[Illustration: WILLIAM H. SEWARD.]
Candidates for the Republican nomination 1860.
Lincoln nominated. The platform.
369. The Republican Nomination, 1860.--Four names were especially mentioned in connection with the Republican nomination for President. These were Seward, Chase, Cameron, and Lincoln. Seward was the best known of them all. In the debates on the Compromise of 1850 he had declared that there was "a higher law" than the Constitution, namely, "the law of nature in men's hearts." In another speech he had termed the slavery contest "the irrepressible conflict." These phrases endeared him to the antislavery men. But they made it impossible for many moderate Republicans to follow him. Senator Chase of Ohio had also been very outspoken in his condemnation of slavery. Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania was an able political leader. But all of these men were "too conspicuous to make a good candidate." They had made many enemies. Lincoln had spoken freely. But he had never been prominent in national politics. He was more likely to attract the votes of moderate men than either of the other candidates. After a fierce contest he was nominated. The Republican platform stated that there was no intention to interfere with slavery in the states where it existed; but it declared the party's opposition to the extension of slavery. The platform favored internal improvements at the national expense. It also approved the protective system.
The Charleston convention, 1860. McMaster,
360-361.
The Douglas Democrats.
The Breckinridge Democrats.
370. The Democratic Nominations.--The Democratic convention met at Charleston, South Carolina. It was soon evident that the Northern Democrats and the Southern Democrats could not agree. The Northerners were willing to accept the Dred Scott decision and to carry it out. But the Southerners demanded that the platform should pledge the party actively to protect slavery in the territories. To this the Northerners would not agree. So the convention broke up to meet again at Baltimore. But there the delegates could come to no agreement. In the end two candidates were named. The Northerners nominated Douglas on a platform advocating "popular sovereignty." The Southerners nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky. In their platform they advocated states' rights, and the protection of slavery in the territories by the federal government.
The Constitutional Union party.
371. The Constitutional Union Party.--Besides these three candidates, cautious and timid men of all parties united to form the Constitutional Union party. They nominated Governor John Bell of Tennessee for President. In their platform they declared for the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union, regardless of slavery.
[Illustration: LINCOLN'S SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS AND SADDLEBAG.]
The campaign of 1860.
Lincoln elected.
372. Lincoln elected President, 1860.--With four candidates in the field and the Democratic party hopelessly divided, there could be little doubt of Lincoln's election. He carried every Northern state except Missouri and New Jersey. He received one hundred and eighty electoral notes. Breckenridge carried every Southern state except the "border states" of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and received seventy-two electoral votes. Bell carried the three "border" Southern states and Douglas carried Missouri and New Jersey. There was no doubt as to Lincoln's election. He had received a great majority of the electoral votes. But his opponents had received more popular votes than he had received. He was therefore elected by a minority of the voters.
[Illustration: LINCOLN'S BOOKCASE. From the Keyes-Lincoln Memorial Collection, Chicago.]
Weakness of the Republicans.
Southern fears.
373. The North and the South.--Lincoln had been elected by a minority of the people. He had been elected by the people of one section. Other Presidents had been chosen by minorities. But Lincoln was the first man to be chosen President by the people of one section. The Republicans, moreover, had not elected a majority of the members of the House of Representatives, and the Senate was still in the hands of the Democrats. For two years at least the Republicans could not carry out their ideas. They could not repeal the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They could not admit Kansas to the Union as a free state. They could not carry out one bit of their policy. In their platform they had declared that they had no intention to interfere with slavery in the states. Lincoln had said over and over again that Congress had no right to meddle with slavery in the states. The Southern leaders knew all these things. But they made up their minds that now the time had come to secede from the Union and to establish a Southern Confederacy. For the first time all the southernmost states were united. No matter what Lincoln and the Republicans might say, the Southern slaveholders believed that slavery was in danger. In advising secession, many of them thought that by this means they could force the Northerners to accept their terms as the price of a restored Union. Never were political leaders more mistaken.
Southern conventions.
