Walter Coffey's Blog, page 189

The Legend of John Brown

John Brown is one of the most controversial figures in American history. He has been revered for seeking to abolish slavery, but he has also been vilified for his brutality. He would have most likely been considered a terrorist today.

God’s Avenging Angel

John Brown was a deeply religious man who had failed in almost every business venture he attempted. Nevertheless, after an abolitionist was murdered in Illinois, Brown became convinced that God had given him a divine mission to destroy slavery. At the time, the small minority of Americans who supported abolishing slavery were considered radicals. And because Brown resorted to violence while most other abolitionists used peaceful means to achieve their goals, he was considered a very dangerous radical.

Brown first gained notoriety in the Kansas Territory in the mid-1850s. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces were battling for control of the territorial government, and Brown was financed by prominent northern abolitionists to go to Kansas and incite violence against pro-slavery men. The pro-slavers raided the anti-slave town of Lawrence in 1856, and after one man was killed in the raid (ironically a pro-slavery supporter), Brown and his followers sought revenge.

In the name of defeating “Satan and his legions,” Brown and his accomplices targeted five men on the Pottawatomie Creek. None of the men owned slaves, but Brown considered them pro-slavery supporters. Brown and his men dragged each victim from his cabin and hacked him to death with broadswords as the families watched in horror. This became known as the “Pottawatomie Creek Massacre.” Now a fugitive, Brown headed north to seek more funding from abolitionists to conduct more terrorism in the name of destroying slavery.

Planning a Slave Revolt

A group of six wealthy abolitionists secretly financed John Brown’s operations; they became known as the “secret six.” After plotting for nearly three years, Brown revealed his grand plan to former slave and famed civil rights leader Frederick Douglass:

Brown and his men would seize the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). They would then steal the 100,000 arms stored in the armory and arm the local slaves, who would join Brown’s force and move south to arm more slaves until all of Virginia was liberated. Brown hoped the movement would then spread throughout the South, devastating the southern economy and forcing an end to slavery.

The “secret six” were most likely unaware of Brown’s plan. But they gave him money, even though they were well aware of Brown’s character and criminal record. Brown used that money to conduct an act of treason so fanatical that Douglass not only refused Brown’s offer to join him, but he discouraged other blacks from joining Brown as well.

The Raid on Harpers Ferry

On the night of October 16, 1859, John Brown and 19 followers invaded Harpers Ferry with a wagon filled with tools and weapons. They seized the federal arsenal complex and captured hostages from nearby farms, including the great-grandnephew of George Washington. But then the plan quickly unraveled.

As a train arrived in town, Brown’s forces killed the baggage master, ironically a free black man. News that Harpers Ferry was under attack was telegraphed from the train to Washington. Nearby slaves did not join the attack; instead local farmers, shopkeepers, and state militia descended from the bluffs to stop the raid. The raiders’ only escape route was blocked. Brown and his men withdrew to the arsenal’s engine house and holed up while furious citizens picked them off. Ten of Brown’s men were killed, including two of his sons.

Within 36 hours, the engine house was completely surrounded, with U.S. Marines commanded by Colonel Robert E. Lee arriving on the scene. After their demand to surrender was refused, the Marines stormed the building. Three raiders managed to escape, but Brown and his six remaining followers were captured. Brown’s master plan had failed miserably.

John Brown’s Trial

The Virginia governor demanded that Brown and his followers be tried in Virginia, even though the crimes were committed on federal property. The trial began in October 1859 in Charles Town. Brown and his accomplices were tried for treason against Virginia, murdering five men, and conspiring to incite slave insurrection.

The conspiracy to incite a slave revolt was especially horrifying to southerners, who saw any attempt to arm slaves as a threat to national security and sovereignty. The guilt was undeniable. The jury quickly convicted the men and sentenced them to death by hanging in the public square.

On the morning of December 2, Brown was escorted to the gallows. He gave no last words, instead handing the guard a note: “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done.” He was hanged at 11:15 a.m. in the presence of nearly 2,000 state troops.

John Brown’s Legacy

The sensational raid and execution shook the country. In the North, church bells rang, cannons were fired, and memorial services were held to mourn Brown’s death. He was praised by many famous northerners, and some abolitionists even compared him to Christ for sacrificing himself for the sin of slavery. Some more moderate northerners condemned Brown’s actions but praised his intentions.

