--as much so as to his own--watched +and scrutinized every appointment that was made, or proposed to +be made, but was not communicative in regard to the transaction +of the State Department." So eager was Seward to keep all the +threads of affairs in his own hands that he tried to persuade +Lincoln not to hold cabinet meetings but merely to consult with +particular ministers, and with the Secretary of State, as +occasion might demand. A combined protest from the other +Secretaries, however, caused the regular holding of Cabinet +meetings. + +With regard to the Confederacy, Seward's policy was one of +non-resistance. For this he had two reasons. The first of these +was his rooted delusion that the bulk of the Southerners were +opposed to secession and, if let alone, would force their leaders +to reconsider their action. He might have quoted the nursery +rhyme, "Let them alone and they'll come home"; it would have been +like him and in tune with a frivolous side of his nature. He was +quite as irresponsible when he complacently assured the North +that the trouble would all blow over within ninety days. He also +believed that any display of force would convert these +hypothetical Unionists of the South from friends to enemies and +would consolidate opinion in the Confederacy to produce war. In +justice to Seward it must be remembered that on this point time +justified his fears. + +His dealings with the Confederate commissioners show that he was +playing to gain time, not with intent to deceive the Southerners +but to acquire that domination over Lincoln which he felt was his +by natural right. Intending to institute a peace policy the +moment he gained this ascendency, he felt perfectly safe in +making promises to the commissioners through mutual friends. He +virtually told them that Sumter would eventually be given up and +that all they need do was to wait. + +Seward brought to bear upon the President the opinions of various +military men who thought the time had passed when any expedition +for the relief of Sumter could succeed. For some time Lincoln +seemed about to consent, though reluctantly, to Seward's lead in +the matter of the forts. He was pulled up standing, however, by +the threatened resignation of the Postmaster-General, Blair. +After a conference with leading Republican politicians the +President announced to his Cabinet that his policy would include +the relief of Sumter. "Seward," says Welles, "...was evidently +displeased." + +Seward now took a new tack. Fort Pickens, at Pensacola, was a +problem similar to that of Sumter at Charleston. Both were +demanded by the Confederates, and both were in need of supplies. +But Fort Pickens lay to one side, so to speak, of the public +mind, and there was not conspicuously in the world's eye the +square issue over it that there was over Sumter. Seward +conceived the idea that, if the President's attention were +diverted from Sumter to Pickens and a relief expedition were sent +to the latter but none to the former, his private negotiations +with the Confederates might still be kept going; Lincoln might +yet be hypnotized; and at last all would be well. + +On All-Fools' Day, 1861, in the midst of a press of business, he +obtained Lincoln's signature to some dispatches, which Lincoln, +it seems, discussed with him hurriedly and without detailed +consideration. There were now in preparation two relief +expeditions, one to carry supplies to Pensacola, the other to +Charleston. Neither was to fight if it was not molested. Both +were to be strong enough to fight if their commanders deemed it +necessary. As flagship of the Charleston expedition, Welles had +detailed the powerful warship Powhatan, which was rapidly being +made ready at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Such was the situation as +Welles understood it when he was thinking of bed late on the +night of the 6th of April. Until then he had not suspected that +there was doubt and bewilderment about the Powhatan at Brooklyn. +One of those dispatches which Lincoln had so hastily signed +provided for detaching the Powhatan from the Charleston +expedition and sending it safe out of harm's way to Pensacola. +The commander of the ship had before him the conflicting orders, +one from the President, one from the Secretary of the Navy. He +was about to sail under the President's orders for Pensacola; but +wishing to make sure of his authority, he had telegraphed to +Washington. Gideon Welles was a pugnacious man. His dislike for +Seward was deepseated. Imagine his state of mind when it was +accidently revealed to him that Seward had gone behind his back +and had issued to naval officers orders which were contradictory +to his own! The immediate result was an interview that same +night between Seward and Welles in which, as Welles coldly +admitted in after days, the Secretary of the Navy showed "some +excitement." Together they went, about midnight, to the White +House. Lincoln had some difficulty recalling the incident of the +dispatch on the 1st of April; but when he did remember, he took +the responsibility entirely upon himself, saying he had had no +purpose but to strengthen the Pickens expedition, and no thought +of weakening the expedition to Charleston. He directed Seward to +telegraph immediately cancelling the order detaching the +Powhatan. Seward made a desperate attempt to put him off, +protesting, it was too late to send a telegram that night. "But +the President was imperative," writes Secretary Welles, in +describing the incident, and a dispatch was sent. + +Seward then, doubtless in his agitation, did a strange thing. +Instead of telegraphing in the President's name, the dispatch +which he sent read merely, "Give up the Powhatan...Seward." When +this dispatch was received at Brooklyn, the Powhatan was already +under way and had to be overtaken by a fast tug. In the eyes of +her commander, however, a personal telegram from the Secretary of +State appeared as of no weight against the official orders of the +President, and he continued his voyage to Pensacola. + +The mercurial temper of Seward comes out even in the caustic +narrative written afterwards by Welles. Evidently Seward was +deeply mortified and depressed by the incident. He remarked, +says Welles, that old as he was he had learned a lesson, and that +was that he had better attend to his own business. "To this," +commented his enemy, "I cordially assented." + +Nevertheless Seward's loss of faith in himself was only +momentary. A night's sleep was sufficient to restore it. His +next communication to the commissioners shows that he was himself +again, sure that destiny owed him the control of the situation. +On the following day the commissioners had got wind of the relief +expedition and pressed him for information, recalling his +assurance that nothing would be done to their disadvantage. In +reply, still through a third person, Seward sent them the famous +message, over the precise meaning of which great debate has +raged: "Faith as to Sumter fully kept; wait and see." If this +infatuated dreamer still believed he could dominate Lincoln, +still hoped at the last moment to arrest the expedition to +Charleston, he was doomed to bitterest disappointment. + +On the 9th of April, the expedition to Fort Sumter sailed, but +without, as we have seen, the assistance of the much needed +warship, the Powhatan. As all the world knows, the expedition +had been too long delayed and it accomplished nothing. Before it +arrived, the surrender of Sumter had been demanded and refused +--and war had begun. During the bombardment of Sumter, the +relief expedition appeared beyond the bar, but its commander had +no vessels of such a character as to enable him to carry aid to +the fortress. Furthermore, he had not been informed that the +Powhatan had been detached from his squadron, and he expected to +meet her at the mouth of the harbor. There his ships lay idle +until the fort was surrendered, waiting for the Powhatan--for +whose detachment from the squadron Seward was responsible. + +To return to the world of intrigue at Washington, however, it +must not be supposed, as is so often done, that Fort Sumter was +the one concern of the new government during its first six weeks. +In fact, the subject occupied but a fraction of Lincoln's time. +Scarcely second in importance was that matter so curiously bound +up with the relief of the forts--the getting in hand of the +strangely vain glorious Secretary of State. Mention has already +been made of All-Fools' Day, 1861. Several marvelous things took +place on that day. Strangest of all was the presentation of a +paper by the Secretary of State to his chief, entitled "Thoughts +for the President's Consideration". Whether it be regarded as a +state paper or as a biographical detail in the career of Seward, +it proves to be quite the most astounding thing in the whole +episode. The "Thoughts" outlined a course of policy by which the +buoyant Secretary intended to make good his prophecy of domestic +peace within ninety days. Besides calmly patronizing Lincoln, +assuring him that his lack of "a policy either domestic or +foreign" was "not culpable and...even unavoidable," the paper +warned him that "policies...both domestic and foreign" must +immediately be adopted, and it proceeded to point out what they +ought to be. Briefly stated, the one true policy which he +advocated at home was to evacuate Sumter (though Pickens for some +unexplained reason might be safely retained) and then, in order +to bring the Southerners back into the Union, to pick quarrels +with both Spain and France; to proceed as quickly as possible to +war with both powers; and to have the ultimate satisfaction of +beholding the reunion of the country through the general +enthusiasm that was bound to come. Finally, the paper intimated +that the Secretary of State was the man to carry this project +through to success. + +All this is not opera bouffe, but serious history. It must have +taxed Lincoln's sense of humor and strained his sense of the +fitness of things to treat such nonsense with the tactful +forbearance which he showed and to relegate it to the pigeonhole +without making Seward angry. Yet this he contrived to do; and he +also managed, gently but firmly, to make it plain that the +President intended to exercise his authority as the chief +magistrate of the nation. His forbearance was further shown in +passing over without rebuke Seward's part in the affair of +Sumter, which might so easily have been made to appear +treacherous, and in shouldering himself with all responsibility +for the failure of the Charleston expedition. In the wave of +excitement following the surrender, even so debonair a minister +as Seward must have realized how fortunate it was for him that +his chief did not tell all he knew. About this time Seward began +to perceive that Lincoln had a will of his own, and that it was +not safe to trifle further with the President. Seward thereupon +ceased his interference. + +It was in the dark days preceding the fall of Sumter that a crowd +of office-seekers gathered at Washington, most of them men who +had little interest in anything but the spoils. It is a +distressing commentary on the American party system that, during +the most critical month of the most critical period of American +history, much of the President's time was consumed by these +political vampires who would not be put off, even though a +revolution was in progress and nations, perhaps, were dying and +being born. "The scramble for office," wrote Stanton, "is +terrible." Seward noted privately: "Solicitants for office +besiege the President.... My duties call me to the White House +two or three times a day. The grounds, halls, stairways, +closets, are filled with applicants who render ingress and egress +difficult." + +Secretary Welles has etched the Washington of that time in his +coldly scornful way: + +"A strange state of things existed at that time in Washington. +The atmosphere was thick with treason. Party spirit and old +party differences prevailed, however, amidst these accumulated +dangers. Secession was considered by most persons as a political +party question, not as rebellion. Democrats to a large extent +sympathized with the Rebels more than with the Administration, +which they opposed, not that they wished Secession to be +successful and the Union divided, but they hoped that President +Lincoln and the Republicans would, overwhelmed by obstacles and +embarrassments, prove failures. The Republicans on the other +hand, were scarcely less partisan and unreasonable. Patriotism +was with them no test, no shield from party malevolence. They +demanded the proscription and exclusion of such Democrats as +opposed the Rebel movement and clung to the Union, with the same +vehemence that they demanded the removal of the worst Rebels who +advocated a dissolution of the Union. Neither party appeared to +be apprehensive of, or to realize the gathering storm." + +Seen against such a background, the political and diplomatic +frivolity of the Secretary of State is not so inexplicable as it +would otherwise be. This background, as well as the intrigue of +the Secretary, helps us to understand Lincoln's great task inside +his Cabinet. At first the Cabinet was a group of jealous +politicians new to this sort of office, drawn from different +parties, and totally lacking in a cordial sense of previous +action together. None of them, probably, when they first +assembled had any high opinion of their titular head. He was +looked upon as a political makeshift. The best of them had to +learn to appreciate the fact that this strange, ungainly man, +sprung from plainest origin, without formal education, was a +great genius. By degrees, however, the large minds in the +Cabinet became his cordial admirers. While Lincoln was quietly, +gradually exercising his strong will upon Seward, he was doing +the same with the other members of his council. Presently they +awoke--the majority of them at least--to the truth that he, for +all his odd ways, was their master. + +Meanwhile the gradual readjustment of all factions in the North +was steadily going forward. The Republicans were falling into +line behind the Government; and by degrees the distinction +between Seward and Lincoln, in the popular mind, faded into a +sort of composite picture called "the Administration." Lincoln +had the reward of his long forbearance with his Secretary. For +Seward it must be said that, however he had intrigued against his +chief at Washington, he did not intrigue with the country. +Admitting as he had, too, that he had met his master, he took the +defeat as a good sportsman and threw all his vast party influence +into the scale for Lincoln's fortunes. Thus, as April wore on, +the Republican party settled down to the idea that it was to +follow the Government at Washington upon any course that might +develop. + +The Democrats in the North were anti-Southern in larger +proportion, probably, than at any other time during the struggle +of the sections. We have seen that numbers of them had frankly +declared for the Union. Politics had proved weaker than +propinquity. There was a moment when it seemed--delusively, as +events proved--that the North was united as one man to oppose the +South. + +There is surely not another day in our history that has witnessed +so much nervous tension as Saturday, April 13, 1861, for on that +morning the newspapers electrified the North with the news that +Sumter had been fired on from Confederate batteries on the shore +of Charleston Harbor. In the South the issue was awaited +confidently, but many minds at least were in that state of awed +suspense natural to a moment which the thoughtful see is the +stroke of fate. In the North, the day passed for the most part +in a quiet so breathless that even the most careless could have +foretold the storm which broke on the following day. The account +of this crisis which has been given by Lincoln's private +secretary is interesting: + +"That day there was little change in the business routine of the +Executive office. Mr. Lincoln was never liable to sudden +excitement or sudden activity.... So while the Sumter telegrams +were on every tongue...leading men and officials called to learn +or impart the news. The Cabinet, as by common impulse, came +together and deliberated. All talk, however, was brief, +sententious, formal. Lincoln said but little beyond making +inquiries about the current reports and criticizing the +probability or accuracy of their details, and went on as usual +receiving visitors, listening to suggestions, and signing routine +papers throughout the day." Meanwhile the cannon were booming at +Charleston. The people came out on the sea-front of the lovely +old city and watched the duel of the cannon far down the harbor, +and spoke joyously of the great event. They saw the shells of +the shore batteries ignite portions of the fortress on the +island. They watched the fire of the defenders--driven by the +flames into a restricted area--slacken and cease. At last the +flag of the Union fluttered down from above Fort Sumter. + +When the news flashed over the North, early Sunday morning, April +14th, the tension broke. For many observers then and afterward, +the only North discernible that fateful Sabbath was an enraged, +defiant, impulsive nation, forgetful for the moment of all its +differences, and uniting all its voices in one hoarse cry for +vengeance. There seemed to be no other thought. Lincoln gave it +formal utterance, that same day, by assembling his Cabinet and +drawing up a proclamation which called for 75,000 volunteer +troops. + +An incident of this day which is as significant historically as +any other was on the surface no more than a friendly talk between +two men. Douglas called at the White House. For nearly two +hours he and Lincoln conferred in private. Hitherto it had been +a little uncertain what course Douglas was going to take. In the +Senate, though condemning disunion, he had opposed war. Few +matters can have troubled Lincoln more deeply than the question +which way Douglas's immense influence would be thrown. The +question was answered publicly in the newspapers of Monday, April +15th. Douglas announced that while he was still "unalterably +opposed to the Administration on all its political issues, he was +prepared to sustain the President in the exercise of all his +constitutional functions to preserve the Union, and maintain the +Government, and defend the federal capital." + +There remained of Douglas's life but a few months. The time was +filled with earnest speechmaking in support of the Government. +He had started West directly following his conference with +Lincoln. His speeches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, were perhaps +the greatest single force in breaking up his own following, +putting an end to the principle of doing nothing, and forcing +every Democrat to come out and show his colors. In Shakespeare's +phrase, it was--"Under which king, Bezonian? speak or die!" In +Douglas's own phrase: "There can be no neutrals in this war; ONLY +PATRIOTS--OR TRAITORS." + +Side by side with Douglas's manifesto to the Democrats there +appeared in the Monday papers Lincoln's call for volunteers. The +militia of several Northern States at once responded. + +On Wednesday, the 17th of April, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment +entrained for Washington. Two days later it was in Baltimore. +There it was attacked by a mob; the soldiers fired; and a number +of civilians were killed as well as several soldiers. + +These shots at Baltimore aroused the Southern party in Maryland. +Led by the Mayor of the city, they resolved to prevent the +passage of other troops across their State to Washington. +Railway tracks were torn up by order of the municipal +authorities, and bridges were burnt. The telegraph was cut. As +in a flash, after issuing his proclamation, Lincoln found himself +isolated at Washington with no force but a handful of troops and +the government clerks. And while Maryland rose against him on one +side, Virginia joined his enemies on the other. The day the +Sixth Massachusetts left Boston, Virginia seceded. The Virginia +militia were called to their colors. Preparations were at once +set on foot for the seizure of the great federal arsenal at +Harper's Ferry and the Navy Yard at Norfolk. The next day a +handful of federal troops, fearful of being overpowered at +Harper's Ferry, burned the arsenal and withdrew to Washington. +For the same reason the buildings of the great Navy Yard were +blown up or set on fire, and the ships at anchor were sunk. So +desperate and unprepared were the Washington authorities that +they took these extreme measures to keep arms and ammunition out +of the hands of the Virginians. So hastily was the destruction +carried out, that it was only partially successful and at both +places large stores of ammunition were seized by the Virginia +troops. While Washington was isolated, and Lincoln did not know +what response the North had made to his proclamation, Robert E. +Lee, having resigned his commission in the federal army, was +placed in command of the Virginia troops. + +The secretaries of Lincoln have preserved a picture of his +desperate anxiety, waiting, day after day, for relief from the +North which he hoped would speedily come by sea. Outwardly he +maintained his self-control. "But once, on the afternoon of the +23d, the business of the day being over, the Executive office +being deserted, after walking the floor alone in silent thought +for nearly half an hour, he stopped and gazed long and wistfully +out of the window down the Potomac in the direction of the +expected ships; and, unconscious of other presence in the room, +at length broke out with irrepressible anguish in the repeated +exclamation, "Why don't they come! Why don't they come!" + +During these days of isolation, when Washington, with the +telegraph inoperative, was kept in an appalling uncertainty, the +North rose. There was literally a rush to volunteer. "The +heather is on fire," wrote George Ticknor, "I never before knew +what a popular excitement can be." As fast as possible militia +were hurried South. The crack New York regiment, the famous, +dandified Seventh, started for the front amid probably the most +tempestuous ovation which until that time was ever given to a +military organization in America. Of the march of the regiment +down Broadway, one of its members wrote, "Only one who passed as +we did, through the tempest of cheers two miles long, can know +the terrible enthusiasm of the occasion." + +To reach Washington by rail was impossible. The Seventh went by +boat to Annapolis. The same course was taken by a regiment of +Massachusetts mechanics, the Eighth. Landing at Annapolis, the +two regiments, dandies and laborers, fraternized at once in the +common bond of loyalty to the Union. A branch railway led from +Annapolis to the main line between Washington and Baltimore. The +rails had been torn up. The Massachusetts mechanics set to work +to relay them. The Governor of Maryland protested. He was +disregarded. The two regiments toiled together a long day and +through the night following, between Annapolis and the Washington +junction, bringing on their baggage and cannon over relaid +tracks. There, a train was found which the Seventh appropriated. +At noon, on the 25th of April, that advance guard of the Northern +hosts entered Washington, and Lincoln knew that he had armies +behind him. + + + +CHAPTER VII. LINCOLN + +The history of the North had virtually become, by April, 1861, +the history of Lincoln himself, and during the remaining four +years of the President's life it is difficult to separate his +personality from the trend of national history. Any attempt to +understand the achievements and the omissions of the Northern +people without undertaking an intelligent estimate of their +leader would be only to duplicate the story of "Hamlet" with +Hamlet left out. According to the opinion of English military +experts*, "Against the great military genius of certain Southern +leaders fate opposed the unbroken resolution and passionate +devotion to the Union, which he worshiped, of the great Northern +President. As long as he lived and ruled the people of the +North, there could be no turning back." + +* Wood and Edmonds. "The Civil War in the United States." + + +Lincoln has been ranked with Socrates; but he has also been +compared with Rabelais. He has been the target of abuse that +knew no mercy; but he has been worshiped as a demigod. The ten +big volumes of his official biography are a sustained, +intemperate eulogy in which the hero does nothing that is not +admirable; but as large a book could be built up out of +contemporaneous Northern writings that would paint a picture of +unmitigated blackness--and the most eloquent portions of it would +be signed by Wendell Phillips. + +The real Lincoln is, of course, neither the Lincoln of the +official biography nor the Lincoln of Wendell Phillips. He was +neither a saint nor a villain. What he actually was is not, +however, so easily stated. Prodigious men are never easy to sum +up; and Lincoln was a prodigious man. The more one studies him, +the more individual he appears to be. By degrees one comes to +understand how it was possible for contemporaries to hold +contradictory views of him and for each to believe frantically +that his views were proved by facts. For anyone who thinks he +can hit off in a few neat generalities this complex, +extraordinary personality, a single warning may suffice. Walt +Whitman, who was perhaps the most original thinker and the most +acute observer who ever saw Lincoln face to face has left us his +impression; but he adds that there was something in Lincoln's +face which defied description and which no picture had caught. +After Whitman's conclusion that "One of the great portrait +painters of two or three hundred years ago is needed," the mere +historian should proceed with caution. + +There is historic significance in his very appearance. His huge, +loose-knit figure, six feet four inches high, lean, muscular, +ungainly, the evidence of his great physical strength, was a fit +symbol of those hard workers, the children of the soil, from whom +he sprang. His face was rugged like his figure, the complexion +swarthy, cheek bones high, and bushy black hair crowning a great +forehead beneath which the eyes were deep-set, gray, and +dreaming. A sort of shambling powerfulness formed the main +suggestion of face and figure, softened strangely by the +mysterious expression of the eyes, and by the singular delicacy +of the skin. The motions of this awkward giant lacked grace; the +top hat and black frock coat, sometimes rusty, which had served +him on the western circuit continued to serve him when he was +virtually the dictator of his country. It was in such dress that +he visited the army, where he towered above his generals. + +Even in a book of restricted scope, such as this, one must insist +upon the distinction between the private and public Lincoln, for +there is as yet no accepted conception of him. What comes +nearest to an accepted conception is contained probably in the +version of the late Charles Francis Adams. He tells us how his +father, the elder Charles Francis Adams, ambassador to London, +found Lincoln in 1861 an offensive personality, and he insists +that Lincoln under strain passed through a transformation which +made the Lincoln of 1864 a different man from the Lincoln of +1861. Perhaps; but without being frivolous, one is tempted to +quote certain old-fashioned American papers that used to label +their news items "important if true." + +What then, was the public Lincoln? What explains his vast +success? As a force in American history, what does he count for? +Perhaps the most significant detail in an answer to these +questions is the fact that he had never held conspicuous public +office until at the age of fifty-two he became President. +Psychologically his place is in that small group of great +geniuses whose whole significant period lies in what we commonly +think of as the decline of life. There are several such in +history: Rome had Caesar; America had both Lincoln and Lee. By +contrasting these instances with those of the other type, the +egoistic geniuses such as Alexander or Napoleon, we become aware +of some dim but profound dividing line separating the two groups. +The theory that genius, at bottom, is pure energy seems to fit +Napoleon; but does it fit these other minds who appear to meet +life with a certain indifference, with a carelessness of their +own fate, a willingness to leave much to chance? That +irresistible passion for authority which Napoleon had is lacking +in these others. Their basal inspiration seems to resemble the +impulse of the artist to express, rather than the impulse of the +man of action to possess. Had it not been for secession, Lee +would probably have ended his days as an exemplary superintendent +of West Point. And what of Lincoln? He dabbled in politics, +early and without success; he left politics for the law, and to +the law he gave during many years his chief devotion. But the +fortuitous break-up of parties, with the revival of the slavery +issue, touched some hidden spring; the able provincial lawyer +felt again the political impulse; he became a famous maker of +political phrases; and on this literary basis he became the +leader of a party. + +Too little attention has been paid to this progression of Lincoln +through literature into politics. The ease with which he drifted +from one to the other is also still to be evaluated. Did it show +a certain slackness, a certain aimlessness, at the bottom of his +nature? Had it, in a way, some sort of analogy--to compare +homespun with things Olympian--to the vein of frivolity in the +great Caesar? One is tempted to think so. Surely, here was one +of those natures which need circumstance to compel them to +greatness and which are not foredoomed, Napoleon-like, to seize +greatness. Without encroaching upon the biographical task, one +may borrow from biography this insistent echo: the anecdotes of +Lincoln sound over and over the note of easy-going good nature; +but there is to be found in many of the Lincoln anecdotes an +overtone of melancholy which lingers after one's impression of +his good nature. Quite naturally, in such a biographical +atmosphere, we find ourselves thinking of him at first as a +little too good-humored, a little too easy-going, a little prone +to fall into reverie. We are not surprised when we find his +favorite poem beginning "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be +proud." + +This enigmatical man became President in his fifty-second year. +We have already seen that his next period, the winter of 1860-61, +has its biographical problems. The impression which he made on +the country as President-elect was distinctly unfavorable. Good +humor, or opportunism, or what you will, brought together in +Lincoln's Cabinet at least three men more conspicuous in the +ordinary sense than he was himself. We forget, today, how +insignificant he must have seemed in a Cabinet that embraced +Seward, Cameron, and Chase--all large national figures. What +would not history give for a page of self-revelation showing us +how he felt in the early days of that company! Was he troubled? +Did he doubt his ability to hold his own? Was he fatalistic? +Was his sad smile his refuge? Did he merely put things by, +ignoring tomorrow until tomorrow should arrive? + +However we may guess at the answers to such questions, one thing +now becomes certain. His quality of good humor began to be his +salvation. It is doubtful if any President except Washington had +to manage so difficult a Cabinet. Washington had seen no +solution to the problem but to let Jefferson go. Lincoln found +his Cabinet often on the verge of a split, with two powerful +factions struggling to control it and neither ever gaining full +control. Though there were numerous withdrawals, no resigning +secretary really split Lincoln's Cabinet. By what turns and +twists and skillful maneuvers Lincoln prevented such a division +and kept such inveterate enemies as Chase and Seward steadily at +their jobs--Chase during three years, Seward to the end--will +partly appear in the following pages; but the whole delicate +achievement cannot be properly appreciated except in detailed +biography. + +All criticism of Lincoln turns eventually on one question: Was he +an opportunist? Not only his enemies in his own time but many +politicians of a later day were eager to prove that he was the +latter--indeed, seeking to shelter their own opportunism behind +the majesty of his example. A modern instance will perhaps make +vivid this long standing debate upon Lincoln and his motives. +Merely for historic illumination and without becoming invidious, +we may recall the instance of President Wilson and the +resignation of his Secretary of War in 1916 because Congress +would not meet the issue of preparedness. The President accepted +the resignation without forcing the issue, and Congress went on +fiddling while Rome burned. Now, was the President an +opportunist, merely waiting to see what course events would take, +or was he a political strategist, astutely biding his time? +Similar in character is this old debate upon Lincoln, which is +perhaps best focussed in the removal of Secretary Blair which we +shall have to note in connection with the election of 1864. + +It is difficult for the most objective historian to deal with +such questions without obtruding his personal views, but there is +nothing merely individual in recording the fact that the steady +drift of opinion has been away from the conception of Lincoln as +an opportunist. What once caused him to be thus conceived +appears now to have been a failure to comprehend intelligently +the nature of his undertaking. More and more, the tendency +nowadays is to conceive his career as one of those few instances +in which the precise faculties needed to solve a particular +problem were called into play at exactly the critical moment. +Our confusions with regard to Lincoln have grown out of our +failure to appreciate the singularity of the American people, and +their ultra-singularity during the years in which he lived. It +remains to be seen hereafter what strange elements of +sensibility, of waywardness, of lack of imagination, of +undisciplined ardor, of selfishness, of deceitfulness, of +treachery, combined with heroic ideality, made up the character +of that complex populace which it was Lincoln's task to control. +But he did more than control it: he somehow compounded much of it +into something like a unit. To measure Lincoln's achievement in +this respect, two things must be remembered: on the one hand, his +task was not as arduous as it might have been, because the most +intellectual part of the North had definitely committed itself +either irretrievably for, or irreconcilably against, his policy. +Lincoln, therefore, did not have to trouble himself with this +portion of the population. On the other hand, that part which he +had to master included such emotional rhetoricians as Horace +Greeley; such fierce zealots as Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, +who made him trouble indeed, and Benjamin Wade, whom we have met +already; such military egoists as McClellan and Pope; such crafty +double-dealers as his own Secretary of the Treasury; such astute +grafters as Cameron; such miserable creatures as certain powerful +capitalists who sacrificed his army to their own lust for profits +filched from army contracts. + +The wonder of Lincoln's achievement is that he contrived at last +to extend his hold over all these diverse elements; that he +persuaded some, outwitted others, and overcame them all. The +subtlety of this task would have ruined any statesman of the +driving sort. Explain Lincoln by any theory you will, his +personality was the keystone of the Northern arch; subtract it, +and the arch falls. The popular element being as complex and +powerful as it was, how could the presiding statesman have +mastered the situation if he had not been of so peculiar a sort +that he could influence all these diverse and powerful interests, +slowly, by degrees, without heat, without the imperative note, +almost in silence, with the universal, enfolding irresistibility +of the gradual things in nature, of the sun and the rain. Such +was the genius of Lincoln--all but passionless, yet so quiet that +one cannot but believe in the great depth of his nature. + +We are, even today, far from a definitive understanding of +Lincoln's statecraft, but there is perhaps justification for +venturing upon one prophecy. The farther from him we get and the +more clearly we see him in perspective, the more we shall realize +his creative influence upon his party. A Lincoln who is the +moulder of events and the great creator of public opinion will +emerge at last into clear view. In the Lincoln of his ultimate +biographer there will be more of iron than of a less enduring +metal in the figure of the Lincoln of present tradition. Though +none of his gentleness will disappear, there will be more +emphasis placed upon his firmness, and upon such episodes as that +of December, 1860, when his single will turned the scale against +compromise; upon his steadiness in the defeat of his party at the +polls in 1862; or his overruling of the will of Congress in the +summer of 1864 on the question of reconstruction; or his attitude +in the autumn of that year when he believed that he was losing +his second election. Behind all his gentleness, his slowness, +behind his sadness, there will eventually appear an inflexible +purpose, strong as steel, unwavering as fate. + +The Civil War was in truth Lincoln's war. Those modern pacifists +who claim him for their own are beside the mark. They will never +get over their illusions about Lincoln until they see, as all the +world is beginning to see, that his career has universal +significance because of its bearing on the universal modern +problem of democracy. It will not do ever to forget that he was +a man of the people, always playing the hand of the people, in +the limited social sense of that word, though playing it with +none of the heat usually met with in the statesmen of successful +democracy from Cleon to Robespierre, from Andrew Jackson to Lloyd +George. His gentleness does not remove Lincoln from that stern +category. Throughout his life, besides his passion for the Union, +besides his antipathy to slavery, there dwelt in his very heart +love of and faith in the plain people. We shall never see him in +true historic perspective until we conceive him as the instrument +of a vast social idea--the determination to make a government +based on the plain people successful in war. + +He did not scruple to seize power when he thought the cause of +the people demanded it, and his enemies were prompt to accuse him +of holding to the doctrine that the end justified the means--a +hasty conclusion which will have to be reconsidered; what +concerns us more closely is the definite conviction that he felt +no sacrifice too great if it advanced the happiness of the +generality of mankind. + +The final significance of Lincoln as a statesman of democracy is +brought out most clearly in his foreign relations. Fate put it +into the hands of England to determine whether his Government +should stand or fall. Though it is doubtful how far the turning +of the scale of English policy in Lincoln's favor was due to the +influence of the rising power of English democracy, it is plain +that Lincoln thought of himself as having one purpose with that +movement which he regarded as an ally. Beyond all doubt among +the most grateful messages he ever received were the New Year +greetings of confidence and sympathy which were sent by English +workingmen in 1863. A few sentences in his "Letter to the +Workingmen of London" help us to look through his eyes and see +his life and its struggles as they appeared to him in relation to +world history: + +"As these sentiments [expressed by the English workmen] are +manifestly the enduring support of the free institutions of +England, so am I sure that they constitute the only reliable +basis for free institutions throughout the world.... The +resources, advantages, and power of the American people are very +great, and they have consequently succeeded to equally great +responsibilities. It seems to have devolved upon them to test +whether a government established on the principles of human +freedom can be maintained against an effort to build one upon the +exclusive foundation of human bondage. They will rejoice with me +in the new evidence which your proceedings furnish that the +magnanimity they are exhibiting is justly estimated by the true +friends of freedom and humanity in foreign countries." + +Written at the opening of that terrible year, 1863, these words +are a forward link with those more celebrated words spoken toward +its close at Gettysburg. Perhaps at no time during the war, +except during the few days immediately following his own +reelection a year later, did Lincoln come so near being free from +care as then. Perhaps that explains why his fundamental literary +power reasserted itself so remarkably, why this speech of his at +the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg on the 19th +of November, 1863, remains one of the most memorable orations +ever delivered: + +"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon +this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated +to the proposition that all men are created equal. + +"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that +nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long +endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have +come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place +for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. +It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. + +"But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, +we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, +who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to +add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember +what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It +is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the +unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly +advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great +task remaining before us: that from these honored dead we take +increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last +full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these +dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, +shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the +people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from +the earth." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE RULE OF LINCOLN + +The fundamental problem of the Lincoln Government was the raising +of armies, the sudden conversion of a community which was +essentially industrial into a disciplined military organization. +The accomplishment of so gigantic a transformation taxed the +abilities of two Secretaries of War. The first, Simon Cameron, +owed his place in the Cabinet to the double fact of being one of +the ablest of political bosses and of standing high among +Lincoln's competitors for the Presidential nomination. +Personally honest, he was also a political cynic to whom +tradition ascribes the epigram defining an honest politician as +one who "when he is bought, will stay bought." As Secretary of +War he showed no particular ability. + +In 1861, when the tide of enthusiasm was in flood, and volunteers +in hosts were responding to acts of Congress for the raising and +maintenance of a volunteer army, Cameron reported in December +that the Government had on foot 660,971 men and could have had a +million except that Congress had limited the number of volunteers +to be received. When this report was prepared, Lincoln was, so +to speak, in the trough of two seas. The devotion which had been +offered to him in April, 1861, when the North seemed to rise as +one man, had undergone a reaction. Eight months without a single +striking military success, together with the startling defeat at +Bull Run, had had their inevitable effect. Democracies are +mercurial; variability seems to be part of the price of freedom. +With childlike faith in their cause, the Northern people, in +midsummer, were crying, "On to Richmond!" In the autumn, stung +by defeat, they were ready to cry, "Down with Lincoln." + +In a subsequent report, the War Department confessed that at the +beginning of hostilities, "nearly all our arms and ammunition" +came from foreign countries. One great reason why no military +successes relieve the gloom of 1861 was that, from a soldier's +point of view, there were no armies. Soldiers, it is true, there +were in myriads; but arms, ammunition, and above all, +organization were lacking. The supplies in the government +arsenals had been provided for an army of but a few thousand. +Strive as they would, all the factories in the country could not +come anywhere near making arms for half a million men; nor did +the facilities of those days make it possible for munition plants +to spring up overnight. Had it not been that the Confederacy was +equally hard pushed, even harder pushed, to find arms and +ammunition, the war would have ended inside Seward's ninety days, +through sheer lack of powder. + +Even with the respite given by the unpreparedness of the South, +and while Lincoln hurriedly collected arms and ammunition from +abroad, the startled nation, thus suddenly forced into a +realization of what war meant, lost its head. From its previous +reckless trust in sheer enthusiasm, it reacted to a distrust of +almost everything. Why were the soldiers not armed? Why did not +millions of rounds of cartridges fall like manna out of the sky? +Why did not the crowds of volunteers become armies at a word of +command? One of the darkest pages in American history records +the way in which the crowd, undisciplined to endure strain, +turned upon Lincoln in its desire to find in the conduct of their +leader a pretext for venting upon him the fierceness of their +anxiety. Such a pretext they found in his treatment of Fremont. + +The singular episode of Fremont's arrogance in 1861 is part of +the story of the border States whose friendship was eagerly +sought by both sides--Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and those +mountainous counties which in time were to become West Virginia. +To retain Maryland and thus to keep open the connection between +the Capital and the North was one of Lincoln's deepest anxieties. +By degrees the hold of the Government in Maryland was made +secure, and the State never seceded. Kentucky, too, held to the +Union, though, during many anxious months in 1861, Lincoln did +not know whether this State was to be for him or against him. +The Virginia mountains, from the first, seemed a more hopeful +field, for the mountaineers had opposed the Virginia secession +and, as soon as it was accomplished, had begun holding meetings +of protest. In the meantime George B. McClellan, with the rank +of general bestowed upon him by the Federal Government, had been +appointed to command the militia of Ohio. He was sent to assist +the insurgent mountaineers, and with him went the Ohio militia. +From this situation and from the small engagements with +Confederate forces in which