Walter Coffey's Blog, page 183

The Historic Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 presidential election ensured that the divisions between North and South would not be resolved.

By 1860, antagonism between North and South over economic, political, and social issues had reached its peak. The new Republican Party, a northern coalition of mostly former Whigs and disgruntled Democrats, was on the rise while the Democratic Party was splitting along sectional lines. The presidential election marked one of the most dramatic turning points in American history.

The Democratic National Convention in Charleston featured a party in disarray. When the delegates rejected endorsing the federal protection of slavery, southerners walked out and no candidate received the necessary majority to win the presidential nomination. A second convention was called in which many southerners walked out again. This time Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, sponsor of the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, was nominated to run for president.

The angry southern Democrats held their own convention and nominated the current Vice President John Breckinridge of Kentucky for president. The southern platform advocated federal protection of slavery, no restriction on expanding slavery into the western territories, and possible secession from the Union if a Republican was elected president.

Meanwhile, the Republicans united at their convention in Chicago to nominate dark horse Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for president. Lincoln was not as well known as other potential nominees, and he had no executive experience on the federal level, having served just two years as a U.S. congressman. But he had gained national prominence for his debates with Douglas when he challenged the senator for his seat in 1858.

Lincoln also had appeal due to his western roots and his moderate position on slavery; he opposed abolition and supported only stopping the spread of slavery into the territories. Perhaps more importantly, the convention was held in Lincoln’s home state, and Lincoln’s handlers conspired with Chicago Mayor John Wentworth to pack the hall with Lincoln supporters using fake tickets.

The party platform advocated prohibiting slavery in the territories to keep them open to “white settlement” only so that black slave labor would not compete with white free labor. Most Republicans, including Lincoln, pledged not to interfere with slavery where it already existed. The platform also supported nationalizing the monetary system, raising protective tariffs on imports, and granting western land to settlers. All of these planks were extremely unpopular in the South and thus widened the sectional divide.

In addition to the Democratic and Republican candidates, a Constitutional Union Party was created and John Bell of Tennessee was nominated for president. The party declared its support for “The Union as it is, and the Constitution as it is,” and ignored the slavery issue altogether. But recent events, such as the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) and John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, made ignoring the issue impossible.

The sectional division in the country meant that there would essentially be two presidential contests: Lincoln versus Douglas in the North, and Breckinridge versus Bell in the South. The northern states had the most electoral votes, which meant that the presidency would be decided by the Lincoln/Douglas contest.

Thousands of Republicans canvassed the North, campaigning on their platform and sensing victory due to the split in the Democratic Party. A group called the “Wide Awakes” propagandized for Republicans by distributing pamphlets, delivering speeches, and publishing editorials in newspapers.

A pro-Democrat group called the “Chloroformers” declared that they would “put the ‘Wide Awakes’ to sleep.” Lincoln was savaged by the Democratic press, where he was called a “third-rate Westerner” who was too uncultured or uneducated to be president. Republicans countered by celebrating Lincoln’s humble life story, using him as an example that anyone could rise from poverty to become successful in America.

Lincoln followed custom and did not campaign for himself. Conversely, Douglas traveled throughout the country giving speeches and interviews. But his reputation was tarnished by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which had virtually plunged Kansas into civil war. Douglas was also vilified in the South for betraying southern principles due to this support for “popular sovereignty,” or the right of citizens in each territory to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery without federal interference.

When the early elections in New England, Indiana, and Pennsylvania produced Republican victories, Douglas knew that he was defeated. He suspended his campaign and traveled through the South to plead for preserving the Union. Douglas addressed a problem that Republicans failed to acknowledge: that southerners were serious about seceding if Lincoln was elected. During his tour, Douglas faced numerous hostile crowds who branded him a traitor.

In the early morning of November 7, Abraham Lincoln was notified via telegraph that he was the first Republican to win the presidency. He secured all the free states except one, while the other three candidates split the remaining states. However, Lincoln received less than 40 percent of the popular vote. In 10 southern states, Lincoln didn’t receive a single vote, and in the five slave states of the Upper South, Lincoln received only four percent of the popular vote. In all, Lincoln won only two out of 996 southern counties. The election featured the highest voter turnout in history up to that time.

Because of this split election, mass hysteria swept the country. People crowded the streets of southern cities and discussed secession. Northerners wondered if a Republican victory would mean disunion. With the election of Abraham Lincoln came the ominous threat of civil war.