In Washington, the Senate conducted hearings, and Democrats accused Republicans of supporting the raid. A formal report concluded that Republican ideology may have been indirectly responsible for Brown’s attack. However, Republicans generally denounced Brown’s actions; potential Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln declared that Brown was a “misguided fanatic” who was justly hanged.

In the South, people were generally shocked by the northern reverence for a treasonous fanatic who had conducted an act of terrorism that could have destroyed the country. The notion that northerners condoned acts of terrorism against the South led many southerners to believe they were no longer safe within the Union. As a result, southern states began strengthening their militias until they finally began seceding the following year.

John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry was a seminal event in American history. It further divided the country between North and South and helped spark a conflict that cost over 600,000 lives. Many historians consider John Brown a heroic martyr for trying to destroy slavery in America. However, Brown’s tactics made him what historian Ken Chowder called “the father of American terrorism.”

Civil War Spotlight: The Copperhead Movement

The military Department of the Ohio, which included the region west of the Alleghenies and north of the Ohio River, was heavily populated by “Copperheads,” or northerners who opposed the war. Their nickname was derived from their practice of wearing copper pennies in their lapels. Copperheads were also known as “Peace Democrats” or “Butternuts” for the color of some Confederate uniforms.

Copperheads owned many influential newspapers such as the Chicago Times, the New York Journal of Commerce, and the Metropolitan Record, the official Catholic newspaper in New York City. They often used these newspapers to publish articles criticizing the Lincoln administration, the war, and emancipation.

Copperheads often held intense rallies to oppose the Lincoln administration’s disregard for civil liberties; some even supported Federal defeat in the war. Major General Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Department of the Ohio, sought to silence the Copperheads by issuing General Order No. 38.

The order stated that “the habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed in this department.” Anyone criticizing the war effort or committing “treason, expressed or implied,” would be arrested and face a military tribunal for disloyalty. Those found guilty of aiding the Confederates would be executed, and southern sympathizers would be deported to the South.

Burnside’s orders were intended to complement the Lincoln administration’s policy of arresting suspected Copperheads and holding them in military prisons without trial. While Burnside hoped to stop opposition, he actually galvanized the opposition into taking more forceful action against the war.

Ultimately, the Copperheads were harmed worse by voters than by Burnside’s decree. In the state elections of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, Republicans won major victories over Copperhead opponents. President Lincoln had arranged for Republican political boss Thurlow Weed to raise $15,000 among New York financiers to back Republican campaigns, thus assuring the victories.

Abraham Lincoln in the Illinois Legislature

As a young man, Abraham Lincoln served in the Illinois state legislature for eight years. Lincoln belonged to the Whig Party, which sought to replace the founders’ vision of a free market economy with an alliance between government and business that would open the path to the vast political corruption that has taken place ever since.

The “American System”

The Whigs’ economic program, which Lincoln ardently supported, was known as the “American System.” The program included:

Nationalizing the money supply by replacing the gold standard with a national paper currency
Raising protective tariffs (i.e., taxes) on imports
Using taxpayer money to finance “internal improvements” (i.e., public works project to build roads, bridges, canals, and railroads)

The “American System” was intended to create a strong, centralized government that could regulate economic development. But it ultimately introduced corruption, monopoly, and special interest bias to American politics.

As a young politician, Lincoln idolized Whig Congressman Henry Clay, the “great compromiser” and the greatest champion of the “American System.” However, many opposed this economic plan because there are no provisions in the Constitution authorizing the government to nationalize currency, impose disproportionate taxes in the form of tariffs, or finance construction projects. The Whigs and Lincoln sidestepped this technicality by invoking the so-called “implied powers” of the U.S. government, which were not part of the nation’s founding principles.

Internal Improvement Projects

Since nationalizing the money supply and supporting protective tariffs were federal issues, as a state legislator Lincoln mostly concentrated on “internal improvements.” Lincoln argued that projects such as road construction would help farmers bring their goods to market easier, which would give people “an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life.” Lincoln sought to “elevate the condition of men, to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all.”

However in such a system, the detriments far outweigh the benefits. Government-initiated projects such as road and bridge construction must be funded by taxpayers, and politicians used taxpayers’ money to award special favors and contracts to their business cronies. In turn, the cronies contributed to political campaigns to keep their benefactors in power. This sort of arrangement benefits corrupt politicians and business leaders at the people’s expense.