McClellan was successful, there +resulted the separate State of West Virginia and the extravagant +popular notion that McClellan was a great general. His successes +were contrasted in the ordinary mind with the crushing defeat at +Bull Run, which happened at about the same time. + +The most serious of all these struggles in the border States, +however, was that which took place in Missouri, where, owing to +the strength of both factions and their promptness in organizing, +real war began immediately. A Union army led by General +Nathaniel Lyon attacked the Confederates with great spirit at +Wilson's Creek but was beaten back in a fierce and bloody battle +in which their leader was killed. + +Even before these events Fremont had been appointed to chief +command in Missouri, and here he at once began a strange course +of dawdling and posing. His military career must be left to the +military historians--who have not ranked him among the great +generals. Civil history accuses him, if not of using his new +position to make illegitimate profits, at least of showing +reckless favoritism toward those who did. It is hardly unfair to +say that Lincoln, in bearing with Fremont as long as he did, +showed a touch of amiable weakness; and yet, it must be +acknowledged that the President knew that the country was in a +dangerous mood, that Fremont was immensely popular, and that any +change might be misunderstood. Though Lincoln hated to appear +anything but a friend to a fallen political rival, he was at last +forced to act. Frauds in government contracts at St. Louis were +a public scandal, and the reputation of the government had to be +saved by the removal of Fremont in November, 1861. As an +immediate consequence of this action the overstrained nerves of +great numbers of people snapped. Fremont's personal followers, +as well as the abolitionists whom he had actively supported while +in command in Missouri, and all that vast crowd of excitable +people who are unable to stand silent under strain, clamored +against Lincoln in the wildest and most absurd vein. He was +accused of being a "dictator"; he was called an "imbecile"; he +ought to be impeached, and a new party, with Fremont as its +leader, should be formed to prosecute the war. But through all +this clamor Lincoln kept his peace and let the heathen rage. + +Toward the end of the year, popular rage turned suddenly on +Cameron, who, as Secretary of War, had taken an active but proper +part in the investigation of Fremont's conduct. It was one of +those tremulous moments when people are desperately eager to have +something done and are ready to believe anything. Though +McClellan, now in chief command of the Union forces, had an +immense army which was fast getting properly equipped, month +faded into month without his advancing against the enemy. Again +the popular cry was raised, "On to Richmond!" It was at this +moment of military inactivity and popular restlessness that +charges of peculation were brought forward against Cameron. + +These charges both were and were not well founded. Himself a +rich man, it is not likely that Cameron profited personally by +government contracts, even though the acrimonious Thad Stevens +said of his appointment as Secretary that it would add "another +million to his fortune." There seems little doubt, however, that +Cameron showered lucrative contracts upon his political +retainers. And no boss has ever held the State of Pennsylvania in +a firmer grip. His tenure of the Secretaryship of War was one +means to that end. + +The restless alarm of the country at large expressed itself in +such extravagant words as these which Senator Grimes wrote to +Senator Fessenden: "We are going to destruction as fast as +imbecility, corruption, and the wheels of time can carry us." So +dissatisfied, indeed, was Congress with the conduct of the war +that it appointed a committee of investigation. During December, +1861, and January, 1862, the committee was summoning generals +before it, questioning them, listening to all manner of views, +accomplishing nothing, but rendering more and more feverish an +atmosphere already surcharged with anxiety. On the floors of +Congress debate raged as to who was responsible for the military +inaction--for the country's "unpreparedness," we should say today +--and as to whether Cameron was honest. Eventually the House in +a vote of censure condemned the Secretary of War. + +Long before this happened, however, Lincoln had interfered and +very characteristically removed the cause of trouble, while +taking upon himself the responsibility for the situation, by +nominating Cameron minister to Russia, and by praising him for +his "ability, patriotism, and fidelity to the public trust." +Though the President had not sufficient hold upon the House to +prevent the vote of censure, his influence was strong in the +Senate, and the new appointment of Cameron was promptly +confirmed. + +There was in Washington at this time that grim man who had served +briefly as Attorney-General in the Cabinet of Buchanan--Edwin M. +Stanton. He despised the President and expressed his opinion in +such words as "the painful imbecility of Lincoln." The two had +one personal recollection in common: long before, in a single +case, at Cincinnati, the awkward Lincoln had been called in as +associate counsel to serve the convenience of Stanton, who was +already a lawyer of national repute. To his less-known associate +Stanton showed a brutal rudeness that was characteristic. It +would have been hard in 1861 to find another man more difficult +to get on with. Headstrong, irascible, rude, he had a sharp +tongue which he delighted in using; but he was known to be +inflexibly honest, and was supposed to have great executive +ability. He was also a friend of McClellan, and if anybody could +rouse that tortoise-like general, Stanton might be supposed to be +the man. He had been a valiant Democrat, and Democratic support +was needed by the government. Lincoln astonished him with his +appointment as Secretary of War in January, 1862. Stanton +justified the President's choice, and under his strong if +ruthless hand the War Department became sternly efficient. The +whole story of Stanton's relations to his chief is packed, like +the Arabian genius in the fisherman's vase, into one remark of +Lincoln's. "Did Stanton tell you I was a fool?" said Lincoln on +one occasion, in the odd, smiling way he had. "Then I expect I +must be one, for he is almost always right, and generally says +what he means." + +In spite of his efficiency and personal force, Stanton was unable +to move his friend McClellan, with whom he soon quarreled. Each +now sought in his own way to control the President, though +neither understood Lincoln's character. From McClellan, Lincoln +endured much condescension of a kind perilously near +impertinence. To Stanton, Lincoln's patience seemed a mystery; +to McClellan--a vain man, full of himself--the President who +would merely smile at this bullyragging on the part of one of his +subordinates seemed indeed a spiritless creature. Meanwhile +Lincoln, apparently devoid of sensibility, was seeking during the +anxious months of 1862, in one case, merely how to keep his +petulant Secretary in harness; in the other, how to quicken his +tortoise of a general. + +Stanton made at least one great blunder. Though he had been +three months in office, and McClellan was still inactive, there +were already several successes to the credit of the Union arms. +The Monitor and Virginia (Merrimac) had fought their famous duel, +and Grant had taken Fort Donelson. The latter success broke +through the long gloom of the North and caused, as Holmes wrote, +"a delirium of excitement." Stanton rashly concluded that he now +had the game in his hands, and that a sufficient number of men +had volunteered. This civilian Secretary of War, who had still +much to learn of military matters, issued an order putting a stop +to recruiting. Shortly afterwards great disaster befell the +Union arms. McClellan, before Richmond, was checked in May. +Early in July, his peninsula campaign ended disastrously in the +terrible "Seven Days' Battle." + +Anticipating McClellan's failure, Lincoln had already determined +to call for more troops. On July 1st, he called upon the +Governors of the States to provide him with 300,000 men to serve +three years. But the volunteering enthusiasm--explain it as you +will--had suffered a check. The psychological moment had passed. +So slow was the response to the call of July 1st, that another +appeal was made early in August, this time for 300,000 men to +serve only nine months. But this also failed to rouse the +country. A reinforcement of only 87,000 men was raised in +response to this emergency call. The able lawyer in the War +Department had still much to learn about men and nations. + +After this check, terrible incidents of war came thick and fast +--the defeat at Second Manassas, in late August; the horrible +drawn battle of Antietam-Sharpsburg, in September; +Fredericksburg, that carnival of slaughter, in December; the +dearly bought victory of Murfreesboro, which opened 1863. There +were other disastrous events at least as serious. Foreign +affairs* were at their darkest. Within the political coalition +supporting Lincoln, contention was the order of the day. There +was general distrust of the President. Most alarming of all, +that ebb of the wave of enthusiasm which began in midsummer, +1861, reached in the autumn of 1862 perhaps its lowest point. +The measure of the reaction against Lincoln was given in the +Congressional election, in which, though the Government still +retained a working majority, the Democrats gained thirty-three +seats. + +* See Chapter IX. + + +If there could be such a thing as a true psychological history of +the war, one of its most interesting pages would determine just +how far Stanton was responsible, through his strange blunder over +recruiting, for the check to enthusiasm among the Northern +people. With this speculation there is connected a still unsolved +problem in statistics. To what extent did the anti-Lincoln vote, +in 1862, stand for sympathy with the South, and how far was it +the hopeless surrender of Unionists who felt that their cause was +lost? Though certainty on this point is apparently impossible, +there can be no doubt that at the opening of 1863, the Government +felt it must apply pressure to the flagging spirits of its +supporters. In order to reenforce the armies and to push the war +through, there was plainly but one course to be +followed--conscription. + +The government leaders in Congress brought in a Conscription Act +early in the year. The hot debates upon this issue dragged +through a month's time, and now make instructive reading for the +present generation that has watched the Great War*. The Act of +1863 was not the work of soldiers, but was literally "made in +Congress." Stanton grimly made the best of it, though he +unwaveringly condemned some of its most conspicuous provisions. +His business was to retrieve his blunder of the previous year, +and he was successful. Imperfect as it was, the Conscription +Act, with later supplementary legislation, enabled him to replace +the wastage of the Union armies and steadily to augment them. At +the close of the war, the Union had on foot a million men with an +enrolled reserve of two millions and a half, subject to call. + +* The battle over conscription in England was anticipated in +America sixty-four years ago. Bagot says that the average +British point of view may be expressed thus: "What I am sayin' is +this here as I was a sayin' yesterday." The Anglo-Saxon mind is +much the same the world over. In America, today, the enemies of +effective military organization would do well to search the +arguments of their skillful predecessors in 1888, who fought to +the last ditch for a military system that would make inescapable +"peace at any price." For the modern believers in conscription, +one of their best bits of political thunder is still the defense +of it by Lincoln. + + +The Act provided for a complete military census, for which +purpose the country was divided into enrollment districts. Every +able-bodied male citizen, or intending citizen, between the ages +of twenty and forty-five, unless exempted for certain specified +reasons, was to be enrolled as a member of the national forces; +these forces were to be called to the colors--"drafted," the term +was--as the Government found need of them; each successive draft +was to be apportioned among the districts in the ratio of the +military population, and the number required was to be drawn by +lot; if the district raised its quota voluntarily, no draft would +be made; any drafted man could offer a substitute or could +purchase his discharge for three hundred dollars. The latter +provision especially was condemned by Stanton. It was seized +upon by demagogues as a device for giving rich men an advantage +over poor men. + +American politics during the war form a wildly confused story, so +intricate that it cannot be made clear in a brief statement. But +this central fact may be insisted upon: in the North, there were +two political groups that were the poles around which various +other groups revolved and combined, only to fly asunder and +recombine, with all the maddening inconstancy of a kaleidoscope. +The two irreconcilable elements were the "war party" made up of +determined men resolved to see things through, and the +"copperheads"* who for one reason or another united in a faithful +struggle for peace at any price. Around the copperheads gathered +the various and singular groups who helped to make up the ever +fluctuating "peace party." It is an error to assume that this +peace party was animated throughout by fondness for the +Confederacy. Though many of its members were so actuated, the +core of the party seems to have been that strange type of man who +sustained political evasion in the old days, who thought that +sweet words can stop bullets, whose programme in 1863 called for +a cessation of hostilities and a general convention of all the +States, and who promised as the speedy result of a debauch of +talk a carnival of bright eyes glistening with the tears of +revived affection. With these strange people in 1863 there +combined a number of different types: the still stranger, still +less creditable visionary, of whom much hereafter; the avowed +friends of the principle of state rights; all those who +distrusted the Government because of its anti-slavery sympathies; +Quakers and others with moral scruples against war; and finally, +sincere legalists to whom the Conscription Act appeared +unconstitutional. In the spring of 1863 the issue of conscription +drew the line fairly sharply between the two political +coalitions, though each continued to fluctuate, more or less, to +the end of the war. + +* The term arose, it has been said, from the use of the copper +cent with its head of Liberty as a peace button. But a more +plausible explanation associates the peace advocates with the +deadly copperhead snake. + + +The peace party of 1863 has been denounced hastily rather than +carefully studied. Its precise machinations are not fully known, +but the ugly fact stands forth that a portion of the foreign +population of the North was roused in 1863 to rebellion. The +occasion was the beginning of the first draft under the new law, +in July, 1863, and the scene of the rebellion was the City of New +York. The opponents of conscription had already made +inflammatory attacks on the Government. Conspicuous among them +was Horatio Seymour, who had been elected Governor of New York in +that wave of reaction in the autumn of 1862. Several New York +papers joined the crusade. In Congress, the Government had +already been threatened with civil war if the act was enforced. +Nevertheless, the public drawing by lot began on the days +announced. In New York the first drawing took place on Saturday, +July 12th, and the lists were published in the Sunday papers. As +might be expected, many of the men drawn were of foreign birth, +and all day Sunday, the foreign quarter of New York was a +cauldron boiling. + +On Monday, the resumption of the drawing was the signal for +revolt. A mob invaded one of the conscription offices, drove off +the men in charge, and set fire to the building. In a short +while, the streets were filled with dense crowds of foreignborn +workmen shouting, "Down with the rich men," and singing, "We'll +hang Horace Greeley on a sour apple tree." Houses of prominent +citizens were attacked and set on fire, and several drafting +offices were burned. Many negroes who were seized were either +clubbed to death or hanged to lamp posts. Even an orphan asylum +for colored children was burned. The office of the "Tribune" was +raided, gutted, and set on fire. Finally a dispatch to Stanton, +early in the night, reported that the mob had taken possession of +the city. + +The events of the next day were no less shocking. The city was +almost stripped of soldiers, as all available reserves had +already been hurried south when Lee was advancing toward +Gettysburg. But such militia as could be mustered, with a small +force of federal troops, fought the mob in the streets. +Barricades were carried by storm; blood was freely shed. It was +not, however, until the fourth day that the rebellion was finally +quelled, chiefly by New York regiments, hurried north by +Stanton--among them the famous Seventh--which swept the streets +with cannon. + +The aftermath of the New York riots was a correspondence between +Lincoln and Seymour. The latter had demanded a suspension of the +draft until the courts could decide on the constitutionality of +the Conscription Act. Lincoln refused. With ten thousand troops +now assembled in New York, the draft was resumed, and there was +no further trouble. + +The resistance to the Government in New York was but the most +terrible episode in a protracted contention which involves, as +Americans are beginning to see, one of the most fundamental and +permanent questions of Lincoln's rule: how can the exercise of +necessary war powers by the President be reconciled with the +guarantees of liberty in the Constitution? It is unfortunate +that Lincoln did not draw up a fully rounded statement of his own +theory regarding this problem, instead of leaving it to be +inferred from detached observations and from his actions. +Apparently, he felt there was nothing to do but to follow the +Roman precedent and, in a case of emergency, frankly permit the +use of extraordinary power. We may attribute to him that point +of view expressed by a distinguished Democrat of our own day: +"Democracy has to learn how to use the dictator as a necessary +war tool."* Whether Lincoln set a good model for democracy in +this perilous business is still to be determined. His actions +have been freely labeled usurpation. The first notorious +instance occurred in 1861, during the troubles in Maryland, when +he authorized military arrests of suspected persons. For the +release of one of these, a certain Merryman, Chief Justice Taney +issued a writ of habeas corpus**. Lincoln authorized his +military representatives to disregard the writ. In 1862 he +issued a proclamation suspending the privileges of the writ of +habeas corpus in cases of persons charged with "discouraging +volunteer enlistments, resisting military drafts, or guilty of +any disloyal practice...." Such persons were to be tried by +military commissions. + +*President Edwin A. Alderman, of the University of Virginia. + +** The Constitution permits the suspension of the privileges of +the writ of habeas corpus "when in cases of rebellion or invasion +the public safety may require it," but fails to provide a method +of suspension. Taney held that the power to suspend lay with +Congress. Five years afterward, when Chase was Chief Justice, +the Supreme Court, in ex parte Milligan, took the same view and +further declared that even Congress could not deprive a citizen +of his right to trial by jury so long as the local civil courts +are in operation. The Confederate experience differed from the +Federal inasmuch as Congress kept control of the power to suspend +the writ. But both governments made use of such suspension to +set up martial law in districts where the local courts were open +but where, from one cause or another, the Administration had not +confidence in their effectiveness. Under ex parte Milligan, +both Presidents and both Congresses were guilty of usurpation. +The mere layman waits for the next great hour of trial to learn +whether this interpretation will stand. In the Milligan case the +Chief Justice and three others dissented. + + +There can be little doubt that this proclamation caused something +like a panic in many minds, filled them with the dread of +military despotism, and contributed to the reaction against +Lincoln in the autumn of 1862. Under this proclamation many +arrests were made and many victims were sent to prison. So +violent was the opposition that on March 3, 1863, Congress passed +an act which attempted to bring the military and civil courts +into cooperation, though it did not take away from the President +all the dictatorial power which he had assumed. The act seems; +however, to have had little general effect, and it was +disregarded in the most celebrated of the cases of military +arrest, that of Clement L. Vallandigham. + +A representative from Ohio and one of the most vituperative +anti-Lincoln men in Congress, Vallandigham in a sensational +speech applied to the existing situation Chatham's words, "My +lords, you cannot conquer America." He professed to see before +him in the future nothing "but universal political and social +revolution, anarchy, and bloodshed, compared with which the Reign +of Terror in France was a merciful visitation." To escape such a +future, he demanded an armistice, to be followed by a friendly +peace established through foreign mediation. + +Returning to Ohio after the adjournment of Congress, Vallandigham +spoke to a mass-meeting in a way that was construed as rank +treason by General Burnside who was in command at Cincinnati. +Vallandigham was arrested, tried by court martial, and condemned +to imprisonment. There was an immediate hue and cry, in +consequence of which Burnside, who reported the affair, felt +called upon also to offer to resign. Lincoln's reply was +characteristic: "When I shall wish to supersede you I shall let +you know. All the Cabinet regretted the necessity for arresting, +for instance, Vallandigham, some perhaps doubting there was a +real necessity for it; but being done, all were for seeing you +through with it." Lincoln, however, commuted the sentence to +banishment and had Vallandigham sent through the lines into the +Confederacy. + +It seems quite plain that the condemnation of Lincoln on this +issue of usurpation was not confined to the friends of the +Confederacy, nor has it been confined to his enemies in later +days. One of Lincoln's most ardent admirers, the historian +Rhodes, condemns his course unqualifiedly. "There can be no +question," he writes, "that from the legal point of view the +President should have rescinded the sentence and released +Vallandigham." Lincoln, he adds, "stands responsible for the +casting into prison of citizens of the United States on orders as +arbitrary as the lettres-de-cachet of Louis XIV." Since Mr. +Rhodes, uncompromising Unionist, can write as he does upon this +issue, it is plain that the opposition party cannot be dismissed +as through and through disunionist. + +The trial of Vallandigham made him a martyr and brought him the +Democratic nomination for Governor of Ohio*. His followers +sought to make the issue of the campaign the acceptance or +rejection of military