The Dick Dowling Days Sesquicentennial

I had a great time selling and signing copies of my book, The Civil War Months, at the Dick Dowling Days 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Sabine Pass this past weekend. Reenactors came from various locales to stage the historic battle (details below), and memorial services commemorated the sacrifices of both Union and Confederate soldiers in the battle and the war in general.

This was my first trip to Sabine Pass, which is located on the Sabine River separating Texas and Louisiana. The heat, wind, and rain was a bit more intense than I was accustomed to, but it was well worth it to be a part of such a terrific event. I am highly appreciative of the warm hospitality that I received, and I hope to return some time soon!

Excerpt from The Civil War Months:

With Louisiana under Federal occupation, the Lincoln administration sought a military expansion into eastern Texas. The region was rich with cotton, and cotton-starved New England mills were applying political pressure for relief. Mexico was also shipping arms through this region to the South. Moreover, a Federal presence in eastern Texas could threaten the French puppet regime in Mexico and prevent France from recognizing the Confederacy.

Major General Nathaniel Banks, commander of the Federal Department of the Gulf, decided to launch an invasion via Sabine Pass, at the mouth of the Sabine River at the Texas-Louisiana border. A detachment of Federal transports and gunboats occupied Sabine Pass and prepared to advance on Beaumont and Houston.

The Confederates could muster only 47 defenders on the Sabine River, led by General John B. Magruder and Lieutenant Dick Dowling. Nevertheless, they destroyed a Federal gunboat from a nearby earthwork and forced the withdrawal of the remaining vessels. The humiliated Federals returned to New Orleans, while this small engagement greatly boosted Confederate morale in Texas.

The Civil War This Week: Sep 9-15, 1863

Wednesday, September 9

General William S. Rosecrans’s Federal Army of the Cumberland entered Chattanooga this morning. Rosecrans wired General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, “Chattanooga is ours without a struggle and East Tennessee is free.” The Federals had conducted another brilliant campaign of maneuver with little loss of life.

General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee had reluctantly abandoned the prized city. Hoping to destroy Bragg’s army, Rosecrans immediately ordered a pursuit despite being deep in hostile territory. The Federals were also dangerously split into three columns, while Bragg much closer than expected.

President Jefferson Davis decided to send General James Longstreet’s Second Corps from the Army of Northern Virginia to reinforce Bragg. Because the Federals now occupied Cumberland Gap, Longstreet’s troops had to travel through the Carolinas and Georgia via Atlanta to get to Bragg.

In Charleston Harbor, a Federal flotilla attempting to land at Fort Sumter was repulsed with heavy losses. Sumter’s walls were crumbling from continued Federal artillery, but the defenders refused to surrender. Skirmishing occurred in the Indian Territory.

Thursday, September 10

As Federal forces captured Fort Smith on Arkansas’s western border, the Federals threatened eastern Arkansas. Outnumbered, Confederate General Sterling Price evacuated the state capital of Little Rock and withdrew to Rockport and Arkadelphia. The Federals entered the capital unopposed and seized control of the Arkansas River. This threatened General Edmund Kirby Smith’s entire Confederate Trans-Mississippi District.

William Rosecrans’s Federals probed Confederate positions in Georgia below Chattanooga. James Longstreet’s Confederates began moving out of Virginia to reinforce Braxton Bragg. The Federal shelling of Fort Sumter temporarily ceased.

In North Carolina, Confederate soldiers destroyed the offices of the Raleigh Standard, a newspaper owned by pro-Union politician William W. Holden. Skirmishing occurred in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

Friday, September 11

Reconnaissance and skirmishing continued between Rosecrans’s Federals and Bragg’s Confederates in northern Georgia. The Federals continued advancing on Confederate positions without knowing exactly where they were.

President Abraham Lincoln instructed Governor Andrew Johnson to organize a pro-Union government in Tennessee. Lincoln also met with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton and General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck to discuss the Charleston campaign. A Federal expedition began from La Grange, Tennessee to Corinth, Mississippi. Skirmishing occurred in West Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

Saturday, September 12

Federal probing of Confederate positions continued in northern Georgia. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Sunday, September 13

When James Longstreet’s corps was pulled from General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army and sent to reinforce Braxton Bragg, Lee was compelled to withdraw to the Rapidan River in northern Virginia. As a result, General George G. Meade’s Federal Army of the Potomac moved from the Rappahannock River and occupied Culpeper Court House. Clashes took place at Brandy Station, Muddy Run, Stevenson, and other points.

