C T I ON
SE
The Politics of War
"Y ISSUING THE %MANCIPATION 4HE 0ROCLAMATION WAS A FIRST s%MANCIPATION sCopperhead
0ROCLAMATION 0RESIDENT STEP TOWARD IMPROVING THE Proclamation sconscription
,INCOLN MADE SLAVERY THE STATUS OF !FRICAN !MERICANS sHABEAS CORPUS
FOCUS OF THE WAR
One American's Story
Shortly after the Civil War began, William Yancey of Alabama and
TAKING NOTES two other Confederate diplomats asked Britain—a major importer
Use the graphic of Southern cotton—to formally recognize the Confederacy as an
organizer online to
take notes about independent nation. The British Secretary of State for Foreign
political issues Affairs met with them twice, but in May 1861, Britain announced
during the Civil War. its neutrality. Insulted, Yancey returned home and told his fellow
Southerners not to hope for British aid.
A PERSONAL VOICE WILLIAM YANCEY
“ 9OU HAVE NO FRIENDS IN %UROPE 4HE SENTIMENT OF %UROPE IS
ANTI SLAVERY AND THAT PORTION OF PUBLIC OPINION WHICH FORMS AND IS
REPRESENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF 'REAT "RITAIN IS ABOLITION 4HEY
WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE OUR INDEPENDENCE UNTIL OUR CONQUERING SWORD
HANGS DRIPPING OVER THE PROSTRATE HEADS OF THE .ORTH )T IS AN
ERROR TO SAY THAT @#OTTON IS +ING )T IS NOT )T IS A GREAT AND INFLUEN
TIAL FACTOR IN COMMERCE BUT NOT ITS DICTATOR” ▼
—quoted in The Civil War: A Narrative
7ILLIAM 9ANCEY
In spite of Yancey’s words, many Southerners continued to hope that eco- 1851
nomic necessity would force Britain to come to their aid. Meanwhile, abolitionists
waged a public opinion war against slavery, not only in Europe, but in the North.
Britain Remains Neutral
A number of economic factors made Britain no longer dependent on Southern
cotton. Not only had Britain accumulated a huge cotton inventory just before the
outbreak of war, it also found new sources of cotton in Egypt and India. Moreover,
when Europe’s wheat crop failed, Northern wheat and corn replaced cotton as an
essential import. As one magazine put it, “Old King Cotton’s dead and buried.”
Britain decided that neutrality was the best policy—at least for a while.
4(% 42%.4 !&&!)2 In the fall of 1861, an incident occurred to test that neu-
trality. The Confederate government sent two diplomats, James Mason and John
Slidell, in a second attempt to gain support from Britain and France. The two men
346 CHAPTER 11
traveled aboard a British merchant ship, the Trent. Captain Charles Wilkes of the The first page of
American warship San Jacinto stopped the Trent and arrested the two men. The Lincoln’s hand-
British threatened war against the Union and dispatched 8,000 troops to Canada. written copy of
the Emancipation
Aware of the need to fight just “one war at a time,” Lincoln freed the two prison-
Proclamation
ers, publicly claiming that Wilkes had acted without orders. Britain was as relieved ²
as the United States was to find a peaceful way out of the crisis.
Proclaiming Emancipation
As the South struggled in vain to gain foreign recognition, aboli-
tionist feeling grew in the North. Some Northerners believed that
just winning the war would not be enough if the issue of slavery
was not permanently settled.
LINCOLN’S VIEW OF SLAVERY Although Lincoln disliked
slavery, he did not believe that the federal government had the
power to abolish it where it already existed. When Horace
Greeley urged him in 1862 to transform the war into an aboli-
tionist crusade, Lincoln replied that although it was his person-
al wish that all men could be free, his official duty was differ-
ent: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union,
and is not either to save or destroy Slavery.”
As the war progressed, however, Lincoln did find a way to
use his constitutional war powers to end slavery. Slave labor
built fortifications and grew food for the Confederacy. As
commander in chief, Lincoln decided that, just as he could
order the Union army to seize Confederate supplies, he could
also authorize the army to emancipate slaves.
Emancipation offered a strategic benefit. The abolitionist
movement was strong in Britain, and emancipation would
Summarizing
discourage Britain from supporting the Confederacy.
A In what Emancipation was not just a moral issue; it became a weapon of war. A
way was the
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his
Emancipation
Proclamation a Emancipation Proclamation. The following portion captured national attention.
part of Lincoln’s
military strategy?
from THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“ All persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the
people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, Lincoln presents
thenceforward, and forever free. . . . And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an the Emancipation
act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the Proclamation to
considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.” his cabinet, 1862.
