Charles Kendall Adams

CHAPTER XXVI. the administration of buchanan, 1857 - 1861. THE SUPREME COURT AND SLAVERY.

Roger B. Taney.

418. Dred Scott Decision.—Two days after Buchanan’s inauguration, the Supreme Court rendered a decision that had a tremendous influence on public opinion with regard to the question of slavery. A colored man, Dred Scott by name, was held as a slave in Missouri, but having been taken by his master into Illinois and Minnesota, he brought suit in a United States court to establish his freedom. The question finally reached the Supreme Court, where a decision was rendered March 6, 1857. The court held:—

The opinion was rendered by Chief Justice Taney,^[188] and was assented to by a majority of the court. Justices McLean and Curtis, however, dissented, and Curtis presented an elaborate dissenting opinion. The importance of the decision lay in the fact that it was an authoritative approval by the Supreme Court of views advanced by Calhoun, and generally indorsed by the South.

419. The Dissenting Opinion.—The North, naturally, accepted the views of the dissenting opinion, which held:—

420. Influence of the Decision.—The far-reaching effects of this decision were at once apparent. The Republican party had been organized on the fundamental avowal that it was the duty of Congress to keep slavery out of the territories (§ 416). But if Congress had no constitutional right to interfere with slavery in the territories, the Republican party could have no right to exist. The decision also shattered Douglas’s doctrine of Popular Sovereignty; for, if Congress had no right to exclude slavery, it could not confer such a right upon the territorial legislature. The South asked, “What are you going to do about it?” The North virtually replied that it adopted the view of Justice Curtis and rejected the decision as of no binding force. Many persons in the North accepted a doctrine that had some time before been promulgated by Mr. Seward,—that there is a “higher law” of right and morality than that of the Constitution.

421. Abolition Orators.—Public feeling during these years was much intensified in the North by the political speeches delivered by accomplished orators in various parts of the country. The most prominent of these speakers was Wendell Phillips of Boston, who gave his life chiefly to anti-slavery agitation and exerted a vast influence. His work was supplemented effectively by the speeches of Theodore Parker, George William Curtis, Theodore Tilton, Anna Dickinson, and others.

422. Two Important Books.—In the course of this agitation, public opinion was greatly affected by the appearance of two very important books on the subject of slavery. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin appeared in 1852. Its object was to represent the horrors of slavery, and it proved to be one of the most influential novels ever published. Though it was intended to represent slavery in the strongest possible light, the picture was somewhat relieved for the people of the South by the fact that the worst characters in the book were “renegades” from the North. Over three hundred thousand copies were sold within a year of its publication, and in the course of five years it had powerfully inflamed the feelings of all the Northern people. In 1857, appeared H. R. Helper’s Impending Crisis of the South. It was written by a representative of the “poor white” class of North Carolina, whose purpose was to arraign slavery from the point of view of the Southern free white laborer. The author described Southern society, and showed how slavery had reduced the poorer white people to a condition of abject misery. The book did much to arouse the fears of the Southern slave owners.

KANSAS AND UTAH.

423. Buchanan’s Weakness.—Meanwhile, President Buchanan had been showing in many ways that he did not realize the gravity of the situation. He was an old man and inclined to rely on Democratic leaders of strong pro-slavery proclivities. Thus, although himself a Northerner, he had little support from his own section. His Cabinet contained four Southerners, while the Secretary of State, General Cass, was a sympathizer with the Southern attitude toward the slavery question. Eventually this Cabinet was broken up and a stronger one obtained (§ 441), but not before many of the departments, especially those of War and of the Treasury, were reduced to a state of great disorganization. Indeed, so badly were the finances of the nation managed, that treasury notes had to be issued in order that national insolvency might be avoided. Yet more than once President Buchanan proposed to Congress that Cuba should be purchased, and recommended other rash legislation, which, if carried out, would probably have led to a war with Mexico and the states of Central America.

424. Affairs in Kansas.—One of Buchanan’s most important appointments was that of Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, who had been Secretary of the Treasury under Polk, as governor of Kansas. Walker understood that he was to cease trying to force slavery upon the Kansas settlers, but was rather to attempt to make the territory a state favorable to the Democrats. On this understanding he succeeded in inducing the friends of freedom to vote for members of the territorial legislature, with the result that they obtained a clear majority in that body. But the slavery advocates, at a convention held at Lecompton, adopted a constitution favoring slavery, with a proviso that the article relating to the institution was the only one that should be submitted to the people for ratification. Fearing some trick, the Free State people stayed away from the polls, and the Lecompton constitution was easily carried by a partisan vote. Walker then went to Washington in order to protest against conduct which, it was believed, was connived at by the administration. He found that Buchanan and his advisers were hearty advocates of the Lecompton constitution, whereupon he resigned his governorship.