despotism. In defense of his course +Lincoln wrote two public letters in which he gave evidence of the +skill which he had acquired as a lawyer before a jury by the way +in which he played upon the emotions of his readers. + +* Edward Everett Hale's famous story "The Man Without a Country", +though it got into print too late to affect the election, was +aimed at Vallandigham. That quaint allegory on the lack of +patriotism became a temporary classic. + + +"Long experience [he wrote] has shown that armies cannot be +maintained unless desertion shall be punished by the severe +penalty of death. The case requires, and the law and the +Constitution sanction, this punishment. Must I shoot a +simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a +hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is none +the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, +or friend into a public meeting, and there working upon his +feelings till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is +fighting in a bad cause for a wicked administration and a +contemptible government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he +shall desert. I think that in such a case to silence the +agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but, +withal, a great mercy." + +His real argument may be summed up in these words of his: + +"You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may +override all the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea of +conserving the public safety--when I may choose to say the public +safety requires it. This question, divested of the phraseology +calculated to represent me as struggling for an arbitrary +prerogative, is either simply a question who shall decide, or an +affirmation that nobody shall decide, what the public safety does +require in cases of rebellion or invasion. + +"The Constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur +for decision, but it does not expressly declare who is to decide +it. By necessary implication, when rebellion or invasion comes, +the decision is to be made, from time to time; and I think the +man, whom for the time, the people have under the Constitution, +made the commander-in-chief of their army and navy, is the man +who holds the power and bears the responsibility of making it. +If he uses the power justly, the same people will probably +justify him; if he abuses it, he is in their hands to be dealt +with by all the modes they have reserved to themselves in the +Constitution." + +Lincoln virtually appealed to the Northern people to secure +efficiency by setting him momentarily above all civil authority. +He asked them in substance, to interpret their Constitution by a +show of hands. No thoughtful person can doubt the risks of such +a method; yet in Ohio, in 1863, the great majority--perhaps +everyone who believed in the war--accepted Lincoln's position. +Between their traditional system of legal juries and the new +system of military tribunals the Ohio voters made their choice +without hesitation. They rejected Vallandigham and sustained the +Lincoln candidate by a majority of over a hundred thousand. That +same year in New York the anti-Lincoln candidate for Secretary of +State was defeated by twenty-nine thousand votes. + +Though these elections in 1863 can hardly be called the +turning-point in the history of the Lincoln Government, yet it +was clear that the tide of popularity which had ebbed so far away +from Lincoln in the autumn of 1862 was again in the flood. +Another phase of his stormy course may be thought of as having +ended. And in accounting for this turn of the tide it must not +be forgotten that between the nomination and the defeat of a +Vallandigham the bloody rebellion in New York had taken place, +Gettysburg had been fought, and Grant had captured Vicksburg. +The autumn of 1863 formed a breathing space for the war party of +the North. + + + +CHAPTER IX. THE CRUCIAL MATTER + +It is the custom of historians to measure the relative strength +of North and South chiefly in terms of population. The North +numbered 23,000,000 inhabitants; the South, about 9,000,000, of +which the slave population amounted to 3,500,000. But these +obvious statistics only partially indicate the real situation. +Not what one has, but what one is capable of using is, of course, +the true measure of strength. If, in 1861, either side could +have struck swiftly and with all its force, the story of the war +would have been different. The question of relative strength was +in reality a question of munitions. Both powers were glaringly +unprepared. Both had instant need of great supplies of arms and +ammunition, and both turned to European manufacturers for aid. +Those Americans who, in a later war, wished to make illegal the +neutral trade in munitions forgot that the international right of +a belligerent to buy arms from a neutral had prevented their own +destruction in 1861. In the supreme American crisis, agents of +both North and South hurried to Europe in quest of munitions. On +the Northern side the work was done chiefly by the three +ministers, Charles Francis Adams, at London; William L. Dayton, +at Paris; and Henry S. Sanford, at Brussels; by an able special +agent, Colonel George L. Schuyler; and by the famous +banking-house of Baring Brothers, which one might almost have +called the European department of the United States Treasury. + +The eager solicitude of the War Department over the competition +of the two groups of agents in Europe informs a number of +dispatches that are, today, precious admonitions to the heedless +descendants of that dreadful time. As late as October, 1861, the +Acting Secretary of War wrote to Schuyler, one of whose shipments +had been delayed: "The Department earnestly hopes to +receive...the 12,000 Enfield rifles and the remainder of the +27,000, which you state you have purchased, by the earliest +steamer following. Could you appreciate the circumstances by +which we are surrounded, you would readily understand the urgent +necessity there is for the immediate delivery of all the arms you +are authorized to purchase. The Department expects to hear that +you have been able to conclude the negotiations for the 48,000 +rifles from the French government arsenals." That the +Confederate Government acted even more promptly than the Union +Government appears from a letter of Sanford to Seward in May: "I +have vainly expected orders," he complains, "for the purchase of +arms for the Government, and am tempted to order from Belgium all +they can send over immediately.... Meanwhile the workshops are +filling with orders from the South.... It distresses me to think +that while we are in want of them, Southern money is taking them +away to be used against us." + +At London, Adams took it upon himself to contract for arms in +advance of instructions. He wrote to Seward: "Aware of the +degree to which I exceed my authority in taking such a step, +nothing but a conviction of the need in which the country stands +of such assistance and the joint opinion of all the diplomatic +agents of the United States...in Paris, has induced me to +overcome my scruples." How real was the necessity of which this +able diplomat was so early conscious, is demonstrated at every +turn in the papers of the War Department. Witness this brief +dispatch from Harrisburg: "All ready to leave but no arms. +Governor not willing to let us leave State without them, as act +of Assembly forbids. Can arms be sent here?" When this appeal +was made, in December, 1861, arms were pouring into the country +from Europe, and the crisis had passed. But if this appeal had +been made earlier in the year, the inevitable answer may be +guessed from a dispatch which the Ordnance Office sent, as late +as September, to the authorities of West Virginia, refusing to +supply them with arms because the supplies were exhausted, and +adding, "Every possible exertion is being made to obtain +additional supplies by contract, by manufacture, and by purchase, +and as soon as they can be procured by any means, in any way, +they will be supplied." + +Curiously enough, not only the Confederacy but various States of +the North were more expeditious in this all-important matter than +Cameron and the War Department. Schuyler's first dispatch from +London gives this singular information: "All private +establishments in Birmingham and London are now working for the +States of Ohio, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, except the London +Armory, whose manufacture is supposed to go to the Rebels, but of +this last fact I am not positively informed. I am making +arrangements to secure these establishments for our Government, +if desirable after the present State contracts expire. On the +Continent, Messrs, Dayton and Sanford...have been making +contracts and agreements of various kinds, of which you are by +this time informed." Soon afterward, from Paris, he made a long +report detailing the difficulties of his task, the limitations of +the existing munitions plants in Europe, and promising among +other things those "48,000 rifles from the French government +arsenals" for which, in the letter already quoted, the War +Department yearned. It was an enormous labor; and, strive as he +would, Schuyler found American mail continuing to bring him such +letters as this from the Assistant Secretary of War in October: +"I notice with much regret that [in the latest consignment] there +were no guns sent, as it was confidently expected that 20,000 +would arrive by the [steamship] Fulton, and accordingly +arrangements had been made to distribute them through the +different States. Prompt and early shipments of guns are +desirable. We hope to hear by next steamer that you have shipped +from 80,000 to 100,000 stand." + +The last word on the problem of munitions, which was so +significant a factor in the larger problem, is the report of the +United States Ordnance Office for the first year of the war. It +shows that between April, 1861, and June, 1862, the Government +purchased from American manufacturers somewhat over 30,000 +rifles, and that from European makers it purchased 726,000. + +From these illustrations it is therefore obvious that the true +measure of the immediate strength of the American contestants in +1861 was the extent of their ability to supply themselves from +Europe; and this, stated more concretely, became the question as +to which was the better able to keep its ports open and receive +the absolutely essential European aid. Lincoln showed his clear +realization of the situation when he issued, immediately after +the first call for volunteers, a proclamation blockading the +Southern coasts. Whether the Northern people at the time +appreciated the significance of this order is a question. Amid +the wild and vain clamor of the multitude in 1861, with its +conventional and old-fashioned notion of war as a thing of +trumpets and glittering armies, the North seems wholly to have +ignored its fleet; and yet in the beginning this resource was its +only strength. + +The fleet was small, to be sure, but its task was at first also +small. There were few Southern ports which were doing a regular +business with Europe, and to close these was not difficult. As +other ports opened and the task of blockade grew, the Northern +navy also increased. Within a few months, to the few observers +who did not lose their heads, it was plain that the North had won +the first great contest of the war. It had so hampered Southern +trade that Lincoln's advantage in arming the North from Europe +was ten to one. At the very time when detractors of Lincoln were +hysterical over the removal of Fremont, when Grimes wrote to +Fessenden that the country was going to the dogs as fast as +imbecility could carry it, this great achievement had quietly +taken place. An expedition sailing in August from Fortress +Monroe seized the forts which commanded Hatteras Inlet off the +coast of North Carolina. In November, Commander Dupont, U. S. +N., seized Port Royal, one of the best harbors on the coast of +South Carolina, and established there a naval base. Thenceforth, +while the open Northern ports received European munitions without +hindrance, it was a risky business getting munitions into the +ports of the South. Only the boldest traders would attempt to +"run the blockade," to evade the Federal patrol ships by night +and run into a Southern port. + +However, for one moment in the autumn of 1861, it seemed as if +all the masterful work of the Northern navy would be undone by +the Northern people themselves in backing up the rashness of +Captain Charles Wilkes, of the war-ship San Jacinto. On the high +seas he overhauled the British mail steamer, Trent. Aboard her +were two Confederate diplomatic agents, James M. Mason and John +Slidell, who had run the blockade from Charleston to Havana and +were now on their way to England. Wilkes took off the two +Confederates as prisoners of war. The crowd in the North went +wild. "We do not believe," said the New York Times, "that the +American heart ever thrilled with more sincere delight." + +The intemperate joy of the crowd over the rashness of Wilkes was +due in part to a feeling of bitterness against the British +Government. In May, 1861, the Queen had issued a proclamation of +neutrality, whose justification in international law was hotly +debated at the time and was generally denied by Northerners. +England was the great cotton market of the world. To the excited +Northern mind, in 1861, there could be but one explanation of +England's action: a partisan desire to serve the South, to break +up the blockade, and to secure cotton. Whether such was the real +purpose of the ministry then in power is now doubted; but at that +time it was the beginning of a sharp contention between the two +Governments. The Trent affair naturally increased the tension. +So keen was the indignation of all classes of Englishmen that it +seemed, for a moment, as if the next step would be war. + +In America, the prompt demand for the release of Mason and +Slidell was met, at first, in a spirit equally bellicose. +Fortunately there were cool and clear heads that at once +condemned Wilkes's action as a gross breach of international law. +Prominent among these was Sumner. The American Government, +however, admitted the justice of the British demand and the +envoys were released. + +Relations with the United States now became a burning issue in +English politics. There were three distinct groups in +Parliament. The representatives of the aristocracy, whether +Liberals or Conservatives, in the main sympathized with the +South. So did most of the large manufacturers whose business +interests were affected by cotton. Great bitterness grew up +among the Northerners against both these groups, partly because +in the past many of their members had condemned slavery and had +said scornful things about America for tolerating it. To these +Northerners the Englishmen replied that Lincoln himself had +declared the war was not over slavery; that it was an ordinary +civil war not involving moral issues. Nevertheless, the third +Parliamentary group insisted that the American war, no matter +what the motives of the participants, would, in the event of a +Northern victory, bring about the abolition of slavery, whereas, +if the South won, the result would be the perpetuation of +slavery. This third group, therefore, threw all its weight on +the side of the North. In this group Lincoln recognized his +allies, and their cause he identified with his own in his letter +to English workmen which was quoted in the previous chapter. +Their leaders in Parliament were Richard Cobden, W. E. Forster, +and John Bright. All these groups were represented in the +Liberal party, which, for the moment, was in power. + +In the Cabinet itself there was a "Northern" and a "Southern" +faction. Then, too, there were some who sympathized with the +North but who felt that its cause was hopeless--so little did +they understand the relative strength of the two sections--and +who felt that the war was a terrible proof of the uselessness of +mere suffering. Gladstone, in later days, wished to be thought +of as having been one of these, though at the time, a famous +utterance of his was construed in the North as a declaration of +hostility. To a great audience at Newcastle he said in October, +1862: "We may have our own opinions about slavery; we may be for +or against the South; but there is no doubt that Jefferson Davis +and other leaders of the South have made an army; they are +making, it appears, a navy; and they have made, what is more than +either--they have made a nation." + +The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, wished to intervene in the +American war and bring about an amicable separation into two +countries, and so, apparently, did the Foreign Secretary, Lord +John Russell. Recently, the American minister had vainly +protested against the sailing of a ship known as 290 which was +being equipped at Liverpool presumably for the service of the +Confederacy, and which became the famous Alabama. For two years +it roved the ocean destroying Northern commerce, and not until it +was sunk at last in a battle with the U. S. S. Kearsarge did all +the maritime interests of the North breathe again freely. In +time and as a result of arbitration, England paid for the ships +sunk by the Alabama. But in 1862, the protests of the American +minister fell on deaf ears. + +It must be added that the sailing of the Alabama from Liverpool +was due probably to the carelessness of British officials rather +than to deliberate purpose. And yet the fact is clear that about +the first of October, 1862, the British ministry was on the verge +of intervening to secure recognition of the independence of the +Southern confederacy. The chief motive pressing them forward was +the distress in England caused by the lack of cotton which +resulted from the American blockade. In 1860, the South had +exported 615,000 bales; in 1861, only 10,127 bales. In 1862 half +the spindles of Manchester were idle; the workmen were out of +employment; the owners were without dividends. It was chiefly by +these manufacturing capitalists that pressure was put upon the +ministry, and it was in the manufacturing district that +Gladstone, thinking the Government was likely to intervene, made +his allusion to the South as a nation. + +Meanwhile the Emperor of the French was considering a proposal to +England and Russia to join with him in mediation between the +American belligerents. On October 28, 1862, Napoleon III gave +audience to the Confederate envoy at Paris, discussed the +Southern cause in the most friendly manner, questioned him upon +the Maryland campaign, plainly indicated his purpose to attempt +intervention, and at parting cordially shook hands with him. +Within a few days the Emperor made good his implied promise. + +The month of November, 1862, is one of the turningpoints in +American foreign relations. Both Russia and England rejected +France's proposal. The motive usually assigned to the Emperor +Alexander is his hatred of everything associated with slavery. +His own most famous action was the liberation of the Russian +serfs. The motives of the British ministry, however, appear more +problematical. + +Mr. Rhodes thinks he can discern evidence that Adams communicated +indirectly to Palmerston the contents of a dispatch from Seward +which indicated that the United States would accept war rather +than mediation. Palmerston had kept his eyes upon the Maryland +campaign, and Lee's withdrawal did not increase his confidence in +the strength of the South. Lord Russell, two months previous, +had flatly told the Confederate envoy at London that the South +need not hope for recognition unless it could establish itself +without aid, and that "the fluctuating events of the war, the +alternation of defeat and victory," composed such a contradictory +situation that "Her Majesty's Government are still determined to +wait." + +Perhaps the veiled American warning--assuming it was conveyed to +Palmerston, which seems highly probable--was not the only +diplomatic innuendo of the autumn of 1862 that has escaped the +pages of history. Slidell at Paris, putting together the +statements of the British Ambassador and those of the French +Minister of Foreign Affairs, found in them contradictions as to +what was going on between the two governments in relation to +America. He took a hand by attempting to inspire M. Drouyn de +L'huys with distrust of England, telling him he "HAD SEEN...a +letter from a leading member of the British Cabinet...in which he +very plainly insinuated that France was playing an unfair game," +trying to use England as Napoleon's catspaw. Among the many +motives that may well have animated the Palmerston Government in +its waiting policy, a distrust of Napoleon deserves to be +considered. + +It is scarcely rash, however, to find the chief motive in home +politics. The impetuous Gladstone at Newcastle lost his head and +spoke too soon. The most serious effect of his premature +utterance was the prompt reaction of the "Northern party" in the +Cabinet and in the country. Whatever Palmerston's secret desires +were, he was not prepared to take the high hand, and he therefore +permitted other members of the Cabinet to state in public that +Gladstone had been misunderstood. In an interview with Adams, +Lord Russell, "whilst endeavoring to excuse Mr. Gladstone," +assured him that "the policy of the Government was to adhere to a +strict neutrality and leave the struggle to settle itself." In +the last analysis, the Northern party in England was gaining +ground. The news from America, possibly, and Gladstone's +rashness, certainly, roused it to increased activity. +Palmerston, whose tenure of power was none too secure, dared not +risk a break that might carry the disaffected into the ranks of +the Opposition. + +From this time forward the North rapidly grew in favor in British +public opinion, and its influence upon the Government speedily +increased. + +Says Lord Charnwood in his recent life of Lincoln: "The battle of +Antietam was followed within five days by an event which made it +impossible for any government of this country to take action +unfriendly to the North." He refers of course to the +Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on September 23, +1862. Lord Charnwood's remark may be too dramatic. But there +can be no doubt that the Emancipation Proclamation was the +turning-point in Lincoln's foreign policy; and because of it, his +friends in England eventually forced the Government to play into +his hands, and so frustrated Napoleon's scheme for intervention. +Consequently Lincoln was able to maintain the blockade by means +of which the South was strangled. Thus, at bottom, the crucial +matter was Emancipation. + +Lincoln's policy with regard to slavery passed through three +distinct stages. As we have seen, he proposed, at first, to +pledge the Government not to interfere with slavery in the States +where it then existed. This was his maximum of compromise. He +would not agree to permitting its extension into new territory. +He maintained this position through 1861, when it was made an +accusation against him by the Abolitionists and contributed to +the ebb of his popularity. It also played a great part in the +episode of Fremont. At a crucial moment in Fremont's career, +when his hold upon popularity seemed precarious, he set at naught +the policy of the President and issued an order (August 30, +1861), which confiscated all property and slaves of those who +were in arms against the United States or actively aiding the +enemy, and which created a "bureau of abolition." Whether +Fremont was acting from conviction or "playing politics" may be +left to his biographers. In