²
The Proclamation did not
free any slaves immediately
because it applied only to
areas behind Confederate
lines, outside Union control.
Since the Proclamation was a
military action aimed at the
states in rebellion, it did not
apply to Southern territory
already occupied by Union
troops nor to the slave states
that had not seceded.
REACTIONS TO THE PROCLAMATION Although the Proclamation did not
have much practical effect, it had immense symbolic importance. For many, the
Proclamation gave the war a high moral purpose by turning the struggle into a
fight to free the slaves. In Washington, D.C., the Reverend Henry M. Turner, a
free-born African American, watched the capital’s inhabitants receive the news of
emancipation.
A PERSONAL VOICE HENRY M. TURNER
“ Men squealed, women fainted, dogs barked, white and colored people shook hands,
songs were sung, and by this time cannons began to fire at the navy yard. . . .
Great processions of colored and white men marched to and fro and passed in
front of the White House. . . . The President came to the window . . . and thou-
sands told him, if he would come out of that palace, they would hug him to death.”
—quoted in Voices from the Civil War
VIDEO
Emancipation Free blacks also welcomed the section of the Proclamation that allowed them
Proclamation
to enlist in the Union army. Even though many had volunteered at the beginning
of the war, the regular army had
refused to take them. Now they
could fight and help put an end
KEY PLAYERS to slavery.
Not everyone in the North
approved of the Emancipation
Proclamation, however. The
Democrats claimed that it would
only prolong the war by antag-
onizing the South. Many Union
soldiers accepted it grudgingly,
saying they had no love for abo-
litionists or African Americans,
but they would support eman-
cipation if that was what it took
to reunify the nation.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN JEFFERSON DAVIS Confederates reacted to the
1809–1865 1808–1889
Proclamation with outrage.
Abraham Lincoln was born to Jefferson Davis, who was
Jefferson Davis called it the
illiterate parents, and once said named after Thomas
that in his boyhood there was Jefferson, was born in “most execrable [hateful] mea-
“absolutely nothing to excite Kentucky and grew up in sure recorded in the history of
ambition for education.” Yet Mississippi. After graduating guilty man.” As Northern
he hungered for knowledge. from West Point, he served in Democrats had predicted, the
He educated himself and, the army and then became a
Proclamation had made the
after working as rail-splitter, planter. He was elected to
storekeeper, and surveyor, he the U.S. Senate in 1846 and Confederacy more determined
taught himself law. This led to again in 1856, resigning than ever to fight to preserve its
a career in politics—and when Mississippi seceded. way of life.
eventually to the White His election as president of After the Emancipation
House. In Europe at that the Confederacy dismayed Proclamation, compromise was
time, people were more or him. As his wife Varina wrote,
no longer an option. The
less fixed in the station into “I thought his genius was mil-
which they had been born. In itary, but as a party manager Confederacy knew that if it lost,
the United States, Lincoln he would not succeed.” its slave-holding society would Analyzing
was free to achieve whatever Varina was right. Davis had perish, and the Union knew that Effects
he could. Small wonder that poor relations with many it could win only by complete- B What effects
he fought to preserve the Confederate leaders, causing did the
ly defeating the Confederacy.
nation he described as “the them to put their states’ wel- Emancipation
last best hope of earth.” fare above the Confederacy’s. From January 1863 on, it was a Proclamation have
fight to the death. B on the war?
348 CHAPTER 11
Both Sides Face Political Problems
Neither side in the Civil War was completely unified. There were Confederate sym-
pathizers in the North, and Union sympathizers in the South. Such divided loyal-
ties created two problems: How should the respective governments handle their
critics? How could they ensure a steady supply of fighting men for their armies?
DEALING WITH DISSENT Lincoln dealt forcefully with disloyalty. For example,
when a Baltimore crowd attacked a Union regiment a week after Fort Sumter,
Lincoln sent federal troops to Maryland. He also suspended in that state the writ
of habeas corpus, a court order that requires authorities to bring a person held
in jail before the court to determine why he or she is being jailed. Lincoln used
this same strategy later in the war to deal with dissent in other states. As a result,
more than 13,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers in the Union were arrest-
ed and held without trial, although most were quickly released. The president also
seized telegraph offices to make sure no one used the wires for subversion. When
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney declared that Lincoln had gone beyond
Background his constitutional powers, the president ignored his ruling.