425. Failure of the Lecompton Scheme.—Meanwhile, the Free State legislature of Kansas had submitted the whole Lecompton constitution to the people, and it had been rejected by over eleven thousand majority. Yet Buchanan, in a special message to Congress, urged the admission of Kansas as a state under the obnoxious instrument. A long and fierce debate was the result, Senator Douglas, to his credit, standing out against the majority of his party. The pro-slavery Democrats were obstinate, in spite of many warnings, and pushed matters to a vote. The administration’s measure for making Kansas a slave state passed the Senate, but failed in the House. Later a discreditable bill attempting to bribe Kansas to come in under the pro-slavery constitution passed Congress; but the Kansas people refused by a large majority to enter the Union hampered by slavery, even if they could thereby acquire a large grant of public lands. The bill which offered Kansas this bribe was popularly known as “Lecompton Junior.” After it was rejected by the Kansans, affairs in the region became comparatively quiet. The territory was not finally admitted as a state until 1861.

426. The Mormons.—Buchanan was more successful in his dealings with the Mormons of Utah. This religious sect was founded in 1830 by their Prophet, Joseph Smith, and was forced to move steadily westward from the State of New York. They settled first in Ohio, then in Illinois, where in 1840 they founded the town of Nauvoo. These Latter-Day Saints, as they were called, soon had troubles, without great fault of their own, with the authorities of Illinois, in the course of which Smith was arrested. Shortly after he was shot by a mob (June 21, 1844). Brigham Young was chosen leader of the new church in the Prophet’s place, and the next year the Mormons left Illinois. After many vicissitudes, a settlement was made in Utah, and Salt Lake City was founded in 1848. The next year, Young was elected governor of Deseret, as the territory was first named. In 1850 Congress established the Territory of Utah, and, in 1851, Young became its authorized governor. In 1852 he proclaimed polygamy to be a tenet of the Mormon church. This and other causes led to difficulties with judges and other officers of the United States, who in consequence left Utah.

427. Buchanan’s Management of the Mormon Difficulty.—Affairs soon reached such a pass as to require the removal of Brigham Young from his position as territorial governor, the Mormon desperadoes, under the name of Danites, or “destroying angels,” having inaugurated a small reign of terror. Buchanan supported the newly appointed governor, Alfred Cumming, with forces under General Albert Sidney Johnston, who was much harassed, however, by the destruction of his supply trains. Congress hesitated to give the President all the troops needed, for fear he might use them in Kansas; but he managed the affair well, notwithstanding, and with augmented forces and judicious pardons secured comparative tranquillity in Utah before the summer of 1858. But Congress still refused to give so strange a sect the right either to form a state or to elect their own officers.^[190]

THE GREAT DEBATES.

428. Lincoln and Douglas.—The people of the settled portions of the country were more interested in a picturesque political campaign than in the pacification of a far-off territory. The term of Senator Douglas was to expire in 1859, and he appealed to public opinion in Illinois for reËlection. The Republicans put forward Abraham Lincoln as their representative to oppose him. The men were unlike in almost every respect. Douglas^[191] in early life had come from Vermont to Illinois, where he had risen to distinction as a lawyer and a debater. In public speech he was keen, ingenious, and powerful, and his leadership of the movement in behalf of Popular Sovereignty had given him a national reputation. Lincoln,^[192] on the other hand, had been born to the most abject poverty in Kentucky, and in early life had moved with his parents to Indiana, and then to Illinois. In his boyhood he had lived in a log hut, and had picked up almost the whole of his education by reading and study at odd moments. At length he studied law, and, though never a learned lawyer, he early showed remarkable power in discovering the turning point of a case, and presenting it with such clearness and force that he was very successful. By a careful study of a few of the best writers, he made himself a master of accurate and powerful English speech. He also became very skillful as a judge of human nature and in the art of persuading an audience. To these great qualities he added the still greater one of an honesty and integrity of thought and character so pronounced and transparent that he was generally respected and loved. At the time of this senatorial contest, Lincoln was forty-nine years of age; Douglas was forty-five.

429. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.—In the spring of 1858, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of public debates on the great questions of the day. They arranged for seven meetings in different parts of Illinois, and those meetings are memorable for the thoroughness with which questions then agitating the nation were discussed. Lincoln at the outset announced the Republican doctrine that slavery was entitled to the protection of Congress where it existed, but that it could and ought to be prevented from going into the territories where it did not already exist. Douglas, throughout the discussion, held that the Dred Scott Decision was binding, and tried to reconcile it with the notion of Popular Sovereignty. Lincoln very shrewdly saw the impossibility of reconciling these two views, and used his advantage with great skill and vigor.

430. The Freeport Doctrine.—The turning point in the debates was at Freeport, where Lincoln put to Douglas this question: “Can the people of a United States territory, in any legal way, against the will of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a state constitution?” The Republican committee managing the campaign, urged Lincoln not to ask Douglas the question. They said, “If Douglas answers ‘yes,’ he will surely be elected, because the people of Illinois believe in Squatter Sovereignty.” Lincoln’s reply was in substance: “Very well, if he answers ‘no,’ he cannot be elected senator in Illinois. If he answers ‘yes,’ as from his Squatter Sovereignty doctrine he will be obliged to do, he will offend the South in such a way that he cannot be elected President in 1860. I am looking for the larger game.” Lincoln insisted upon asking the question, and his prediction proved true. Douglas answered “yes,” and tried to reconcile Squatter Sovereignty with the Dred Scott Decision, in what came to be known as the “Freeport Doctrine”; but Lincoln pointed out with great power that such a reconciliation was absolutely impossible. Though Douglas was reËlected to the Senate, as the Republican committee predicted he would be if the question were asked, the rift in the Democratic party soon made it apparent that its Northern and Southern sections could not unite on any one candidate for President. Lincoln had accomplished his object, though he had lost the senatorship.

431. Other Speeches of Lincoln and Douglas.—In 1859, Douglas spoke and wrote much, in order to define his position on the relations of the Federal power and the power of the individual states. In all his utterances he often referred to the positions held by Lincoln, and, especially in the South, he tried to recover what he had lost in the discussion of what was known as the “Freeport Doctrine.” Lincoln delivered, at Columbus and Cincinnati, speeches which pointed out with merciless logic the impossibility of Douglas’s contention. These speeches tersely reproduced the arguments he had used in Illinois, and in print they had an enormous circulation. Lincoln’s prominence, moreover, was greatly increased by a masterly speech on February 27, 1860, at the Cooper Institute, in New York City. Taking as his subject, “The Crisis,” he analyzed the situation, and presented it with a logical force and clearness which placed the speech in the highest rank of argumentative orations. This speech, and those he immediately afterward made in New England, caused Lincoln to be better known throughout the East; he was already very popular in the West.

JOHN BROWN AND PUBLIC OPINION.

432. John Brown’s Raid.—In the later months of 1859 the country in all its parts was greatly moved by a fanatical attempt to induce the slaves of Virginia to revolt and insist upon freedom. John Brown,^[193] who, as we have seen, played a conspicuous part in the Kansas difficulties, held the views of the abolitionists with all the stern severity of a seventeenth century Puritan. He believed that slavery was the “sum of all abominations,” and that he must devote himself to its overthrow. In July, 1859, he rented two houses on the Maryland side of the Potomac, about four miles from Harper’s Ferry. Here arms were collected, and on the 16th of October Brown mustered eighteen men, five of whom were negroes, for his intended attack. They cut the telegraph wires, and seized the watchman on the bridge; then, crossing to the Virginia side, Brown and two followers broke into the United States armory, and, binding the watchman, remained on guard. Before midnight he was master of Harper’s Ferry. But the inevitable result followed. The negroes refused to revolt, and soon the raiders were surrounded by an overwhelming force. They fought desperately, and did not surrender until, of the nineteen, ten had been killed. Four escaped and five were taken prisoners. Brown himself, after receiving several wounds in the head and body, was cut down and captured. Notwithstanding his wounds, he was brought to trial eight days after his arrest and, after a fair examination, was condemned to be hanged on the 2d of December. He died in the unwavering belief that he had contributed to a great cause. Almost the whole nation was thrown into an uproar. Republicans generally disavowed and condemned the act, but the people of the South had their fears multiplied.