a most tactful letter Lincoln asked +him to modify the order so as to conform to the Confiscation Act +of Congress; and when Fremont proved obdurate, Lincoln ordered +him to do so. In the outcry against Lincoln when Fremont was at +last removed, the Abolitionists rang the changes on this reversal +of his policy of military abolition. + +Another Federal General, Benjamin F. Butler, in the course of +1861, also raised the issue, though not in the bold fashion of +Fremont. Runaway slaves came to his camp on the Virginia coast, +and he refused to surrender them to the owners. He took the +ground that, as they had probably been used in building +Confederate fortifications, they might be considered contraband +of war. He was sustained by Congress, which passed what is +commonly called the First Confiscation Act providing that slaves +used by Confederate armies in military labor should, if captured, +be "forfeited"--which of course meant that they should be set +free. But this did not settle what should be done with runaways +whose masters, though residents of seceded States, were loyal to +the Union. The War Department decided that they should be held +until the end of the war, when probably there would be made "just +compensation to loyal masters." + +This first stage of Lincoln's policy rested upon the hope that +the Union might be restored without prolonged war. He abandoned +this hope about the end of the year. Thereupon, his policy +entered its second stage. In the spring of 1862 he formulated a +plan for gradual emancipation with compensation. The slaves of +Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri, and the District of +Columbia were to be purchased at the rate of $400 each, thus +involving a total expenditure of $173,000,000. Although Congress +adopted the joint resolution recommended by the President, the +"border States" would not accept the plan. But Congress, by +virtue of its plenary power, freed the slaves by purchase in the +District of Columbia, and prohibited slavery in all the +territories of the United States. + +During the second stage of his policy Lincoln again had to +reverse the action of an unruly general. The Federal forces +operating from their base at Port Royal had occupied a +considerable portion of the Carolina coast. General Hunter +issued an order freeing all the slaves in South Carolina, +Georgia, and Florida. In countermanding the order, Lincoln made +another futile appeal to the people of the border States to adopt +some plan of compensated emancipation. + +"I do not argue," he said; "I beseech you to make arguments for +yourselves. You cannot, if you would be blind to the signs of +the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of +them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal and partisan +politics. This proposal makes common cause for a common object, +casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The +change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of heaven, +not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So +much good has not been done by one effort in all past time, as in +the providence of God it is now your high privilege to do. May +the vast future not have to lament that you neglected it. " + +This persuasive attitude and reluctance to force the issue had +greatly displeased the Abolitionists. Their most gifted orator, +Wendell Phillips, reviled Lincoln with all the power of his +literary genius, and with a fury that might be called malevolent. +Meanwhile, a Second Confiscation Act proclaimed freedom for the +slaves of all those who supported the Confederate Government. +Horace Greeley now published in the "New York Tribune" an +editorial entitled, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions." He +denounced Lincoln's treatment of Fremont and Hunter and demanded +radical action. Lincoln replied in a letter now famous. "I would +save the Union," said he, "I would save it the shortest way under +the Constitution.... If I could save the Union without freeing +any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some +and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about +slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to +save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not +believe it would help to save the Union." + +However, at the very time when he wrote this remarkable letter, +he had in his own mind entered upon the third stage of his +policy. He had even then discussed with his Cabinet an +announcement favoring general emancipation. The time did not +seem to them ripe. It was decided to wait until a Federal +victory should save the announcement from appearing to be a cry +of desperation. Antietam, which the North interpreted as a +victory, gave Lincoln his opportunity. + +The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to the States in arms +against the Federal Government. Such States were given three +months in which to return to the Union. Thereafter, if they did +not return, their slaves would be regarded by that Government as +free. No distinction was made between slaves owned by supporters +of the Confederacy and those whose owners were in opposition to +it. The Proclamation had no bearing on those slave States which +had not seceded. Needless to add, no seceded State returned, and +a second Proclamation making their slaves theoretically free was +in due time issued on the first of January, 1863. + +It must not be forgotten that this radical change of policy was +made in September, 1862. We have already heard of the elections +which took place soon after--those elections which mark perhaps +the lowest ebb of Lincoln's popularity, when Seymour was elected +Governor of New York, and the peace party gained over thirty +seats in Congress. It is a question whether, as a purely +domestic measure, the Emancipation Proclamation was not, for the +time, an injury to the Lincoln Government. And yet it was the +real turningpoint in the fortunes of the North. It was the +central fact in the maintenance of the blockade. + +In England at this time the cotton famine was at its height. +Nearly a million people in the manufacturing districts were +wholly dependent upon charity. This result of the blockade had +been foreseen by the Confederate Government which was confident +that the distress of England's working people would compel the +English ministry to intervene and break the blockade. The +employers in England whose loss was wholly financial, did as the +Confederates hoped they would do. The workmen, however, took a +different course. Schooled by a number of able debaters, they +fell into line with that third group of political leaders who saw +in the victory of the North, whatever its motives, the eventual +extinction of slavery. To these people, the Emancipation +Proclamation gave a definite programme. It was now, the leaders +argued, no longer a question of eventual effect; the North had +proclaimed a motive and that motive was the extinction of +slavery. Great numbers of Englishmen of all classes who had +hitherto held back from supporting Cobden and Bright now ranged +themselves on their side. Addresses of praise and sympathy +"began to pour into the Legation of the United States in a steady +and ever swelling stream." An immense popular demonstration took +place at Exeter Hall. Cobden, writing to Sumner, described the +new situation in British politics, in a letter amounting to an +assurance that the Government never again would attempt to resist +the popular pressure in favor of the North. + +On the last day of 1862 a meeting of workingmen at Manchester, +where the cotton famine was causing untold misery, adopted one of +those New Year greetings to Lincoln. Lincoln's reply expressed +with his usual directness his own view of the sympathetic +relation that had been established between the democratic classes +of the two countries: + +"I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the workingmen at +Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this +crisis. It has been often and studiously represented that the +attempt to overthrow this Government, which was built upon the +foundation of human rights, and to substitute for it one which +should rest exclusively on the basis of human slavery, was likely +to obtain the favor of Europe. Through the action of our +disloyal citizens, the workingmen of Europe have been subjected +to severe trials, for the purpose of forcing their sanction to +that attempt. Under the circumstances, I cannot but regard your +decisive utterances upon the question as an instance of sublime +Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in +any country. It is indeed an energetic and reinspiring assurance +of the inherent power of truth, and of the ultimate triumph of +justice, humanity, and freedom. I do not doubt that the +sentiments you have expressed will be sustained by your great +nation; and, on the other hand, I have no hesitation in assuring +you that they will excite admiration, esteem, and the most +reciprocal feelings of friendship among the American people. I +hail this interchange of sentiment, therefore, as an augury that +whatever else may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your +country or my own, the peace and friendship which now exists +between the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make +them, perpetual." + + + +CHAPTER X. THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY + +Though the defeat of the Democrats at the polls in 1863 and the +now definitely friendly attitude of England had done much to +secure the stability of the Lincoln Government, this success was +due in part to a figure which now comes to the front and deserves +attentive consideration. Indeed the work of Salmon Portland +Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, forms a bridge, as one might +say, between the first and second phases of Lincoln's +administration. + +The interesting Englishman who is the latest biographer of +Lincoln says of Chase: "Unfortunately, this imposing person was a +sneak." But is Lord Charnwood justified in that surprising +characterization? He finds support in the testimony of Secretary +Welles, who calls Chase, "artful dodger, unstable, and +unreliable." And yet there is another side, for it is the +conventional thing in America to call him our greatest finance +minister since Hamilton, and even a conspicuous enemy said of +him, at a crucial moment, that his course established his +character "as an honest and frank man." + +Taking these contradictory estimates as hints of a contradiction +in the man, we are forced to the conclusion that Chase was a +professional in politics and an amateur in finance. Perhaps +herein is the whole explanation of the two characteristics of his +financial policy--his reluctance to lay taxes, and his faith in +loans. His two eyes did not see things alike. One was really +trying to make out the orthodox path of finance; the other was +peering along the more devious road of popular caprice. + +The opening of the war caught the Treasury, as it caught all +branches of the Government, utterly unprepared. Between April +and July, 1861, Chase had to borrow what he could. When Congress +met in July, his real career as director of financial policy +began--or, as his enemies think, failed to begin. At least, he +failed to urge upon Congress the need of new taxes and appeared +satisfied with himself asking for an issue of $240,000,000 in +bonds bearing not less than seven per cent interest. Congress +voted to give him $250,000,000 of which $50,000,000 might be +interest-bearing treasury notes; made slight increases in duties; +and Prepared for excise and direct taxation the following year. +Later in the year Congress laid a three per cent tax on all +incomes in excess of $800. + +When Congress reassembled in December, 1861, expenditures were +racing ahead of receipts, and there was a deficit of +$143,000,000. It must not be forgotten that this month was a time +of intense excitability and of nervous reaction. Fremont had +lately been removed, and the attack on Cameron had begun. At +this crucial moment the situation was made still more alarming by +the action of the New York banks, followed by all other banks, in +suspending specie payments. They laid the responsibility upon +Chase. A syndicate of banks in New York, Boston, and +Philadelphia had come to the aid of the Government, but when they +took up government bonds, Chase had required them to pay the full +value cash down, though they had asked permission to hold the +money on deposit and to pay it as needed on requisition by the +Government. Furthermore, in spite of their protest, Chase issued +treasury notes, which the banks had to receive from their +depositors, who nevertheless continued to demand specie. On +January 1, 1862, the banks owed $459,000,000 and had in specie +only $87,000,000. Chase defended his course by saying that the +financial crisis was not due to his policy--or lack of policy, as +it would now seem--but to a general loss of faith in the outcome +of the war. + +There now arose a moral crisis for this "imposing person" who was +Secretary of the Treasury--a crisis with regard to which there +are still differences of opinion. While he faced his problem +silently, the Committee on Ways and Means in the House took the +matter in hand: Its solution was an old one which all sound +theorists on finance unite in condemning--the issue of +irredeemable paper money. And what did the Secretary of the +Treasury do? Previously, as Governor of Ohio, he had denounced +paper money as, in effect, a fraud upon society. Long after, +when the tide of fortune had landed him in the high place of +Supreme Justice, he returned to this view and condemned as +unconstitutional the law of 1862 establishing a system of paper +money. But at the time when that law was passed Chase, though he +went through the form of protesting, soon acquiesced. Before +long he was asking Congress to allow a further issue of what he +had previously called "fraudulent" money. + +The answer to the question whether Chase should have stuck to his +principles and resigned rather than acquiesce in the paper money +legislation turns on that other question--how were the politician +and the financier related in his make-up? + +Before Congress and the Secretary had finished, $450,000,000 were +issued. Prices naturally rose, and there was speculation in +gold. Even before the first issue of paper money, the treasury +notes had been slightly below par. In January, 1863, a hundred +dollars in paper would bring, in New York, only $69.00 in gold; a +year later, after falling, rising, and falling again, the value +was $64.00; in July and August, 1864, it was at its lowest, +$39.00; when the war closed, it had risen to $67.00. There was +powerful protest against the legislation responsible for such a +condition of affairs. Justin Morrill, the author of the Morrill +tariff, said, "I would as soon provide Chinese wooden guns for +the army as paper money alone for the army. It will be a breach +of public faith. It will injure creditors; it will increase +prices; it will increase many fold the cost of the war." Recent +students agree, in the main, that his prophecies were fulfilled; +and a common estimate of the probable increase in the cost of the +war through the use of paper money and the consequent inflation +of prices is $600,000,000. + +There was much more financial legislation in 1862; but Chase +continued to stand aside and allow Congress the lead in +establishing an excise law, an increase in the income tax, and a +higher tariff--the last of which was necessitated by the excise +law which has been described as a bill "that taxed everything." +To enable American manufacturers to bear the excise duties levied +upon their business, protection was evoked to secure them the +possession of their field by excluding foreign competition. All +these taxes, however, produced but a fraction of the Government's +revenue. Borrowing, the favorite method of the Secretary, was +accepted by Congress as the main resource. It is computed that +by means of taxation there was raised in the course of the war +$667,163,247.00, while during the same period the Government +borrowed $2,621,916,786.00. + +Whatever else he may think of Chase, no one denies that in 1862 +he had other interests besides finance. Lincoln's Cabinet in +those days was far from an harmonious body. All through its +history there was a Chase faction and a Seward faction. The +former had behind them the Radical Republicans, while the latter +relied upon the support of the moderates. This division in the +Republican party runs deep through the politics of the time. +There seems to be good reason to think that Chase was not taken +by surprise when his radical allies in Congress, in December, +1862, demanded of Lincoln the removal of Seward. It will be +remembered that the elections of the autumn of 1862 had gone +against Lincoln. At this moment of dismay, the friends of Chase +struck their blow. Seward instantly offered his resignation. +But Lincoln skillfully temporized. Thereupon, Chase also +resigned. Judging from the scanty evidence we have of his +intention, we may conclude that he thought he had Lincoln in a +corner and that he expected either to become first minister or +the avowed chief of an irresistible opposition. But he seems to +have gone too fast for his followers. Lincoln had met them, +together with his Cabinet, in a conference in December, 1862, and +frankly discussed the situation, with the result that some of +them wavered. When Lincoln informed both Seward and Chase that +he declined to accept their resignations, both returned--Seward +with alacrity, Chase with reluctance. One of the clues to +Lincoln's cabinet policy was his determination to keep both these +factions committed to the Government, without allowing himself to +be under the thumb of either. + +During the six months following the cabinet crisis Chase appears +at his best. A stupendous difficulty lay before him and he +attacked it manfully. The Government's deficit was $276,900,000. +Of the loans authorized in 1862--the "five-twenties" as they were +called, bringing six per cent and to run from five to twenty +years at the Government's pleasure---the sales had brought in, to +December, 1862, only $23,750,000, though five hundred million had +been expected. The banks in declining to handle these bonds laid +the blame on the Secretary, who had insisted that all purchasers +should take them at par. + +It is not feasible, in a work of this character, to enter into +the complexities of the financial situation of 1863, or to +determine just what influences caused a revolution in the market +for government bonds. But two factors must be mentioned. Chase +was induced to change his attitude and to sell to banks large +numbers of bonds at a rate below par, thus enabling the banks to +dispose of them at a profit. He also called to his aid Jay +Cooke, an experienced banker, who was allowed a commission of +one-half per cent on all bonds sold up to $10,000,000 and +three-eighths of one per cent after that. Cooke organized a +countrywide agency system, with twenty-five hundred subagents +through whom he offered directly to the people bonds in small +denominations. By all manner of devices, patriotism and the +purchase of bonds were made to appear the same thing, and before +the end of the year $400,000,000 in five-twenty bonds had been +sold. This campaign to dispose of the five-twenties was the +turning-point in war finance, and later borrowings encountered no +such difficulties as those of 1862 and 1863. + +Better known today than this precarious legislation is the famous +Act of 1863, which was amended in the next year and which forms +the basis of our present system of national banks. To Chase +himself the credit for this seems to be due. Even in 1861 he +advised Congress to establish a system of national banks, and he +repeated the advice before it was finally taken. The central +feature of this system which he advocated is one with which we +are still familiar: permission to the banks accepting government +supervision to deposit government bonds in the Treasury and to +acquire in return the right to issue bank-notes to the amount of +ninety per cent of the value of the bonds. + +There can be no doubt that Chase himself rated very highly his +own services to his country. Nor is there any doubt that, alone +among Lincoln's close associates, he continued until the end to +believe himself a better man than the President. He and his +radical following made no change in their attitude to Lincoln, +though Chase pursued a course of confidential criticism which has +since inspired the characterization of him as a "sneak," while +his followers were more outspoken. In the summer of 1863 Chase +was seriously talked of as the next President, and before the end +of the year Chase clubs were being organized in all the large +cities to promote his candidacy. Chase himself took the adroit +position of not believing that any President should serve a +second term. + +Early in 1864 the Chase organization sent out a confidential +circular signed by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas setting forth the +case against Lincoln as a candidate and the case in favor of +Chase. Unfortunately for Chase, this circular fell into the hands +of a newspaper and was published. Chase at once wrote to Lincoln +denying any knowledge of the circular but admitting his candidacy +and offering his resignation. No more remarkable letter was +written by Lincoln than his reply to Chase, in which he showed +that he had long fully understood the situation, and which he +closed with these words: "Whether you shall remain at the head of +the Treasury Department is a question which I do not allow myself +to consider from any standpoint other than my judgment of the +public service, and, in that view, I do not perceive occasion for +change." + +The Chase boom rapidly declined. The deathblow was given by a +caucus of the Union members of the legislature of his own State +nominating Lincoln "at the demand of the people and the soldiers +of Ohio." The defeat embittered Chase. For several months, +however, he continued in the Cabinet, and during this time he had +the mortification of seeing Lincoln renominated in the National +Union Convention amid a great display of enthusiasm. + +More than once in the past, Chase had offered his resignation. +On one occasion Lincoln had gone to his house and had begged him +to reconsider his decision. Soon after the renomination, Chase +again offered his resignation upon the pretext of a disagreement +with the President over appointments to office. This time, +however, Lincoln felt the end had come and accepted the +resignation. Chase's successor in the Treasury was William Pitt +Fessenden, Senator from Maine. During most of the summer of 1864 +Chase stood aside, sullen and envious, watching the progress of +Lincoln toward a second election. So much did his bitterness +affect his judgment that he was capable of writing in his diary +his belief that Lincoln meant to reverse his policy and consent +to peace with slavery reestablished. + + + +CHAPTER XI. NORTHERN LIFE DURING THE WAR + +The real effects of war on the life of nations is one of those +old and complicated debates which lie outside the scope of a +volume such as this. Yet in the particular case of the Northern +people it is imperative to answer two questions both of which +have provoked interminable discussion: Was the moral life of the +North good or bad in the war years? Was its commercial life +sound? + +As to the moral question, contemporary evidence seems at first +sight contradictory. The very able Englishman who represented +the "Times", William H. Russell, gives this