General Ulysses S. Grant was ordered to send all available troops to aid William Rosecrans at Chattanooga. In Georgia, Braxton Bragg ordered a Confederate attack on Federal scouts, but the order was not carried out.

In South Carolina, Federal telegraphers were captured near Lowndes’ Mill on the Combahee River. In Mississippi, 20 Federal crewmen from U.S.S. Rattler were captured by Confederate cavalry while attending church services at Rodney. Skirmishing occurred in Missouri.

Monday, September 14

Skirmishing continued between George G. Meade’s Federals and Robert E. Lee’s Confederates in northern Virginia. Other skirmishing occurred in West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana.

Tuesday, September 15

Citing the existing “state of rebellion,” President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus throughout the North in cases where the Federal military or civil authorities held citizens in custody for suspected disloyalty. Lincoln also wrote to General-in-Chief Halleck that George G. Meade should attack Robert E. Lee immediately. Meade chose not to attack.

Federal expeditions began from Virginia, Missouri, and the New Mexico Territory. William Rosecrans and Braxton Bragg began concentrating their forces as various skirmishes took place in northern Georgia. Skirmishing also occurred in Virginia and Missouri.

Primary source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)

The Revolution of 1800

The 1800 presidential election featured the first peaceful transition of power from a defeated incumbent to a victorious challenger. This proved that the federal system of government could function without an uprising.

The main candidates in the 1800 election were President John Adams and Vice President Thomas Jefferson. Adams was allied with a faction of politicians called “Federalists” (official parties had not yet been created), who favored manufacturing, friendly relations with Great Britain, and a strong central government. Jefferson belonged to the Democratic-Republican (or Republican) faction, which advocated agriculture, friendly relations with France, and a limited central government.

Although they belonged to different factions, Adams and Jefferson had been serving as a president-vice president tandem for the past four years. This caused much dissension in the executive branch, and both factions sought to remedy this in the upcoming election. Federalists and Republicans selected Charles Pinckney and Aaron Burr respectively to run for president.

Electoral ballots did not differentiate between presidential and vice presidential candidates at the time; instead, the top vote-getter was elected president and the second-best was elected vice president. The idea of putting Pinckney and Burr into the race was to arrange that electors would cast more votes for either Adams or Jefferson than for Pinckney or Burr, thus helping to ensure that either a Federalist or Republican president-vice president team would be elected.

The wild card was former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton led a powerful group called the “High Federalists,” which felt that Adams’s policies were too moderate. Hamilton wrote a letter criticizing Adams’s policies, and he urged electors to select Pinckney for president. This threatened to split the Federalists and pave the way for a Republican victory.

By 1800, many Americans were dissatisfied with Adams, mainly because his Alien and Sedition Acts had restricted immigration and government criticism; these were seen as unconstitutional attacks on civil liberties. Jefferson had openly opposed these acts by urging state legislatures to nullify them. In addition, new federal property taxes had adversely affected every property owner in the U.S., causing people to become concerned that the new national government was overreaching its intended scope.

The election campaign was the most vicious to date. Federalists warned that if Republicans won control of the government, they would copy the French Revolution and use the guillotine on their opponents. Federalists also warned that Republicans would ban religion and wage war on Britain. In turn, Republicans accused Federalists of favoring the rich, expanding the central government at the states’ expense, and destroying civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution.

Both factions tried rigging the election process in their favor. In Georgia, the Republican legislature voted to elect the president themselves rather than allow a popular election that could result in a Federalist victory. Federalist legislators did the same in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

With no uniform Election Day, elections took place in the various states from April to October. The Federalists and Republicans were tied in electoral votes when the last state, South Carolina, cast its eight votes for the Republicans. The Republicans won the presidency and both houses of Congress for the first time.

However, the Republican electors had bungled their plan to elect Jefferson and Burr as a president-vice president tandem, instead casting the same number of votes for each candidate. Adams finished third, becoming the first president to be defeated for reelection. But the question of whether Jefferson or Burr would become president remained in doubt.