374. Threats of Secession, November, 1860.--The Constitution permits each state to choose presidential electors as it sees fit. At the outset these electors had generally been chosen by the state legislatures. But, in the course of time, all the states save one had come to choose them by popular vote. The one state that held to the old way was South Carolina. Its legislature still chose the state's presidential electors. In 1860 the South Carolina legislature did this duty and then remained in session to see which way the election would go. When Lincoln's election was certain, it called a state convention to consider the question of seceding from the United States. In other Southern states there was some opposition to secession. In Georgia, especially, Alexander H. Stephens led the opposition. He said that secession "was the height of madness." Nevertheless he moved a resolution for a convention. Indeed, all the southernmost states followed the example of South Carolina and summoned conventions.
Buchanan's compromise plan.
Crittenden's plan of compromise. McMaster, 380-381.
It fails to pass Congress.
375. The Crittenden Compromise Plan.--Many men hoped that even now secession might be stopped by some compromise. President Buchanan suggested an amendment to the Constitution, securing slavery in the states and territories. It was unlikely that the Republicans would agree to this suggestion. The most hopeful plan was brought forward in Congress by Senator Crittenden of Kentucky. He proposed that amendments to the Constitution should be adopted: (1) to carry out the principle of the Missouri Compromise (p. 222);(2) to provide that states should be free or slave as their people should determine; and (3) to pay the slave owners the value of runaway slaves. This plan was carefully considered by Congress, and was finally rejected only two days before Lincoln's inauguration.
South Carolina secedes, 1860. Eggleston,
304-305.
Six other states secede.
376. Secession of Seven States, 1860-61.--The South Carolina convention met in Secession Hall, Charleston, on December 17, 1860. Three days later it adopted a declaration "that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved." Six other states soon joined South Carolina. These were Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas.
Confederate states constitution.
Views of Jefferson Davis.
377. The "Confederate States of America."--The next step was for these states to join together to form a confederation. This work was done by a convention of delegates chosen by the conventions of the seven seceding states. These delegates met at Montgomery, Alabama. Their new constitution closely resembled the Constitution of the United States. But great care was taken to make it perfectly clear that each member of the Confederacy was a sovereign state. Exceeding care was also taken that slavery should be protected in every way. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was chosen provisional president, and Alexander H. Stephens provisional vice-president.
[Illustration: CHARLESTON MERCURY EXTRA: The UNION is DISSOLVED!]
Views of Jefferson Davis.
Views of Alexander H. Stephens. Source-Book, 296-299.
378. Views of Davis and Stephens.--Davis declared that Lincoln had "made a distinct declaration of war upon our (Southern) institutions." His election was "upon the basis of sectional hostility." If "war must come, it must be on Northern and not on Southern soil.... We will carry war ... where food for the sword and torch awaits our armies in the densely populated cities" of the North. For his part, Stephens said the new government's "foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man."
"Let the erring sisters" go in peace.
Greeley's opinions.
Buchanan's opinions.
379. Hesitation in the North.--At first it seemed as if Davis was right when he said the Northerners would not fight. General Scott, commanding the army, suggested that the "erring sisters" should be allowed to "depart in peace," and Seward seemed to think the same way. The Abolitionists welcomed the secession of the slave states. Horace Greeley, for instance, wrote that if those states chose to form an independent nation, "they had a clear moral right so to do." For his part, President Buchanan thought that no state could constitutionally secede. But if a state should secede, he saw no way to compel it to come back to the Union. So he sat patiently by and did nothing.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 35
§§ 361, 362.--a. Compare the area and population of the United States in 1800 and in 1860.
b. Compare the white population of the North and the South. Were all the Southern whites slave owners?
c. Why had the control of the House passed to the free states? Did a white man in the North and in the South have proportionally the same representation in the House? Why?
d. What change in the control of the Senate had taken place? Why? Why was this change so important?
§§ 363, 364.--a. What had caused the growth of the Northern cities? Why were there so few large cities in the slave states?
b. How had the population of the states changed since 1790? What had caused the growth of the Northwest?
c. Where was there the greatest density of population? Why?
§§ 365, 366.--a. Describe the change of life in the cities. What arrangements were made for the comfort and health of the people?
b. How had railroads increased, and what improvements had been made?