ugly picture of an +American city in 1863: + +"Every fresh bulletin from the battlefield of Chickamauga, during +my three weeks' stay in Cincinnati, brought a long list of the +dead and wounded of the Western army, many of whom, of the +officers, belonged to the best families of the place. Yet the +signs of mourning were hardly anywhere perceptible; the noisy +gaiety of the town was not abated one jot." + +On the other hand, a private manuscript of a Cincinnati family +describes the "intense gloom hanging over the city like a pall" +during the period of that dreadful battle. The memories of old +people at Cincinnati in after days--if they had belonged to the +"loyal" party--contained only sad impressions of a city that was +one great hospital where "all our best people" worked +passionately as volunteer assistants of the government medical +corps. + +A third fact to be borne in mind in connection with this apparent +contradiction in evidence is the source of the greater fortunes +of Cincinnati, a large proportion of which are to be traced, +directly or indirectly to government contracts during the war. +In some cases the merciless indifference of the Cincinnati +speculators to the troubles of their country are a local scandal +to this day, and it is still told, sometimes with scorn, +sometimes with amusement, how perhaps the greatest of these +fortunes was made by forcing up the price of iron at a time when +the Government had to have iron, cost what it might. + +Thus we no sooner take up the moral problem of the times than we +find ourselves involved in the commercial question, for here, as +always, morals and business are intertwined. Was the commercial +management of the North creditable to the Government and an honor +to the people? The surest way to answer such questions is to +trace out with some fullness the commercial and industrial +conditions of the North during the four years of war. + +The general reader who looks for the first time into the matter +is likely to be staggered by what statistics seem to say. +Apparently they contradict what he is accustomed to hear from +popular economists about the waste of war. He has been told in +the newspapers that business is undermined by the withdrawal of +great numbers of men from "productive" consumption of the fruits +of labor and their engagement as soldiers in "unproductive" +consumption. But, to his astonishment, he finds that the +statistics of 1861-1865 show much increase in Northern business +--as, for example, in 1865, the production of 142 million pounds +of wool against 60 million in 1860. The government reports show +that 13 million tons of coal were mined in 1860 and 21 million in +1864; in 1860, the output of pig iron was 821,000 tons, and +1,014,282 tons in 1864; the petroleum production rose from 21 +million gallons in 1860 to 128 million in 1862; the export of +corn, measured in money, shows for 1860 a business of $2,399,808 +compared with $10,592,704 for 1863; wheat exporting showed, also, +an enormous increase, rising from 14 millions in 1860 to 46 +millions in 1863. There are, to be sure, many statistics which +seem to contradict these. Some of them will be mentioned +presently. And yet, on the whole, it seems safe to conclude that +the North, at the close of the third year of war was producing +more and was receiving larger profits than in 1860. + +To deal with this subject in its entirety would lead us into the +labyrinths of complex economic theory, yet two or three simple +facts appear so plain that even the mere historian may venture to +set them forth. When we look into the statistics which seem to +show a general increase of business during the war, we find that +in point of fact this increase was highly specialized. All those +industries that dealt with the physical necessities of life and +all those that dealt peculiarly with armies flourished amazingly. +And yet there is another side to the story, for there were other +industries that were set back and some that almost, if not +entirely, disappeared. A good instance is the manufacture of +cotton cloth. When the war opened, 200,000 hands were employed +in this manufacture in New England. With the sealing up of the +South and the failure of the cotton supply, their work +temporarily ceased. What became of the workmen? Briefly, one of +three things happened: some went into other trades, such as +munitions, in which the war had created an abnormal demand for +labor; a great number of them became soldiers; and many of them +went West and became farmers or miners. Furthermore, many whose +trades were not injured by the war left their jobs and fled +westward to escape conscription. Their places were left open to +be filled by operatives from the injured trades. In one or +another of these ways the laborer who was thrown out of work was +generally able to recover employment. But it is important to +remember that the key to the labor situation at that time was the +vast area of unoccupied land which could be had for nothing or +next to nothing. This fact is brought home by a comparison of +the situation of the American with that of the English workman +during the cotton famine. According to its own ideas England was +then fully cultivated. There was no body of land waiting to be +thrown open, as an emergency device, to a host of new-made +agriculturists. When the cotton-mills stopped at Manchester, +their operatives had practically no openings but in other +industrial occupations. As such opportunities were lacking, they +became objects of charity until they could resume their work. As +a country with a great reserve of unoccupied land, the United +States was singularly fortunate at this economic crisis. + +One of the noteworthy features of Northern life during the war is +that there was no abnormal increase in pauperism. A great deal +has been written upon the extensive charities of the time, but +the term is wrongly applied, for what is really referred to is +the volunteer aid given to the Government in supporting the +armies. This was done on a vast scale, by all classes of the +population--that is, by all who supported the Union party, for +the separation between the two parties was bitter and +unforgiving. But of charity in the ordinary sense of the care of +the destitute there was no significant increase because there was +no peculiar need. Here again the fact that the free land could +be easily reached is the final explanation. There was no need +for the unemployed workman to become a pauper. He could take +advantage of the Homestead Act*, which was passed in 1862, and +acquire a farm of 160 acres free; or he could secure at almost +nominal cost farm-land which had been given to railways as an +inducement to build. Under the Homestead Act, the Government gave +away land amounting to 2,400,000 acres before the close of the +war. The Illinois Central alone sold to actual settlers 221,000 +acres in 1863 and 264,000 in 1864. It was during the war, too, +that the great undertaking of the transcontinental railway was +begun, partly for military and partly for commercial reasons. In +this project, both as a field of labor and as a stimulus to +Western settlement, there is also to be found one more device for +the relief of the labor situation in the East. + +*This Act, which may be regarded as the culmination of the long +battle of the Northern dreamers to win "land for the landless," +provided that every settler who was, or intended to be, a citizen +might secure 180 acres of government land by living on it and +cultivating it for five years. + + +There is no more important phenomenon of the time than the +shifting of large masses of population from the East to the West, +while the war was in progress. This fact begins to indicate why +there was no shortage in the agricultural output. The North +suffered acutely from inflation of prices and from a speculative +wildness that accompanied the inflation, but it did not suffer +from a lack of those things that are produced by the soil--food, +timber, metals, and coal. In addition to the reason just +mentioned--the search for new occupation by Eastern labor which +had been thrown out of employment--three other causes helped to +maintain the efficiency of work in the mines, in the forests, and +on the farms. These three factors were immigration, the labor of +women, and labor-saving machines. + +Immigration, naturally, fell off to a certain degree but it did +not become altogether negligible. It is probable that 110,000 +able-bodied men came into the country while war was in +progress--a poor offset to the many hundred thousand who became +soldiers, but nevertheless a contribution that counted for +something. + +Vastly more important, in the work of the North, was the part +taken by women. A pathetic detail with which in our own +experience the world has again become familiar was the absence of +young men throughout most of the North, and the presence of women +new to the work in many occupations, especially farming. A +single quotation from a home missionary in Iowa tells the whole +story: + +"I will mention that I met more women driving teams on the road +and saw more at work in the fields than men. They seem to have +said to their husbands in the language of a favorite song, + +'Just take your gun and go; +For Ruth can drive the oxen, John, +And I can use the hoe!' + +"I went first to Clarinda, and the town seemed deserted. Upon +inquiry for former friends, the frequent answer was, "In the +army." From Hawleyville almost all the thoroughly loyal male +inhabitants had gone; and in one township beyond, where I +formerly preached, there are but seven men left, and at Quincy, +the county seat of Adams County, but five." + +Even more important than the change in the personnel of labor +were the new machines of the day. During the fifteen years +previous to the war American ingenuity had reached a high point. +Such inventions as the sewing machine and the horse-reaper date +in their practical forms from that period, and both of these +helped the North to fight the war. Their further improvement, +and the extension of the principles involved to many new forms of +machinery, sprang from the pressing need to make up for the loss +of men who were drained by the army from the farms and the +workshops. It was the horse-reaper, the horse-rake, the +horse-thresher that enabled women and boys to work the farms +while husbands, fathers, and elder brothers were at the front. + +All these causes maintained Northern farming at a high pitch of +productivity. This efficiency is implied in some of the figures +already quoted, but many others could be cited. For example, in +1859, the total production of wheat for the whole country was 173 +million bushels; in 1862, the North alone produced 177 millions; +even in 1864, with over a million men under arms, it still +produced 160 million bushels. + +It must be remembered that the great Northern army produced +nothing while it consumed the products of agriculture and +manufacture--food, clothing, arms, ammunition, cannon, wagons, +horses, medical stores--at a rate that might have led a poetical +person to imagine the army as a devouring dragon. Who, in the +last analysis, provided all these supplies? Who paid the +soldiers? Who supplemented their meager pay and supported their +families? The people, of course; and they did so both directly +and indirectly. In taxes and loans they paid to the Government +about three thousand millions of dollars. Their indirect +assistance was perhaps as great, though it is impossible today to +estimate with any approach to accuracy the amount either in money +or service. Among obvious items are the collections made by the +Sanitary Commission for the benefit of the hospital service, +amounting to twenty-five million dollars, and about six millions +raised by the Christian Commission. In a hundred other ways both +individuals and localities strained their resources to supplement +those of the Government. Immense subscription lists were +circulated to raise funds for the families of soldiers. The city +of Philadelphia alone spent in this way in a single year +$600,000. There is also evidence of a vast amount of unrecorded +relief of needy families by the neighbors, and in the farming +districts, such assistance, particularly in the form of fuel +during winter, was very generally given. + +What made possible this enormous total of contributions was, in a +word, the general willingness of those supporting the war to +forego luxuries. They ceased buying a great multitude of +unnecessary things. But what became of the labor that had +previously supplied the demand for luxuries? A part of it went +the way of all other Northern labor--into new trades, into the +army, or to the West--and a part continued to manufacture +luxuries: for their market, though curtailed, was not destroyed. +There were, indeed, two populations in the North, and they were +separated by an emotional chasm. Had all the North been a unit +in feeling, the production of articles of luxury might have +ceased. Because of this emotional division of the North, +however, this business survived; for the sacrifice of luxurious +expenditure was made by only a part of the population, even +though it was the majority. + +Furthermore, the whole matter was adjusted voluntarily without +systematic government direction, since there was nothing in the +financial policy of the Government to correspond to conscription. +Consequently, both in the way of loans and in the way of +contributions, as well as in the matter of unpaid service, the +entire burden fell upon the war party alone. In the absence of +anything like economic conscription, if such a phrase may be +used, those Northerners who did not wish to lend money, or to +make financial sacrifice, or to give unpaid service, were free to +pursue their own bent. The election of 1864 showed that they +formed a market which amounted to something between six and nine +millions. There is no reason to suppose that these millions in +1864 spent less on luxuries than they did in 1860. Two or three +items are enough. In 1860, the importation of silk amounted to +32 million dollars; in 1862, in spite of inflated prices, it had +shrunk to 7 millions; the consumption of malt liquors shrank from +101 million gallons in 1860 to 62 million gallons in 1863; of +coffee, hardly to be classed as a luxury, there were consumed in +1861, 184 million pounds and in 1863, 80 millions. + +The clue to the story of capital is to be found in this fact, too +often forgotten, that there was an economic-political division +cutting deep through every stratum of the Northern people. Their +economic life as well as their political life was controlled on +the one hand by a devotion to the cause of the war, and on the +other hand by a hatred of that cause or by cynical indifference. +And we cannot insist too positively that the Government failed +very largely to take this fact into account. The American spirit +of invention, so conspicuous at that time in mechanics, did not +apply itself to the science of government. Lincoln confessedly +was not a financier; his instinct was at home only in problems +that could be stated in terms of men. Witness his acceptance of +conscription and his firmness in carrying it through, as a result +of which he saved the patriotic party from bearing the whole +burden of military service. But there was no parallel +conservation of power in the field of industry. The financial +policy, left in the hands of Chase, may truly be described as +barren of ideas. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the +"loyal" North was left at the mercy of its domestic enemies and a +prey to parasites by Chase's policy of loans instead of taxes and +of voluntary support instead of enforced support. + +The consequence of this financial policy was an immense +opportunity for the "disloyally" and the parasites to make huge +war profits out of the "loyals" and the Government. Of course, +it must not be supposed that everyone who seized the chance to +feather his nest was so careless or so impolitic as to let +himself be classed as a "disloyal." An incident of the autumn of +1861 shows the temper of those professed "loyals" who were really +parasites. The background of the incident is supplied by a +report of the Quartermaster-General: + +"Governors daily complain that recruiting will stop unless +clothing is sent in abundance and immediately to the various +recruiting camps and regiments. With every exertion, this +department has not been able to obtain clothing to supply these +demands, and they have been so urgent that troops before the +enemy have been compelled to do picket duty in the late cold +nights without overcoats, or even coats, wearing only thin summer +flannel blouses.... Could 150,000 suits of clothing, overcoats, +coats, and pantaloons be placed today, in depot, it would scarce +supply the calls now before us. They would certainly leave no +surplus." + +The Government attempted to meet this difficulty in the shortest +possible time by purchasing clothing abroad. But such disregard +of home industry, the "patriotism" of the New England +manufacturers could not endure. Along with the report just +quoted, the Quartermaster-General forwarded to the Secretary of +War a long argumentative protest from a committee of the Boston +Board of Trade against the purchase of army clothing in Europe. +Any American of the present day can guess how the protest was +worded and what arguments were used. Stripped of its +insincerity, it signified this: the cotton mills were inoperative +for lack of material; their owners saw no chance to save their +dividends except by requipment as woolen mills; the existing +woolen mills also saw a great chance to force wool upon the +market as a substitute for cotton. In Ohio, California, +Pennsylvania, and Illinois, the growers of wool saw the +opportunity with equal clearness. But, one and all, these +various groups of parasites saw that their game hinged on one +condition: the munitions market must be kept open until they were +ready to monopolize government contracts. If soldiers contracted +pneumonia doing picket duty on cold nights, in their summer +blouses, that was but an unfortunate incident of war. + +Very different in spirit from the protest of the Boston +manufacturers is a dispatch from the American minister at +Brussels which shows what American public servants, in contrast +with American manufacturers, were about. Abroad the agents of +North and South were fighting a commercial duel in which each +strove to monopolize the munitions market. The United States +Navy, seeing things from an angle entirely different from that of +the Boston Board of Trade, ably seconded the ministers by +blockading the Southern ports and by thus preventing the movement +of specie and cotton to Europe. As a consequence, fourmonth +notes which had been given by Southern agents with their orders +fell due, had to be renewed, and began to be held in disfavor. +Agents of the North, getting wind of these hitches in +negotiations, eagerly sought to take over the unpaid Confederate +orders. All these details of the situation help to explain the +jubilant tone of this dispatch from Brussels late in November, +1861: + +"I have now in my hands complete control of the principal rebel +contracts on the continent, viz.: 206,000 yards of cloth ready +for delivery, already commencing to move forward to Havre; gray +but can be dyed blue in twenty days; 100,000 yards deliverable +from 15th of December to 26th of January, light blue army cloth, +same as ours; 100,000 blankets; 40,000 guns to be shipped in ten +days; 20,000 saber bayonets to be delivered in six weeks.... The +winter clothing for 100,000 men taken out of their hands, when +they cannot replace it, would almost compensate for Bull Run. +There is no considerable amount of cloth to be had in Europe; the +stocks are very short." + +The Secretary of War was as devoid of ideas as the Secretary of +the Treasury was and even less equipped with resisting power. +Though he could not undo the work already done by the agents of +the Government abroad, he gave way as rapidly as possible to the +allied parasites whose headquarters, at the moment, were in +Boston. The story grows uglier as we proceed. Two powerful +commercial combinations took charge of the policy of the woolen +interests--the National Woolgrowers' Association and the National +Association of Wool Manufacturers, which were soon in control of +this immense industry. Woolen mills sprang up so fast that a +report of the New York Chamber of Commerce pronounced their +increase "scarcely credible." So great was the new market +created by the Government demand, and so ruthless were the +parasites in forcing up prices, that dividends on mill stock rose +to 10, 15, 25, and even 40 per cent. And all the while the wool +growers and the wool manufacturers were clamoring to Congress for +protection of the home industry, exclusion of the wicked foreign +competition, and all in the name of their devoted +"patriotism"--patriotism with a dividend of 40 per cent! + +Of course, it is not meant that every wool grower and every +woolen manufacturer was either a "disloyal" or a parasite. By no +means. Numbers of them were to be found in that great host of +"loyals" who put their dividends into government bonds and gave +their services unpaid as auxiliaries of the Commissary Department +or the Hospital Service of the Army. What is meant is that the +abnormal conditions of industry, uncorrected by the Government, +afforded a glaring opportunity for unscrupulous men of business +who, whatever their professions, cared a hundred times more for +themselves than for their country. To these was due the pitiless +hampering of the army in the interest of the wool-trade. For +example, many uniforms paid for at outrageous prices, turned out +to be made of a miserable cheap fabric, called "shoddy," which +resisted weather scarcely better than paper. This fraud gave the +word "shoddy" its present significance in our American speech and +produced the phrase--applied to manufacturers newly become +rich--"shoddy aristocracy." An even more shameful result of the +selfishness of the manufacturers and of the weakness of the +Government was the use of cloth for uniforms not of the +regulation colors, with the result that soldiers sometimes fired +upon their comrades by mistake. + +The prosperity of the capitalists who financed the woolen +business did not extend to the labor employed in it. One of the +ugliest details of the time was the resolute attempt of the +parasites to seize the whole amount of the abnormal profits they +wrung from the Government and from the people. For it must not +be forgotten that the whole nation had to pay their prices. It +is estimated that prices in the main advanced about 100 per cent +while wages were not advanced more than sixty per cent. It is +not strange that these years of war form a period of bitter +antagonism between labor and capital. + +What went on in the woolen business is to be found more or less +in every business. Immense fortunes sprang up over night. They +had but two roots: government contracts and excessive profits due +to war prices. The gigantic fortunes which characterized the +North at the end of the war are thus accounted for. The +so-called prosperity of the time was a class prosperity and was +absorbed by parasites who fattened upon the necessities of the +Government and the sacrifices of the people. + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE MEXICAN EPISODE + +That French demagogue whom Victor Hugo aptly called Napoleon the +Little was a prime factor in the history of the Union and the +Confederacy. The Confederate side of his intrigue will be told +in its proper place. Here, let us observe him