According to the Constitution, election disputes were to be decided by the House of Representatives. The House was controlled by Federalists, many of whom had been voted out of office and were simply waiting for the congressional session to end. Knowing that the Republicans had wanted Jefferson for president all along, most Federalists supported Burr to upset their plan.

The House deadlocked for nearly a week until Hamilton, who disliked both Jefferson and Burr but considered Burr more dangerous, lobbied extensively among his fellow Federalists to elect Jefferson. Finally, Jefferson was elected on the 36th ballot and he became the third U.S. president. Hamilton’s intense criticism of Burr caused great animosity between the two men which ultimately led to a duel that ended Hamilton’s life four years later.

This election prompted a change to the Constitution in the way the Electoral College voted for president and vice president. Under the Twelfth Amendment, two members of different factions would not have to serve with each other, and candidates for president and vice president were explicitly declared. The amendment was ratified in 1804, and the changes are still being used in presidential elections today.

Despite the bitterness of the campaign, the Federalists accepted the result and voluntarily surrendered government control to the Republicans in what became known as the “Revolution of 1800.” This proved to the world that the U.S. could conduct free elections and generate a peaceful transfer of power based on the election results. This helped ensure U.S. credibility abroad, and it exemplified the republican ideals embodied in the Constitution.

The Civil War This Week: Sep 2-8, 1863

Wednesday, September 2

In eastern Tennessee, General Ambrose Burnside’s Federal Army of the Ohio entered Knoxville unopposed. The city had been virtually undefended, as most Confederates had left to join General Braxton Bragg at Chattanooga. The Federals were overwhelmingly welcomed by the predominantly pro-Union residents. The fall of Knoxville cut a key rail link between Chattanooga and Virginia, which forced Bragg to use a roundabout route through Georgia to supply his men.

In Charleston Harbor, the Federal bombardment lessened, but Federal troops entrenched themselves within 80 yards of Battery Wagner’s earthworks on Morris Island. The Alabama state legislature approved employing slaves in Confederate armies.

President Lincoln informed Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase that portions of Virginia and Louisiana could not be included under the Emancipation Proclamation because the “original proclamation has no constitutional or legal justification except as a military measure.”

A Federal expedition began from Martinsburg, West Virginia. Federal naval forces destroyed buildings and four small boats in a raid on Peace Creek, Florida. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, as Federal cavalry destroyed two Confederate (formerly Federal) gunboats on the Rappahannock River.

Thursday, September 3

A portion of General William S. Rosecrans’s Federal Army of the Cumberland skirmished with Braxton Bragg’s Confederates in Georgia as part of Rosecrans’s campaign to capture Chattanooga.

Federal troops fought Indians in California’s Hoopa Valley and in the Dakota Territory. Federal military operations began in the Humboldt Military District of California. Federal guns began pounding Battery Wagner.

Friday, September 4

In Tennessee, William S. Rosecrans’s Federals continued their advance on Chattanooga. The Federals crossed the Tennessee River at Bridgeport, Alabama and Shellmound, Tennessee, and began encircling the city. Confederate President Jefferson Davis urged Braxton to hold Chattanooga while trying to muster reinforcements.

Federal transports and supply ships left New Orleans, advancing toward the Texas-Louisiana coast at Sabine Pass. This was the first of several moves by General Nathaniel Banks’s Federal Army of the Gulf to capture important points in Texas, both as an offensive against Confederates and as a display of force to the French occupying Mexico.

Women looted food and supply stores in Mobile, Alabama while carrying signs reading “Bread or Blood” and “Bread and Peace.” Southern discontent with the economy and hardships of war were becoming more prominent in the press. Federals scouted from Cold Water Grove, Missouri, and from Fort Lyon, Colorado toward Fort Larned, Kansas. Skirmishing occurred in Arkansas, Missouri and West Virginia.

Saturday, September 5

U.S. Minister Charles Francis Adams informed British Lord John Russell that if Confederate ironclads left the British shipyards, “it would be superfluous for me to point out to your Lordship that this is war.” Two ships known as the “Laird Rams” were under construction in British navy yards, ostensibly to be used by the Confederacy. Unbeknownst to Adams, Russell had previously ordered the ships detained at Birkenhead. The “Laird Rams” were not delivered to the Confederacy, and an international crisis was averted.