As politically-connected business leaders lobbied the legislature for more special favors, politicians sought more funding to grant these favors by raising taxes. This oppressive taxation created artificial gaps between the rich and poor, which fomented class envy and resentment. Meanwhile, many of the projects were riddled with so much corruption and mismanagement that they were never even completed.

The Panic of 1837

In 1837, Lincoln led the Whig majority in approving the spending of $12 million on “internal improvements.” This program proved disastrous, with even William Herndon—Lincoln’s law partner—calling it “reckless and unwise.” That same year, a financial panic led to an economic depression. Public opinion turned against the Whigs and the Democrats won control of the legislature, but Lincoln was reelected by a slim margin. Instead of acknowledging the failure of the Whig agenda, Lincoln resolved to push it even harder.

In 1840, the Democrats sought to require state government banks to pay debts in gold rather than paper money. Because the Whig program relied on devalued paper money, Lincoln and his fellow Whigs staunchly opposed this measure. They tried to leave before a vote could be called, thus defeating the measure due to a lack of a quorum. When the door was barred shut, Lincoln and his associates jumped out a first-floor window.

By this time, the depression was in its fourth year and the Whig program was widely discredited as an overly expensive failure corrupted by political favors and special interests. With funds no longer forthcoming and Illinois deep in debt, many government projects were abandoned while still in progress. This caused land values to drop and banks to collapse. When the Illinois constitution was amended in 1848, it prohibited spending taxpayer money on “internal improvements” because of these ruinous results.

Lincoln’s Stance on Slavery

In Lincoln’s eight years as a state legislator, he rarely mentioned slavery. When he did, his views were consistent with most white northerners: they wanted nothing to do with either blacks or the slavery issue. In fact, the Illinois constitution prohibited blacks, free or otherwise, from taking up residence in the state.

In the legislature, Lincoln opposed a measure upholding the right of people to own slaves, but that did little in Illinois since the state already prohibited slavery. Lincoln also opposed a measure denouncing abolition societies, arguing that such a law infringed on freedom of speech. However like many at the time, Lincoln paid little attention to slavery, instead focusing on the Whig economic agenda.

Lincoln’s favorite solution to the slavery question was colonization, or removing the slaves from America and colonizing them in Africa or the Caribbean. Even as president during the Civil War, Lincoln continued pushing for blacks to leave the country.

Legacy of the Whig Program

It was no coincidence that after Illinois outlawed government-financed “internal improvements,” Chicago became the railroad and meatpacking center of the nation. Most other states soon amended their constitutions to prohibit taxpayer-subsidized “internal improvement” projects as well. This suggests that the economic program pursued by Lincoln and his fellow Whigs was unpopular and harmful not only to Illinois, but to the country as a while.

However, this did not stop the Whigs from continuing to try imposing this program. Even when the Whigs disbanded, their program was taken up by the new Republican Party. Lincoln and many other Whigs became Republicans, and when the new President Lincoln and a Republican Congress took office in 1861, their ultimate economic goals were finally realized.

Since then, the Whig/Republican economic program has been based on a crooked alliance between government and business in the form of corporate bailouts, pork barrel spending, and favors for politically-connected special interests. Unable to stop the corruption, Democrats also joined the alliance in the early 20th century. It is this program that Americans live under today.

The Civil War This Week: Apr 8-14, 1863

Federal General John McClernand

Wednesday, April 8

In the Federal campaign to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi, Federal forces under General John McClernand skirmished with Confederates near New Carthage on the Mississippi River. In Virginia, President Abraham Lincoln reviewed portions of the Army of the Potomac with General Joseph Hooker at Falmouth. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Arkansas.

Thursday, April 9

Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri.

Friday, April 10

Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a bill into law limiting the cultivation of cotton and tobacco on private farms and plantations. Davis proclaimed, “Let fields be devoted exclusively to the production of corn, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, and other food for man and beast… let all your efforts be directed to the prompt supply of these articles in the districts where our armies are operating.”

Davis said, “Alone, unaided, we have met and overthrown the most formidable combination of naval and military armaments that the lust of conquest ever gathered together for the subjugation of a free people… We must not forget, however, that the war is not yet ended… and that the Government which controls these fleets and armies is driven to the most desperate efforts to effect the unholy purposes in which it has thus far been defeated.”