433. Resolutions of Jefferson Davis.—On February 2, 1860, Jefferson Davis, who had already come to be recognized as the ablest leader of the Southern Democrats, submitted to the Senate a series of resolutions designed to formulate the Southern party doctrine. The most significant and important of these resolutions was the fourth, which declared that “neither Congress, nor a Territorial Legislature, whether by direct legislation or by legislation of an indirect and unfriendly character, possesses power to annul or impair the constitutional right of any citizen of the United States to take his slave property into the common territories, and there hold and enjoy the same while the territorial condition remains.” This resolution was no doubt intended not only to formulate a doctrine for the guidance of the South, but also to inflict a fatal stab upon Douglas, for the Illinois Senator had taken the ground, in the “Freeport Doctrine,” that notwithstanding the Dred Scott Decision, the people of a territory could make slavery impossible by what he called “unfriendly legislation.”

434. Movements of Public Opinion in the South.—While these discussions were going on in the North, public opinion was also taking form in the South. In various conventions, notably the one held at Nashville in 1850, much had been done to foster disunion sentiments. Secession seemed on the point of immediate accomplishment, and would very probably have taken place, but for the opposition of some of the leading Whigs of the South and the adoption of the Compromise of 1850. Although the crisis in that year was tided over, the South did not cease to proclaim that if ever a President should be elected by a sectional vote secession would inevitably follow. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, and some of the other leading Whigs attempted to oppose the movement as impolitic and unlikely to succeed, but they were swept away by an irresistible tide of public opinion, led by the more strenuous of the politicians. This movement increased in violence from 1850 to 1860. The fact that the reopening of the foreign slave trade was boldly advocated in various trade conventions, shows plainly how far the extreme pro-slavery men were willing to go.

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860.

435. Democratic Nominating Conventions.—The first outbreak of the coming storm occurred in the Democratic National Convention of 1860. This was held in Charleston, South Carolina, and lasted from April 23 to April 30. The delegates of the South were marshaled by William L. Yancey of Alabama; those of the North by Senator George H. Pugh of Ohio. The main contest was over the majority and minority reports of the Committee on Platform. While the Southern delegates demanded a declaration in accordance with Davis’s resolution that neither Congress nor any territorial government had the right to legislate in regard to slavery in any territory, the delegates of the North planted themselves firmly on the “Freeport Doctrine” of Popular Sovereignty. The storm raged with the utmost fury, in the midst of which Yancey declared that if the Popular Sovereignty doctrine were adopted, the Southern delegation would withdraw from the Convention. The followers of Douglas secured a majority, whereupon Yancey and his followers made good their threat, and marched out. This was the beginning of practical secession. Though the remaining delegates were a majority, they were not two-thirds of the Convention, and, therefore, no nomination under the rule of Democratic conventions could be made. The seceding faction adjourned to meet at Richmond, June 11, the others at Baltimore, June 18. An attempt was made to unite them at Baltimore, but both sides were firm, and the effort was fruitless. The consequence was that the Democrats finally made three nominations. John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, was the candidate of the Southern wing; Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, of the Northern; and John Bell, of Tennessee, of the Conservatives, who vainly hoped still to bring the factions together. Thus the predictions of Lincoln were abundantly fulfilled.

436. The Republican Nominating Convention.—The Republican Convention met on the 16th of May, in Chicago. Seward was the most prominent candidate, but the names of Chase^[194] of Ohio, Cameron of Pennsylvania, Dayton of New Jersey, and Bates of Missouri were all presented by the delegates of their respective states. Lincoln’s name showed great strength, as he was supported not only by Illinois, but also by many votes from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and New England. The platform adopted was in strict accordance with all Lincoln’s private and public utterances. It advocated no interference with slavery where it existed, no extension of slavery into the territories, and no reopening of the slave trade. On the first ballot, Seward had one hundred and seventy-three and one-half votes, and Lincoln followed with one hundred and two. On the second, Seward had one hundred and eighty-four and a half, and Lincoln one hundred and eighty-one. The excitement was tremendous. The number necessary for a choice was two hundred and thirty-three. On the third ballot, Lincoln had two hundred and thirty-one and a half, while Seward had fallen back to one hundred and eighty. There was no resisting the tide. Before the figures were removed, a delegate from Ohio sprang upon his chair, and reported a change of four votes from Chase to Lincoln. In an instant, one of the tellers shouted, “Lincoln!” whereupon it seemed as if the ten thousand persons present had become insane with enthusiasm. A cannon on the roof of the hall announced the result to the city in accordance with a preconcerted understanding. The chairman of the New York delegation, William M. Evarts, then moved that the nomination be made unanimous. This harmonious result was welcomed by Republicans in all parts of the country.