§§ 367, 368.--a. Of what use are newspapers? How do they influence the opinions of the people? What policy did Horace Greeley uphold? Why?
b. Who were some of the important writers? Mention two works of each.
c. What influence did the telegraph have? Was this important?
d. Describe some of the other inventions.
e. Why had this progress been confined mainly to the North?
CHAPTER 36
§ 369.--a. Who were the leading Republican candidates?
b. Why was Lincoln nominated? What is the meaning of the phrase "too conspicuous"?
c. What did Seward mean by saying that there was a "higher law" than the Constitution? Why was the slavery contest "irrepressible"?
d. What declaration was made by the Republican party as to slavery? Compare this policy with the Wilmot Proviso.
§§ 370, 371.--a. What divisions took place in the Democratic party? Why?
b. What candidates were named? What policy did each uphold?
c. How had the demands of the Southerners concerning slavery increased?
d. What third party was formed? By whom? What does the name show?
§§ 372, 373.--a. What was the result of the election?
b. What was there peculiar in Lincoln's election?
c. Were the Southern states in any particular danger?
d. Why should the Southerners have felt so strongly about this election? What was their hope in threatening secession?
§§374, 375.--a Give arguments for and against secession. In what other question similar to this had South Carolina led?
b. Were the people of the South generally in favor of secession?
c. What compromise did Buchanan suggest? What do you think of the wisdom of the plan?
d. Explain carefully the points in Crittenden's plan. Discuss its value.
§§ 376, 377.--a Could one state dissolve the Union? b. What other states followed South Carolina?
c. What government was formed by them? What two points were especially emphasized in their constitution? Why these?
§§ 378, 379.--a. What statement did Davis make as to Lincoln? Was it true or false? Give your reasons.
b. Why did Davis advocate war on Northern soil?
c. Why was there such hesitation in the North? State the opinions of Scott, Greeley, and Buchanan.
d. What would Jackson probably have done had he been President?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
a. Was the South justified in thinking that the North would yield? Give illustrations to support your view.
b. Were the years 1857-61 more or less "critical" than the years 1783-87? Why?
c. How was the South dependent upon the North?
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK
a. Comparison between the North and the South.
b. Any invention mentioned in this part.
c. Some writer of this period.
d. The condition of your own state (or town or city) in 1860.
SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER
The first chapter of this part should be taught very slowly, and at each point the contrast between the North and the South should be pointed out.
In Chapter 36 the changed attitude of the Southern politicians should be noted and their demands clearly set forth. The fact that the slave owners while a minority in the South dominated public opinion should be pointed out.
In considering the question of secession it will be well to review the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, the Hartford Convention, and the Nullification episode. The weakness of Pierce and Buchanan may be contrasted with the strength of Jackson, and will serve as an introduction to the study of Lincoln's character.
References.--Dodge's Bird's-Eye View; Scribner's Popular History, IV and V; McMaster's School History. chap, xxix (the cost of the war); Lincoln's Inaugurals and Gettysburg Address.
Home Readings.--Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (composed largely of articles that had previously appeared in the Century Magazine; Whittier's Barbara Frietchie; Coffin's Winning his Way and other stories; Soley's Sailor Boys of '61; Trowbridge's Drummer Boy and other stories; Read's Sheridan's Ride; Champlin's Young Folks' History of the War for the Union).
Lincoln's inaugural address, March 4, 1861.
380. Lincoln's Inauguration.--On March 4, 1861, President Lincoln made his first inaugural address. In it he declared: "The Union is much older than the Constitution.... No state upon its own motion can lawfully get out of the Union.... In view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken ... I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the states." As to slavery, he had "no purpose ... to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists." He even saw no objection to adopt an amendment of the Constitution to prohibit the Federal government from interfering with slavery in the states. But he was resolved to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
SLAVERY AND SECESSION.
"OLD GLORY" AS USED IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Fort Sumter. Source-Book, 299-302.
The call to arms, April 15, 1861.