President Lincoln returned to Washington after reviewing more Army of the Potomac troops at Falmouth. In Tennessee, Confederates under General Earl Van Dorn attacked Federals at Franklin but withdrew after a fierce skirmish.

Saturday, April 11

In Virginia, Confederates under General James Longstreet began a siege of Federals at Suffolk. In the Utah Territory, Federals began an offensive against the Indians from Camp Douglas to the Spanish Fork Canon. In South Carolina, Federal blockaders forced the blockade runner Stonewall Jackson ashore off Charleston. Skirmishing occurred at several points, including a Federal cavalry operation into Georgia. President Lincoln held a cabinet meeting and discussed his visit to General Hooker’s Army of the Potomac.

Sunday, April 12

President Lincoln reviewed a letter from General Hooker, in which Hooker proposed to attack General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia by crossing the Rappahannock River, turning Lee’s left flank, and using cavalry to cut Confederate lines to Richmond. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Tennessee. In California, a Federal offensive against Indians began from Camp Babbitt.

Monday, April 13

As a result of the unsuccessful Federal attack on Charleston Harbor on April 7, Flag Officer Samuel Du Pont determined that the harbor forts could not be taken by naval force alone. However, President Lincoln ordered Du Pont to hold his position in Charleston Harbor. Lincoln expressed frustration over the failure of the Federal ironclads to capture the forts.

General Ambrose Burnside, commanding the Federal Department of the Ohio, issued General Order No. 38. This stated that “the habit of declaring sympathy for the enemy will not be allowed in this department.” Anyone criticizing the war effort or committing “treason, expressed or implied,” would be arrested and face a military tribunal for disloyalty. Those found guilty of aiding the Confederacy would be executed, and southern sympathizers would be deported to the South. Burnside’s order sought to silence the growing anti-war sentiment in the region west of the Alleghenies and north of the Ohio River. The dissidents were known as “Copperheads” for wearing copper pennies in their lapels.

In Louisiana, Federals under General Nathaniel Banks attacked Fort Bisland on Bayou Teche, forcing the Confederates to withdraw. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Tennessee.

Tuesday, April 14

In Louisiana, General Banks’s Federals occupied Fort Bisland, as Federal naval fire destroyed the captured Federal gunboat Queen of the West. In Virginia, General Hooker’s Federal cavalry conducted operations near Rappahannock Bridge, and at Kelly’s, Welford’s, and Beverly fords. President Lincoln reiterated the importance for Federal warships to remain in Charleston Harbor.

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

Civil War Spotlight: The Richmond Bread Riots

Food shortages and soaring prices in various southern cities led to civil unrest. The most notable instance occurred in the Confederate capital of Richmond on April 2. An angry group of citizens, mostly women, surrounded a wagon demanding food. When their demands were not met, they stormed the city’s business district, smashed store windows and doors, and seized items such as flour, meal, and clothing.

Ruffians soon joined the mob and began looting stores for luxury items such as jewelry and fine clothing. Virginia Governor John Letcher dispatched state militia to restore order, and the Richmond mayor threatened to order the militia to open fire if the crowd did not disperse. The mob refused to comply until President Jefferson Davis appeared.

Davis climbed upon a wagon and, according to a witness, “he urged them to return to their houses, so that the bayonets there menacing them might be sent against the common enemy. He told them that such acts would bring famine upon them… as it would deter people from bringing food to the city. He said he was willing to share his last loaf with the suffering people… and he trusted we would… continue united against the Northern invaders, who were the authors of all our sufferings.”

Davis then threw all the money from his pockets into the crowd and warned that if they did not disperse within five minutes, the militia would open fire. The crowd finally disbanded without any arrests or injuries. This incident made headlines throughout the Confederacy as similar outbreaks occurred in Augusta, Columbus and Milledgeville, Georgia; in Salisbury, North Carolina; and in Mobile, Alabama.

The Founders on Nullification

In November 1798, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison began writing what became known as the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. These argued that states had the right to nullify unconstitutional federal laws. The arguments behind these resolutions are still invoked today.

After having freed themselves from the British monarchy, the American founders believed that the best way to preserve individual freedom was to limit and decentralize the new national government. At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, most delegates agreed that the federal government should not have the exclusive authority to interpret the new Constitution because it would routinely interpret the document in its own favor, thus expanding and centralizing power over time. The states had to have redress against federal attempts to consolidate power.

