º º º º º º -º- º | | ºº | º º º | | º | º º º * º º º º º - º º - -º - º º º º º º º º | º º º º º º - º º º º - º - º º - º º º - lº º ºfflº º º º º º º º º: º º - º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º - º # º º Hº º º º º º º - º #. º º LEIGH G. Gooººº... º. - º Tritºr º º º º º º: º ºfflº º º º º º - - º |- - º º º - º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º | º -H.º | º º -- º º º T T º º: | º º: - º º º - º º - - - - †. º º - º º: º | º †† º º º º º º º º º #. º º º º º - #. º º º º º #. º ºfflº ºffliº º º º Hººlºº º º º º - º † Hº º º º º - º º º - ºfflº º º º: #. º º º º º - º | º - º º º: º - º º º º º º º º: tº - - º º º º º º ºº - º º º º º º º º: º º - - º º º - º - º | º º - º - º º º º | - º - - º - - - º ºº:: º º º | º º º º - - º º º ºf º i. º º º º º º # º º - º - º º º --- º º: º º º º º º ". - º --- º º º º º º º |- ºº:: º ºffl º: º H. - - º º º º º - POLITICS IN MICHIGAN POLITICS IN MICHI GAN 1860 - - 1864 Leigh G. Cooper A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Phil- osophy in the University of Michigan. PRETAGE This dissertation attempts to narrate the political act- i vities of the parties or groups in Michigan in their relation to the many issue s involved in the Civil War. A brief Šummary of the currents of opinion in the years preceding the war on the question of slavery extension is presented. The events and issues in the campaign of 1860 are narrated at length. Then follow accounts of the attitude of the parties in the State on the issues raised by secession and a state of war. The at- tempted union of parties and the increasing Democratic discon- tnet with the Frmancipation Proclamation and the curtailment of civil rights is told. Finally we have the Democrats in the role of an opposition party and division in Republican ranks. Tºle last chapters deal with the campaign of l864. There are many breaks in the story. complete failure of source material accounts for some of the se. Lack of sufficient material accounts for others - such as the omission of an ac- count of the secret societies, loyal or otherwise, and of factional differences in the Republican party. It will be evident in many places, too, that generalizations which might cover the sent iments of a party, or of a large section of it C Ould not be made. The tendency of thinking could be shown only in extensive quotations showing individual opinions. iv. CONTENTS CHAPTER I SLAVERY ISSUES BEFORE 1860 The Slavery Issue and Constitutional Problems.........i Control of the Relation of Master and Slave . . . . . . . . ...i Control of Slavery in the Territories l820. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Development of Anti-Slavery Sentiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Democratic Opposition to Slavery Extension - Wilmot. . Proviso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e e - e. e. e. --- e º - e --- - . . . . . . . . . . .2 "Wilmot Proviso" sentiment in Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Slavery Issue in 1848 - Lewis Cass and Popular . . --- Sovereignty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ... 4 Michigan Opposition to Doctrine of Cass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Michigan Sentiment in Speech of Robert reclelland ---e--- 5 The Issue in 1850 - Compromises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... ? Northern Opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law. . . . . . . . . 8 Cass and the Legislature - Pro-Slavery Tendencies of . . . Michigan Democrats . . . . . . . . . - - -e- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - e --- 8 Revival of Popular Sovereignty in the Kansas Nebraska. Bill . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Meetings of Pro test in Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Free Democrats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Formation of the Republican Party . . . . . . . . . . . -- - - - - - - - - Success of the New Party. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 º Anti-Slavery Legislation in Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Refusal of Cass to Obey Republican Instructions. . . . . . . 12 Influence of Kansas Affairs in l856. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 National Conventions 1856. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Dred Scott Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Breach in Democratic Party over the Le Compton. . . . . . . . . constitution.................................... .....21 CHAP TFR II POLITICAL CONVENTIONS 1860 Bearing of Events of 1856-1859 on the Politics of . . . . 1860. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2% Democratic Difficulties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Democratic Sentiment - County Convent ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Democratic State Convention - Concilia to ry. . . . . . . . . . - Spirit-Douglas Sent innerlt . e e • e e º 'º - - - - - - - -- e. - - - - - - - - - - - . 26 First Republican State Convention – Seward Sentiment. .29 Democratic National Convention - Charleston. . . . . . . . . . . 33 Michigan Sentiment on Breach in Democratic Party. . . . . . 35 Democratic National Convention - Baltimore . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Republican National Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Disappointment of Michigan Republicans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Nominating Conventions for State Tickets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 º Canal Loan Scandal - It s Influence . . . . - e º – e - - - - - - - - . . . 41 Republican State Convention, June 7, 1860. . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Nominee for Governor - Austin Blair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Democratic State Convention - A Douglas Gathering. . . . . 47 Estrangement of Cass and His Party in the State . . . . . . . 49 - Anti - Buchanan sentiment... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vi CHAPTER III THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATIC AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL UNION PARTIES IN MI CHI (AN The Breckinridge and Lane Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5l. The Constitutional Unionists in Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 CHAP TTR IV THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860 Democratic Difficulties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 I}efence of Douglas Doctrines by Charle & F. Stuart. . . . . . . . 59 Attack upon the Southern Platform and Candidates . . . . . . . . . 61. Attack upon Republicans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Belittlement of Lincoln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • * * * * * * * * : * * * * * * * * * * * . 62 The Republican Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Making Lincoln Known. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Attacks upon Douglas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Address of Governor seward...............................66 Campaign on State Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Minor Party Campaigns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Congressional Politics . . . . ..............................” CHAP TTR W ISSUES ARISING FROM THREATENET) SECESSION Republican Jubilation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 News of secession Movements. . . . . . . e e º 'º e < e e e - e. e-ºe-º-º-º-e e . . . . . . 74 Republicans on the Defensive - Democratic Demands. . . . . . . . 74 Conservative Sentiment - Letter of Union. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Republicans on Liberty Law Repeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The President's Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Michigan Democrats on the Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . -------------------------- 81 Republican Views of the Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Compromise 3 Su££estions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 CHAP TTR WI THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION OF 1a61 Messages of the Retiring Governor – Radical Views. . . . . .88 Message of the incoming Governor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 Union Resolutions......................................9% Attempted Repeal of the Personal Liberty Laws. . . . . . . . . .99 Action on the Invitation to the Peace Conference . . . . . . loë Military Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 CHAPTER VII consPRVATIVE OPINION Views of Robert McClelland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Meeting of Detroit conservatives......................117 Democratic Lemand for Concilia toyy measures . . . . . . . . . . . ]. 19 Letter of John S. Barry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 The "Fire in the Rear" Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 The Republican State Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Adjourned Session, Democratic State Convention. . . . . . . . 130 CHAPTER VIII --- WAR ANT) ITS EFTECT UPON PARTISANSHIP Uncertainty concerning Lincoln's Course. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 The Inaugural Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 War Inevitable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 The Basis of Common Action for Former Opponents. . . . . . . 135 Financial and Military Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Tºle Governor's Message - Its Radical Character. . . . . . . . The Union Movement in Detroit, Sept. November 1861. . . Vii i CHAPTH.R IX THE SPECIAL LEGISTATIVE SESSION OF 1862 Need for Session of the Legislature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Radical Character of Governor's Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Union Resolutions of the Radical Majority. . . . . . . . . . . . 150 The Senatorial Election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 CHAP TER X CONTINUANCE OF PARTY ORGANIZATIONS Administrative Acts fo menting discontent. . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Fault finding of Rival Journals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Demands of Radical Republicans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Conservative Republican Sentiment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Continuance of Party Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Criticism of Administrative Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 | Democratic Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 CHAP TER XI THE UNION MOVEMENT ANT) THE CAMPAIGN of 1862 | Invitation to Union of Parties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Republican Refusal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Conservative Protests................................ 164 Protest of Bar Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.65 Call for a People's Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Republican convention................................176 Discussion of the Emancipation Proclamation . . . . . . . . . . 171 The Second Union Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 The Democratic Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Campaign of 1862.....................................176 | Election Results 1862. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 CHAP TTR XII THE LEGISTATIVE SESSION OF 1863 Senatorial Election of 1863 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Governor Plair's Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Union Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $89 Soldiers' Suffrage Till . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 *CHAPTER XIII POLITICAL DISCUSSION AND POLITICAI, CONVENTIONS 1863 Suggestion for Peace Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 T}emocratic State convention........................... 199 Republican State Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 The Wallandigham Protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Political Discussion of the Summer and Fall of 1863. . . 205 chapmºn xrv THE SPECIAL LEGISTATIVE SESSION of 1864 Message of the Governor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Revival of the Suffrage Measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..208 Renomination of Lincoln by the Legislature . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 CHAPTER XV POLITICAL CONVENTIONS l864 Republican Dissatisfaction with the President.........212 Republican State Convention . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214 Radical Convention at Cleveland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 The Republican National Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Democratic National Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Second Republican State Convention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Second Democratic State convention....................222 CHAPTER XVI POLITICAL CAMPAIGN laé4 Democratic Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 Letter of ex-Governor Barry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 Indictment of the Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 Personal Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225 The Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Foreign Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227 Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227 € e e 2. 2 8 Discussion of Possible Peac Niagara Falls Negotiations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229 Peace Clause of Chicago Platform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231 Republican campaign....................................232 Election Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 concLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .” FIFBIOGRAPHY... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .” CHAPTER I SLAVERY ISSUES BEFORE 1860 The extension of slavery to the territorial area 3 of the United States was the issue, in various forms, before the Amer- ican people in 1860. Because the United States had a written constitution in Włii ch limited powere were granted to the central government, it was unavoidable that grave constitutional ques- tions should be in separable from the question of the Wisdom of Glåvery extension under national authority. Champions, oppon- ent 5, and trio se professedly iridifferent to the future of slavery, either came to rest their case on claims of constitutional priv- º illege: , or to find that adverse claims checked their proges's or º interfered with their plans. The story of the development of intense positive opinions ori, the subject of slavery, together With their interconnection With problems of public law, will bring a clearer understanding of the politics of the presiden- tial year of l860. The question of the power of the Federal covernment O V & I" the relation of master and slave received early settleſſlent . In l'790, the Pennsylvania. Abolition Society petitioned congress to do all in its power to discourage traffic in slaves. The House, º in answer declared that Congress was without power to in- terfere With the relatio II of Iſla ster and slave within any of the J. º - - States. This declaration was accepted by all political parties l. Rhodes 1/23 º: - until the outbreak of the Cis - º - The admission of Missouri as a State served to mark the seeming settlement of a second constitutional question . It was agreed that Missouri was to become a slave-holding State but that slavery Wa. s to be forbidden fo rever in the remainder of Louisiana Purchase, north of the southern boundary of Missouri-- the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes. Trom the terms of this compromise it is appa, rent that a majority of Congress believed that that body had power to prohibit slavery 2 in the territories. \ 2. Rhodes, l/38 The strong anti-slavery feeling revealed by the Missouri Compromise struggle continued to growſ. Its progress was marked 3 by the establishment of a paper devoted to the task of secur- +++ 3. The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison, editor, founded in 1831. ing freedom for the negro, and by the formation of the Ameri- - can Anti-Slavery Society . The annexation of Texas, in itself a cause of sectional ill- feeling on slavery issues, brought on the Mexican War, Willich in turn gave. a large domain to the United States. Even before the land was secured tiere was an attempt in Congress to settle any future slavery issue there. David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania Dem- o crat, moved an amendment to the Mexican purchase appropriation bill. Willich, if adopted would exclude slavery from all territory that might be acquired from Mexico . This "Wilmot Proviso " car- ried in the House but failed of adoption in the Senate . All the Northern Whigs and many Northern Democrats voted for it. Every - 4. Southern member, except one, voted against it. 4. The measure came up in the session following and, without the proviso , was carried by a bare majority in the House. Proof of the strength of Democratic opposition to slavery extension was found in Michigan. Here the Democrats gave cor- dial support to the principle of the Wilrio tº Proviso . Credit, has been given to Representative Robert McClelland as joint author of that amendment. Representatives Charles E. Stuart, and 5. Utley and Cutcheon, 3/360. Kinsley S. Bingham and Senator Alpheus Felch voted for trie Pro- viso. Lewis Cass is said to have expressed regret that he had been prevented by a Senate adjournment from recording a favor- able vote upon it . Mr. Stuart, in a public letter, favored 6. Speech of K. S. Bingham, United States Senate, May 25, 1860. Micholson letter of Cass. the prohibition of slavery in all territories. The Michigan 7. Letter of Charles E. Stuart to C. S. Wheeler, Oct. 25, 1847, reprinted in pamphlet, "Important Facts Proving that the Approaching Presidential Election (1856) Will Forever Settie the Question loetween Freedom and Slavery." Issued by Michigan State Central Committee (Republican) B. H. C. Legislature of 1847 expressed its opinion, by resolution, that it Was the duty of the General Government to extend the Ordinance of 1787, with its slavery prohibitions, to all territories. 8. Laws of Michigan, 1847/194. The land acquired from Mexico by the treaty of February 2, ed 1848, need, governmental organization. The Wilmot Proviso havin # g £ º failed of adoption, slavery was the chief issue in tilis problem of organization. The old parties were afraid of the issue. The Democratic party in its platform of 1848 avoided it. The Whig º- w 4. * convention made no platform. Anti-slavery men met at Fuffalo and drafted rešolution S Which declared opposition to the exten- Sion of the institution to the territories. This body desired also the prohibition of slavery wherever the Federal Government 9 ria, d power. Here was formed the Free-Soil party. 9. A political organization, composed, in part, of abolitionists Who believed in political action, was formed in 1840. It cardinal principle was opposi- tion to slavery in the territories of the United States. Though never strong in numbers, the mere fact of organization With such a principle is sig- nificant of a crystallizing anti-slavery sentiment in the Northy favorable to political action. The party nominated presidential candidates in 1840 º, and again in 1844. It was absorbed by the Free- 2 soil party in 1848. Lewis Cass of Michigan became the Democratic nominee for the Presidency. Though his party had avoided mention of slavery in its platform, Cass came forward with a solution that was - 10 destined to play a large part in national politics. This 10. "A great change has been going on in the public mind upon the subject (Wilmot Proviso), in my own mind as well as others, and that doubts are resol- ving themselves into convictions that the principle it involves shall be out of National legislation, and left to the people of the Confederacy in their several local governments." Nicholson Letter, Dec. 30, 1847. Pioneer and Historical Society Collec- tions, 38/26l. Cited also in Speech of K. S. Bingham , above referred to . principle became known as popular sovereignty, Applied to ter— ritories, it meant that the people therein should control, with the minimum of external restraint, their domestic in Sti- tutions, slavery included. A general acceptance of this prin- ciple Would take, it was thought, the question out of Congress - and out of national politics. - º - - - , . º.º. The Solution offered by Cass did not meet the approval of º other Michigan members of Congress, nor did it have a better fate in the State it self. The State Legislature, in the year following the defeat of Cass for the Presidency, adopted resol- ll utions expressive of its opposition to slavery extension . It, ll. "Resolved, that we favor the fundamental principle of the Ordinance of 1787, and although we respect the opinions of many eminent states- men and jurists, that slavery is a mere local in- stitution which cannot exist without positive laws authorizing its existence, yet we believe that Co Ingress has the power, and that it is their duty to prohibit, by legislative enactment tile intro - duction or existence of slavery within any of the Territories of the United States, now or hereafter to be acquired." This resolution was introduced by I. H. Thomson, later to be an a spirant for congressional honors on a popular sovereignty plat- form. Quoted in Speech of Senator Bingham. also denounced the slave trade in the District of Columbia . The Democrats, in their State Convention of l849, adopted resolu- ll - tion 5 of like content . ll. Ibid. Democratic opposition to slavery extension was apparent . --- l2 The speech of Congressman McClelland presented the views of l2. Speech of R. McClelland on the Statehood Pill, H. of R., Feb. 10, 1849, Pamphlet, B. H. C. many Northern Democrats upon the issues involved in the annexa- tion of Texas, the organization of the territories acquired from Mexico, and the demands of the South for new areas open to the slaveholder. McClelland held the opinion that the opponents of slavery had been tricked by the method taken to annex Texas; that this annexation had been pressed in order to given the South preponderance of power in the Senate. Further, the Mexican War had been caused by the attempt to secure what Texas had, un- justly, claimed. Having secured the disputed strip, the South - - -, - - - - - - - - - - \ was still dissatisfied and Wa, 5 "gra, sping for more, and threat- * .# ened to dissolve tile Union" if more Wa. § no t, obtained . No rthern men, averred lic Clelland, Were opposed to the ex- tension of slavery because tile prosperity and happiness of the North and the good of the Wilole Union required it . In view of later controversies, the opinion of Mr. McClelland on tile power of Congress is of much interest . He argued that Congre 5 § had the right to prohibit slavery in the territories. In support of that right, said he, "We plant ourselves on the precedents, from the formation of the constitution to trie signing of true O regon bill by the present Executive; on the decisions of the Supreme Court, Where the question has incidentally been decided; and up- on the Missouri Compromise itself." McClelland dismissed the suggestion that the status of slavery in the territories be left to the Supreme Court. "I ask northern gentlemen, Why risk a question of such magnitude and vital concern to the Northern States to any such tribunal, when TWG C3, Il settle it ere, ana, upon tile most equitable principles, acquire tile whole for the free arid independent laborers of the North?" In the course of the argument, the speaker denied the validity of popular Sovereignty. Iie declared absurd the con- tention that territory acquired by War passed under the control l of the occupants or of the first adventurers to arrive. 3 l3. This Was in an Swer to two Southern members who desired the submission of the question ºf slavery to the inhabitants of the territories concerned. McClelland seemed to feel that these Southerners, in championing popular sovereignty, had changed ground. "A distinguished citizen (Cass) of my own State Will be gratified to learn that those who recently opposed his election to the Highest of - fice in the rift of the people, and defeated him lºy º 7 means of the question, are no ºf becoming willing converts to his doctrine . " l4 The struggle in Congress over the settlement of matters 14. Meeting in December, 1849. involved in the organization of the new territories, in the rendition of fugitive slaves, and in the interstate slave trade, , greatly increased sectional bitterness. President Taylor de- sired to see California admitted as a State, and counselled de- lay in the case of New Mexico until such time as its people were ready for State organization. Henry Clay, however proposed a series of resolutions which, taken as a Wilole, were compromises between the extreme Northern and Southern demands. In the di 5- cussion of these measures, various solutions of the Werritorial question appeared, each of which is of great interest to the student of the later period. The doctrine of the Wilmot Proviso tria, t, tile territories must be free by Congressional prohibition of slave-holding, was the solution of the anti-slavery men of the North. The compromise doctrine of Clay, which received the powerful support of Webster, called for the organization of Utah and New Mexico without restriction a 5 to slavery . The ques- tion of slavery was to be decided by the people of the ter- ritories Wilen they organized a State government . Thirdly, came the extreme Southern do ctrine, who se most aistinguished advocate was John C. Calhoun. The basis of this doctrine was that the territories were the common property of all the States. The people of the South must have equal rights with their brothers in the North in this common property. This equality of right must result, in a sanction to slaveholding there, 'because, so ran the corollary, the Southern slaveholder must have the same lib- erty to take his property to tile territori e g that it Vä, ä a 3- sumed the Northern man posse 5 §ed . A new fugitive slave law was one of the compromise meas- ures of Senator Clay. The return of "fugitives from labor" was of undoubted obligation. But anti-slavery sentiment had been growing in the North. Upon those who were opposed to slavery anywhere, the constitutional obligation had no Wei gilt . To those who se opposition was to slavery extension only, a natural human +- !_ sympathy would make dista Steful the return of a fugitive to sº. slavery as it was conceived of in the North . The provisions of the act increased this a version, and Shocked men's conceptions of due process in a trial involving the liberty of a human being . º The affidavit of the owner or his agent was a sufficient proof of the identity of a person seized as a fugitive. The accused could not testify in his own behalf. A commissioner, without assis- tence of jury, , decided on the adequacy of proof. His fee was placed at ten dolla, rs if the slave was returned . It was but five if ile Was freed. Northern citizens were required, if called up- on, to give aid in the recovery of fugitives. The advocacy of the compromise measures by Senator Cass brought him into opposition to the formally expressed opinion of the Ilegislature Which had elected him. In Senate discussion, Cass had declared his opposition to the Wilmot Proviso. The Legisla- ture had in structed the Michigan senators to do all in their power to secure tile Congre 35ional prohibition of slavery in the territories . The Senator now declared his intention of resign- ing if the Tºri slature persisted in its in- - struction. That body, ºthereupon, April 2, 1850, gave free- dom in the matter to its senators and urged them to retain !- 2– their seats. This marked, possible the beginning of a change f in the stand taken by many of the Democrats of Michigan on the question of Congressional prohibition of slavery . Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, brought to an end the feel- ing that the work of Clay had brought peace. It became necessary to provide territorial government for that part of the Louisiana. Purchase that lay north of the line of thirty-six degrees, thirty minute 5, and west of the slave State of Missouri and tile free State of Iowa . The Kansa, 3-lebraska Bill, sponsored by Douglas, opened this territory to slavery. A section of this act stated that, it was "the true intent and memaine of tilis a ct, no t, to exclude slavery there from, but to leave the people thereof per- fectly free to form and regulate their dome stic institutions in their own way, subject onl to the constitution of the United States." - This was the doctrine of popular sovereignty, first advo- cated under the name of Congressional non-intervention by Lewis Cass in 1848 . If accepted a 5 part of the Kansas-Nebraska. Bill, it would constitute a repeal of that agreement between Northern and Southern members of Congress, made in 1820, which declared that this territory should be forever free. To meet this objection, Douglas asserted that trie Ilissouri Compromise had 'been virtually repealed by those compromise measures of 1850 which had given organization to Utah and Ne: Mexico . - 10 Apart from its application to slavery, the doctrine of popular sovereignty, or the right of a people of any given a rea, to control their domestic affairs, had much to recommend it to a people who believed in the political philosophy embodied in the Declaration of Independence, and who were bia. §§ed in favor of any reasonable plea for self-covernment. However, the cit- izens of the Northern States saw at once that it was a vio- lation of a compact wilica had given the South a slave State in return for a pledge of freedom to the Louisiana Territory north of the line, thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes. Pro tests by newspapers, by public meetings, and by legislative resolutions were made immediately throughout the North. After a space, the South came to the support of the Douglas scheme, and bitter Sectional divisions existed once more . The Kansas-Nebraska Bill passed both Houses and received the signature of the President. The anti-slavery men of the North began at once the steps which within a year resulted in the formation of a great party, who se cardinal doctrine was the congressional prohibition of slavery in the territories of the United States. An outline of the progress of the revolt of the anti-slavery men in Michigan will serve to show what was taking place in the other Northern States . The meetings of protest throughout the State were sup- plemented at Grand Rapids by the organization of the "Anti- Nebraska" people into a political convention, which nominated a city ticket . Their nominees were elected at the spring election. In the meantime, the "Free-Democrats" of the State 15 had been called , into convention at Jackson. Here, Feb. 22, ll lº. These were the Wilmot Proviso Democrats who refused to follow Cass, Stuart, Thomson and others in acceptance of popular sovereignty. 