from the point of +view of Washington. + +It is too much to attempt to pack into a sentence or two the +complicated drama of deceit, lies, and graft, through which he +created at last a pretext for intervention in the affairs of +Mexico; it is enough that in the autumn of 1862 a French army of +invasion marched from Vera Cruz upon Mexico City. We have +already seen that about this same time Napoleon proposed to +England and Russia a joint intervention with France between North +and South--a proposal which, however, was rejected. This Mexican +venture explains why the plan was suggested at that particular +time. + +Disappointed in England and Russia, Napoleon unexpectedly +received encouragement, as he thought, from within the United +States through the medium of the eccentric editor of the "New +York Tribune". We shall have occasion to return later to the +adventures of Horace Greeley--that erratic individual who has +many good and generous acts to his credit, as well as many +foolish ones. For the present we have to note that toward the +close of 1862 he approached the French Ambassador at Washington +with a request for imperial mediation between the North and the +South. Greeley was a type of American that no European can +understand: he believed in talk, and more talk, and still more +talk, as the cure for earthly ills. He never could understand +that anybody besides himself could have strong convictions. When +he told the Ambassador that the Emperor's mediation would lead to +a reconciliation of the sections, he was doubtless sincere in +his belief. The astute European diplomat, who could not believe +such simplicity, thought it a mask. When he asked for, and +received, permission to pass the Federal lines and visit +Richmond, he interpreted the permit in the light of his +assumption about Greeley. At Richmond, he found no desire for +reunion. Putting this and that together, he concluded that the +North wanted to give up the fight and would welcome mediation to +save its face. The dreadful defeat at Fredericksburg fell in +with this reasoning. His reports on American conditions led +Napoleon, in January, 1863, to attempt alone what he had once +hoped to do supported by England and Russia. He proposed his good +offices to the Government at Washington as a mediator between +North and South. + +Hitherto, Washington had been very discreet about Mexico. Adroit +hints not to go too far had been given Napoleon in full measure, +but there was no real protest. The State Department now +continued this caution and in the most polite terms declined +Napoleon's offer. Congress, however, took the matter more +grimly, for throughout the dealings with Napoleon, it had been at +odds with Lincoln. It now passed the first of a series of +resolutions which expressed the will of the country, if not quite +the will of the President, by resolving that any further proposal +of mediation would be regarded by it as "an unfriendly act." + +Napoleon then resumed his scheming for joint intervention, while +in the meantime his armies continued to fight their way until +they entered Mexico City in June, 1863. The time had now come +when Napoleon thought it opportune to show his hand. Those were +the days when Lee appeared invincible, and when Chancellorsville +crowned a splendid series of triumphs. In England, the Southern +party made a fresh start; and societies were organized to aid the +Confederacy. At Liverpool, Laird Brothers were building, +ostensibly for France, really for the Confederacy, two ironclads +supposed to outclass every ship in the Northern navy. In France, +100,000 unemployed cotton hands were rioting for food. To raise +funds for the Confederacy the great Erlanger banking-house of +Paris negotiated a loan based on cotton which was to be delivered +after the breaking of the blockade. Napoleon dreamed of a +shattered American union, two enfeebled republics, and a broad +way for his own scheme in Mexico. + +In June an English politician of Southern sympathies, Edward +Roebuck, went over to France, was received by the Emperor, and +came to an understanding with him. Roebuck went home to report +to the Southern party that Napoleon was ready to intervene, and +that all he waited for was England's cooperation. A motion "to +enter into negotiations with the Great Powers of Europe for the +purpose of obtaining their cooperation in the recognition" of the +Confederacy was introduced by Roebuck in the House of Commons. + +The debate which followed was the last chance of the Southern +party and, as events proved, the last chance of Napoleon. How +completely the British ministry was now committed to the North +appears in the fact that Gladstone, for the Government, opposed +Roebuck's motion. John Bright attacked it in what Lord Morley +calls "perhaps the most powerful and the noblest speech of his +life." The Southern party was hardly resolute in their support +of Roebuck and presently he withdrew his motion. + +But there were still the ironclads at Liverpool. We have seen +that earlier in the war, the carelessness of the British +authorities had permitted the escape of ship 290, subsequently +known as the Confederate commercedestroyer, Alabama. The +authorities did not wish to allow a repetition of the incident. +But could it be shown that the Laird ships were not really for a +French purchaser? It was in the course of diplomatic +conversations that Mr. Adams, speaking of the possible sailing of +the ships, made a remark destined to become famous: "It would be +superfluous in me to point out to your lordship that this is +war." At jest, the authorities were satisfied. The ships were +seized and in the end bought for the British Navy. + +Again Napoleon stood alone. Not only had he failed to obtain aid +from abroad, but in France itself his Mexican schemes were widely +and bitterly condemned. Yet he had gone too far to recede, and +what he had been aiming at all along was now revealed. An +assembly of Mexican notables, convened by the general of the +invaders, voted to set up an imperial government and offered the +crown to Napoleon's nominee, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. + +And now the Government at Washington was faced with a complicated +problem. What about the Monroe Doctrine? Did the Union dare +risk war with France? Did it dare pass over without protest the +establishment of monarchy on American soil by foreign arms? +Between these horns of a dilemma, the Government maintained its +precarious position during another year. Seward's correspondence +with Paris was a masterpiece of evasion. He neither protested +against the intervention of Napoleon nor acknowledged the +authority of Maximilian. Apparently, both he and Lincoln were +divided between fear of a French alliance with the Confederacy +and fear of premature action in the North that would render +Napoleon desperate. Just how far they comprehended Napoleon and +his problems is an open question. + +Whether really comprehending or merely trusting to its instinct, +Congress took a bolder course. Two men prove the antagonists of +a parliamentary duel--Charles Sumner, chairman of the Senate +Committee on Foreign Relations, and Henry Winter Davis, chairman +of the corresponding committee of the House. Sumner played the +hand of the Administration. Fiery resolutions demanding the +evacuation of Mexico or an American declaration of war were +skillfully buried in the silence of Sumner's committee. But +there was nevertheless one resolution that affected history: it +was a ringing condemnation of the attempt to establish a monarchy +in Mexico. In the House, a joint resolution which Davis +submitted was passed without one dissenting vote. When it came +to the Senate, Sumner buried it as he had buried earlier +resolutions. None the less it went out to the world attended by +the news of the unanimous vote in the House. + +Shortly afterwards, the American Ambassador at Paris called upon +the imperial Foreign Secretary, M. Drouyn de L'huys. News of +this resolution had preceded him. He was met by the curt +question, "Do you bring peace or war?" Again, the Washington +Government was skillfully evasive. The Ambassador was instructed +to explain that the resolution had not been inspired by the +President and "the French Government would be seasonably apprized +of any change of policy...which the President might at any future +time think it proper to adopt." + +There seems little doubt that Lincoln's course was very widely +condemned as timid. When we come to the political campaign of +1864, we shall meet Henry Winter Davis among his most relentless +personal enemies. Dissatisfaction with Lincoln's Mexican policy +has not been sufficiently considered in accounting for the +opposition to him, inside the war party, in 1864. To it may be +traced an article in the platform of the war party, adopted in +June, 1864, protesting against the establishment of monarchy "in +near proximity to the United States." In the same month +Maximilian entered Mexico City. + +The subsequent moves of Napoleon are explained elsewhere.* The +central fact in the story is his virtual change of attitude, in +the summer of 1864. The Confederate agent at Paris complained of +a growing coolness. Before the end of the summer, the Confederate +Secretary of State was bitter in his denunciation of Napoleon for +having deserted the South. Napoleon's puppet Maximilian refused +to receive an envoy from the Confederacy. Though Washington did +not formally protest against the presence of Maximilian in +Mexico, it declined to recognize his Government, and that +Government continued unrecognized at Washington throughout the +war. + +*Nathaniel W. Stephenson, "The Day of the Confederacy". (In "The +Chronicles of America"). + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE PLEBISCITE OF 1864 + +Every great revolution among Anglo-Saxon people--perhaps among +all people--has produced strange types of dreamers. In America, +however, neither section could claim a monopoly of such types, +and even the latter-day visionaries who can see everything in +heaven and earth, excepting fact, had their Northern and Southern +originals in the time of the great American war. Among these is +a strange congregation which assembled in the spring of 1864 and +which has come to be known, from its place of meeting, as the +Cleveland Convention. Its coming together was the result of a +loose cooperation among several minor political groups, all of +which were for the Union and the war, and violently opposed to +Lincoln. So far as they had a common purpose, it was to supplant +Lincoln by Fremont in the next election. + +The Convention was notable for the large proportion of agnostics +among its members. A motion was made to amend a resolution that +"the Rebellion must be put down" by adding the words "with God's +assistance." This touch of piety was stormily rejected. Another +group represented at Cleveland was made up of extreme +abolitionists under the leadership of that brilliant but +disordered genius, Wendell Phillips. He sent a letter denouncing +Lincoln and pledging his support of Fremont because of the +latter's "clearsighted statesmanship and rare military ability." +The convention declared itself a political party, under the style +of the Radical Democracy, and nominated Fremont for President. + +There was another body of dreamers, still more singular, who were +also bitter opponents of Lincoln. They were, however, not in +favor of war. Their political machinery consisted of secret +societies. As early as 1860, the Knights of the Golden Circle +were active in Indiana, where they did yeoman service for +Breckinridge. Later this society acquired some underground +influence in other States, especially in Ohio, and did its share +in bringing about the victories at the polls in the autumn of +1862, when the Democrats captured the Indiana legislature. + +The most serious charge against the Golden Circle was complicity +in an attempt to assassinate Oliver P. Morton, Governor of +Indiana, who was fired at, one night, as he was leaving the state +house. When Morton demanded an investigation of the Golden +Circle, the legislature refused to sanction it. On his own +authority and with Federal aid he made investigations and +published a report which, if it did not actually prove treason, +came dangerously near to proof. Thereafter, this society drops +out of sight, and its members appear to have formed the new Order +of the American Knights, which in its turn was eclipsed by the +Sons of Liberty. There were several other such societies all +organized on a military plan and with a great pretense of arming +their members. This, however, had to be done surreptitiously. +Boxes of rifles purchased in the East were shipped West labeled +"Sunday-school books," and negotiations were even undertaken with +the Confederacy to bring in arms by way of Canada. At a meeting +of the supreme council of the Sons of Liberty, in New York, +February 22, 1864, it was claimed that the order had nearly a +million members, though the Government secret service considered +half a million a more exact estimate. + +As events subsequently proved, the societies were not as +formidable as these figures would imply. Most of the men who +joined them seem to have been fanciful creatures who loved +secrecy for its own sake. While real men, North and South, were +laying down their lives for their principles, these make-believe +men were holding bombastic initiations and taking oaths such as +this from the ritual of the American Knights: "I do further +solemnly promise and swear, that I will ever cherish the sublime +lessons which the sacred emblems of our order suggest, and will, +so far as in me lies, impart those lessons to the people of the +earth, where the mystic acorn falls from its parent bough, in +whose visible firmament Orion, Arcturus, and the Pleiades ride in +their cold resplendent glories, and where the Southern Cross +dazzles the eye of degraded humanity with its coruscations of +golden light, fit emblem of Truth, while it invites our sacred +order to consecrate her temples in the four corners of the earth, +where moral darkness reigns and despotism holds sway.... Divine +essence, so help me that I fail not in my troth, lest I shall be +summoned before the tribunal of the order, adjudged and condemned +to certain and shameful death, while my name shall be recorded on +the rolls of infamy. Amen." + +The secret orders fought hard to prevent the Lincoln victory in +the elections of 1863. Even before that time their leaders had +talked mysteriously of another disruption of the Union and the +formation of a Northwestern Confederacy in alliance with the +South. The scheme was known to the Confederates, allusions to it +are to be found in Southern newspapers, and even the Confederate +military authorities considered it. Early in 1863, General +Beauregard thought the Confederates might "get into Ohio and call +upon the friends of Vallandigham to rise for his defense and +support; then...call upon the whole Northwest to join in the +movement, form a confederacy of their own, and join us by a +treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive." Reliance on the +support of the societies was the will-o'-the-wisp that deceived +General John Morgan in his desperate attempt to carry out +Beauregard's programme. Though brushed aside as a mere detail by +military historians, Morgan's raid, with his force of irregular +cavalry, in July, 1863, through Indiana and Ohio, was one of the +most romantic episodes of the war. But it ended in his defeat +and capture. While his gallant troopers rode to their +destruction, the men who loved to swear by Arcturus and to gabble +about the Pleiades showed the fiber to be expected of such +people, and stayed snug in their beds. + +But neither their own lack of hardihood nor the disasters of +their Southern friends could dampen their peculiar ardor. Their +hero was Vallandigham. That redoubtable person had fixed his +headquarters in Canada, whence he directed his partisans in their +vain attempt to elect him Governor of Ohio. Their next move was +to honor him with the office of Supreme Commander of the Sons of +Liberty, and now Vallandigham resolved to win the martyr's crown +in very fact. In June, 1864, he prepared for the dramatic effect +by carefully advertising his intention and came home. But to his +great disappointment Lincoln ignored him, and the dramatic +martyrdom which he had planned did not come off. + +There still existed the possibility of a great uprising, and to +that end arrangements were made with Southern agents in Canada. +Confederate soldiers, picked men, made their way in disguise to +Chicago. There the worshipers of Arcturus were to join them in a +mighty multitude; the Confederate prisoners at Camp Douglas in +Chicago were to be liberated; around that core of veterans, the +hosts of the Pleiades were to rally. All this was to coincide +with the assembling at Chicago of the Democratic national +convention, in which Vallandigham was to appear. The organizers +of the conspiracy dreamed that the two events might coalesce; +that the convention might be stampeded by their uprising; that a +great part, if not the whole, of the convention would endorse the +establishment of a Northwestern Confederacy. + +Alas for him who builds on the frame of mind that delights in +cheap rhetoric while Rome is afire! At the moment of hazard, the +Sons of Liberty showed the white feather, were full of specious +words, would not act. The Confederate soldiers, indignant at +this second betrayal, had to make their escape from the country. + +It must not be supposed that this Democratic national convention +was made up altogether of Secessionists. The peace party was +still, as in the previous year, a strange complex, a mixture of +all sorts and conditions. Its cohesion was not so much due to +its love of peace as to its dislike of Lincoln and its hatred of +his party. Vallandigham was a member of the committee on +resolutions. The permanent chairman was Governor Seymour of New +York. The Convention was called to order by August Belmont, a +foreigner by birth, the American representative of the +Rothschilds. He was the head and front of that body of Northern +capital which had so long financed the South and which had always +opposed the war. In opening the Convention he said: "Four years +of misrule by a sectional, fanatical, and corrupt party have +brought our country to the verge of ruin." In the platform +Lincoln was accused of a list of crimes which it had become the +habit of the peace party to charge against him. His +administration was described as "four years of failure," and +McClellan was nominated for President. + +The Republican managers called a convention at Baltimore in June, +1864, with a view to organizing a composite Union Party in which +the War Democrats were to participate. Their plan was +successful. The second place on the Union ticket was accepted by +a War Democrat, Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. Lincoln was +renominated, though not without opposition, and he was so keenly +aware that he was not the unanimous choice of the Union Party +that he permitted the fact to appear in a public utterance soon +afterward. "I do not allow myself," he said, in addressing a +delegation of the National Union League, "to suppose that either +the Convention or the League have concluded to decide that I am +either the greatest or the best man in America, but rather they +have concluded it is not best to swap horses while crossing the +river, and have further concluded that I am not so poor a horse +that they might not make a botch of it in trying to swap." + +But the Union Party was so far from being a unit that during the +summer factional quarrels developed within its ranks. All the +elements that were unfriendly to Lincoln took heart from a +dispute betweenthe President and Congress with regard to +reconstruction in Louisiana, over a large part of which Federal +troops had established a civil government on the President's +authority. As an incident in the history of reconstruction, this +whole matter has its place in another volume.* But it also has a +place in the history of the presidential campaign of 1864. +Lincoln's plan of reconstruction was obnoxious to the Radicals in +Congress inasmuch as it did not definitely abolish slavery in +Louisiana, although it required the new Government to give its +adherence to the Emancipation Proclamation. Congress passed a +bill taking reconstruction out of the President's hands and +definitely requiring the reconstructed States to abolish slavery. +Lincoln took the position that Congress had no power over slavery +in the States. When his Proclamation was thrown in his teeth, he +replied, "I conceive that I may in an emergency do things on +military grounds which cannot be done constitutionally by +Congress." Incidentally there was a further disagreement between +the President and the Radicals over negro suffrage. Though +neither scheme provided for it, Lincoln would extend it, if at +all, only to the exceptional negroes, while the Radicals were +ready for a sweeping extension. But Lincoln refused to sign +their bill and it lapsed. Thereupon Benjamin Wade of Ohio and +Henry Winter Davis of Maryland issued a savage denunciation of +Lincoln which has been known ever since as the "Wade-Davis +Manifesto". + +* Walter L. Fleming, "The Sequel of Appomattox". In "The +Chronicles of America". + + +There was a faction in the Union Party which we may justly name +the Vindictives. The "Manifesto" gave them a rallying cry. At a +conference in New York they decided to compel the retirement of +Lincoln and the nomination of some other candidate. For this +purpose a new convention was to be called at Cincinnati in +September. In the ranks of the Vindictives at this time was the +impetuous editor of the "New York Tribune", Horace Greeley. His +presence there calls for some explanation. Perhaps the most +singular figure of the time, he was one of the most irresponsible +and yet, through his paper, one of the most influential. He had +a trick of phrase which, somehow, made him appear oracular to the +plain people, especially in the rural districts--the very people +on whom Lincoln relied for a large part of his support. Greeley +knew his power, and his mind was not large enough to carry the +knowledge well. Furthermore, his was the sort of nature that +relates itself to life above all through the sensibilities. +Kipling speaks scornfully of people who if their "own front door +is shut will swear the world is warm." They are relations in the +full blood of Horace Greeley. + +In July, when the breach between the President and the +Vindictives was just beginning to be evident, Greeley was +pursuing an adventure of his own. Among the least sensible minor +incidents of the war were a number of fantastic attempts of +private persons to negotiate peace. With one exception they had +no historic importance. The exception is a negotiation carried +on by Greeley, which seems to have been the ultimate cause of his +alliance with the Vindictives. + +In the middle of July, 1864, gold was selling in New York at 285. +There was distress and discontent throughout the country. The +horrible slaughter of the Wilderness, still fresh in everybody's +mind, had put the whole Union Party into mourning. The +impressionable Greeley became frantic for peace peace at any +price. At the psychological moment word was conveyed to him that +two persons in Canada held authority from the Confederacy to +enter into negotiations for peace. Greeley wrote to Lincoln +demanding negotiations because "our bleeding, bankrupt, almost +dying country longs for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh +conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of