The Alien and Sedition Acts

The federal power grab that most state delegates feared was realized in 1798 with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws limited the rights of foreigners and curtailed political opposition by prohibiting government criticism.

The acts were a blatant violation of the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech and the press. Since the Federalists controlled the government, the opposition Republicans were targeted for prosecution under the new laws; at least 21 Republican newspaper editors were arrested and their papers were suppressed. A man expressing the fond wish that the presidential saluting cannon would “hit (President John) Adams in the ass” was fined $100. Many Republicans, including Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, feared that government officials were tampering with their mail.

This marked the first U.S. crisis regarding civil liberties, and they prompted widespread outrage. In response, Jefferson and Madison wrote protests arguing that the Alien and Sedition Acts were not only unconstitutional, but that they should not be enforced by state governments. This marked the first application of states’ rights in U.S. history.

The Resolutions

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolutions in 1798, which stated that the Kentucky state legislature should nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts. James Madison followed a month later with the Virginia Resolutions, urging the Virginia legislature to do the same.

Jefferson asserted that not only did the Alien and Sedition Acts obviously violate the First Amendment, but they also violated the Tenth Amendment, which to Jefferson was the foundation on which the entire Constitution was based. (The Tenth Amendment delegates all powers not specifically given to the federal government to the states and the people.) Jefferson wrote that states did not authorize the federal government to enact laws infringing on constitutional freedoms. Thus, the Alien and Sedition Acts violated a state prerogative. To remedy this, Jefferson argued that states had not just the right but also the duty to nullify unjust federal laws by refusing to enforce them within their borders.

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions introduced the theory of “interposition,” or the right of state citizens to decide for themselves, through their local political representatives, whether or not a federal law was constitutional. The argument was based on the fact that the states existed before the federal government, and the states had voluntarily agreed to form a federal government to represent state interests. Because of this, states had the right to review federal laws and determine whether or not to enforce them.

The resolutions supported the “compact” theory of government, under which the federal union of states is a mutual agreement, and that powers not transferred to the federal government must be retained by the states under the Tenth Amendment. While Federalists argued that only federal courts could decide whether or not a federal law was constitutional, Jefferson and Madison argued that states had the power to decide on federal laws. And if a state decides that a federal law is unjust, the state has the right to nullify that law.

While there is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes nullification, Jefferson and Madison argued that no one side in a “compact” can have the exclusive right of interpreting its terms. This was especially true in the case of the federal compact because, as John C. Calhoun later contended, the federal government was not a party to the compact, since it was created by the joint action of the states.

Nullifying Federal Laws

Despite the resolutions urging them to take action, the state legislatures in Virginia and Kentucky did not nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts. Instead, the laws quietly expired in 1801. But over the years, states invoked their right to nullify federal laws on several occasions.

In the 1810s and 1820s, several states levied taxes on the national Bank of the United States, arguing that sovereign states had the right to tax federal institutions within their boundaries. Although the Supreme Court ruled such taxation unconstitutional, many have contested that states should not be bound by decisions from federal judges who will almost always vote to enhance federal power.

In 1832, South Carolina nullified a federal tariff law and threatened to secede from the Union. President Andrew Jackson countered by threatening to lead a federal army into the state. A compromise was finally reached between federal and state officials in 1833, and the crisis was temporarily averted.

Historians generally associate nullification with the South, but in the 1850s, several northern states nullified the Fugitive Slave Act, directly citing the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions as justification. The North invoked nullification and states’ rights most effectively prior to the Civil War by refusing to enforce federal fugitive slave laws. Contrary to most historical accounts, when the war began in 1861, it was prompted not by southern states nullifying federal laws, but by southerners protesting the fact that northern states were nullifying federal laws.

Critics of nullification point to the fact that it has been used to suppress civil liberties. In the 1950s and 1960s, many southern states invoked the principles of states’ rights by resisting federal attempts to provide civil and voting rights to blacks. This sparked the Civil Rights Movement, and despite southern attempts to suppress the political voice of blacks, the right to life, liberty, and property under natural law trumped states’ rights. This followed the model of power the founders intended when drafting the Constitution—first individual liberty under natural law, then local government, then state government, and finally federal government.

Applying the Resolutions Today

The main point of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions was that a national government allowed to determine the scope of its own power will almost always decide to enhance its power at the expense of the people. And the founders knew that as government grows, liberty shrinks. States asserting their right to nullify federal laws under their Tenth Amendment power could go a long way in limiting the power of the federal government, which would enhance individual liberty.