185 / resolutions were adopted which denounced the attempt to re- peal the Missouri Compromise. INominations were made for State officers. Kinsley S. Bingham, Wilmot Proviso Democrat, Was named for the Governorship . Isaac P. Christiancy, later to be one of the State's great judge 5, and for a brief While, Senator, he came tile nominee for tile Attorney-General's office. Conferences between men of all parties showed tilat tile early action of the "Tree-Lemocrat 5" was an obstacle to the union of all anti-Nebraska people. In consequence a mass convention of the Tree-So il Democrats was held at Kalamazoo, June 21. This gatheriilº appointed a committee Willich had authority to withdraw, at: its discretion, the Free-Soil Democratic ticket. Meanwhile a new call had been penned Which invited all anti- Nebra 5ka men of every previous political affiliation to a mass convention to be held at Jackson, July 6, 1854. This gathering was "to take such measures as shall be thought best to concen- trate the popular sentinent of this state against the aggressions of the slave power." The attitude of the sponsors of the move- ment to Ward Southern leaders was made clear in a statement *g. l in reference to trie repeal of the Missouri Compromise, declared, 16. Utley and Cutchedn, 3/381. "such an outrage upon liberty, such a violation of plighted faith cannot be submitted to . This great wrong must be rigated, or there is no longer a North in the Counsels of the Nation...The safety of the Union, the rights of the North, the interests of - º - - l2 free labor, the destiny of a vast territory and its untold mil- lions for all coming time, and finally tile a spirations of flu- manity for universal freedom, are involved in the issue forced ipon the country by the slave power and its plastic Northern tools." Ilere is expressed the feeling of the anti-slavery men that faith had been grossly violated by Southern leaders, aided by "Northern men with Southern principle 3. " Here too, the high moral tone, actuating the opponents of slavery extension, found expression . The new party accepted the candidate of the Free-Soil De- mocracy, Kinsley S. Bingham, for governor, Three Whigs were placed in nomination for the lesser offices, the balance of trie ticket being filled by the Free-Soil nominees. Success came at the polls with the election of the entire ticket . The Republican 5 won twenty-five of the thirty-two places in the State Senate and forty-eight of the seventy-two Sea, , 5 in the loºſer House. Three of the four members of Congre º § § is–to–b-e-skie-gºer Were likewise Republican . The victory was sub stantial in its fruits, though not overwhelming when the actual majorities were considered . Bingjiājň received forty-eight thou- sand, six hundred fifty-two votes, and his opponent, John S. Barry, a former governor, thirty-eight thousand, six hundred seventy-five. The new State Legislature assembled in January, 1855, and betrayed no tiºxy in giving expression to the opinions of the anti-slavery men of the State. On January 26, it declared that slavery was regarded by the people of the State a 5 "a great moral, So Cial, and political evil, at War with the principles. º l3 - 'of the Declaration of Independence ... an impediment to the prosperity of our common country, and an element of domestic weakness and d is cord." The need for a new party was made clear in a series of declarations. One held that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was "a violation of a mutual convenant be- tween the free States and the slave-holding states, justified º by no necessity, present or prospective, injurious to the rights or the former, tending to interrupt the internal harmony of the country, and to frustrate the well known purpose of the framers of the Constitution, who, by gradual legislation, designed ul- timately, to put an end to slavery." A second resolution an- nounced opposition to the further extension of slavery, or to "the recognition or permission there of in any territory now owned or which may be acquired by the United States." A third averred that it was within the power of Congress to abolish slavery and the slave trade in all territories, the District of Columbia included. The resolutions just outlined also declared that the people of the State had been released "from all obligation to respect Congressional compromises for the existence or perpetuation of slavery," because of the violation by Congress of the Missouri Compromise. Moved possibly by the point of view underlying this statement, and in a retaliatory spirit, the Legislature adopted an act who se aim was to prevent the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law. This was Michigan's personal liberty law. Cass and Stuart in the Senate, and two of the State 1 s four representatives in the House had voted for the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. These Senators were now instructed to introduce without 14 delay a bill which would prohibit the introduction or existence of slavery in any of the Territories, and to use their best ef- forts to secure its passage. Though Serator Cass had acknow- ledged the right of the Legislature to instruct senators, he now refused either to obey instructions, or resign. He excused his failure to do either because the instructions came, he said, from a party which had gained but a brief possession of the Government l'7 of the State. l7. Utley and Cutcheon 3/394 cites Congressional Globe, p. 556. McLaughlin, Life of Cass, 306. A brief account of Kansas affairs is necessary to an under- standing of the political campaign of 1856 and national politics of the succeeding Presidential term. The people of Missouri and the South determined to make Kansas a slave State and resented as unfair any attempt to prevent this. Under the principle of popular sovereignty, the people of the territory were to decide thle question of slavery for themselves. A contest to get people into Kansas followed. A society was formed in New England to aid emigrants of free-State sympathies into Kansas. Residents of the Missouri border counties swarmed into Kansas, controlled the elec- tions and elected a pro-slavery territorial legislature. Acting without legal sanction the free State men drew up as State consti- tº tution, referred it to the voters for adoption, and elected State * º º officers under it. The hostility of the factions resulted in - petty warfare in which scores of people lost their lives. The Administration at Washington, controlled by the Southern members of Congress, threw the weight of its . lſ, - authority with the pro-slavery organization. "Bleeding Kansas" and the "crime against Kansas" provided effective campaign material for the Republicans in the North . Four parties held National conventions in 1856. These were the American or Know-Nothing, the Whig, tile Deſſio cratic, and the Republican parties. Greatest interest attaches to the platform of the two last named. The Democratic convention met at Cin- cinnati, and the name of that city atta ciled it self to tile plat- form. The old planks aimed at abolitionist agitation, Which had - been placed in every party platform since 1840, were retained. To meet more specifically the issue presented by the new Repub- lican party, it was averred that "the American Democracy recog- nize and adopt the principles contained in the organic laws "es- tablishing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska as embo dying the only sound and safe solution of the ! slavery question.'" The uniform application of this Democratic principle would, it. was held, preserve intact the rights of the States. This proper policy was restated a 5 the "non-interference by Congress with Blavery in the State and Territory, or in the District of Col- umbia." These pronouncements of the convention of 1856 gave the party's approval to the popular sovereignty and non-inter- Ventio Il doctrines, and must be borne in ºn a the consideral- tion of the problems before the national convention of the party four years later. - The call which asked for the election of delegates to the Republican convention Was addressed to those who were "opposed --- - to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise "and" to the exten- sion of slavery into the free territory." This was a fair ſ l6 statement of the common Ground acceptable to tile diverse ele- w ments which made up the party, The Convention a ssembled at Philadelphia, June 17." The first resolution of this Convention declared that "the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution is es- sential to the preservation of our republican institutions." Upon this statement was constructed the constitutional justifi- cation for the party. "With our republican fathers we hold it to be a self evident truth that all men are endo ºved. With the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- ness, and that the primary object and ulterior design of our Federal Government were to secure these rights to all persons Within its exclusive jurisdiction." By a close association of the principles of the () rolinance of 1787, passed by the Congress of the Confederation, with certain sections of the Constitution drawn up the same year by the Constitutional Convention , the 18. "That as our republican fathers, when tiley abolished slavery in all our national terri- to ry, ordained that no person should be de- prived of life, liberty and property without due process of law, it becomes our duty to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it for the purpose of establishing slavery in the United States by positive legislation prohibiting its existence or extension there in . " conclusion was reached that it was a duty to prevent the es- tablishment of slavery in the territories by Congressional pro- nibition . While it was asserted that the Constitution had con- º - ferred upon Congress sovereign power in the government of the Territories, a curious restriction was placed upon its exer- 17 cise by a declaration which denied "the authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, of any individuals, to give legal * -- . - - ---> * - - - - sa. . . . . " xistence to slavery in any Territory of the United States. The platform even went so far as to hold that tilis Sovereign power over the territories made it a "duty" of Congress to pro- hibit slavery in the Territories. The platform of the American party touched our subject at one point. The seventh resolution recognized the rigilt of tile permanent resident 3 of a territory to regulate their doſſie Štic concerns "in their own mode", subject only to the Federal Con- stitution . The resolutions of the Whig Convention must have Iſlet the approval of a large body of conservative citizens. They noted that the government had been formed by the Union of geographical sections which differed not only in climate and products, but in social and domestic institutions. Any cause Which Would create no stility between these sections and which would result in the organization of sectional parties must prove fatal to the continuance of the Union. Washington's oft -- quoted injunction against geographical parties was used to give force to this declaration . It was asserted that the Democratic Party appealed mainly to the "passions and prejudices" of the Southern States, Wilile the Republican organization represented only Sixteen Northern States. The success of either must in- Crea. Be the common danger. The reasoning underlying the work of the Whig Convention was to exert a strong influence on many minds four years later, and in the months following the Repub- lican success in 1860. 18 Though James Buchanan, the Democratic nominee, was elected to the Presidency, trie remarketle success of trie new party of protest is Worthy of notice. Buchanan received 174 electoral votes, Fremont received liº, while Millard Fillmore, tile candid- ate of Americans and Whigs, received but 8. Of the popular vote, Buchanan received 1,838,169; Fremont 1,341,264, and Fill- more 874, 534. Buchanan was, ºtherefore, a president crlo Sen by a minority . - The rapid growth of the Republican party was due, in a large part, to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise by the Kansa S- lie ra. Ska, legislation, followed by the failure of popular Sover- eignty in the Territory of Kansas. In view of the strong pro - hability that the free-state settlers would be in a large majority in Kansas, it may be doubted that the new party Would have held its strength intact for four years more, had not the &ction of the Supreme Court and trie conduct of Kansas affairs by President Buchanan, not only sustained the party in its resolves, but added many to it 5 number S. In the Dred Scott case the Supreme Court attempted to set- tle the great territorial controversy. Dred Scott, long a resi- dent of Missouri, Was the slave of an army surgeon. In the Course of duty, his master took him for a stay in the free State of Illinois, and following that, to the Territory of Min- nesota, free by the Compromise of l820. A very important question before the Court concerned the status of Drea. Could a negro, the descendant of slaves, be a citizen of the United States, within the meaning of that term as used in the Consti- tution? A negative answere would prevent Dred from being a party to a suit in a federal court. The opinion of Chief Justice t Taney So held. This decision, under ordinary circumstances 19 should have terminated the suit. The Court however, desirous of 19. Without citizenship Dred could not be a party to a suit, in a federal court . bringing peace to the country, took up the question whether the plaintiff was entitled to freedom because of residence in a free state, and in a territory free under the terms of the Missouri Compromise. In dealing with the latter phase of the question, the Chief Justice held that the provision of the Constitution which conferred upon Congress the power "to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States" had no bearing on the matter, but was confined in its operation to territory pos- sessed by the United States as a result of the treaty of peace of 1783 with England. It could have no "influence upon a territory afterwards acquired from a foreign government. It was a special provision for a known and particular territory, and to meet 3. present emergency, and nothing more." On the other hand, the Louisiana Territory, purchased from France in 1803, "was acquired by the General Government, as the representative and trustee of tile people of the United States, and it must therefore, be held in that character for their common and equal benefit; for it Was the people of the several States, acting through their agent and representative, the Federal Government, who in fact acquired the territory in question, and the Government holds it for their Common use until it shall be associated with the other states & 3 a member of the Union . " Government being necessary for such -º-º-º-º: 4- **, *, +,-, -ºn - - - territory, the common agent of the States must establish such 2O £, C iſl Gº 3. s would "enable those by who se authority they acted to reap the advantages anticipated from its acquisition." This required protection within the territory, to every species of § property recognized as such in any of the States. Upon trii 5 premiss, the court reached the conclusion that the lissouri Com- promise, which prohibited the holding of slave property in trie ..I. Louisiana territory, was an unwarranted exercise of power and therefore void. Dred. Scott would not have been made free even though his master had become a permanent resident of Minnesota . Dissenting opinions were filed by two justices, liclean and Curtis. The latter field that a negro might be a citizen and the refore entitled to sue in a federal court, triat tile Missouri Compromise was a valid exercise of power by Congress, and that Consequently pred Scott 's residence in Minnesota, made him a free man . Justice Curtis a 5 Serted that the question of citizenship Was the only one properly before trie Court. The other questions considered were not legitimately before the court, and therefore, the opinion of the majority could not be considered of binding 2O force. 