A copperhead is a Those arrested included Copperheads, or Northern Democrats who advo-
poisonous snake cated peace with the South. Ohio congressman Clement Vallandigham was the
with natural
most famous Copperhead. Vallandigham was tried and con-
camouflage.
victed by a military court for urging Union soldiers to desert
and for advocating an armistice. "/ ,
P E R S P E C TI V E
Jefferson Davis at first denounced Lincoln’s suspension
of civil liberties. Later, however, Davis found it necessary to
follow the Union president’s example. In 1862, he sus-
THE CHEROKEE
pended habeas corpus in the Confederacy. AND THE WAR
Lincoln’s action in dramatically expanding presidential Another nation divided by the
powers to meet the crises of wartime set a precedent in U.S. Civil War was the Cherokee
Evaluating history. Since then, some presidents have cited war or Nation. Both the North and the
Leadership “national security” as a reason to expand the powers of the South wanted the Cherokee on
C What actions their side. This was because the
executive branch of government. C
did Lincoln take to Cherokee Nation was located in
deal with dissent? CONSCRIPTION Although both armies originally relied on the Indian Territory, an excellent
volunteers, it didn’t take long before heavy casualties and grain- and livestock-producing
area. For their part, the Cherokee
widespread desertions led to conscription, a draft that
felt drawn to both sides—to the
would force certain members of the population to serve in Union because federal treaties
the army. The Confederacy passed a draft law in 1862, and guaranteed Cherokee rights, and
the Union followed suit in 1863. Both laws ran into trouble. to the Confederacy because
The Confederate law drafted all able-bodied white men many Cherokee owned slaves.
The Cherokee signed a treaty
between the ages of 18 and 35. (In 1864, as the Confederacy
with the South in October 1861.
suffered more losses, the limits changed to 17 and 50.) However, the alliance did not last.
However, those who could afford to were allowed to hire Efforts by the pro-Confederate
substitutes to serve in their places. The law also exempted leader Stand Watie (below) to
planters who owned 20 or more slaves. Poor Confederates govern the Cherokee Nation
howled that it was a “rich man’s war but a poor man’s failed, and federal troops
invaded Indian Territory.
fight.” In spite of these protests, almost 90 percent of eligi-
Many Cherokee
ble Southern men served in the Confederate army. deserted from the
The Union law drafted white men between 20 and 45 Confederate army;
for three years, although it, too, allowed draftees to hire some joined the
Vocabulary
commutation: the substitutes. It also provided for commutation, or paying a Union. In February
substitution of one 1863, the pro-Union
$300 fee to avoid conscription altogether. In the end, only
kind of payment Cherokee revoked
46,000 draftees actually went into the army. Ninety-two the Confederate
for another
percent of the approximately 2 million soldiers who served treaty.
in the Union army were volunteers—180,000 of them
African-American.
The Civil War 349
²
DRAFT RIOTS In 1863 New York City was a tinderbox waiting to explode. Poor In New York City
people were crowded into slums, crime and disease ran rampant, and poverty was in July 1863, draft
ever-present. Poor white workers—especially Irish immigrants—thought it unfair rioters vented
their anger on
that they should have to fight a war to free slaves. The white workers feared that
African-American
Southern blacks would come north and compete for jobs. When officials began to institutions such
draw names for the draft, angry men gathered all over the city to complain. as this orphanage.
For four days, July 13–16, mobs rampaged through the city. The rioters
wrecked draft offices, Republican newspaper offices, and the homes of antislavery
leaders. They attacked well-dressed men on the street (those likely to be able to
pay the $300 commutation fee) and attacked African Americans. By the time fed-
eral troops ended the melee, more than 100 persons lay dead.
The draft riots were not the only dramatic development away from the
battlefield. Society was also experiencing other types of unrest.
1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
sEmancipation Proclamation shabeas corpus sCopperhead sconscription
MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING
2. TAKING NOTES 3. EVALUATING LEADERSHIP 4. ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
In a diagram like the one shown, Do you think that Lincoln’s measures “To fight against slaveholders,
note the political measures that to deal with disloyalty and dissent
without fighting against slavery,
Lincoln took to solve each problem. represented an abuse of power?
Why or why not? Think About: is but a half-hearted business,
and paralyzes the hands engaged
Slavery UÊÊconditions of wartime versus
peacetime in it.”
—Frederick Douglass, quoted in
Dissent UÊLincoln’s primary goal Battle Cry of Freedom
UÊÊSupreme Court Justice Roger
Shortage of Taney’s view of Lincoln’s powers How do you think Lincoln would have
soldiers replied to Douglass?
350 CHAPTER 11