A nullification movement has recently taken shape in the U.S. One of the movement’s primary targets is the Health Care Reform Act of 2010. Many state legislatures have passed resolutions refusing to enforce the law within their borders. This is a direct application of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions written 212 years ago. Thus, the “principles of ‘98″ meant to keep the power of the federal government in check and guarantee individual freedom are alive and well today.

The Civil War This Week: Apr 1-7, 1863

Wednesday, April 1

The Confederate armies were reorganized: the Confederate Department of Richmond was created with General Arnold Elzey commanding, the Confederate Department of Southern Virginia was created with General S.G. French commanding, and the Department of North Carolina was created with General D.H. Hill commanding. General Francis J. Heron assumed command of the Federal Department of the Frontier. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Thursday, April 2

The Richmond Bread Riot

Food shortages and soaring prices led to what became known as the “Richmond bread riot” in the Confederate capital. An angry group of citizens, mostly women, surrounded a wagon demanding food. When their demands were not met, they stormed the city’s business district, smashed store windows and doors, and seized items such as flour, meal, and clothing. Virginia Governor John Letcher dispatched state militia to restore order. Then President Jefferson Davis stood on a wagon, threw the crowd all the money he had, and warned that the troops would open fire if they did not disperse. The crowd finally disbanded with no arrests or injuries.

Davis defended General John C. Pemberton, who was facing criticism for his northern heritage and for allowing the Federals to close in on Vicksburg, Mississippi. Davis stated that “by his judicious imposition of his forces and skillful selection of the best points of defence he has repulsed the enemy at Vicksburg, Port Hudson, on the Tallahatchie and at Deer Creek, and has thus far foiled his every attempt to get possession of the Mississippi river and the vast section of country which it controls.”

President Abraham Lincoln issued orders directing the Treasury secretary to regulate trade with states in rebellion.

Friday, April 3

President Davis wrote to Arkansas Governor Harris Flanagin that ”if we lost control of the Eastern side (of the Mississippi River), the Western must almost inevitably fall into the power of the enemy. The defense of the fortified places on the Eastern bank is therefore regarded as the defense of Arkansas quite as much as that of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.” President Lincoln informed General Joseph Hooker, commanding the Army of the Potomac, that he planned to meet with him in northern Virginia this weekend.

In Pennsylvania, four men were arrested in Reading for allegedly belonging to the pro-Confederate Knights of the Golden Circle. Federal expeditions began in western Virginia and Arkansas. In Tennessee, Federal forces destroyed Palmyra in retaliation for an attack on a Federal convey the previous day.

Saturday, April 4

In celebration of his son Tad’s 10th birthday, President Lincoln and his entourage steamed down from Washington to visit General Hooker and watch a “grand review” of the Army of the Potomac at Falmouth Heights, Virginia. Off North Carolina, Federal naval forces failed to capture a Confederate battery near Washington. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Louisiana.

Sunday, April 5

In Virginia, President Lincoln conferred with General Hooker. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Monday, April 6

In Virginia, President Lincoln wrote a memo in General Hooker’s headquarters stating that “our prime object is the enemies’ army in front of us, and is not with, or about, Richmond…” In Great Britain, the British government seized the Confederate vessel Alexandria while it was being fitted in Liverpool harbor. Skirmishing occurred in western Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana.

Tuesday, April 7

Flag Officer Samuel Du Pont led an attack by nine Federal ironclads on the forts in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The ironclads sustained heavy damage from Confederate artillery at Forts Sumter and Moultrie; U.S.S. Keokuk sank the next morning after suffering 91 hits, and four other ships were disabled. The Federal attack was unsuccessful.

In Tennessee, Confederates under General Joseph Wheeler raided the Louisville & Nashville and Nashville & Chattanooga Railroads. In Louisiana, the Federal steamer Barataria was captured by Confederates on the Amite River. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Louisiana.

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

Korea: Birth of Modern U.S. Foreign Policy

The Korean War has been referred to as the “forgotten war.” But this conflict should never be forgotten, not only because of the brave sacrifices made by U.S. military personnel, but also because of the questionable foreign policy decisions that put U.S. troops in Korea in the first place. Those decisions created a separation between the federal government and the Constitution that has widened ever since.