20. "The jūdfºſſient of this court is that the case is to be dismissed for want of jurisdiction, because the plain Liff Via 5 not a citizen of Mii. 5 Souri . . . In- to that judgment, according to the settled course of this court, no thing appearing after a plea to the merit S can enter. A great question of Consti- tutional law, deeply affecting the peace and wel- fare of the country, is not, in my opinion a fit subject to be thus reached." The majority decision in this case was of far-reaching im– portance. Were it accepted as a valid statement of law, it Would go far to destroy the mission of the Republican party, which was to secure, by congressional prohibition, freedom for 2l the Territories. The decision, too, Would destroy the Douglas doctrine of popular sovereignty since neither Congress nor trie people of a territory could deprive the citizen of any State of rights he was entitled to in the common property of all tae States. The decision gave support to the Calhoun do ct, rine and met the instant approval of Southerners. In its favor they virtually abandoned popular sovereignty, an extremely uncertain method of making slave States, and would become content with no tiling less than the complete acceptance of the decision by the Democratic party. The Northern Democrats professed to ac- cept the decision, and to find nothing in it inconsistent with their favorite popular sovereignty doctrine . Another fact of great importance in tile growth of the Re- publican party was the conduct of the Administration and the pro-slavery men in the matter of the Lecompton Constitution for Kansas. The free State folk of Kansas finally elected 3. the Territorial Legislature. Before the new Leg- f majority o islature could take control, the old and pro-slavery body called a constitutional convention wilo se task it was to draft a State Constitution . The anti-slavery men declined to take part in the election of delegates, and the new body in consequ- ence was a pro-slavery one. The Constitution drawn up by Ghis body was not fairly submitted to the people. In no case could the instrument be rejected. It might be accepted with certain provisions which would fasten slavery on the new state, or, rejecting trio se, with a provision which guaranteed secur- ity to all property rights in slaves then within the territory. This Constitution with the first, alternative was a do pted at 22 the polls. The free State men, rega. Iºding the mode of submission as unfair, refused to participate in the election. The President and the Southern leader's de Si Ted tile admis- Sion of Kansas under this Lecompton Constitution . . In the Senate they met, the powerful opposition of Stephen A. Douglas, the author of the Kansas Nebraska. Bill, and the champion of popular sovereignty. Douglas, followed by many Northern Democrats, took the stand that the submission of the Constitution was a trave sty on popular rule. It is unnecessary to go into the analysis of the motives of Senator Douglas Who, up to this time, had pleased Southern leaders. His opposition marked the beginning of a Second breach within the Democratic party. 23 º CHAPTER 11. POLITICAL conventions 1860 Events in the years lying between the political cam- paigns of lè56 and 1860 wrought significant changes in the field of politics. We may recall that in the earlier years the doctrine of popular sovereignty in territorial affairs was the most important plank in the Democratic plat- form, Upon it, Democrats, North and South, had made their appeal to the country. We may remember, too, that the Republican party had completed its national organiza- tion, and the principle drawing its members together was that of prevention, by congressional action, of slavery extension to the territories. Among there controlling events was the Dred Scott decision, If the validity of its section relating to territorial control was admitted, the decision was destructive of Democratic and Republican positions a- like. The south accepted the decision in its entirety as a proper statement of the rights of her people in the son- mon territories. Moreover, the trend of events in Kansas had increased greatly sectional animosities. Southern slave-holders had believed themselves entitled to the most southerly of the territories covered by the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The work of emigrant-aid socºtes in the North had amounted to conspiracies to rob southerners of their rightful due. The determination of the Administration to give Kansas to the º 24 South left the North in no pleasanter mood. But possibly more important than this was the breach in Democratic ranks emerging in the Kansas struggle. The Administration and Southern leaders, after their defeat in Kansas itself, had determined to make it a slave State under the malodorous Lecompton Constitution. This effort failed because Senator Douglas, who declared the Le compton affair was but a traves ty on popular sovereignty, used his influence to bring about the rejection of the constitution by Congress. The President and his Southern advisers determined to read out of the party the man who had brought to the South the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and who now, in the moment of their triumph, had lost Kansas to them. Within the Democratic party the issues concerned persons as well as principles. The great leader of the Northern Democrats, and their undoubted choice for the Presidency, was displeasing to the Southern members of the party. Could the party unite on a candidate to whom all could be loyal?- a condition so necessary to success in face of the growing strength of their opponents. Of even greater importance was the other question: could they unite on a platform? Would the South, knowing the uselessness of popular sovereignty as a means Of furthering its ends, a ccept it in response to a demand from the North where it, was needed as a catchword? Or would the Northern Democrats -- accept slavery for the territories (a position logically º unavoidable for them) in the face of the diametrically - opposed sentiments of one-half the voters in the North, | and in the face of a certain distaste for a frank state- ment of Democratic position on the part of the other half? Our story is in part an attempt to show Democratic senti- ment in Michigan on these issues. The proceedings of the county conventions which had the task of selecting delegates to the State convention give us some indications of the trend of Democratic senti- ment in the early months of the year. If the resolutions º of these conventions are trustworthy criteria of sentiment, it must be said that the rank and file of the party had ex- perienced but slight change either in principles or in the mode of expressing them.*. They still held to popular l. For proceedings of Democratic County con- ventions see : Free Press, Feb. 1861 Teb. 2, Isabella. Feb. ll, Calhoun: Eaton ; Kalamazoo city caucus. Feb. 12, Mackinaw ; Ann Arbor city caucus. Feb. 14, Clinton. Feb. 15, Shiawassee, Marquette. Feb. 16, Grand Traverse; Lenawee. Feb. 17, Allagan; precinct caucus, Wayne ; Oak- land; Lapeer; Ottawa. º Feb. 18, Berrien; Genesee ; St. Clair; Ionia. Feb. 19, Wayne ; Washtenaw ; Kalamazoo ; VanBuren; Cass ; Hillsdale. - Feb. 21, Kent ; Monroe ; Jackson; Iosco; Montcalm. Feb. 22, Ingham; Macomb; Branch; Bay. º * sovereignty as the rightful solution of territorial problems. The desire to placate Southern feeling is clearly apparent in the frequent : iteration both of the Supremacy of the highest federal court in the interpretation of the Constitution and of the duty of obedience to its mandates. That the court 's opinion in the Dred Scott case was contradictory to their major principle, seemingly mattered not. Lesser £és” of party interest, thought to be in accord with Southern de- sires, were emphasized. Pleas for the acquisition of Cuba, for example, and for the banishment of discussion on slavery from the halls of Congres; 8 were made of chief moment. Perhaps we should note, if only for the contrast it affords the work of the Iemocratic convention in Clinton County. This gathering reaffirmed emphatically the Cincinnati platform "in the words, º spirit and meaning with which the same was adopted, understood and ratified by the people in l856." Not content with this, extracts from Fu chanan's speech of acceptance were used to show his complete accord, in 1856, with the popular sovereignty doctrine. Fiven Vice-President Breckinridge was held to have as- serted, in a Michigan speech, that "in regard to their domestic institutions, the people of a territory are as sovereign as those of a state." Issue was taken with the Supreme Court and with representative Southern Democrats in the assertion, that "slavery was the creature of municipal law "" alone. The as- sumption that slavery was carried into the Territories by the Constitution itself was "utterly"a repudiated. The "democracy of Clinton" could not consent " to the abandonment, modification, or avoidance "of the popular sovereignty principle as under-e stood in l856. DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION The Democratic State Convention which assembled February 22, affords us further opportunity to get at the sentiment of the party within the State. The principal duty of this gather- ing was the selection of delegates to the National 27 convention of the party to be held at Charleston, South Carolina. For these positions party leaders were chosen. Among them were ex-Senator Charles E. Stuart, , staunch Dpuglas supporter in the Le Compton fight, ex-Governor Alpheus Felch, G. V. N. Lothrop of Detroit, George W. Peck, and Augustus C. Baldwin, proprietor of the Pontiac Jacksonian. Of greater interest to us is the convention's declaration of, position in national affairs. The re- solutions exhibited a marked endeavor to placate the South while refusing outright acceptance of the position, it was doubtless felt that Southern members of the party would as- sume. Thus, "popular sovereignty" was not mentioned in terms, though the Cincinnati platform was "emphatically affirmed" and upheld as "the well considered and settled expression of the cardinal aoctrines of the national democratic party." Probable demand from the South for acceptance of the prin- ciple of the Dred Scott case was met in the concession that "we fully recognize the paramount judicial authority of the Supreme Court of the United States within its province under the constitution, and we will give to its decisions that cheerful obedience and support required alike by duty, honor, and patriotism. " Further evidence of sympathy is found in the statement that the party in Michigan, " wounded with any en- croachment upon the honor, the rights, or the integrity of any other State," "witnessed with horror and indignation" "the John Brown raid into Virginia. 28 - ination. The convention had to tread on equally delicate ground in the selection of its presidential candidate. The county conventions generally had requested, and in some cases in- structed, their delegates to secure the approval of the can- didacy of Stephen A. Douglas for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. The convention, acting in obedience to this demand, asked the Democrats Of every section to yield "natural local preferences for other eminent statesmen" and join with Michigan in the nomination of the "Favorite Chief" of the Northwest. The Michigan del- e gates were instructed to spare no effort to secure his nom- º º - A somewhat freer expression of the views of the Michigan Democrats was presented to the convention in the speech of ex-Senator Charles F. Stuart. The creed of Douglas, said he, "which is that the people of each State and Territory shall manage their own domestic affairs in their own way, without intervention from any quarter, is that c reed and that rule of action, on which alone this con- federacy can be perpetuated." Senator Stuart seems to have assumed that the Le compton struggle in the Senate had es- tablished definitely the principle of popular sovereignty "a rhd now," said he , "when the crisis has passed, and when the great doctrine of State and Territorial rights, for which we then contended, has become the settled policy of the country, I am in no wise disposed to abandon that principle . . . . We in- tend to maintain the doctrine of popular sovereignty until every State and Territory shall be left perfectly free to manage its domestic concerns according to the will and pleasure of its people." The resolutions of the conven- 2. Free Press, February 23, 1860. tion together with the words of the chairman of the Michigan delegation silow us clearly enough the views which controlled the men who were to represent the State in the National Demo- c ratic Convention at Charles to n. THE FIRST REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. The Republican party in Michigan was the first of the organizations formed to prevent the extension of slavery in the territories, to take that name. Since the date of its organization, July 6, 1854 it had been uniformly successful - at all elections. Majorities in both branches of the State legislature and all State officers had been since chosen |by the party. one excepted, every member of the lower House of Congress in the years l854 to 1860 had been Republican. Zachariah Chandler had replaced Lewis Cass in the Senate, at the end of the latter's term, and Governor Bingham had, in like manner, followed Senator Stuart. Within the State the party was thought # to be more perfectly united, and more resolute in ***** compromise than was the case in other Republican States. An examination of the work of the party conventions 3. Adv. , May 2, 3, 1860. --- º º º --- Will indicate the temper of the party within the State and 30 their reaction, if any, to the changed views of a portion of the Democracy. The Republican convention whose task it was to select delegates to the national gathering at Chicago, met in Detroit, May, 2. As in the case of the opposition party, the county conventions betrayed the sentiment of the party in the State. On national issues these local meetings seem to have ap- º proved of the Republican platform of 1856. On questions of policy there seems to have been a complete absence of any suggestions of change. Of more interest was the matter of the party's candidate. In many cases the county gatherings had given expression to opinions eulogistic of william H. 4 Seward, and favorable to his candidacy for the presidency 4 Detroit Daily Tribune, March and April 1860 (for details of note see page 7 of Čh. II top) The resolutions of the State convention afforded marked contrasts with the proceedings of the Democrats. In the Republican gathering was found none of the timid defence, mild language, or conciliatory concessions characteristic of their opponents. Not the thought alone, but also the way in which it was phrased, was characteristic of the Republicans of the State, and both enable as to appreciate the senti- ment and action of the party during the campaign and in the later trying times of areatened secession and War. In the platform the party exulted in its rapid growth, and boasted of its supremacy in one-half of the States. It º was destined to "rule the councils and mould the policy" of - º the nation. It was "an infant Hercules, which is its very cradle, is strangling the twin serpents of polygamy and 31. slavery". This phrasing, when the sensitiveness of the South to reflections on the character of its "peculiar institution" is e borne in mind, suggests the animosity engendered in the struggle for free territories . The Republican doctrine "of the power of Congress to maintain the rights of freedom, free soil and free labor in the ter- ritories was the "citadel" alone that could resist the "slaveocracy". "The ready and regular growth of the pre- tensions of the slave power," which looks" forward"º"to the endless perpetuation of all the evils that slavery inflicts upon the whole race" established the need of the Republican principle. This statement of the trend of the "slaveo cracy" is also expressive of the party's attitude toward the Dred Scott decision so acceptable to Southern Democrats. Michigan Republicans had but one candidate for the Presidency. This was Seward. . The desires of the party were registered in the instruction to the delegates to cast their entire vote as a unit for him. 8 5. Resolutions of county conventions cited above. 