437. The Presidential Canvass.—The campaign was conducted with a vigor and an enthusiasm that had not been known since 1840. Lincoln made no speeches and wrote no letters for publication, but made himself accessible at Springfield to all callers who might care to meet him. But such a course was not followed by the Democrats. No progress was made toward reunion. On the contrary, the Breckinridge, or Southern wing, waged unrelenting war on Douglas, both in discussion and in the promise of distribution of patronage. Douglas was not slow to retaliate. He entered at once on an extensive campaigning tour and made speeches in many states, both North and South.

438. The Position of Douglas.—The most important utterance of all the campaign was one made by Douglas at Norfolk, Virginia. He was asked in writing whether he was in favor of maintaining the Union by force. He declared, without a moment’s hesitation: “I answer emphatically that it is the duty of the President of the United States, and all others in authority under him, to enforce the laws, and I, as in duty bound by my oath of fidelity to the Constitution, would do all in my power to aid the Government of the United States in maintaining the laws against all resistance to them, come from what quarter it might. In other words, I think the President, whoever he may be, should treat all attempts to break up the Union, by resistance to the laws, as Old Hickory treated the nullifiers in 1832.” The South made the fatal mistake of supposing that this view was not held by a large majority of the Democrats of the North. In reality, it was this view, so frankly expressed by Douglas, that finally united an overwhelming majority of the Northern Democrats in supporting, with more or less heartiness, the Republicans in the great war that was at hand.

439. Result of the Election.—In the election, Lincoln received one hundred and eighty electoral votes; Breckinridge, seventy-two; Bell, thirty-nine; and Douglas, twelve. Lincoln received the vote of every free state except New Jersey, whose vote was divided, four electors voting for Lincoln, and three for Douglas. Douglas, in addition to the three votes from New Jersey, received nine from Missouri; those of the other Southern states were divided between Breckinridge and Bell.

SECESSION OF THE SOUTH.

440. Secession of South Carolina and Other States.—At the time of the election, the legislature of South Carolina was in session. As soon as the result was known, that body called a State Convention to meet and consider the situation. The Convention met, and on the 20th of December, repealed the Act ratifying the Constitution, and declared that the union between South Carolina and the other states was dissolved. Before Lincoln’s inauguration, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida had followed the example of South Carolina. They seized all the military posts of the United States within their territory, a procedure that had been made easy by the strange doctrine of Buchanan that, although a state had no right to secede, the United States had no right to prevent it from seceding and carrying United States property with it.

441. Opposition to the Seceders.—The first step in opposition to the seceders was taken by Major Robert Anderson of Kentucky, who abandoned the untenable Fort Moultrie of which he was in charge, and posted himself in Fort Sumter, which, being on an island, could be more easily held for the Union if succor were speedily provided by the authorities in Washington. The latter were vacillating, however, or else were in open sympathy with the secessionists. The President was at least strong enough to resist the demand of the South Carolina Commissioners that Anderson should be ordered to evacuate Fort Sumter, and he also refused to receive further communications from the commissioners. Finally, too, he surrounded himself with a loyal Cabinet, through resignations which were voluntary, but should have been demanded. Chief among his new advisers were Jeremiah S. Black of Pennsylvania, Secretary of State; Edwin M. Stanton of Pennsylvania, Attorney-General; Joseph Holt of Kentucky, Secretary of War; and John A. Dix^[195] of New York, Secretary of the Treasury.

442. The Star of the West.—The reorganized Cabinet insisted on reËnforcing Anderson at Fort Sumter, but the attempt was made only with a merchant steamer, the Star of the West, which turned back at the fire of the Carolinian batteries (January 9, 1861). This rather weak step served the Southerners with matter for indignation and for charges that the North was bent on war. It also led to the discovery that Jacob Thompson of Mississippi, the Secretary of the Interior, had warned the South Carolinians of the intended reËnforcement. Thompson at once resigned, and Buchanan arranged a sort of armistice with the Southerners still in Congress, by which he was to be allowed to finish his administration in peace, it being understood that the forts should be neither reËnforced nor captured.

