Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. 1 / From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860

by James Gillespie Blaine

The President measured the extent of the danger and prepared to meet it. He clearly read the signs of the times. He saw that the anti-slavery policy of Congress had gone far enough to arouse the bitter hostility of all Democrats who were not thoroughly committed to the war, and yet not far enough to deal an effective blow against the institution. He saw that as the Administration was committed to the partial policy which involved all the danger of a re-action and a retreat, it would be wise to commit it to the bold, far- reaching, radical and aggressive policy from which it would be impossible to turn without deliberately resolving to sacrifice our nationality. He determined therefore to lay before the people a choice between the Union and Slavery. He would persuade them that both could not be saved and that they must choose the one which they regarded as the more worthy of preservation. Slavery was not only the inciting cause of the rebellion but was its chief strength and support in the South and at the same time a weakening element to the Union cause in the Loyal States. No man had looked at the question in all its bearings so closely as Mr. Lincoln. He had studied the consequences of every step and had proceeded with the utmost caution.

THE PRESIDENT'S MONITORY PROCLAMATION.

The President kept his own counsels so closely, and relied so confidently upon his own conclusions, that it is not possible to say when he first seriously entertained the thought of general emancipation as a war measure. Mr. George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts who enjoyed Mr. Lincoln's confidence and who at this period of the contest was appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue, is authority for some interesting statements. About the time that the anti- slavery legislation now under discussion was in progress Mr. Lincoln received a letter written by a loyal citizen of Louisiana, containing a strong argument against emancipation. He depicted in vivid colors the bad results to flow from it and appealed earnestly to the President not to take so dangerous a step. Without combating in detail the arguments of his correspondent who personally enjoyed his confidence, Mr. Lincoln said, "You must not expect me to give up this government without playing my last card."

During an interview with Mr. Lincoln after the adjournment of Congress in July, and when military disasters were falling thick and fast upon us, Mr. Boutwell suggested to the President that we could not hope to succeed until the slaves were emancipated. To which Mr. Lincoln answered, "You would not have it done now, would you? Had we not better wait for something like a victory?" The statement, widely made in the autumn of 1862, that Mr. Lincoln had been frightened or driven into the issuing of the proclamation by the meeting of the governors of the Loyal States at Altoona, had no foundation in fact. When the President's attention was called to it, he said, "The truth is, I never thought of the meeting of the governors at all. When Lee came over the Potomac I made a resolve that if McClellan drove him back I would send the proclamation after him. The battle of Antietam was fought Wednesday, but I could not find out until Saturday whether we had won a victory or lost a battle. It was then too late to issue it that day, and on Sunday I fixed it up a little, and on Monday I let them have it." This colloquial style was characteristic of Mr. Lincoln, and the frankness with which it was spoken disposes utterly of the claims made in behalf of Mr. Chase and Mr. Sumner that they contributed to the text of the Monitory Proclamation of 1862.

Two months before issuing the Proclamation Mr. Lincoln had urgently requested the senators and representatives of the Border States to give their effective co-operation in aid of compensated emancipation. In his letter of July 12 he said "Before leaving the Capitol, consider and discuss this subject among yourselves. You are patriots and statesmen, and as such I pray you to consider this proposition and at least commend it to the consideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular government, I beseech you that you do in no wise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of government is saved to the world, its beloved history and cherished memories are vindicated, its happy future assured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you more than to any others the privilege is given to assure that happiness, to swell that grandeur, to link your own names therewith forever."

The majority of the senators and representatives from the Border States did not concur with Mr. Lincoln's views and did not respond favorably to his earnest appeal. The Maryland delegation in Congress, the Kentucky delegation with one exception, and the Missouri delegation with one exception, entered into a long argument dissenting from the conclusions of the President. The West Virginia men (with the exception of Mr. Carlile), Mr. Casey of Kentucky, Mr. John W. Noell of Missouri, Mr. George P. Fisher of Delaware, together with Mr. Horace Maynard and Mr. A. J. Clements from Tennessee (not a Border State), expressed their readiness to co- operate with Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Maynard wrote a separate letter distinguished by breadth of view and strength of expression. It is impossible to comprehend the determination of the Border State men at that crisis. Having resisted in vain the aggressive legislation of Congress already accomplished, they could hardly fail to see that the institution of slavery was threatened with utter destruction. It seems absolutely incredible that, standing on the edge of the crater, they made no effort to escape from the upheaval of the volcano, already visible to those who stood afar off.

THE PRESIDENT'S ANTI-SLAVERY POLICY.

The Monitory Proclamation of Emancipation was issued on the 22d of September. It gave public notice that on the first day of January, 1863—just one hundred days distant—"all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then thenceforward and forever free." It was a final tribute to those engaged in rebellion that every agency, every instrumentality would be employed by the government in its struggle for self-preservation. It brought—as Mr. Lincoln intended it should bring—the seriousness of the contest to the hearts and consciences of the people in the Loyal States. He plainly warned them that every thing was at stake and that if they were unwilling to meet the trial with the courage and the sacrifice demanded, they were foredoomed to disaster, to defeat, to dishonor. He knew that the policy would at first encounter the disapproval of many who had supported him for the Presidency, and that it would be violently opposed by the great mass of the Democratic party. But his faith was strong. He believed that the destruction of slavery was essential to the safety of the Union, and he trusted with composure to the discerning judgment and ultimate decision of the people. If the Administration was to be defeated, he was determined that defeat should come upon an issue which involved the whole controversy. If the purse of the Nation was to be handed over to the control of those who were not ready to use the last dollar in the war for the preservation of the Union, the President was resolved that every voter in the Loyal States should be made to comprehend the deadly significance of such a decision.

The effect of the policy was for a time apparently disastrous to the Administration. The most sagacious among political leaders trembled for the result. Only the radical anti-slavery men of the type of Sumner and Stevens and Lovejoy were strong and unyielding in faith. They could not doubt, they would not doubt the result. For many weeks the elections in the North promised nothing but adversity. Maine voted a few days before the Proclamation was issued. Ever since the repeal of the Missouri Compromise the majorities against the Democrats in that State had varied from ten to nineteen thousand. Under the pressure of military reverses and the cry of an abolition war, the majority for Abner Coburn, the Republican candidate for governor, was a little over four thousand; and for the first time in ten years one of the districts returned a Democratic representative to Congress in the person of L. D. M. Sweat. Vermont, contrary to the tide of opinion elsewhere, increased her majority for the Administration—an event due in large part to the loyal position taken by Paul Dillingham who had been the leader of the Democratic party in the State.

The October elections were utterly discouraging. In Ohio the Democrats prevailed in fourteen of the Congressional districts, leaving the Republicans but five,—registering at the same time a popular majority of some seven thousand against the Administration. The extent of this reverse may be measured by the fact that in the preceding Congressional election Republican representatives had been chosen in thirteen districts. In Indiana the result was overwhelming against the President. The Republicans had held their convention early in the summer and had re-affirmed the Crittenden Resolution as embodying their platform of principles. They were not in position therefore to withstand the furious onslaught made by the Democrats on the Slavery question. Of the eleven Congressional districts the Republicans secured but three, and the Democrats had a large majority on the popular vote.—In Pennsylvania whose election was usually accepted as the index to the average public opinion of the country, the Democrats secured a majority of four thousand, and elected one-half the delegation to Congress. In November, 1860, Mr. Lincoln had received a majority of sixty thousand in Pennsylvania, and this change marked the ebb of popular favor created by the anti-slavery policy of the Administration.