381. Fall of Fort Sumter, April, 1861.--The strength of Lincoln's resolve was soon tested. When South Carolina seceded, Major Anderson, commanding the United States forces at Charleston, withdrew from the land forts to Fort Sumter, built on a shoal in the harbor. He had with him only eighty fighting men and was sorely in need of food and ammunition. Buchanan sent a steamer, the Star of the West, to Charleston with supplies and soldiers. But the Confederates fired on her, and she steamed away without landing the soldiers or the supplies. Lincoln waited a month, hoping that the secessionists would come back to the Union of their own accord. Then he decided to send supplies to Major Anderson and told the governor of South Carolina of his decision. Immediately (April 12) the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter. On April 14 Anderson surrendered. The next day President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers.
The Northern volunteers. McMaster, 386-387;
Source-Book, 303-305.
Douglas, Buchanan, and Pierce.
Progress of secession.
382. Rising of the North.--There was no longer a question of letting the "erring sisters" depart in peace. The Southerners had fired on "Old Glory." There was no longer a dispute over the extension of slavery. The question was now whether the Union should perish or should live. Douglas at once came out for the Union and so did the former Presidents, Buchanan and Franklin Pierce. In the Mississippi Valley hundreds of thousands of men either sympathized with the slaveholders or cared nothing about the slavery dispute. But the moment the Confederates attacked the Union, they rose in defense of their country and their flag.
West Virginia.
383. More Seceders.--The Southerners flocked to the standards of the Confederacy, and four more states joined the ranks of secession. These were Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. In Virginia the people were sharply divided on the question of secession. Finally Virginia seceded, but the western Virginians, in their turn, seceded from Virginia and two years later were admitted to the Union as the state of West Virginia. Four "border states" had seceded; but four other "border states" were still within the Union. These were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Kentucky and Maryland saved to the Union.
Missouri saved to the Union. Eggleston, 310.
384. The Border States.--The people of Maryland and of Kentucky were evenly divided on the question of secession. They even tried to set up as neutral states. But their neutrality would have been so greatly to the advantage of the seceders that this could not be allowed. Lincoln's firm moderation and the patriotism of many wise leaders in Kentucky saved that state to the Union. But Maryland was so important to the defense of Washington that more energetic means had to be used. In Missouri, a large and active party wished to join the Confederacy. But two Union men, Frank P. Blair and Nathaniel Lyon, held the most important portions of the state for the Union. It was not until a year later, however, that Missouri was safe on the Northern side.
Southern sentiment in Washington.
Southern Unionists.
First bloodshed, April 19, 1861.
385. To the Defense of Washington.--The national capital was really a Southern town, for most of the permanent residents were Southerners, and the offices were filled with Southern men. In the army and navy, too, were very many Southerners. Most of them, as Robert E. Lee, felt that their duty to their state was greater than their duty to their flag. But many Southern officers felt differently. Among these were two men whose names should be held in grateful remembrance, Captain David G. Farragut and Colonel George H. Thomas. The first soldiers to arrive in Washington were from Pennsylvania; but they came unarmed. Soon they were followed by the Sixth Massachusetts. In passing through Baltimore this regiment was attacked. Several men were killed, others were wounded. This was on April 19, 1861,--the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. It was the first bloodshed of the war.
[Illustration: RAILROADS AND RIVERS OF THE SOUTH.]
The field of war.
386. Nature of the Conflict.--The overthrow of the Confederate states proved to be very difficult. The Alleghany Mountains cut the South into two great fields of war. Deep and rapid rivers flowed from the mountains into the Atlantic or into the Mississippi. Each of these rivers was a natural line of defense. The first line was the Potomac and the Ohio. But when the Confederates were driven from this line, they soon found another equally good a little farther south. Then again the South was only partly settled. Good roads were rare, but there were many poor roads. The maps gave only the good roads. By these the Northern soldiers had to march while the Southern armies were often guided through paths unknown to the Northerners, and thus were able to march shorter distances between two battlefields or between two important points.
Plan of campaign.
Disaster at Bull Run, July, 1861. Source-Book, 305-308.