The Spheres of Influence

After World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union divided Korea into spheres of influence—the Soviets backed Communist-ruled North Korea and the U.S. backed the South Korean dictatorship. Both Koreas had threatened to invade the other. When U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson declared that South Korea was no longer part of the U.S. defense perimeter in Asia, the North invaded the South.

U.S. President Harry Truman

President Harry S Truman, whose popularity suffered when China fell to the Communists, was determined not to allow South Korea to fall as well. U.S. officials used the perceived fear of “international communism” taking over the world to scare Americans into supporting military aid to South Korea.

Prior to this time, Republicans had been traditionally non-interventionists when it came to foreign policy. But many noted how Truman’s Democratic presidency had suffered by “losing” China, and thus they became even more “hawkish” against communism than the Democrats. As a result, U.S. intervention in Korea gained bipartisan support. But one obstacle remained in Truman’s path to aiding South Korea: the Constitution.

Bypassing the Law of the Land

Under Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war. However, President Truman committed U.S. military forces to Korea without asking Congress for a war declaration. The United Nations Security Council voted in favor of military intervention in Korea, but Truman publicly stated that he would have committed troops even if the U.N. had not authorized it.

Prior to the Korean War in 1950, no president other than Abraham Lincoln had ever claimed the right and power to initiate war. Even Woodrow Wilson (World War I) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (World War II) formally asked Congress to declare war before committing U.S. troops in a foreign conflict.

Truman justified his action by citing his power as commander-in-chief to conduct a “police action,” not a war, in Korea. This justification effectively made Truman a de facto dictator who empowered himself to deploy military personnel anywhere at any time without being restrained by the checks and balances of power as stipulated in the U.S. Constitution.

Moreover, U.S. forces were to fight under a U.N. flag. The Constitution does not permit any government branch to deploy the U.S. military under the banner of a non-U.S. entity. This confirmed the fears of those who opposed the League of Nations (forerunner to the United Nations) a generation earlier: that a president would some day deploy troops under a foreign banner without the people’s consent through their elected representatives in Congress. This has set a very ominous precedent that continues to this day.

Fighting and Stalemate

The North Korean army pushed the Republic of (South) Korea forces back toward the capital of Seoul until U.S./U.N. troops joined the fight and helped to hold firm near Pusan. As the North Koreans pushed forward, their supply lines became overextended, and they became move vulnerable to superior U.S. air and sea power.

In a daring effort to destroy the North Korean army, the overall U.N. commander, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, staged a brilliant amphibious invasion at Inchon, behind the North Koreans’ lines. U.S. Marines broke through and threatened to surround the entire army until the North Koreans retreated back to their territory above the 38th parallel. With the North repulsed, the war could have ended. But Truman made a fateful decision.

Truman authorized MacArthur to invade the North and destroy the enemy army. As U.N. forces pushed toward the Chinese border at the Yalu River, China issued repeated warnings to turn back and stop fighting its North Korean allies. Despite assurances from MacArthur and Acheson that China would not intervene, the Chinese army attacked and pushed the U.N. forces back across the 38th parallel. A three-year stalemate then ensued.

Meanwhile, MacArthur increasingly criticized Truman and his administration. He urged Truman to bring Taiwan into the war, blockade China, and even attack China with nuclear weapons. Truman finally responded by dismissing MacArthur for “rank insubordination.” The public sided with MacArthur and vilified Truman, but the general’s challenge to his commander-in-chief’s policies could not be tolerated.

Truman’s dismal popularity ratings prompted him not to run for reelection in 1952. He was replaced by Republican Dwight Eisenhower, who kept his campaign pledge to end the war in Korea by negotiating a cease-fire in December 1953.

Nearly 150,000 U.S. troops were either killed or wounded in Korea. Up to two million Koreans were also killed, and the Korean infrastructure, especially in the North, was devastated by extensive bombing. No peace treaty was ever negotiated, which means that North and South are still technically at war. Troops still patrol both sides of the 38th parallel, and U.S. forces remain stationed there. In one soldier’s words, Korea was “the war we can’t win, we can’t lose, and we can’t quit.”

Foreign Policy Today

Since the Korean War, U.S. presidents have used Truman’s precedent to routinely commit troops to foreign conflicts without congressional consent. It is no coincidence that the U.S. military has intervened in dozens of countries in the past 60 years, yet Congress has not issued a formal declaration of war against anyone since World War II.