5 "The delegates from our State will of course go to Chicago resolutely determined to use their whole influence to secure the nomination of Governor Seward as the republican standard bear- er in the ensuing oontest, and not to abandon him while a single hope of his nomination re- mains. Such is the sentiment of the Republican party. . . . They will not hold those guiltles 5 who may even falter in the support of the man of ei their choice, and of the principles for which they so gallantly struggled. The doctrine of expediency' when it involves the abandonment of party fidelity and the integrity of our organ- ization, Michigan republicans utterly repudi- ate." Adv. May 2, 1860. This editorial ap- peared before the convention had taken action. - - 32 The speeches of the leaders of the party before the con- vention supplement the stand taken in the resolutions, and aid us to sense the position of the party in its opposition to the aims of the slave holding sections. , The assertion that the Constitution afforded protection to slavery put- - side of the bounds of the states sanctioning it was contro- verted by one leader, who, when civil was threatened, was to take a stand in favor of compromise. 6 He declared that a 6 D. B. Duffield, Trib. May 3, 1860. national slave code would result in civil war; that the a- doption of a pro-slavery creed would drive the "glory of free- dom" from the earth. The views of a radical Republican, who, even in the stress of a later period, saw no need to modify them, were presented in the speech of Austin Blair. The I}emocratic party, he said, had lowered itself by its continu- ed concessions to the South. It had yielded the Wilmot proviso, the Missouri Compromise, the right of congressional --- - - º º legislation for the territories. Finally, "they had gone to º Charleston 7 and there they have been asked to give up the 7 The National Democratic Convention had met and adjourned to meet at Baltimore. rest of the ir principles".” 8 Free Press, May 3, 1860 8 To Austin Blair the Republican party had a sacred mission. For him recent history was but the chronicle of a series of aggressions on the party of the slave-owning section of the nation. He was not sanguine of immediate success for his party ... But it must continue to stand upon its foundation principle and it must give no consent to compromise. Above citation. --- tº --- 33 LEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTIONS. ** The Democ catio National Convention met in the city of Charleston, April 23, 1860.9 Its first task was the construct- 9 Detroit papers, April 23 to May 5 contains accounts of proceedings. ion of a platform. The duty fell to a committee upon which each State had one member. It was in the work Of this body that sectional antagonisms, if any, would manifest them- selves. The delegates from the free States of Oregon and California were controlled by the Administration, and in * consequence the Southern leaders had a majority of one on this important committee. After some days of discussion a º platform was reported out by a bare majority which set forth without equivocation the more recent views of the South. The important announcement of the Southern majority was that "the ºrº - government of a Territory. . is . provisional and temporary, and during its existence all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the Territories, without their rights either of person or property, being des- - troyed or impaired by Congressional or Territorial legisla+ iº º - º - tion: 10 To this was added the corollary that it was the duty 10 McKee, National Platform, lst ed. p. 63. of all departments of the Federal covernment to protect the rights of persons and property in the Territories. The re- port attempted, also, to explain away the divergence it be- trayed with the Cincinnati platform of the party. The right º - of sovereignty for the people of a territory was to commence, -- it was averred, with the formation of a State Constitution. ºf º 34 . The people of the territory were to find their sovereign voice then, and were to be admitted to statehood whether their "Constitution prohibits or recognizes the existence of slavery." If the majority report represented the demands of the Southern members of the party, it was no les 5 true that the minority report set forth the needs of the Northern members. This report affirmed, in express terms, the Cin- cinnati platform. That the form of this declaration re- specting alavery in the territories was more important than its substance is made clear, in turn, by the addition of a corollary which set forth that, "as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Territorial Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of Congress, under the Constitution over the institution of slavery within the Territories," the Democratic party "will abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States on questions of consti- tutional law. "10 1. 10 A final resolution, which may have been added by the Douglas Convention at Baltimore, is e- vidence of the extreme to which Northern Demo- - crats would go, could they but retain the much- needed phrase. This averred that obedience to past or future determinations of the Supreme Court on the measure of restriction imposed by - - - the Constitution on the power of a Territorial Legislature over domestic relations was in ac- Cordance with a true interpretation of the Cin- cinnati platform. The history of the two reports before the convention need • delay us but briefly. A recommittal failed to bring any im- portant change of position. The convention, by the majority º w - wote of the Northern delegates, adopted the minority report. º º º --- section of the party had refused to come up º The Northern squarely to the advance in position made by their brothers in the South since the adoption of the platform of 1856. Be- cause of this the delegates of five Southern States- Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, and Texas withdrew from the convention. After some days spent in balloting for 8, presidential nominee, the remaining members - º º - -- º adjourned to meet again in Baltimore, June 18, 1860. º That the Lemocrats of Iletroit at least were in entire sympathy with the conduct of the State's representatives at Charleston was made evident in a meeting of welcome to the returning delegates. This gathering gave formal approval to the minority resolutions of the Northern members as "a true exposition of democratic faith". The delegates were accorded praise for their support of Douglas. It was resolved that his nomination would be the "strongest, wisest, best, move - ment" toward the restoration to Michigan and the Northwest of their "ancient political honor". 11 ll. Detroit papers, May 12, 1860. The attitude of Northern Democrats in the committee and before the convention was well set forth to this Detroit rally by G. V. N. Lothrop, one of the delegates. They had gone into the committee, he said, to demand the re- adoption of the Cincinnati platform. They urged that it was a safe and tried platform. They reminded the dissenters that it had been adopted unanimously both by committee and 36 convention in 1856. They entered a denial to the Southern contention " that slavery, under the constitution, was recog- nized in the Territories, and was protected there by the constitution! It did not go in the Territories until planted there by popular will. Northern members pointed out that Democratic rule had brought peace and prosperity, with pro- tection to Southern rights. Indeed, Southern rights could not be invaded, being protected by the Constitution. The º --- Northern members were partišlarly anxious to make the dis- cussion of slavery issues turn on the authority of the judiciary. This would enable them to bring the Republican party squarely up to the issue of obedience to the compromises of the constitution. But to this the South gave only re- fusal. 12 "By the compact of 1856" said Mr. Lothrop, "we de- l2. The advantage to the Democrats of this position for Northern campaigning is clear. Attention might be diverted from the bald issue of slavery in the territories to that of obedience to the mandates of the consti- tution as interpreted by the Supreme Court. This did not carry with it , of course, the surrender of those other catch words "popular sovereignty" as inconsistent in their con- notation with past judicial decision. -- º - clared that there should be no interference by Congress in the affairs of any State, Territory, or in the District of Columbia. On that platform we went to the people. We proclaimed this principle on every stump and at every meet- ing. On that, the North would again plant themselves, and there they would stay, come weal or woe, until the last ship was sunk." Nothing could set forth the dilemma of the North more clearly that this presentation of Northern desires º - - 37 and the extent of their concessions by Mr. Lothrop, * 13 The speech of Theodore Romeyn to the same gathering, addressed by Mr. Lothrop, is an inter- esting présentation of the views of another Northern man on the subject of slavery. "The general sentiment of the North" he admitted." "has been adverse to its support in any way by the nation." The early sentiment of the North- ern Democrats had been in favor of the in- hibition of slavery in the Territories. They would have accepted the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific, a solution prevented, said he , by the Northern opponents of slavery. The Douglas solution (popular sovereignty) was very acceptable to the party in the North. Its honest appli- cation had been defeated in Kansas. But "if the Democracy of the South, or it the present national administration, wish to make up and try the issue on popular sovereignty, we are in favor of accepting it". . . The speaker took orthodox Lemocratic ground in the con- cession that "we will sustain the adjudication, in a proper case, of the Courts of the United States on the subject of its existence (in the Territories). But we will not agree that Congress shall enact laws º to introduce or foster it." The Democratic Convention, or the Northern section of it, reassembled at Baltimore. The convention had great difficulty in determining its membership and a second "bolt" occurred}4 A rule controlling all Democratic National 14 Rhodes 2/473 - 475. * * Detroit papers, June 19 - 22, 1860. Conventions required that its candidate should receive the votes of two-thirds of a convention's membership. Douglas had reached a majority in the balloting prior to the adjournment at Charleston. He was now nominated by the delegates who remained in attendance. The Baltimore se - ceders, their members increased by many who had withdrawn at Charleston, nominated John C. Breckinridge for the Presidency, and Joseph Lane of Oregon for the Vice-Presidency. 38 Their platform was that reported by the Southern members of the resolutions' committee at Charleston. º THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION. The Republican National Convention met in Chicago, May 15, 1860. 19 There existed no sectional causes of division, 15 Proceedings in Detroit papers. no "irrepressible conflict" in this gathering. In consequence but little difficulty was experienced in drafting a state ment of principles. In unmistakable language the platform asserted Republican doctrine with respect to the institution - Klux-tfººt % of slavery. It disclaimed explicitly any 'mention of inter- fering with slavery where it existed by virtue of State sanction. Issue was taken with the more recent view of the South. "The new dogma that the Constitution of its own force carried slavery into any or all of the United States" (an unfair inference from the Dred Scott case) was held "a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument, with contemporaneous ex- position and with legislative and judicial precedent, re- volutionary in its tendency and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country." to the contrary "the normal con- dition of all the territory is that of Freedom". The duty of maintaining this status devolved upon the National legis-, y lature. Neither Congress nor a territorial isºlatº soula". º º º , ºr - r sanction to slavery in the territories of the United States. The solidarity of the party made the question of a can- - ~~ * -- - didate of greater contemporary interest than the platform. º 39 ..Of the two leading candidates, Seward and Lincoln, Michigan had pledged herself enthusiastically to the former. Her delegates were accompanied to Chicago by two thousand or more - of the citizens of the State, who, we are told contributed not a little to keep up courage in the Seward ranks"16 To 16 Trib. May 17, 1860. Austin Blair of Michigan fell the honor of seconding the nomination of the State's favorite. We need not recount the details in the balloting. Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot. The Michigan delegates voted loyally for their candidate on every ballot, declining to the moved even by the landslide”. Blair in seconding the customary motion to make unanimous the nomin- ation betrayed the disappointment of the Michigan men at the result. - In the State itself the result was a complete surprise. Lincoln had not been thought of as a candidate who se strength Was to be feared. The diaappointment of the Republicans of the State was the greater for this fact. 17. The defeat was 17" words cannot, picture the indignation that is felt in Detroit at the conduct of Greeley in seeking to divide the councils of the party in the hour of trial, and to gratify private an- imosity at the expense of public weal! Tri- bune, May 18, 1860. +7"I doubt not, the announcement of the result of the action of the convention-the defeat of the Hon. Wrm. H. Seward-produced upon the minds and feelings of the masses of the Republicans Of Michigan. . . . . a chill of disappointment, as - sad, heartfelt, and deep, as their attachment to Republican principles, and grateful love for ºtheir distinguished champion and leader." Trib- une correspondent. º 40 17 "The heart of Michigan was set on her beloved Seward, and she had warmly hoped and firmly expected that he would be the choice." Adv. May 19, 1860. 