387. The Bull Run Campaign, July, 1861.--Northern soldiers crossed the Potomac into Virginia and found the Confederates posted at Bull Run near Manassas Junction. Other Northern soldiers pressed into the Shenandoah Valley from Harper's Ferry. They, too, found a Confederate army in front of them. The plan of the Union campaign is now clear: General McDowell was to attack the Confederates at Bull Run, while General Patterson attacked the Confederates in the Valley, and kept them so busy that they could not go to the help of their comrades at Bull Run. It fell out otherwise, for Patterson retreated and left the Confederate general, Johnston, free to go to the aid of the sorely pressed Confederates at Bull Run. McDowell attacked vigorously and broke the Confederate line; but he could not maintain his position. The Union troops at first retreated slowly. Then they became frightened and fled, in all haste, back to Washington. The first campaign ended in disaster.
[Illustration: GENERAL MCCLELLAN.]
The Army of the Potomac, 1862.
388. The Army of the Potomac.--While the Bull Run campaign was going on in eastern Virginia, Union soldiers had been winning victories in western Virginia. These were led by General George B. McClellan. He now came to Washington and took command of the troops operating in front of the capital. During the autumn, winter, and spring he drilled his men with great skill and care. In March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac left its camps a splendidly drilled body of soldiers.
Southern preparations. Source-Book,
308-311.
Richmond.
Army of Northern Virginia.
389. The Army of Northern Virginia.--Meantime the government of the Confederacy had gathered great masses of soldiers. There were not nearly as many white men of fighting age in the South as there were in the North. But what men there were could be placed in the fighting line, because the negro slaves could produce the food needed by the armies and do the hard labor of making forts. The capital of the Confederacy was now established at Richmond, on the James River, in Virginia. The army defending this capital was called the Army of Northern Virginia. It was commanded by Joseph E. Johnston; but its ablest officers were Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson).
McClellan's plan of campaign, 1862.
Objections to it.
390. Plan of the Peninsular Campaign.--The country between the Potomac and the James was cut up by rivers, as the Rappahannock, the Mattapony, and Pamunkey, and part of it was a wilderness. McClellan planned to carry his troops by water to the peninsula between the James and the York and Pamunkey rivers. He would then have a clear road to Richmond, with no great rivers to dispute with the enemy. Johnston would be obliged to leave his camp at Bull Run and march southward to the defense of Richmond. The great objection to the plan was that Johnston might attack Washington instead of going to face McClellan. General Jackson also was in the Shenandoah Valley. He might march down the Valley, cross the Potomac, and seize Washington. So the government kept seventy-five thousand of McClellan's men for the defense of the Federal capital.
[Illustration: THE "MONITOR."]
The Monitor and the Merrimac. Hero Tales, 183, 195.
391. The Monitor and the Merrimac.--On March 8 a queer-looking craft steamed out from Norfolk, Virginia, and attacked the Union fleet at anchor near Fortress Monroe. She destroyed two wooden frigates, the Cumberland and the Congress, and began the destruction of the Minnesota. She then steamed back to Norfolk. This formidable vessel was the old frigate Merrimac. Upon her decks the Confederates had built an iron house. From these iron sides the balls of the Union frigates rolled harmlessly away. But that night an even stranger-looking ship appeared at Fortress Monroe. This was the Monitor, a floating fort, built of iron. She was designed by John Ericsson, a Swedish immigrant. When the Merrimac came back to finish the destruction of the Minnesota, the Monitor steamed directly to her. These two ironclads fought and fought. At last the Merrimac steamed away and never renewed the fight.
Battle of Fair Oaks, May, 1862.
The Seven Days.
Malvern Hill.
392. The Peninsular Campaign, 1862.--By the end of May McClellan had gained a position within ten miles of Richmond. Meantime, Jackson fought so vigorously in the Shenandoah Valley that the Washington government refused to send more men to McClellan, although Johnston had gone with his army to the defense of Richmond. On May 31 the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia fought a hard battle at Fair Oaks. Johnston was wounded, and Lee took the chief command. He summoned Jackson from the Valley and attacked McClellan day after day, June 26 to July 2, 1862. These terrible battles of the Seven Days forced McClellan to change his base to the James, where he would be near the fleet. At Malvern Hill Lee and Jackson once more attacked him and were beaten off with fearful loss.
Lee's plan of campaign.
Second battle of Bull Run, August, 1862.