443. Last Attempts at Compromise.—In the course of 1860 and the early part of 1861, several attempts were made to reach a compromise. The most famous of these was the one introduced by Senator Crittenden, of Kentucky, December 18, 1860. He proposed a constitutional amendment in which the main clauses should prohibit slavery north of 36° 30', but protect it, as other property is protected, in all territory south of that line, and should arrange for admitting states north or south of that line, with or without slavery, as their constitutions might provide. While the Compromise was before a committee of thirteen, of which Seward was the most prominent Republican and Jefferson Davis the most prominent Democrat, Seward was offered by Lincoln the Secretaryship of State. Lincoln wrote, “On the territorial question, I am inflexible.” In further explanation he said that the adoption of the Compromise would only postpone the difficulties that then confronted the nation. In the committee, the Republicans voted against the Compromise, and Davis of Mississippi, and Toombs of Georgia, voted with them. The Republicans were responsible for its defeat. On January 3, 1861, Crittenden proposed that the whole subject of his Compromise be submitted to a direct vote of the people. Douglas powerfully supported the proposition; but Davis, in an elaborate speech in behalf of the South, made it apparent that compromise was now impossible. Other minor attempts met with similar failure.

444. Southern Confederacy Formed.—Soon after the Ordinances of Secession were passed by the several Southern states, their representatives, with only two exceptions, withdrew, one by one, from Congress. The Secession Conventions appointed delegates in number equal to their former senators and representatives at Washington, and the members so appointed met at Montgomery, Alabama, February 4, 1861, to form a Southern Confederacy. President Buchanan offered no opposition to this movement. The body was soon organized by the choice of Howell Cobb, of Georgia, as chairman. A provisional government for one year, under the name, “The Confederate States of America,” was adopted February 8, and the following day Jefferson Davis^[196] was chosen President of the Confederacy, and Alexander H. Stephens,^[197] of Georgia, Vice President. The Constitution, as elaborated and completed, was adopted on the 11th of March. Stephens, as Vice President, was formally inaugurated on the 10th of February, and Davis, as President, on the 18th. Thus the Confederate government was fully installed two weeks before the inauguration of Lincoln.

445. Stephens and Lincoln on the Causes of the War.—Soon after the inaugural ceremonies in the South, the newly chosen Vice President, in a speech at Savannah, explained the grounds of secession. After referring to Thomas Jefferson, he said: “The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen of the time of the formation of the old Constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.... Our government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.”^[198] For the purpose of reducing the causes of the war to a nutshell, this utterance may be placed in contrast with the summary of the Northern views by Lincoln: “Slavery is wrong and must not be extended. No state can in any way get out of the Union without the consent of the others. It is the duty of the President and of the other public functionaries to run the machine as it is.” At about the same time, in answer to an inquiry, Lincoln wrote to Stephens: “You think slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while we think it is wrong, and ought to be restricted. That, I suppose, is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.”

446. Misunderstandings and Mistakes.—While the South believed, as had so often been claimed by Calhoun and Davis, that it had a right to secede and that the North had no right to oppose secession with force, each side was deceived in regard to the strength and real purpose of the other. The South made the mistake of believing that the Douglas Democrats would not unite with the Republicans, and the North greatly underestimated the determination and the readiness for war on the part of the South. Neither side seems to have more than half believed that the other side would fight. As the South was far more ready than the North, it was certain that, in case of war, the South would gain the first victories. But as the North had far greater resources, it was also certain that, with equal skill and determination, the North would in the end be successful. Each side held that its own strength would prevent the other side from entering upon war. Seward was so optimistic as to believe that as soon as the North showed its determination, the South would yield, and war would be “over in ninety days.” If each side had thoroughly understood the other, probably no war would have occurred. But, not understanding each other, “one side,” as Lincoln once said, “would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.”

THE COUNTRY IN 1860–1861.