In Charleston Harbor, Federals edged closer to the earthworks surrounding Battery Wagner as Federal artillery continued firing. Confederates repulsed a Federal attack on Fort Gregg on the north end of Morris Island. The Charleston Mercury stated that President Davis “has lost the confidence of both the army and the people.”

Meanwhile, President Davis urgently asked Braxton Bragg, “What is your proposed plan of operation (at Chattanooga)? Can you ascertain intention of enemy?… can you not cut his line of communication and compel him to retreat for want of supplies?”

William S. Rosecrans’s Federals skirmished with Confederates in Alabama and Georgia. Federals also skirmished in eastern Tennessee as they moved in on Cumberland Gap from Knoxville. Skirmishing occurred in Arkansas, and Federals battled Indians in the Dakota Territory.

Sunday, September 6

In Charleston Harbor, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard evacuated Battery Wagner and Fort Gregg amidst the relentless Federal naval bombardment of the harbor forts. But Fort Sumter and Charleston held firm.

Monday, September 7

In Charleston Harbor, Federals occupied Battery Wagner, which gave them a better position to fire upon Forts Sumter and Moultrie in the harbor.

Skirmishing occurred in Georgia, below Chattanooga. Other skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, Missouri, and Kansas.

Tuesday, September 8

In eastern Texas, a detachment of Federal transports and gunboats under General William Franklin occupied Sabine Pass and prepared to advance on Beaumont and Houston. The Confederates could muster only 47 defenders on the Sabine River, led by General John B. Magruder and Lieutenant Dick Dowling. Nevertheless, they destroyed a Federal gunboat from a nearby earthwork and forced the withdrawal of the remaining vessels. The humiliated Federals returned to New Orleans, while this small engagement greatly boosted Confederate morale in Texas.

In Charleston Harbor, Federal naval vessels bombarded the forts as the Federals prepared for a small-boat operation by night against Fort Sumter. William S. Rosecrans’s Federals skirmished in Alabama and Georgia. Other skirmishing occurred in Virginia, West Virginia, Louisiana, and the Arizona Territory.

President Davis informed General Robert E. Lee of the increasing threat to Braxton Bragg at Chattanooga; Davis said that he considered sending Lee west, but feared that Lee’s absence would demoralize the Army of Northern Virginia. Confederate Attorney General Thomas H. Watts resigned, having been elected governor of Alabama. He was replaced on an interim basis by Wade Keyes.

The Barbary Wars

In the early 1800s, the U.S. employed military force to stop piracy in the Mediterranean without a congressional declaration of war. This set many important and dangerous precedents.

At that time, Muslims from the so-called Barbary States of North Africa (Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, and Tripoli) often attacked commercial shipping from Christian nations, primarily in Europe. Europeans generally responded by paying tribute (i.e., bribes) to free captured crewmen and ensure no further piracy.

When the U.S. won its independence, it joined Europe in paying these tributes. However, some politicians such as Thomas Jefferson argued that paying tribute only emboldened the Muslim pirates. It also interfered with the vision of Jefferson and fellow founders of America conducting free trade throughout the world.

As such, the U.S. government began constructing a navy to protect its merchant marine. This began the practice of subsidizing the defense of private shippers with taxpayer money, rather than compelling the shippers to finance a private security force of their own for mutual defense.

By 1800, annual tributes to the Barbary States equated to about 20 percent of the entire federal budget. Congress passed a law authorizing the construction of six naval ships that “shall be officered and manned as the President of the United States may direct… (to) protect our commerce & chastise their (the Barbary pirates) insolence—by sinking, burning or destroying their ships & Vessels wherever you shall find them.”

When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, Pasha Yussif Karamanli of Tripoli tested him by demanding higher tribute payments than those agreed upon in a treaty signed five years earlier. Jefferson, who had long opposed paying tribute to pirates, refused. The pasha responded by cutting down the American flag from the U.S. consulate, which Jefferson considered to be an act of war.

Enterprise vs. Tripoli

Halting plans to reduce military spending, Jefferson dispatched naval forces to the Mediterranean to protect U.S. shipping and force Tripoli to comply with the 1796 treaty. Although he acknowledged that he was “unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense,” the schooner U.S.S. Enterprise quickly defeated the Tripolitan ship Tripoli in a one-sided battle.

Congress never declared war, instead passing “An act for the Protection of Commerce and seamen of the United States against the Tripolitan cruisers” in 1802. This empowered Jefferson to take whatever measures he thought necessary to protect U.S. commerce, including seizing Tripolitan ships and property “and also to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify.”