393. Second Bull Run Campaign.--The Army of the Potomac was still uncomfortably near Richmond. It occurred to Lee that if he should strike a hard blow at the army in front of Washington, Lincoln would recall McClellan. Suddenly, without any warning, Jackson appeared at Manassas Junction (p. 317). McClellan was at once ordered to transport his army by water to the Potomac, and place it under the orders of General John Pope, commanding the forces in front of Washington. McClellan did as he was ordered. But Lee moved faster than he could move. Before the Army of the Potomac was thoroughly in Pope's grasp, Lee attacked the Union forces near Bull Run. He defeated them, drove them off the field and back into the forts defending Washington (August, 1862).
Lee invades Maryland.
Antietam, September, 1862. Hero Tales, 199-209.
394. The Antietam Campaign, 1862.--Lee now crossed the Potomac into Maryland. But he found more resistance than he had looked for. McClellan was again given chief command. Gathering his forces firmly together, he kept between Lee and Washington, and threatened Lee's communications with Virginia. The Confederates drew back. McClellan found them strongly posted near the Antietam and attacked them. The Union soldiers fought splendidly. But military writers say that McClellan's attacks were not well planned. At all events, the Army of the Potomac lost more than twelve thousand men to less than ten thousand on the Confederate side, and Lee made good his retreat to Virginia. McClellan was now removed from command, and Ambrose E. Burnside became chief of the Army of the Potomac.
[Illustration: ANTIETAM (A WAR-TIME SKETCH).]
Battle of Fredericksburg, December, 1862.
395. Fredericksburg, December, 1862.--Burnside found Lee strongly posted on Marye's Heights, which rise sharply behind the little town of Fredericksburg on the southern bank of the Rappahannock River. Burnside attacked in front. His soldiers had to cross the river and assault the hill in face of a murderous fire--and in vain. He lost thirteen thousand men to only four thousand of the Confederates. "Fighting Joe" Hooker now succeeded Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. We must now turn to the West, and see what had been doing there in 1861-62.
General Grant.
He seizes Cairo.
Battle of Mill Springs, January, 1862.
396. Grant and Thomas.--In Illinois there appeared a trained soldier of fierce energy and invincible will, Ulysses Simpson Grant. He had been educated at West Point and had served in the Mexican War. In September, 1861, he seized Cairo at the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi. In January, 1862, General George H. Thomas defeated a Confederate force at Mill Springs, in the upper valley of the Cumberland River. In this way Grant and Thomas secured the line of the Ohio and eastern Kentucky for the Union.
[Illustration: THE BRIDGE AT ANTIETAM. Burnside's soldiers charged over the bridge from the middle foreground.]
Capture of Fort Henry, February, 1862.
Fort Donelson.
397. Forts Henry and Donelson, February, 1862.--In February, 1862, General Grant and Commodore Foote attacked two forts which the Confederates had built to keep the Federal gunboats from penetrating the western part of the Confederacy. Fort Henry yielded almost at once, but the Union forces besieged Fort Donelson for a longer time. Soon the Confederate defense became hopeless, and General Buckner asked for the terms of surrender. "Unconditional surrender," replied Grant, and Buckner surrendered. The lower Tennessee and the lower Cumberland were now open to the Union forces.
The lower Mississippi.
Admiral Farragut.
398. Importance of New Orleans.--New Orleans and the lower Mississippi were of great importance to both sides, for the possession of this region gave the Southerners access to Texas, and through Texas to Mexico. Union fleets were blockading every important Southern port. But as long as commerce overland with Mexico could be maintained, the South could struggle on. The Mississippi, too, has so many mouths that it was difficult to keep vessels from running in and out. For these reasons the Federal government determined to seize New Orleans and the lower Mississippi. The command of the expedition was given to Farragut, who had passed his boyhood in Louisiana. He was given as good a fleet as could be provided, and a force of soldiers was sent to help him.
[Illustration: A RIVER GUNBOAT.]
Capture of New Orleans, April, 1862. Higginson, 303-304; Source-Book, 313-315.
399. New Orleans captured, April, 1862.--Farragut carried his fleet into the Mississippi, but found his way upstream barred by two forts on the river's bank. A great chain stretched across the river below the forts, and a fleet of river gunboats with an ironclad or two was in waiting above the forts. Chain, forts, and gunboats all gave way before Farragut's forceful will. At night he passed the forts amid a terrific cannonade. Once above them New Orleans was at his mercy. It surrendered, and with the forts was soon occupied by the Union army. The lower Mississippi was lost to the Confederacy.