17. "It was the politicians that slaughtered Gov- ernor Seward at Chicago." Adv. , May 21, 1860. charged to Greeley and "politicians" generally. The Republican State Central Committee seemed to feel that explanation was necessary. May 25, 1860 they issued a statement, which, after reciting the selection of Lincoln and Hamlin, said ; "the choice of the whole party was not the choice of Michigan. Our State convention had just rung with unan- imous plaudits for another name, under which to rally for the approaching conflict. The heart of our Republican masses in the field and in the workshop, was proud in the hope that, once at least in the history of the Republic, the success of a great party, and of the great man of the party and of the nation, was to be mutually consistent with each other . . . . . . But it was not to be. Again has great individual eminence and experience, as a Statesman, had to yield to make way for the success of greater principles, and the man of the age to forbear for a time his personal triumph." º NOMINATING CONVENTIONS FOR STATE TICKETS. The very intensity of interest in national affairs but served to increase the bitterness of the fight between the parties for State offices and over State concerns. Each sought to attach to the other the stigma of financial ir- regularity. The course of the Republicans during five years ~~ of, control in the State offices seemed a promising field for 41 Democratic exploration. The Republicans, with no de- sire to lose at this game, curried the administrations of their predecessors in power. Party animosities so colored campaign material that it is impossible to come to conclusions concerning the existence of malfeasance. To this there is one exception. The out- lines of one transaction, known as the Canal Loan Affair, stand out clearly. It received much attention by conven- tions and by the press during the entire period of our study, and had, withal, real effects on Republican politics. A sketch of the matter will help to an understanding of the campaign. On February 14, 1859, the Legislature enacted a measure which authorized a bond issue of $100,000, the proceeds from the sale of which were to be used for repairs on the St. Mary's Ship Canal. Governor Wisner and the State Treasurer journeyed to New York to open bids and arrange for the sale of the bonds, The New York firm which was awarded ºr the loan gave bond to fulfill their contract ty July 1, 1859. 18 Just previous to 18 Adv., Feb. 23, 1860. that date the Treasurer returned to New York to deliver the bonds and receive the principal and premium resulting from their sale. In place Of securing the whole sum, he actually received but one-half of the principal and all of the premium. For the balance, sso,000, he accepted a certificate of deposit given by the purchasing brokers. A bond in the sum of $100,000 was given to him to secure the payment of this certi- ficate. This bond was signed by a member of the broking firm, 42 by the Treasurer's predecessor in office, and by a former º - Republican auditor-general of the State, º. The - - Treasurer, on his return to the State, informed the Governor that he had received the proceeds in money, Some time in November the State officials became aware of the facts. Vigorous efforts were made by the governor,49 19 Letter of Wisner to Howard, Dec. 21, 1859. Howard MSS./90. the attorney-general, and others to obtain the balance from the brokers before the details of the transaction became known. They failed in this, and a mortgage, running to the State, was taken on lands owned by individual members of the broking firm. Partial details becoming public, party controversialists became active. The Republican press and officials sought to explain the transaction.”9 The Treasurer issued a statement 20 Lansing Republican Jan. 24, 1860. Howard MSS. , 90. - 2006 overnor Wisner's letter Adv. Feb. 23, 1860. Pontiac Weekly Gazette, March 21, 1861. Free Press, Feb. 24, 1860. -- in defence of his action.” The Republican Club of Pontiac, 2l Adv. May 22, 1860. - Pontiac Gazette, June 1, 1860. 21 Papers concerning this in Howard MSS. , 90 B. H. C. Letter of J. M. Howard to Whitney Jones, Feb. 17, 1861, Howard MSS. , 90. Letter of Howard to Austin Blair, Feb. 18, 1861, Howard MSS. , 90. - Trib. , Jan ll, l860. Pontiac Weekly Gazette, Jan 2, 1960. in resolutions adopted Feb. 25, 1860, declared that the Treasur- er, was either dishonest or incompetent, and that he was an 43 "unfit person for the office held by him.” The Republican 22 Pontiac Weekly Gazette, March 2, 1860. 22 A fact of some importance in its bearing on State politics was that, , in all statements of the matter in the party papers, and in the explanations of the Governor and the Treasurer, no mention was made that two for- mer State, officials had signed the bond which was given to protect the Treasurer against the failure of the banking company to redeem the certificate of deposit issued by it. Club of Ionia passed resolutions which condemned the Treasur- er for improper use of money, and which censured Governor Wisner. The Democratic organs of the State naturally went far beyond Republican papers and Republican associations in condemnation of the State Treasurer. They sought to hold Republicans generally, and all State officials in particular, responsible for the acts of the Treasurer. The Canal Loan Scandal played a large part in the cam- paign of 1860 and of the years immediately following. In convention proceedings and in stump speeches, charges and counter-charges of dishonesty and incompetency were of frequent occurence. º REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION, JUNE 7, 1860. The duties of this convention were the nomination of a State ticket, the selection of candidates for the electoral college, and such expression of principles as recent events seemed to make necessary. This last, in so far as the wider or nation-wide interests of the party were concerned, W3.5 an easily executed task. The Chicago platform was ac- -- cepted as "thoroughly Republican in its doctrines." *3 44 23 Free Press and Trib., June 8, 1860. Graceful sunmission was made to the National convention in its choice of a candidate. Michigan "yields to the decision and bows to the will of the majority. . . . and is ready to battle" for the representative man of the Northwest. More serious difficulties faced the party in State af- fairs. The unfortunate Canal Loan matter, though it demon- strated the incapacity, or worse, of but one official, cast its shadow upon all. Most of the state officials were Serv- ing their first terms. 24 success for the party in the fall 24 The exceptions were the Attorney-general Jacob M. Howard, who was completing a third term, and J. M. Gregory, superintendent of public instruction. elections seemed more assured with a new set of candidates.” 25. Trib. May 12, 1860. In consequence, in April and May, every State official, one alone excepted,” made public announcement of his determin- 26 The superintendent of public instruction. a tion not to seek renomination.” 27 The attorney- general who had served the three terms with distinguished success would not have been, probably, a candidate in any event. There were but two candidates before the convention for governor. These were Austin Blair of Jackson and James M. Fdmunds of Wayne. These men had entered into an agreement a t the previous State convention, that, in case the names of either were before the nominating convention, the one re- ceiving the smaller vote on the informal ballot would with- ‘draw in the other's favor.28 Blair led on this test ballot, - * - - º º -- º -º- º º -- - - - - º º f 28 Trib. June 7, 1860, Nov. 8, 14, Dec. 1, 23, 1861, Jan. 4, 1862. º ºº and, after the withdrawal of his opponent's name, was nom- inated by acclamation. The convention found it necessary to exercise care in the º choice of a treasurer. For this position they selected John Owen, of Detroit, whose reputation for probity and ability seemed above factious assault. Other choices were James Birney for lieutenant-governor, Langford G. Berry for auditor- general, Charles Upson for attorney-general, James B. Porter for secretary of state, and Samuel S. Tracy for the State Land office. 29 - 29 The resolutions dealing with State matters l, were becoming general. Michigan would continue " to require of all its public servants an un- flinching integrity and strict individual ac- countability for every act of an official character." Evidence of faction within the party existed, but its causes and lines of cleavage are hidden in the vague al- lusions of the party, papers, and in the statements of an opposition press.” that there was dissatisfaction with 30 The leading Democratic daily of the State made frequent reference to supposed factions. This paper made the "Chandler faction" the dominant one , and to it opposed Governor Wisner, Senator Bingham, Jacob M. Howard, and Austin Blair. See issues of April 10, 28, June 5, 7, some group within the party is evidenced by editoral com- -- º -º-º: tº ments in Republican sheets. 31 º º º º - º º 31 "The first duty of the Convention to-day will be to break the 'slate 1, should it be exhibited. That they will do it most effectually we have no doubt." Adv. , June 7, 1860. 31 "The Democracy had vainly hoped for some clashing of interests, some friction of factions, º * - - - 46 “some disturbance to characterize the proceed- ings of the Convention." Trib. , June 8, 1860. 31"There has, not without some reason, been no little prejudice engendered in the men of both parties throughout the minds of interior a- gainst Detroit and Detroit politicians by their efforts to control the politics of the State , , and to influence all State nominations, and to take the general management of party matters into their own hand. - But whatever foundation there may have been hither to for this prejudice, or however much some previous Conventions may º have been controlled by Detroit influence, the action of the last Republican Convention (of June 7, 1860) must do much to remove it, and absolve our wire pullers from having managed its deliberations at least." Adv. , June ll, 1860, reprinted in Pontiac Gazette, June 22, Austin Blair, the convention's principal nominee re- quires mention in any story of Michigan in the war period. He a manifested his opposition to what he considered conventional or legal privileges or distinctions while still a student at Union College. There he organized an association to check "the unfair monopolizing of college honors and society privileges" by the secret societies of the school. Blair came to the State in 1841. He was el- ected to the Legislature of l846 on the Whig ticket. Iur- ing its session he tried to bring about the abolition of --- capital punishment within the state, and the removal of the restriction which barred the colored residents of the State º from the elective franchise. This resulted, he said, in his defeat at the election following. Disappointed at the defeat of Henry Clay in the Whig Convention of 1848 he" last ligament that held "him" to that party, and” º --- -º-º: enthusiastically in the Free-soil Movement." He egate to the Free-Soil Convention at Buffalo in Z --- severed the he "joined was a del- that year. 47 Rlair joined the Anti-Nebraska Movement in 1854. At the Jackson Convention at which the Republican party in the State was organized, he was a member of the committee on the plat- form. He was elected to the State Senate by the new party, and signalized his re-entry in the Legislature by securing, with Erastus O. Hussey, the passage of a personal liberty law. . Of his activity in behalf of the slave, he wrote : "My interest in the anti-slavery cause was so great that I did not hesitate in the least at any sacrifice it was possible for me to make." This humanitarian and Republican radical was to be the State's chief executive during the months preceding the outbreak of the civil War and during four years of that con- flict. That his unbending radicalism was a fact of importance in that cataclysm, the unfolding of our story will show. 32 32 Autobiographical Notes df Austin Blair, Jacks on Public Library. THE DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. The Democratic State Convention for the nomination of State officers and presidential electors was to have met in Detroit, May 31. The failure of the Charleston convention to complete its work in that city necessitated the postpone- ment of the Michigan convention by the State Central Committee of the party. The convention assembled in Detroit June 28. - There was small chance that the Democrats could elect even a single member of a State ticket in the fall. This fact centered the chief interest in the position that the C Orl- vention would take relative to the breach in the party and the several platforms of the sections. We have seen that the 48 Michigan delegates to Charleston and Baltimore stood square- ly for Stephen A. Douglas and his political doctrines. There was slight doubt that the great majority of the Democrats of the State were of like mind. But the great man of Michigan, and the foremost Democrat, Lewis Cass, the author of popular sovereignty, was in President Buchanan's cabinet as Secre- tary of State. The President had become a convert to South- e rrh. views on the question of slavery and a bitter antagonist Of Douglas 3, § well. Would his influence be felt in the con- verlt ion? -- The convention resolutions” set at rest any doubt that 33 Free Press, June 29, 1860. it was a Douglas gathering. "We are opposed", they read, " to the doctrines of the power of Congress to intervene in the affairs of the Territories, as enunciated by the Republican party at Chicago, and by the seceders from the national de - mocracy at Baltimore" 34 The doctrine was undemocratic and 34 First resolution. - contrary to the genius of free institutions"&o It was a . 35 Third resolution. "despotic principle". 36 The true doctrine was suggested by 36 Fourth resolution. terms that lacked somewhat as a satisfactory statement. "All the institutions of the territories whether of property or other nature, must occupy a common legal basis, without the intervention of Congress either to prohibit or establish them". 