For the next two years, U.S. naval vessels patrolled the Mediterranean and blockaded Barbary ports. U.S.S. Philadelphia was captured when she ran aground in Tripoli Harbor, but U.S. Marines under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur burned the ship in early 1804 to prevent her from being used by the enemy.

In the spring of 1805, a contingent of U.S. Marines, Greeks, and Arabs marched from Egypt, through the North African desert, to capture the Tripolitan city of Derna. The victory was memorialized in the Marine Corps hymn, “… to the shores of Tripoli.” This invasion, combined with the blockade and other raids, prompted the pasha to sue for peace.

The U.S. victory briefly ended Barbary piracy. When the U.S. went to war against Great Britain in the War of 1812, the Muslims resumed their raids on shipping. Umar ben Muhammad, the Dey of Algiers, declared war on the U.S. for failing to pay tribute. Congress responded by authorizing President James Madison to attack Muslim pirates just as Jefferson had done a decade earlier.

The war ended when the U.S. naval fleet under Commodore Stephen Decatur captured several Algerian ships and threatened to bombard Algiers Harbor. Decatur became a national hero, and he delivered a toast at a banquet in his honor: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be right; but our country, right or wrong.”

The Barbary Wars legitimized the U.S. military in the eyes of the world. They also increased military expenditures, and they made commercial shippers more reliant on government for protection. Moreover, the wars set an alarming precedent that future presidents seized upon: the notion that armed personnel can be deployed for combat without a congressional declaration of war.

The Jefferson Civil War Symposium

My wife Gianna and I had a wonderful time meeting new people and signing books at the 2nd Annual Civil War Symposium in Jefferson, Texas on Saturday, August 17.

The symposium included several speakers who discussed the role of eastern Texas during and after the war, Jefferson in particular. Some of the information is detailed in the ”Eastern Texas Campaign” sections of my book, The Civil War Months.

This was our second visit to Jefferson in northeastern Texas, and Gianna and I were once again greeted to good food and warm southern hospitality! We are eternally grateful to the people of Jefferson for putting on such a great event and welcoming us to their historic town. Hats off to Jefferson!

The Civil War This Week: Aug 26-Sep 1, 1863

Wednesday, August 26

In Charleston Harbor, Federals captured Confederate rifle pits in front of Battery Wagner on Morris Island. Confederate President Jefferson Davis confirmed General P.G.T. Beauregard’s decision to hold Fort Sumter.

In a letter to the “Unconditional Union Men” in Springfield, Illinois, President Abraham Lincoln wrote, “I do not believe any compromise, embracing the maintenance of the Union, is now possible.” He added, “Peace does not appear so distant as it did.”

Former U.S. Secretary of War and Confederate General John B. Floyd died in Virginia. In West Virginia, heavy skirmishing occurred among William Averell’s Federals at Rock Gap. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

Thursday, August 27

President Davis expressed concern about increased Federal pressure on both Charleston and Chattanooga. Skirmishing occurred in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

Friday, August 28

Federals conducted expeditions from Stevenson, Alabama to Trenton, Georgia, and from Lexington to various counties in Missouri. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Tennessee.

Saturday, August 29

In Charleston Harbor, the experimental Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley sank during a test run, killing the five crewmen aboard.

In Tennessee, General William S. Rosecrans’s Federal Army of the Cumberland moved slowly but decisively south of Chattanooga in an effort to capture the city by flanking it. The city was defended by General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee.

In the New Mexico Territory, Federal skirmishing increased with Navajo Indians. Skirmishing occurred in Missouri and Alabama.

Sunday, August 30

In Charleston Harbor, Federal batteries inflicted heavy damage on Fort Sumter, as Confederate continued digging guns from the fort’s rubble and transferring them to Charleston.

A Federal expedition began toward Chattanooga, and another expedition operated around Leesburg, Virginia. In Arkansas, skirmishing occurred as Federal forces continued their campaign to capture the state capital at Little Rock.

Monday, August 31

Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee, Alabama, and Kansas.

Tuesday, September 1

The Federal military occupation of Missouri expanded into Arkansas, as Federal forces captured Fort Smith on Arkansas’s western border. Meanwhile, Federals also threatened eastern Arkansas and the state capital of Little Rock.