[Illustration: A WAR-TIME ENVELOPE.]
Shiloh, April, 1862.
Corinth, May, 1862.
400. Shiloh and Corinth, April, May, 1862.--General Halleck now directed the operations of the Union armies in the West. He ordered Grant to take his men up the Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing and there await the arrival of Buell with a strong force overland from Nashville. Grant encamped with his troops on the western bank of the Tennessee between Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing. Albert Sidney Johnston, the Confederate commander in the West, attacked him suddenly and with great fury. Soon the Union army was pushed back to the river. In his place many a leader would have withdrawn. But Grant, with amazing courage, held on. In the afternoon Buell's leading regiments reached the other side of the river. In the night they were ferried across, and Grant's outlying commands were brought to the front. The next morning Grant attacked in his turn and slowly but surely pushed the Confederates off the field. Halleck then united Grant's, Buell's, and Pope's armies and captured Corinth.
General Bragg invades Kentucky.
Battle of Perryville, October, 1862.
Murfreesboro', December, 1862. Eggleston, 331.
401. Bragg in Tennessee and Kentucky.--General Braxton Bragg now took a large part of the Confederate army, which had fought at Shiloh and Corinth, to Chattanooga. He then marched rapidly across Tennessee and Kentucky to the neighborhood of Louisville on the Ohio River. Buell was sent after him, and the two armies fought an indecisive battle at Perryville. Then Bragg retreated to Chattanooga. In a few months he was again on the march. Rosecrans had now succeeded Buell. He attacked Bragg at Murfreesboro'. For a long time the contest was equal. In the end, however, the Confederates were beaten and retired from the field.
The blockade.
402. The Blockade.--On the fall of Fort Sumter President Lincoln ordered a blockade of the Confederate seaports. There were few manufacturing industries in the South. Cotton and tobacco were the great staples of export. If her ports were blockaded the South could neither bring in arms and military supplies from Europe, nor send cotton and tobacco to Europe to be sold for money. So her power of resisting the Union armies would be greatly lessened. The Union government bought all kinds of vessels, even harbor ferryboats, armed them, and stationed them off the blockaded harbors. In a surprisingly short time the blockade was established. The Union forces also began to occupy the Southern seacoast, and thus the region that had to be blockaded steadily grew less.
Effect of the blockade.
403. Effects of the Blockade.--As months and years went by, and the blockade became stricter and stricter, the sufferings of the Southern people became ever greater. As they could not send their products to Europe to exchange for goods, they had to pay gold and silver for whatever the blockade runners brought in. Soon there was no more gold and silver in the Confederacy, and paper money took its place. Then the supplies of manufactured goods, as clothing and paper, of things not produced in the South, as coffee and salt, gave out. Toward the end of the war there were absolutely no medicines for the Southern soldiers, and guns were so scarce that it was proposed to arm one regiment with pikes. Nothing did more to break down Southern resistance than the blockade.
Hopes of the Southerners.
404. The Confederacy, Great Britain, and France.--From the beginning of the contest the Confederate leaders believed that the British and the French would interfere to aid them. "Cotton is king," they said. Unless there were a regular supply of cotton, the mills of England and of France must stop. Thousands of mill hands--men, women, and children--would soon be starving. The French and the British governments would raise the blockade. Perhaps they would even force the United States to acknowledge the independence of the Confederate states. There was a good deal of truth in this belief. For the British and French governments dreaded the growing power of the American republic and would gladly have seen it broken to pieces. But events fell out far otherwise than the Southern leaders had calculated. Before the supply of American cotton in England was used up, new supplies began to come in from India and from Egypt. The Union armies occupied portions of the cotton belt early in 1862, and American cotton was again exported. But more than all else, the English mill operatives, in all their hardships, would not ask their government to interfere. They saw clearly enough that the North was fighting for the rights of free labor. At times it seemed, however, as if Great Britain or France would interfere.
Southern agents sent to Europe.
Removed from the Trent.
Lincoln's opinion.