37 49 37. The contråsts between the ideas implied by the term Congressional interventionists (under which was associated such radically opposed groups as Republicans and Southern Democrats) and the ideas called up by the term popular Sovereignty indicated the trend Lemocratic argument in Michigan was to take during the campaign. When combined With con- cessions the Northern Wing of the party would make in the the matter of obedience to the Supreme Court mandates, it showed the logical Weakness as well a. the popular appeal of Dougla. Ś argument . The break between the party in lichigan and the National Administration was made apparent through two resolution 5 offered from tile floor of convention . One of triese, noting triat "our distinguished fellow citizen, General Lewis Cass, " Was at his home in tile city, called for tile appointment of a committee to "Wait upon the General, with a request that lie address this Con- vention on the political topics of the day." This resolution Was tabled by a vival voice vote. The second resolution a sked for the convention's indorsement of the "foreign and domestic policy "of James Bucharian's Administration. After some acri- monious intercilange of opinion, roll call was ordered on the question and tile resolution was defeated, six voting aye and one hundred and forty voting nay. On a division of the motion, even the foreign policy of the President was refused approval. In State affairs the convention found things more to its liking. It was a matter of regret, said the resolutions, that the de Spotic principles advocated by its opponents would with- dra. W. attention from State affairs and thus shield "the blunders and corruptions of the servants of the people at home." The fact that a prominent Republican politician had secured the contract to repair the ship canal at a figure higher than the b6 38 offer of other bidders received attention. 38. It was made known, through the legislative inquiry into the affairs of the Treasurer that the contractor's bonds had been signed by several Republicans ranking high in the State. John S. Barry of Constantine, was again nominated for tile governorship. William M. Fe nton, became the party's candidate for Lieutenant-Governor. Other nominations were , H. S. Pen- noyer for Auditor-General, William Francis for Secretary of State, Francis W. Sherman for Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, and S. L. Smith for Commissioner of the State Tand Office. 5l. CHAPTER III THE SOUTHERN Dºlio CRATIC AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL NION PARTIES IN MICHICAN There had been a singular unanimity, Geemingly, on the part of the lichigan Democracy in support of Douglas, and tile views for which he stood sponsor. The county conventions 3.11 d the first State Convention of the year Had expressed trieńselves unmistakably in favor of iais candidacy. The course of the ion- igan delegates at Charleston and Taltimore had Îlet general ap- proval. The Douglas platform had been again affirmed in the Second State Convention, While the terlet s of the Southern Deſmo - crats were a natileña equally With Republican doctrine . Alſlo St. unanimously this convention had refused to approve either of - o reign policy of James Bucharian . _º L the domestic or tile j Early in July, however, was initiated a movement whose pur- - pose was to build Llp within the State of Michigan a southern Democratic Party - one which would further the candidacy of I reckinridge and Lane and the platform of congressional inter- vention in the territories for the protection of slavery . A letter signed by nine Democrats, for the most part residents of Detroit, Was sent to many "National" Democrats a sking them to - &ttend a conference to discuss "the propriety of an independent l -- organization." Levi Fi Shop appears to have been the leader of r º, 1. Adv., July 25, 1860. thi 3 group . 2 . He had been for sometime prominent in Democratic politics, &nd 19.C. been chairman of a committee of tile Wayne County convention which had reported sº "stirring" Douglas resolutions. - ---, -º-º-º-º: - 52 2. At the close of, the campaign it was charged that the Breckinridge movement was organized under the direct supervision of an agent of the Administration. See Free Press, Nov. 9, 1860. In response to the above noted request, fifty or sixty § Democrats met in Detroit, July 24 . The resolutions adopted 3. Adv., Free Press, July 25, 1866. Pontiac Gazette, July 27, 1860. . groun contained the reasons for a separate organization . The adjournment of the Charleston Convention, after the failure to Imake a nomination Was Without precedent or authority, it was maintained. The "disruption" of that convention, (which was also the disruption of the Democratic Party) "was the natural, if not the necessary effect, of a persistent determination to pro- mote the personal interest, 5 of Mir. Douglas . . . . at the expense of the party." The course of action at Baltimore, taken with the results at Charleston, had left the Democrats at liberty to vote for Whichever Democratic candidate they pleased. The "distinguished leader of the party in 1856" had sanctioned this freedom . By failing to unite the party upon a platform acceptable to all, Douglas and his friends, had snown a want of - º qualification, or a loss of party confidence So necessary to success . . The gathering exercised its unusual freedom by ac- º cepting Breckinridge and Lane as their candidates. There was nothing half-hearted about them for they declared that the º º, lºreckinridge platform was tile Democratic platform of l856. A. State convention was resolved upon and a State Central Committee Was appointed. F. s. - 4. The newly appointed State Central Committee 53 - º had several members of more trian ording ry interest tº tile ...? sº. One of the committee was the able editor of the Ypsilanti Sentinel, Who, When he deserted the Douglas' ranks, had turned his ed- itorial columns, over to the Ypsilanti Republicans. He claimed for himself, While retaining his own convictions, the right to sell Space in tile ed- itorial as well as the advertising columns of his paper. The chairman of tile committee was Levi Bishop, poet, and regent of the State University, (remembered in this position because of His activ- ity in the dismissal of President Tappan). County organizations were recommended. A resolution Wilici, en- dorsed the administration of Puchanan met Some opposition, but Wº. 3 Că, ºri ed . The State Convent ion of tii is "Freckinridge Ying" of the Democratic party was held Aug. 29. 5. For proceedings see Detroit papers, Aug. 30, 1860. Though it may have been independent of any control Thy the National Administra, tion, its attitude to Ward the Douglas Sec- tion of the party suggested the contrary . The resolutions a 5 Sert, ed that the exclusion of delegates from the South, at Baltimore left that gethering without the complete repres– entation of any State Which the Democracy might 110 pe to carry . The admission of "substitutes without constituencies" and the nominations without a two-thirds vote of the total members...ip Were Condemned a S anti-Democratic and into lerant . Tºle prin- 6. This failure to secure the requisite vote for Douglas was naturally an important fact for the anti-Douglas Democrats in the Nortii, because up- on it they based their right to exercise freedom of choice in their support of Democratic candid- &te 5. - ciples of the "National Democratic Party had the most hearty T - Hi - - - - - ConCurrence "of the convention. On this O C C3, Sion there was | 54 no hesitatio Il in giving endorsement to the administration of James Buchanan. His foreign and domestic policies Were Con- sidered to be second to those of none of Ilis predecessors . The "insult, " offered to general Cass by tile last Democratic Convention was deemed to be deserving of merited rebuke. º Rather ful some praise was given to Breckinridge and Lane. Be- cause of the "present ai stracted condition" of tile country, it was esteemed "to be the duty of every citizen . . . . to for sake ili 5 party and personal prejudices, and to unite in one common earnest effort to suppress domestic strife." This meant, pre- sumably, in view of other resolutions, the adoption of the Southern platform and the Southern candidates. The convention was at one with its Democratic rivals only in its abhorrence of "the doctrines and purpose of the political party known as Republican." These doctrines Were Subversive of the Constitu- tion. They fomented sectional strife, interrupted business in- tercourse," endangered the perpetuity of the Union, and promis- ed to bring untold calamities upon the country . The Convention, nominated presidential electors . It also expressed the opinion that the party should present candidates for Congress in each district in the State. The only serious division during the proceedings occurred over a Iſlotion that a. separate electoral ticket 'be dispensed with if tile Douglas ticket Would consent to vote for Freckinridge in case it "be- came apparent that its candidate could not be elected. The sentiment of the majority W3. S 110 Wever adverse to this . The Republican paper's Were inclined to treat in kindly º º 55 fashion the Freckinridge organization within the State. "The larger number of counties were represented, and ciliefly by life- long Democrats, whose habit of devotion to party, illy fits triem § to change devotion to men." 6. "The men who composed it were, almost Without ex- ception, trio se Wilo have been recognized, for years as the pillars and brains of trie Democratic organi- zation. It is no Iño re than justice to a diſlit, that their proceedings were spirited and harmonious and tile feeling Iſlanifested Wa, § one of uncompromising hostility to the tricksters who manage the Douglas fa, ction . " 6. Adv., Aug. 30, 1860. For other articles of like tenor, see Adv. Aug. 17, Sept. 19, Oct. 18, 1860. The Democratic press could adopt no similar attitude. "There is in this city an organization, small in numbers, but de Sperate in character. Its chief objects. . . . were to obtain for it, 5 members, the enjoyment of the Federal offices at this 7 To int during the residue of the present administration." This - - \l party was declared to be the ally of "black Republicanism. "G *- 7. Free Press, Nov. 1, 1860 see also issue of Nov. 9, 1860. * 8. Free Press, Sept. 19, Oct. 18, Nov. 9, 1860. THE COISTITIONAL UNIONISTS IN IIICHICAN - A national convention composed of a remnant of Conservative Whigs and Americans met at Paltimore May 9. It was, of the iſational conventions, the first to make a nomination. John Bell of Tennessee was selected as its candidate for the Presidency . Edward ºveretv 6: Massachusetts was named for the Vice-Presidency. These men, and the members of the Convention that nominated them, Were conservatives who dreaded the raising of sectional issues. Their platform reflected their aims. There was little promise of strength for the movement in Michigan. "The party is ſuch more remarkable for its high ſº - { respectability and dignity than for its strength of numbers." 9. Free Press, May 11, 1860. "The movement appears to have small vitality altilough Some very 10 respectable men will doubtless engage in its deliberation 5." 10 • Trib • ? May 8, 1860 - However, thirty or more well known citizens of Detroit issued an invitation to all who were in favor of the election of the Constitutional Union candidates to meet for consultation . This ll gathering met July 23. It organized a Bell and Everett Club ll. The thirty-two respectable gentleſſlen Wilc signed a call for a Bell and Everett meeting, met at the liichigan Exchange . . . . to concoct some plan for tile resuscitation of their very sick candidates." Trib. , July 24, 1860. - - "The meeting was not very strong in point of num- loers, but a sserted powerful claims on the score of respectability and Wa, S 3-litably enthusiastic." Free Press, July 24, 1860, see also Adv. July 24, 1860. and appointed a State Central Committee . A State Convention W3. S decided upo Il . This Convention met October 3, late in the campaign. It - º had five vice-presidents, two secretaries and fifty-one dele- 12 gate S. Candidates for tile electoral college were chosen. It 12. Adv. Oct. 4, 1860. was decided not to present a state ticket. Educated men of con- servative tendencies of mind gave this movement what slight sup- port it possessed. Withing the State. Judge Wilkins of the United States District Court was one who found himself most in Sympathy With the patriotic &nd nea c e loving ideals of this -- party, and With him were a modest number of well known resi- 57 Detro it . tº 5 of dell CHAPTER IV THE POT, ITICAI, CAMPAIGN The preliminary Work of the party organizations having been accomplished, there yet remained tile fight for popular approval of candidates and platforms. The machinery necessary to a pol- itical campaign existed in the usual party committees of the counties and lesser divisions, and in the clubs or a 5 sociatio r15 formed for the year. A spirants for State and local offices, aid- ed by visitors of more than local fame, canvassed tile State, ring- ing the changes involved in their particular creeds. To the aid of the Douglas Democrats came Douglas himself, and, Vallandigham of Ohio, and a Mr. Ellis Schnabel who was recommended to the voters as superior to Carl Schurz "in all tile elements of manhood and oratory." The idol of Michigan Republican s-Seward- Salmon P. *** Chase and Fenjamin F. Wade of Ohio, General Nye of New York, Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts, and Casºs M. Clay of l, Kentucky came to the support of the dominant party in the State. The difficulties facing the Democratic party would seem to have been disheartening. Division in the national party decreased materially its chances of Success. They faced too, a party sure of victory within the State and reasonably certain of the national contest . Moreover, they were plagued by a Treckinridge organization of uncertain strength. The Courses triat tileir speakers must run were well defined by the time of adjournment of the Baltimore convention. The lines } of activity entailed upon them (outside of State concerns) were -1 defence of the Douglas platform, attack on that of the Breckin- r idge Démoc cats, and the continuation of the old fight against Republican doctrine 5 and Republican leaders. These tasks were mainfully entered upon . l The Speech of Charles E. Stuart, at Ypsilanti, July 25 - -- - i. Free Press, July 26, 1860 pical of the usual defence of Dougla. S doctrines. A Was ty'ſ Strong popular appeal lay in his Statement that the principles of the Democratic party bestowed upon the people of the ter- ritories a right of self-government similar to that possessed by the people of the State . Mr. Stuart dismissed the logically 2 - º una. 553, ilable Breckinridge and Lane party with tile epithet 2. For Northern Democrat, s. - º "interventionists" who se aim it was to legislate slavery into the territories, inferentially against their sovereign wishes. With the defence of popular sovereignty were frequeñtly coupled proofs of its accord with the Dred Scott decision. An attempt of this sort , illustrative of the difficulties Which beset the task, is found in the columns of the leading Douglas journal of the State . The Washington Union, the Administration ----- º 3. Ibid, July 20, 1860. paper, had conceded that the Kansa, S-Nebra, ska, bill embo died the idea of Congressional non-intervention in the Territories, but -- it had also asserted that it was "agreed and understood" tha. --- -/* - t the question of the right of the Southerner to take slaves into the Territories was to be referred to the Supreme Court . The º Supreme Court having sustained the right, the continued ad- 60° vocacy of popular sovereign by by Douglas constituted bad faith . . The Michigan sheet, in taking issue with this, averred that the Supreme Court decision was not contrary to the true doctrine of the Kansas-Nebra, ska, measure . It sought to establish tilis by reasoning. Which betrayed the weakness of its case . That bill "had placed the subject of slavery in territories where all other subjects of domestic concern had been placed, in the hands of the people of the territories, under the limitations of the Constitution. It was for the Supreme Court to determinè these limitations, Which it has done in the Dred Scott decision, &nd there Was an end, or rather, . . . there should have been an end of the Whole slavery agitation; and there might Ilave been an end of it had good faith prevailed among all men professing to be- long to the democratic party." The reader must not assume from this, however, that both editors Were of like mind. The - Northern one went on to assert that "the northern democracy a c- cept the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case as a righteous decision." He covered his most difficult ground in the statement that the decision "recognizes the right of property in slaves in the territories and places that property upon the same footing as all other property is placed . . . If Congress legislated with respect to all, or any, property, in the territories, then it might properly legislate with res- pect to slavery . But it does not." The editor completed his Circle with the conclusion that Congress "has handed all such subjects over to tile people of the territories to be by them 4 Controlled within the limitations of the Constitution ºrie 611. 