In Charleston Harbor, Federal artillery hammered Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter; the firing of 627 rounds ended the second phase of the bombardment. Sumter was in ruins, but its Confederate garrison refused to surrender.

In Tennessee, William Rosecrans’s Federals crossed the Tennessee River as they edged closer Braxton Bragg’s Confederates at Chattanooga. The crossing was largely unopposed, with minor skirmishing taking place in northern Alabama. President Davis told Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris that reinforcements and arms were being sent to Bragg in Chattanooga.

Skirmishing occurred in various points of northern Virginia. Federals began moving from Natchez, Mississippi to Harrisonburg, Louisiana. Federal expeditions began from Paducah, Kentucky into Tennessee.

Primary Source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)

Women’s Suffrage: A Hollow Victory?

After a struggle lasting over half a century, women were finally granted the right to vote. Supporters had long believed that female suffrage would end perceived gender inequality in America. Many ended up disappointed.

Suffragettes parading for women’s voting rights

In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law. This prohibited the federal government and the states from denying people the right to vote because of their gender, thus granting women the right to vote in all elections for the first time. This victory for women’s rights was the culmination of a movement that had begun over 70 years earlier.

The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 first brought the issue of women’s rights to the national stage. One hundred attendees signed the “Declaration of Women’s Rights,” which was closely modeled after the Declaration of Independence. The declaration included a call for female suffrage.

This helped launch the activist careers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone. The women’s rights movement addressed various economic issues (equal pay for equal work), social issues (the right to divorce and birth control), and political issues (the right to vote). However, most activists agreed that female suffrage should be the first priority because they believed it would best guarantee gender equality.

When the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870 granting all men (including former slaves) the right to vote, female activists argued that it should include women as well. Some activists, such as Lucy Stone, expressed support for the “Negro’s hour,” but Elizabeth Cady Stanton condemned the notion of uneducated black and immigrant men voting while educated women were excluded: “Think of Patrick and Sambo and Hans and Ung Tung who do not know the difference between a Monarchy and a Republic, who never read the Declaration of Independence… making laws for Lydia Maria Child, Lucretia Mott, or Fanny Kemble.”

In 1872, the Equal Rights Party was organized for the sole purpose of granting women the right to vote. The party nominated Virginia Woodhull to run for president, even though she was constitutionally ineligible to hold the office because she was not yet 35 years old. Woodhull declared that if the federal government continued ignoring women’s rights, it should be overthrown. That same year, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for attempting to vote in the presidential election. She lost her plea in court, but her trial helped popularize the movement.

The National Woman Suffrage Association was founded to lobby for a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. However, the NWSA alienated many women by supporting such radical ideas as granting easier access to birth control and divorce. Those disillusioned by the NWSA’s radicalism formed the more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1890, the two groups merged to become a powerful lobby for female suffrage.

Meanwhile, western territories and states began granting female suffrage to encourage women to settle among their male-dominated populations. Women’s suffrage began with the Wyoming Territory in 1869, followed by Colorado in 1893, then Utah in 1896. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. Many reasoned that if a woman could serve in Congress, why couldn’t she vote?

For many years, women tirelessly lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to win the right to vote. As the Progressive movement swept across America in the early 20th century, the Progressives became champions of female suffrage, largely because women were more sympathetic to their quasi-socialist political agenda. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, initially formed to push for prohibiting alcohol, took up the suffrage cause as well. Women soon comprised a major part of the Progressive movement as they became more politically active.

Parades were organized to support female suffrage, and women activists were nicknamed “suffragettes.” The National Woman’s Party, led by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, pushed for a constitutional amendment. When the U.S. entered World War I and President Woodrow Wilson declared that “The world must be made safe for democracy,” many suffragettes declared that America was not a democracy as long as women were barred from voting.

After suffragettes picketed the White House for nearly a year, Wilson finally voiced support for female suffrage. This prompted Congress to begin the amendment process that led to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. The presidential elections of 1920 marked the first time in U.S. history that women were allowed to cast their ballots in a national election.

The Nineteenth Amendment was hailed as a major achievement in the struggle for gender equality in America. Since its passage, women have become a powerful voting bloc with strong influence over national issues and elections. And the strong female alliance with the Progressive movement has helped lead to the massive increase in the federal government’s size and scope since 1920.