Action of Great Britain.
405. The Trent Affair, 1861.--As soon as the blockade was established, the British and French governments gave the Confederates the same rights in their ports as the United States had. The Southerners then sent two agents, Mason and Slidell, to Europe to ask the foreign governments to recognize the independence of the Confederate states. Captain Wilkes of the United States ship San Jacinto took these agents from the British steamer Trent. But Lincoln at once said that Wilkes had done to the British the very thing which we had fought the War of 1812 to prevent the British doing to us. "We must stick to American principles," said the President, "and restore the prisoners." They were given up. But the British government, without waiting to see what Lincoln would do, had gone actively to work to prepare for war. This seemed so little friendly that the people of the United States were greatly irritated.
The war powers of the President.
Lincoln follows Northern sentiment.
406. Lincoln and Slavery.--It will be remembered that the Republican party had denied again and again that it had any intention to interfere with slavery in the states. As long as peace lasted the Federal government could not interfere with slavery in the states. But when war broke out, the President, as commander-in-chief, could do anything to distress and weaken the enemy. If freeing the slaves in the seceded states would injure the secessionists, he had a perfect right to do it. But Lincoln knew that public opinion in the North would not approve this action. He would follow Northern sentiment in this matter, and not force it.
The contrabands.
407. Contrabands of War.--he war had scarcely begun before slaves escaped into the Union lines. One day a Confederate officer came to Fortress Monroe and demanded his runaway slaves under the Fugitive Slave Act (p. 281). General Butler refused to give them up on the ground that they were "contraband of war." By that phrase he meant that their restoration would be illegal as their services would be useful to the enemy. President Lincoln approved this decision of General Butler, and escaping slaves soon came to be called "Contrabands."
[Illustration: A WAR-TIME ENVELOPE.]
Abolition with compensation.
408. First Steps toward Emancipation, 1862.--Lincoln and the Republican party thought that Congress could not interfere with slavery in the states. It might, however, buy slaves and set them free or help the states to do this. So Congress passed a law offering aid to any state which should abolish slavery within its borders. Congress itself abolished slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation to the owners. It abolished slavery in the territories without compensation. Lincoln had gladly helped to make these laws. Moreover, by August, 1862, he had made up his mind that to free the slaves in the seceded states would help "to save the Union" and would therefore be right as a "war measure." For every negro taken away from forced labor would weaken the producing power of the South and so make the conquest of the South easier.
Lincoln's warning, September, 1862.
Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863. Higginson,
304-305; Source-Book, 315-318, 327-329.
409. The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863.--On September 23, 1862, Lincoln issued a proclamation stating that on the first day of the new year he would declare free all slaves in any portion of the United States then in rebellion. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This proclamation could be enforced only in those portions of the seceded states which were held by the Union armies. It did not free slaves in loyal states and did not abolish the institution of slavery anywhere. Slavery was abolished by the states of West Virginia, Missouri, and Maryland between 1862 and 1864. Finally, in 1865, it was abolished throughout the United States by the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment (p. 361).
Northern friends of secession.
Suspension of habeas corpus.
410. Northern Opposition to the War.--Many persons in the North thought that the Southerners had a perfect right to secede if they wished. Some of these persons sympathized so strongly with the Southerners that they gave them important information and did all they could to prevent the success of the Union forces. It was hard to prove anything against these Southern sympathizers, but it was dangerous to leave them at liberty. So Lincoln ordered many of them to be arrested and locked up. Now the Constitution provides that every citizen shall have a speedy trial. This is brought about by the issuing a writ of habeas corpus, compelling the jailer to bring his prisoner into court and show cause why he should not be set at liberty. Lincoln now suspended the operation of the writ of habeas corpus. This action angered many persons who were quite willing that the Southerners should be compelled to obey the law, but did not like to have their neighbors arrested and locked up without trial.
[Illustration: THE DRAFT.]
The draft.
Riots in the North.
411. The Draft Riots.--At the outset both armies were made up of volunteers; soon there were not enough volunteers. Both governments then drafted men for their armies; that is, they picked out by lot certain men and compelled them to become soldiers. The draft was bitterly resisted in some parts of the North, especially in New York City.