447. The Sections on the Eve of the Civil War.—If the South had been in a condition to reason calmly, the laying of the Atlantic cable, through the efforts of Cyrus W. Field,^[199] might have convinced its leaders that it was useless to uphold past ideals of government and a belated institution like slavery in the face of advancing civilization. The same lesson might have been taught them by the immense growth of the North and West since 1830. The increase in area, due to the settlement of the Oregon dispute and to the territory acquired from Mexico by war and purchase, had helped freedom rather than slavery. Of the 31,443,321 inhabitants of the whole country in 1860, only a little over 12,250,000 resided in the slaveholding states, including Missouri and Delaware, and of these twelve millions slightly over a third were negroes, who were in the main slaves. Over 3,500,000 persons lived in border states which did not join the Confederacy; so that when the crisis came, only about 8,700,000 whites in the South were to be matched against the 19,000,000 whites of the North and West. The advantage on the side of freedom was not really so great as these figures would make it; for the Southerners could leave their slaves at work and could flock to the front, while the Northern people had to keep their farms and factories going as well as fight. But when all allowances are made, the balance in favor of freedom was very great. The contrast between the sections is rendered all the more striking when we observe the great urban growth in the North and West. New York City in 1860 had about eight hundred thousand inhabitants; the South contained only two fairly large cities,—New Orleans and Baltimore. The foreign immigrants, nearly five million of whom had entered the country since 1830, when immigration practically began, saw even more clearly than many Americans the differences between the sections, and settled mainly in the North and West.

448. Wealth of the Country.—We have seen that in Jackson’s day the character of the average American became more energetic, and that the country entered upon an era of commercial expansion which even the panic of 1837 could not permanently check. The growth of manufacturing and of railroads had been enormous, chiefly in the North and West. In 1860 one billion dollars were invested in manufacturing, six billion five hundred million in farming. In the latter form of wealth the South, of course, had its share, since its cotton crops were very valuable. But the cotton was shipped in northern vessels and was exchanged for products not manufactured in the South. In the matter of railroads, a great gain had been made since 1850, twenty of the thirty thousand miles operated in 1860 having been laid within the decade.

449. Inventions.—It is almost needless to say that American inventiveness kept pace with the country’s growth in population and wealth. Between 1830 and 1860, Cyrus H. McCormick (1809–1884) invented his reaper, which revolutionized farming; S. F. B. Morse (1791–1872) made the telegraph an effective means of communication; Charles Goodyear (1800–1860) succeeded in vulcanizing india rubber; and Elias Howe (1819–1867) patented his sewing machine. The same epoch was marked by the growth of express companies, the first use of postage stamps, the perfection of the daguerreotyping process, the use of anÆsthetics, and the employment of steam fire engines. When we remember further that this was the era of such great scientists as Asa Gray (1810–1888) the botanist, J. D. Dana (1813–1895) the mineralogist, Joseph Henry (1797–1878) the physicist, and Louis Agassiz (1807–1873) the naturalist, as well as of the great historians, William H. Prescott (1796–1859), George Bancroft (1800–1891), and John Lothrop Motley (1814–1877), and of Emerson, Hawthorne, Longfellow, and other writers already mentioned, we can perceive that the intellectual growth of the nation had kept pace with its material development. Yet, with the exception of Commodore Matthew F. Maury (18061—1873),—who won fame for his work in physical geography, especially of the sea,—and of Edgar Allan Poe, nearly every one of these scientists and authors was a Northern man. From all points of view, therefore, the odds were against the South at the beginning of the great struggle.

References.—Rhodes’s History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 is the most thorough, impartial, and authoritative of all general works on the subject; the first two volumes are devoted to the years from 1850 to 1860, and by means of the full table of contents and the index, the student may obtain a fair presentation of the causes of the War, without reading the whole. Schouler’s United States, Vol. V., is also full and valuable. Wilson, Division and Reunion, 204-216; Johnson, American Politics, 188-196; Goldwin Smith, United States; Morse, Abraham Lincoln (2 vols. “American Statesmen”); Tarbell’s Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II., 1-150, contains much interesting material not before published; Sanborn, Life and Letters of John Brown; Stephens, War between the States, Vol. I., probably presents the ablest Southern view; Pollard, Lost Cause; Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Vol. I.; Greeley, American Conflict, Vol. I.; Grant, Personal Memoirs, Vol. I.; Sherman, Memoirs; Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln (10 vols.); Johnston, American Orations; Garrison, Life of William Lloyd Garrison, Vols. I. and II.; Buchanan, Buchanan’s Administration; Dabney, Defence of Virginia; Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox; F. Bancroft, Life of William H. Seward (2 vols.); Lothrop, William H. Seward (“American Statesmen”); Storey, Charles Sumner (“American Statesmen”); T. N. Page, The Old South; H. A. Wise, Seven Decades; Trent, W. G. Simms (“American Men of Letters”); Trent, Southern Statesmen of the Old RÉgime; Channing and Hart, Guide to American History.