Many expected the amendment to galvanize a push for more social change on behalf of women, but it actually hindered the women’s movement because the unifying goal of female suffrage was now achieved. As such, the amendment broke the national women’s rights movement apart, resulting in smaller groups with less political clout and differing objectives.

Two generations later, the women’s rights movement was revived by the National Organization for Women (NOW), which helped push for a constitutional amendment granting equal rights to women. However, the Equal Rights Amendment was not ratified. The Nineteenth Amendment granted political equality to women, but it didn’t correct the perceived social inequalities that supporters had hoped.

Was Herbert Hoover a Do-Nothing President?

Historians generally blame President Hoover for doing nothing to stop the Great Depression. But the truth is that his interventionist policies not only failed to stop the downward economic spiral, they actually made the spiral worse.

31st U.S. President Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover was no stranger to government intervention in the economy. During World War I, he had virtually controlled the U.S. food supply as head of the Food Administration. As commerce secretary in the 1920s, he had championed government regulation of the new radio and airline industries, and he supported the alliance of government and business that fuels crony capitalism. As president, he immediately sought to centrally plan the economy after the stock market crashed in 1929.

Meeting with prominent business leaders at the White House, Hoover implored them not to cut wages during the economic recession. Hoover reasoned that if wages stayed high, workers would have the means to keep buying, which would stimulate the economy. But recessions generally result in less consumer demand, which means that businesses must cut supply to match the lower demand. Cutting supply means either cutting wages or workers to stay afloat. By insisting that businesses keep wages high, Hoover unwittingly forced them to cut workers. No wonder unemployment was near a staggering 25 percent when Hoover left office in 1933.

Hoover’s belief that government regulation could improve people’s lives was applied to agriculture. Farming had suffered greatly in the 1920s, mainly because the enormous demand for farm products during World War I the previous decade had dropped when the war ended. What was needed to correct this was not more government regulation, but less farmers.

The overabundance of farm products caused prices to sharply decline. Thus, Hoover approved creating a Federal Farm Board to ensure that farmers kept their products off the market until prices rose. But once prices did rise, farmers tried to maximize their profits by producing even more, which only exacerbated the overabundance problem.

Eventually, the federal government began buying surplus farm products to keep them off the market. The rationale for this was that world demand would cause prices to rise again. However, this only encouraged foreign countries to go somewhere else for their products, thus drying up the U.S. market and making the farm problem even worse.

In keeping with Republican Party tradition, Hoover supported high tariffs (i.e., taxes) on goods imported from other countries. In 1930, he signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff into law despite the objections of over 1,000 economists. Hoover believed that this would stimulate the production of U.S. products.

The new tariff raised rates an average of 59 percent on 25,000 items, the highest in history up to that time. The rate hikes shocked world leaders who were hoping to stimulate their own economies through more free trade. Countries retaliated with high tariffs of their own, which sparked an international trade war that dramatically shrunk world trade and turned the recession into a depression. The new tariffs had another unintended consequence: Japanese interests were badly damaged, prompting the rise of a militant nationalist movement in Japan that led in part to World War II.

Under Hoover, government spending went through the roof on programs like public works, which took billions of dollars out of the private sector that could have otherwise been used to revive the economy. Another program was the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which bailed out failing railroads and banks, the Republicans’ two most important special-interest groups.

To get bailout money, a business had to be close to failing. Thus, the RFC propped up failure instead of allowing businesses to liquidate so their resources could be redirected to more successful enterprises. Moreover, RFC funds often went to businesses with the best political connections, not to those most in need. Political corruption and special-interest lobbying ensured that the RFC would have a minimal impact on combating the depression.

By 1931, excessive government spending on these programs created a $2 billion deficit that could only be remedied by higher taxes. So Hoover approved the largest peacetime tax increase up to that time. Taxes were raised on virtually everything, including individuals and businesses. Raising taxes deterred people from engaging in private investment, which stunted economic growth and job creation even further.

Herbert Hoover’s policies of maintaining high wages, setting price and production controls, implementing protectionism, and increasing spending and taxing essentially destroyed any chance for the economy to correct itself after the stock market crash.

Therefore, it can be argued that the true failure of the Hoover administration was not that it did too little to combat the depression, but that it did too much and actually made the crisis worse. In fact, Hoover turned a recession into a depression. It would take Franklin D. Roosevelt to turn the depression in the Great Depression.