After Korea, the U.S. has expanded its influence in every continent, and the U.S. military has expanded far beyond the scope once feared by those who warned against the dangers of the military industrial complex. U.S. officials have used Korea to justify similar military strikes against Vietnam, Panama, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Most Americans have supported these actions without either knowing or caring that such actions are unconstitutional.

President Barack Obama’s commitment of U.S. troops to Libya is eerily similar to Korea. Obama failed to consult Congress prior to deploying military personnel, and the U.S. forces were illegally under the command of a foreign, international entity. And Obama, like every president before him since 1950, has used the excuse of “national security” to expand military and government power over foreign nations and domestic citizens.

The precedents established by Korea have expanded the power of the state at the expense of constitutional government and individual liberty. Unless the people begin opposing politicians who routinely disregard their constitutional restraints, freedom will someday be lost.

Civil War Spotlight: Banishing the Sioux

Fort Snelling Internment Camp

Conflict between the Dakota Sioux Indians and white settlers in Minnesota that had begun in the Sioux War of 1862 continued. After canceling all treaties with the Santee Sioux in February, Congress authorized removing the tribe from Minnesota in an effort to address anti-Indian sentiment among settlers.

The order sent about 1,300 Santee, mostly women and children imprisoned in Fort Snelling since the previous fall, to Crow Creek along the Missouri River in Dakota Territory (now South Dakota). Also sent to Crow Creek were about 2,000 Winnebago Indians suspected of helping the Santee in the previous year’s uprising.

The Indian camp was riddled with disease and hunger, prompting many Winnebago to escape to Nebraska Territory. In 1866, a peace commission finally allowed the Santee to move to a better location.

The Civil War This Week: Mar 25-31, 1863

Conjunction of the Yazoo River with Steele’s Bayou, Mississippi

Wednesday, March 25

In Mississippi, Federal efforts to capture the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg were becoming increasingly futile; skirmishing occurred on Black Bayou as the Federal expedition on Steele’s Bayou was stalled. In addition, a Federal ram was sunk and another disabled when attempting to run the Vicksburg batteries guarding the Mississippi River.

In Tennessee, Confederates under General Nathan Bedford Forrest raided Brentwood and Franklin. General Ambrose Burnside, former commander of the Federal Army of the Potomac, was given command of the Department of the Ohio. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Kentucky.

Thursday, March 26

The voters of West Virginia approved the gradual emancipation of slaves. The Confederate Congress passed a law authorizing the confiscation of food and property, including slaves, when needed for the army.

President Abraham Lincoln wrote to pro-Union Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson regarding the recruitment of blacks into the military: “The colored population is the great available and yet unavailed of, force for restoring the Union. The bare sight of 50,000 armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi, would end the rebellion at once.”

Friday, March 27

Addressing members of various Indian tribes, President Lincoln said, “I can see no way in which your race is to become as numerous and prosperous as the white race except by living as they do, but the cultivation of the earth.” Skirmishing occurred in Florida and Tennessee.

Saturday, March 28

In Louisiana, the Federal gunboat U.S.S. Diana was captured near Pattersonville. Skirmishing occurred in western Virginia, and a Federal expedition from La Grange to Moscow and Macon in Tennessee began.

Sunday, March 29

In Mississippi, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered General John McClernand’s Federals on the Louisiana, or west, side of the Mississippi River to advance from Milliken’s Bend to New Carthage, south of Vicksburg. The Federal corps under Generals William T. Sherman and James McPherson were to follow. From this, Grant began formulating a daring plan to move his entire army across the river, bypass Vicksburg on the west bank, then re-cross below the city, abandon the supply line, and attack Vicksburg from the east.

Skirmishing occurred in Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee.

Monday, March 30

President Lincoln proclaimed April 30 as a day of national fasting and prayer. In North Carolina, Confederates besieged Washington. Heavy skirmishing occurred in Virginia, western Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory.

Tuesday, March 31.

In Mississippi, Ulysses S. Grant’s movement from Milliken’s Bend to New Carthage continued. In support, Admiral David G. Farragut’s Federal ships ran the Grand Gulf batteries below Vicksburg.

In Florida, Federals evacuated Jacksonville. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Arkansas. President Lincoln allowed commercial relations with parts of southern states under Federal occupation according to regulations set by Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.

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