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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. 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