new +rivers of human blood." + +Lincoln consented to a negotiation but stipulated that Greeley +himself should become responsible for its conduct. Though this +was not what Greeley wanted for his type always prefers to tell +others what to do--he sullenly accepted. He proceeded to Niagara +to meet the reputed commissioners of the Confederacy. The +details of the futile conference do not concern us. The +Confederate agents were not empowered to treat for peace--at +least not on any terms that would be considered at Washington. +Their real purpose was far subtler. Appreciating the delicate +balance in Northern politics, they aimed at making it appear that +Lincoln was begging for terms. Lincoln, who foresaw this +possible turn of events, had expressly limited Greeley to +negotiations for "the integrity of the whole Union and the +abandonment of slavery." Greeley chose to believe that these +instructions, and not the subtlety of the Confederate agents and +his own impulsiveness, were the cause of the false position in +which the agents now placed him. They published an account of +the episode, thus effecting an exposure which led to sharp +attacks upon Greeley by the Northern press. In the bitterness of +his mortification Greeley then went from one extreme to the other +and joined the Vindictives. + +Less than three weeks after the conference at Niagara, the +"Wade-Davis Manifesto" appeared. It was communicated to the +country through the columns of Greeley's paper on the 5th of +August. Greeley, who so short a time before was for peace at any +price, went the whole length of reaction by proclaiming that "Mr. +Lincoln is already beaten.... We must have another ticket to +save us from utter overthrow. If we had such a ticket as could +be made by naming Grant, Butler, or Sherman for President and +Farragut for Vice, we could make a fight yet." + +At about this same time the chairman of the Republican national +committee, who was a Lincoln man, wrote to the President that the +situation was desperate. Lincoln himself is known to have made a +private memorandum containing the words, "It seems extremely +probable that this Administration will not be reelected." On the +1st of September, 1864, with three presidential candidates in the +field, Northern politics were bewildering, and the country was +shrouded in the deepest gloom. The Wilderness campaign, after +slaughter unparalleled, had not in the popular mind achieved +results. Sherman, in Georgia, though his losses were not as +terrible as Grant's, had not yet done anything to lighten the +gloom. Not even Farragut's victory in Mobile Bay, in August, +far-reaching as it proved to be, reassured the North. A bitter +cry for peace went up even from lovers of the Union whose hearts +had failed. + +Meanwhile, the brilliant strategist in Georgia was pressing his +drive for political as well as for military effect. To rouse +those Unionists who had lost heart was part of his purpose when +he hurled his columns against Atlanta, from which Hood was driven +in one of the most disastrous of Confederate defeats. On the 3rd +of September Lincoln issued a proclamation appointing a day of +thanksgiving for these great victories of Sherman and Farragut. + +On that day, it would seem, the tide turned in Northern politics. +Some historians are content with Atlanta as the explanation of +all that followed; but there are three separate events of +importance that now occurred as incidents in the complicated +situation. In the first place, three weeks later the radical +opposition had collapsed; the plan for a new convention was +abandoned; the Vindictive leaders came out in support of Lincoln. +Almost simultaneously occurred the remaining two surprising +events. Fremont withdrew from his candidacy in order to do his +"part toward preventing the election of the Democratic +candidate." And Lincoln asked for the resignation of a member of +his Cabinet, Postmaster-General Montgomery Blair, who was the +especial enemy of the Vindictives. + +The official biographers of Lincoln* keep these three events +separate. They hold that Blair's removal was wholly Lincoln's +idea, and that from chivalrous reasons he would not abandon his +friend as long as he seemed to be losing the game. The historian +Rhodes writes confidently of a bargain with Fremont, holding that +Blair was removed to terminate a quarrel with Fremont which dated +back even to his own removal in 1861. A possible third theory +turns upon Chase, whose hostility to Blair was quite equal to +that of the illbalanced Fremont. It had been stimulated the +previous winter by a fierce arraignment of Chase made by Blair's +brother in Congress, in which Chase was bluntly accused of fraud +and of making money, or allowing his friends to make money, +through illicit trade in cotton. And Chase was a man of might +among the Vindictives. The intrigue, however, never comes to the +foreground in history, but lurks in the background thick with +shadows. Once or twice among those shadows we seem to catch a +glimpse of the figure of Thurlow Weed, the master-politician of +the time. Taking one thing with another, we may risk the guess +that somehow the two radical groups which were both relentless +against Blair were led to pool their issues, and that Blair's +removal was the price Lincoln paid not to one faction of radicals +but to the whole unmerciful crowd. + +*His private secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay. + + +Whatever complex of purposes lay back of the triple coincidence, +the latter part of September saw a general reunion of the +factions within the Union Party, followed by a swift recovery of +strength. When the election came, Lincoln received an electoral +vote of 212 against 21, and a popular vote of 2,330,552 against +1,835,985. + +The inevitable question arises as to what was the real cause of +this success. It is safe to say that the political campaign +contained some adroit strategy; that Sherman was without doubt an +enormous factor; that the Democrats made numerous blunders; and +that the secret societies had an effect other than they intended. +However, the real clue seems to be found in one sentence from a +letter written by Lowell to Motley when the outlook for his party +was darkest: "The mercantile classes are longing for peace, but I +believe that the people are more firm than ever." Of the great, +silent mass of the people, the true temper seems to be struck off +in a popular poem of the time, written in response to one of the +calls for more troops, a poem with refrains built on the model of +this couplet: + +"We're coming from the hillside, we're coming from the shore, +We're coming, Father Abraham, six hundred thousand more." + + + +CHAPTER XIV. LINCOLN'S FINAL INTENTIONS + +The victory of the Union Party in November enabled Lincoln to +enjoy for a brief period of his career as President what may be +thought of as a lull in the storm. He knew now that he had at +last built up a firm and powerful support. With this assured, +his policy, both domestic and foreign--the key to which was still +the blockade--might be considered victorious at all points. +There remains to be noticed, however, one event of the year 1864 +which was of vital importance in maintaining the blockade. + +It is a principle of international law that a belligerent must +itself attend to the great task of suppressing contraband trade +with its enemy. Lincoln was careful to observe this principle. +Though British merchants were frankly speculating in contraband +trade, he made no demand upon the British Government to relieve +him of the difficulty of stopping it. England also took the +legitimate position under international law and warned her +merchants that, while it was none of the Government's business to +prevent such trade, they practised it at their own risk, subject +to well-understood penalties agreed upon among nations. The +merchants nevertheless continued to take the risk, while both +they and the authorities of the Confederacy thought they saw a +way of minimizing the danger. Instead of shipping supplies +direct to the Confederate ports they shipped them to Matamoros, +in Mexico, or to the West Indies. As these ports were in neutral +territory, the merchants thought their goods would be safe +against capture until they left the Mexican or West Indian port +on their brief concluding passage to the territory of the +Confederacy. Nassau, then a petty West India town, was the chief +depot of such trade and soon became a great commercial center. +To it came vast quantities of European goods which were then +transferred to swift, small vessels, or "blockade-runners," which +took a gambler's chance and often succeeded in eluding the +Federal patrol ships and in rushing their cargoes safe into a +Confederate port. + +Obviously, it was a great disadvantage to the United States to +allow contraband supplies to be accumulated, without +interference, close to the blockaded coast, and the Lincoln +Government determined to remove this disadvantage. With this end +in view it evoked the principle of the continuous voyage, which +indeed was not new, but which was destined to become fixed in +international law by the Supreme Court of the United States. +American cruisers were instructed to stop British ships sailing +between the British ports of Liverpool and Nassau; they were to +use the recognized international rights of visit and search; and +if there was evidence that the cargo was not destined for actual +consumption at Nassau, they were to bring the ship into an +American port to be dealt with by an American prize court. When +such arrests began, the owners clamored to the British +Government, and both dealers in contraband and professional +blockade-runners worked themselves into a fury because American +cruisers watched British ports and searched British ships on the +high seas. With regard to this matter, the British Government +and the Government at Washington had their last important +correspondence during the war. The United States stood firm for +the idea that when goods were ultimately intended for the +Confederacy, no matter how roundabout the journey, they could be +considered as making a single continuous voyage and were liable +to capture from the day they left Liverpool. Early in 1865, the +Supreme Court of the United States fully developed the principle +of continuous voyage in four celebrated cases that are now among +the landmarks of international law.* + +* The Great war has once again led to controversy over this +subject, so vital to neutral states. + + +This was the last step in making the blockade effective. +Thereafter, it slowly strangled the South. The Federal armies +enormously overmatched the Southern, and from November, 1864, +their continuance in the field was made sure. Grim work still +lay before Lincoln, but the day of anxiety was past. In this +moment of comparative ease, the aged Chief Justice Taney died, +and Lincoln appointed to that high position his ungenerous rival, +Chase. + +Even now Lincoln had not established himself as a leader superior +to party, but he had the satisfaction, early in 1865, of seeing +the ranks of the opposition begin to break. Naturally, the +Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery +throughout the United States, appeared to Lincoln as in a way the +consummation of his labors. When the House voted on the +resolution to send this amendment to the States, several +Democrats joined the government forces. Two nights afterward, +speaking to a serenading party at the White House, Lincoln made a +brief speech, part of which is thus reported by his secretaries: +"He thought this measure was a very fitting if not an +indispensable adjunct to the winding up of the great difficulty. +He wished the reunion of all the States perfected, and so +effected as to remove all causes of disturbance in the future; +and to attain this end, it was necessary that the original +disturbing cause should, if possible, be rooted out." + +An event which in its full detail belongs to Confederate rather +than to Union history took place soon after this. At Hampton +Roads, Lincoln and Seward met Confederate commissioners who had +asked for a parley--with regard to peace. Nothing came of the +meeting, but the conference gave rise to a legend, false in fact +and yet true in spirit, according to which Lincoln wrote on a +sheet of paper the word "Union," pushed it across to Alexander H. +Stephens and said, "Write under that anything you please." + +This fiction expresses Lincoln's attitude toward the sinking +Confederacy. On his return from Hampton Roads he submitted to +his Cabinet a draft of a message which he proposed to send to +Congress. He recommended the appropriation of $400,000,000 to be +distributed among the slave states on condition that war cease +before April 1, 1865. Not a member of the Cabinet approved. His +secretary, Mr. Nicolay, writes: "The President, in evident +surprise and sorrow at the want of statesmanlike liberality shown +by his executive council, folded and laid away the draft of his +message...." With a deep sigh he added, "But you are all opposed +to me, and I will not send the message." + +His second inauguration passed without striking incidents. +Chase, as Chief Justice, administered the oath. The second +inaugural address contained words which are now famous: "With +malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the +right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to +finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to +care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, +and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just +and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." + +That gigantic system of fleets and armies, the creation of which +was due to Lincoln, was closing tight around the dying +Confederacy. Five weeks after the inauguration Lee surrendered, +and the war was virtually at an end. What was to come after was +inevitably the overshadowing topic of the hour. Many anecdotes +represent Lincoln, in these last few days of his life, as +possessed by a high though melancholy mood of extreme mercy. +Therefore, much has been inferred from the following words, in +his last public address, made on the night of the 11th of April: +"In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty +to make some new announcement to the people of the South. I am +considering and shall not fail to act when action shall be +proper." + +What was to be done for the South, what treatment should be +accorded the Southern leaders, engrossed the President and his +Cabinet at the meeting on the 14th of April, which was destined +to be their last. Secretary Welles has preserved the spirit of +the meeting in a striking anecdote. Lincoln said that no one +need expect he would "take any part in hanging or killing those +men, even the worst of them. Frighten them out of the country, +open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off;" said he, +throwing up his hands as if scaring sheep. "Enough lives have +been sacrificed; we must extinguish our resentments if we expect +harmony and union." + +While Lincoln was thus arming himself with a valiant mercy, a +band of conspirators at an obscure boardinghouse in Washington +were planning his assassination. Their leader was John Wilkes +Booth, an actor, brother of the much abler Edwin Booth. There +seems little doubt that he was insane. Around him gathered a +small group of visionary extremists in whom much brooding upon +Southern wrongs had produced an unbalanced condition. Only a +morbid interest can attach today to the strange cunning with +which Booth laid his plans, thinking of himself all the while as +a reincarnation of the Roman Brutus. + +On the night of the 14th of April, the President attended a +performance of "Our American Cousin". While the play was in +progress, Booth stole into the President's box, came close behind +him, and shot him through the head. Lincoln never spoke again +and, shortly after seven next morning, ceased breathing. + +At the same time, a futile attempt was made upon the life of +Seward. Booth temporarily escaped. Later he was overtaken and +shot. His accomplices were hanged. + + +The passage of sixty years has proved fully necessary to the +placing of Lincoln in historic perspective. No President, in his +own time, with the possible exception of Washington, was so +bitterly hated and so fiercely reviled. On the other hand, none +has been the object of such intemperate hero-worship. However, +the greatest of the land were, in the main, quick to see him in +perspective and to recognize his historic significance. It is +recorded of Davis that in after days he paid a beautiful tribute +to Lincoln and said, "Next to the destruction of the Confederacy, +the death of Abraham Lincoln was the darkest day the South has +known." + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +There are two general histories, of conspicuous ability, that +deal with this period: + +J. F. Rhodes, "History of the United States from the Compromise +of 1850", 7 vols. (1893-1906), and J. B. McMaster, "History of +the People of the United States", 7 vols. (1883-1912). McMaster +has the more "modern" point of view and is excellent but dry, +without any sense of narrative. Rhodes has a somewhat older +point of view. For example, he makes only a casual reference, in +a quotation, to the munitions problem of 1861, though analyzing +with great force and candor such constitutional issues as the +arrests under the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. The +other strong points in his work are its sense of narrative, its +freedom from hero-worship, its independence of conventional views +of Northern leaders. As to the South, it suffers from a certain +Narrowness of vision due to the comparative scantiness of the +material used. The same may be said of McMaster. + +For Lincoln, there is no adequate brief biography. Perhaps the +best is the most recent, "Abraham Lincoln", by Lord Charnwood +("Makers of the Nineteenth Century", 1917). It has a kind of +cool detachment that hardly any biographer had shown previously, +and yet this coolness is joined with extreme admiration. Short +biographies worth considering are John T. Morse, Jr., Abraham +Lincoln" ("American Statesmen" Series, 2 vols., 1893), and Ida M. +Tarbell, "Life of Abraham Lincoln", 2 vols. (1900). The official +biography is in ten volumes, "Abraham Lincoln, a History", by his +secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay (1890). It is a +priceless document and as such is little likely to be forgotten. +But its events are so numerous that they swamp the figure of +Lincoln and yet are not numerous enough to constitute a +definitive history of the times. It is wholly eulogistic. The +same authors edited "The Writings of Abraham Lincoln" +(Biographical Edition, 2 vols., 1894), which has since been +expanded (1905) and now fills twelve volumes. It is the +definitive presentation of Lincoln's mind. A book much sought +after by his enemies is William Henry Herndon and Jesse William +Weik, "The History and Personal Recollections of Abraham +Lincoln", 8 vols. (1889; unexpurgated edition). It contains +about all we know of his early life and paints a picture of +sordid ugliness. Its reliability has been disputed. No study of +Lincoln is complete unless one has marched through the "Diary" of +Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 3 vols. (1911), which is +our most important document showing Lincoln in his Cabinet. +Important sidelights on his character and development are shown +in Ward Hill Lamon, "Recollections of Lincoln" (1911); David +Homer Bates, "Lincoln in the Telegraph Office" (1907); and +Frederick Trevor Hill, "Lincoln as a Lawyer" (1906). A +bibliography of Lincoln is in the twelfth volume of the latest +edition of the "Writings". + +The lesser statesmen of the time, both Northern and Southern, +still, as a rule, await proper treatment by detached biographers. +Two Northerners have had such treatment, in Allen Johnson's +"Stephen A. Douglas" (1908), and Frederic Bancroft's "Life of +William H. Seward", 2 vols. (1900). Good, but without the +requisite detachment, is Moorfield Storey's "Charles Sumner", +("American Statesmen Series", 1900). With similar excellences +but with the same defect, though still the best in its field, is +Albert Bushnell Hart's "Salmon P. Chase" ("American Statesmen +Series", 1899). Among the Southern statesmen involved in the +events of this volume, only the President of the Confederacy has +received adequate reconsideration in recent years, in William E. +Dodd's "Jefferson Davis" (1907). The latest life of "Robert +Toombs", by Ulrich B. Phillips (1914), is not definitive, but the +best extant. The great need for adequate lives of Stephens and +Yancey is not at all met by the obsolete works--R. M. Johnston +and W. M. Browne, "Life of Alexander H. Stephens" (1878), and J. +W. Du Bose, "The Life and Times of William Lowndes Yancey" +(1892). There is a brief biography of Stephens by Louis +Pendleton, in the "American Crisis Biographies". Most of the +remaining biographies of the period, whether Northern or +Southern, are either too superficial or too partisan to be +recommended for general use. Almost alone in their way are the +delightful "Confederate Portraits", by Gamaliel Bradford (1914), +and the same author's "Union Portraits "(1916). + +Upon conditions in the North during the war there is a vast +amount of material; but little is accessible to the general +reader. A book of great value is Emerson Fite's Social and +Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War (1910). +Out of unnumbered books of reminiscence, one stands forth for the +sincerity of its disinterested, if sharp, observation--W. H. +Russell's "My Diary North and South" (1868). Two newspapers are +invaluable: The "New York Tribune" for a version of events as +seen by the war party, "The New York Herald "for the opposite +point of view; the Chicago papers are also important, chiefly the +"Times" and "Tribune"; the "Republican "of Springfield, Mass., +had begun its distinguished career, while the "Journal" and +"Advertiser" of Boston revealed Eastern New England. For the +Southern point of view, no papers are more important than the +Richmond "Examiner", the Charleston "Mercury", and the New +Orleans "Picayune". Financial and economic problems are well +summed up in D. R. Dewey's "Financial History of the United +States" (3d edition, 1907), and in E. P. Oberholzer's "Jay +Cooks", 2 vols. (1907). Foreign affairs are summarized +adequately in C. F. Adams's "Charles Francis Adams" ("American +Statesmen Series", 1900), John Bigelow's "France and the +Confederate Navy" (1888), A. P. Martin's "Maximilian in Mexico" +(1914), and John Bassett Moore's "Digest of International Law", 8 +vols. (1906). + +The documents of the period ranging from newspapers to +presidential messages are not likely to be considered by the +general reader, but if given a fair chance will prove +fascinating. Besides the biographical edition of Lincoln's +Writings, should be named, first of all, "The Congressional +Globe" for debates in Congress; the "Statutes at Large"; the +"Executive Documents", published by the Government and containing +a great number of reports; and the enormous collection issued by +the War Department under the title "Official Records of the Union +and Confederate Armies", 128 vols. (1880-1901), especially the +groups of volumes known as second and third series. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Abraham Lincoln and the Union, by Stephenson + diff --git a/old/alatu10.zip b/old/alatu10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ef27eb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/alatu10.zip |