4. Underscoring is the writer's. concluded tha. , it was but a recent pretence triat the Democratic doctrine of non-interference inad been altered by the Supreme 4 . Court decision, " Whatever it might be, Viti regard to the ex- tent of the nowers of the Territorial Legislatures over the questions of slavery." Democratic Workers entered valiantly upon their second ta, śk - that of destroying any hold upon liichigan voters Wilich the Southern Democratic candidates might possess. The old charge of abandonment of the position occupied in 1854 and 1856 Was reiterated frequently against Southern leaders. Excellent Iſlaterial for proof was found in the speeches mºde by Breckin- ridge in Iichigan in the campaign of 1856. Proofs were also 5. Free Press, July 3, 15, 1860 offered in the case of Howell Cobb, the Secretary of the Treas- ury, and of President Buchanan himself. 6. Ibid, July 14, 1860 - 6. tº ſorthern lament was well phrased in a Free Press article of September 22. "We have never known anything more lamentable among gentlemen of chair- acter and position in public affairs than tile attempt during the past few months of Southern gentlemen, formerly leaders in the democratic party, now leaders in the Southern secession party, to expla in a Way and deny tileir own public avowals and their no to riotis records concerning the doctrine of the Kan 33.3—lºſe braska, measure and the Workings of that doctrine in the territories, and concern- intº the attitude Which it was agreed, when that measure was passed, the democratic party should forever tilereafter occupy as to the Whole slavery question." lºven less patience was shown toward the existing Breckin- * - º ridge organization within the Ště,te . To the recurring Repub- *ican taunt that Douglas was not a properly chosen Democratic Cândidate because He had failed of a two-thirds vote of the complete membership of the Charleston convention, the following: defence and threat were made in answer: : Douglas, was more than the nominee of the national convention. He was also the nom- inee of the State convention in liichigan. Any irregularities (none were admitted) that might exist in the methods of the larger convention were cured by the action of the smaller one . "We trust," ran the threat, "that there are no democrats among us, who intend to be democrats hereafter, who deny the binding authority of our State organization." | 7. Free Press, Aug. l, 1866. The issue 5 between Northern Democrats and Republicans had been made clear in the campaigns of 1854 and of the following years. The Democrats busied themselves, in 1860, with a pre- sentation of the old issues. To these were added the failure of the Republicans to admit the binding force of the Dred Scott decision, and the moral responsibility for tile John Brown raid . The old charge that the interference wit. slavery in Southern States was the real purpose of the Republican was renewed. The 8. Free Press, Feb. 4, Sept. 20, 1860 stigma attached to the name of "abolitionist" continued to be associated with tile Republican party in Democratic discourses. Republican opposition to the annexation of Cuba, ranged tile party with those who were opposed to the suppression of the African - 9 - Slave trade . Tile assertion that dissolution of the Union would 9. Free Press, May 21, 1860 follow in the heel - l() WW -j. ** Heels of Republican success carried more of truth than appeared in many other charges. 63 Helittlement of opposition candidates played a large part in newspaper argument . Democratic micro scopes were focussed on Lincoln in particular. The "house divided" speech Wić, S Co Ildem- nation in itself. He was incapable . His reputation was based solely on the fact that Ile had been the opponent of Douglas in an Illinoisº Senatorial contest . The Republican candidate was ---. - il the counterpart of Seward."So far as abolitionism is concerned." –ll." Indeed the New York Senator stole his irre- pressible conflict doctrine from Him." " . Free Press, May 27, 1860. His nomination was "an unfortunate accident." He was neither State Smån, nor soldier, nor orator. This type of campaigning Was, of Collrse, not confined to the person of the Republican Presiden- tial candidate. Senator Chandler was the recipient of abuse in l2 goodly measure . 2 . He was the "cal ico Senator." His occupation of dry goods merchant made possible the epithet . THE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN - º The early disappointment of ichigan Republicans àt the un- expect, ed nomination of Lincoln must needs give Way to earnest Support, . The comparative obscurity of the candidate fastened up- on tile party in Michigan the duty of making him known to the people of the State. A very effective means of doing this W& 5 found in the issue of reprints of his speeches. These proved to Michigan Republicans that their candidate Was Worthy of their support. Their own ideas were presented by him in excellent form. The Cooper Union Address was styled "the Whole tiling in a nut - e 13 - Shell . " -- 13. Adv. June ll, 1860, Trib.ay 22, 1860. 64 It was truly representative of Ilichigan opinion: "If slavery is - * right," said the Republican candidate, "all words, acts, laws, and constitution 5 against it are themselves Wrong and should be Sileſ, ced and swept away. If it is right We cannot justly ob- ject to it. § nationality - it 5 universality; if it is Wrong, triey cannot justly insist upon its extension, its enlargement . All they a slº We could readily grant if we thought slavery right; all We ask they could a 5 readily grant, if they thought it Wrong. Tileir thinking it riºt, and our gainkin it wrone, is tile pre- oise fact upon which depends ºne whole controversy. . .Tais pre- gents the matter directly to the conscience and understanding vi every man in the country. Is slavery right or wrong? . . . if º it is wrong, then every Christian, moral, honest man is bound to prevent its extension, by every means within his power." 14. It may be said that this conclusion marked the wide cºulf between Abolitionist and Republican. Slavery is Wrong and sinful and should disappear from the earth, said the former. Slavery is wrong and shall not be extended further into the ter- ritories of the United States, said the earnest and practical Republican . 65 Though the Republican press-Was Willing to devote much space to the activities of the Breckinridge and Lane adherents, it Was entirely clear that the Douglas Democrats constituted the real opposition. On their leader, in consequence, centered Republican attack. They were fond of *...* that he was but a "rump" candidate. Austin Blair assies...” and doubtless with a 15. Adv. June 30, 1860. degree of truth, that he was the creator of all the disturbances that were agitating the country. It was made to appeº; that Douglas was not opposed to slavery in the free States because l6. Adv. July 26, 1860. -- "he is committed in advance to any further decision that the (Supreme) Court may make upon the subject of slavery, however odious." Pains were taken to assert that "Douglasism” had two faces, one for the North, that of popular sovereignty, anºther, for the South, that of obedience to the Supreme Court decision. 2l . Adv. Aug. 30, Oct. 5, 1860. The spokesmen of the dominant party did not neglect to call attention to the record of Michigan Lemocrats on the slavery is— sues. It was pointed out that they had sustained the Wilmot - * à- - rt º, - - proviso during the Mexican War, that Democratic legislatures and a State convention had resolved against extension of the "pecu- liar" institution, and that they had committed an about-face in their acceptance of the Kansas-Nebraska measure. The advocacy º of Republican doctrine alternated with attacks upon Dougla, S and 2. the views urged by him during the campaign. 66 22 The address of Governor Seward was the most noteworthy 22. At Detroit, September 4, 1860, see Detroit papers of September 5. - Single effort of the Republican campaign in the State, National "deviation" (sectional separation on slavery issues), said he, began in 1820. He declared, in defence of his party, that protests occurring since that time against true extension of slavery had been motived by "concern for the welfare of the White man", and not by sympathy for the negro . Orthodox ground 23. Many Michigan Republigan's would not subscribe to this view. See notes ºn Austin Blair. Seward tried to an SWer, doubtless, the assumption, made prominent by Douglas in the Illino is debates of 1858, that social equality between blacks and Whites was a necessary co rollary to Republican doctrine on the subject of slavery . Wa 3 covered by the speaker in the declaration that slavery was "a purely local, temporary, and exceptional institution . . . Free- dom is the general, normal, enduring, and permanent condition of Society "in the United States. It was the purpose of the party to reestablish this original policy. Seward took ground, unusual in Michigan campaigning that economic conditions would prevent a further extension of slavery within the borders of the United States, unless the African slave trade were reopened . Nevertheless the Republican position must be maintained. The concession of the abstract right to a territorial extension of the institution would mean, but a snifting of the battle to a demand for the removal of the statutory loan on the foreign slave trade. 67 CAMPAIGN on SEATE issues \ Michigan Democrats found So lace in State affa, irs for the difficulties they were experiencing in the National campaign. The rapid increase in population and the building of State in- Stitutions had caused an increase of taxes and a decrease of the treasury surplus which had lbeen left by the Democratic a.d.- ministration retiring in 1854. This, with the know#dminis- º tration of the present Treasurer provided opportunities not to be neglected. The Democrats entered whole heartedly into an exposure of the real and fancied shortcomings of their oppon- ents. The two State conventions of the party had devoted trie bulk of their resolutions to Republican iniquities. County conventions had gºved no timidity in their indictment s of the governing party. Party editors found a pleasant field in 24. See also resolutions of First District Con- gressional Convention, Free Press, Sept. 19, 1860. Statistical demonstrations favorable to Democratic regimes, and in discussion of the moral peculiarities of the State officers 25 and their editorial Supporters . 25. Free Press, Feb. 7, 10, 12, March 1, Sept 5, Oct. 12, 17, 18, 1860. The publicity given to the State finances by the Democrats forced the Republicans into a defence of their administrations. Much of their effort was devoted to counter-attack on the con- duct of State affairs by their opponents. They must, perforce, - go back to an earlier period for material, a s the Democrats had lost control of the State in 1854. * they were nothing lotil - 26 to do . The Pontiac Republican Club. i. 5 sued a lengthy statement 68 2 6. Pontiac Gazette, March 9, 1860. | in which it reviewed State finances of the period 1849-1860. Com- 27 parison's favorable to the party were found . A tract was i S- 27. Pontiac Gazette, Sept. 14, 1860. sued by a Detroit journal which had uncovered much that was sat- 28 isfying to the party spell binders. The Republicans succeeded in 28. Pontiac Gazette, Qct. 5, 1860. - #: also Adv. Sept. 28, 1860 and Trib., Nov. 5, 1860 . i confusing the issues in this field as successfully as did their op- ponent 5. --- --- º 69 IIINOR PARTY CAMPAICNS The principal effort of the Constitutional Unionists was 29 made at their State convention. The resolutions of this body 29. Held at Detroit, October 6. expressed their views on the conflict raging about them. The ex- i Sting sectional agitation was fostered by, and conducted for the 'benefit of politicians. The consºonal Union party, it was affirmed, was the only national one.” Reasons for the existence 30. Free Press, oct. 6, 1860. of the Republican party had disappeared with its success in keep- ing Kansas free. The continued existence of the party was for the benefit s of office alone . There was sºme attempº to carry on a campaign. At one of the Unionist, meetinº.” Republican doctrines came in for severe censure . 3l. Detroit, Sept. 14, 1860. The orator seemed to believe that that party was wrong in its de- sire to prohibit slavery in the territories, irrespective of the question of the suitability of such places to occupations profit- able with slave labor. The party "regardless of the opinion of the Supreme Court that Congress had no constitutional power to pro- hibit slavery . . . . pro claim that Congress Will interfere to pro- hibit it." They will thus "bring the legislative and judicial branches of the government into agazineº 32. The speaker took notice of the belief that the opinion of the Court Was not a trile decision. "If º not now a decision," said he, it "will be Wilen the - question is before them again. +- This party polled such a slight vote in November that the question --- 70 -º- raises itself. Why there should have been any attempt at organ- ization . It is probably safe to conclude that it was the pa- triotic Work of a few conservative citizens who believed that disunion was not to be risked fºr the chance of gain or loss of territorial areas open to slavery. The party was not treated. seriously within the State. concRESSIONAL POT, ITICS The contests for seats in the National House presented no features Wilich served to distinguish them from the contests for Presidential electors and State offices. Each party Worked ear- nestly in every congressional district to elect its candidates. Iradley F. Granger became the nominee of the Republicans of the Tirst District . Two years later he was to be a fusion candidate for the same office . Rowland E. Trowbridge Wa, S hominated in the Fourth District, replacing D. C. Leaca, Fernando C. Beeman in X the Second District, and Frances W. Kellogg in the Third complet- ed the Republican Congressional ticket . George V. N. Lothrop of Detroit was the choice of the Demo- cratic Congressional Convention of the IFirst District. Edwin H. Thomson of Flint received like honor in the Fourth District. Salathiel C. Coffinbury was the choice in the Second District. The National Democracy (Breckinridge and Lane section) had 33 candidates in at least two Congressional districts. " ; - #: The First and the Fourth, Adv. Aug. 31, Sept. - i8, Free Press, Sept. 19, 1860. ELECTION RESULTS The results in the States that balloted in October had made 34 The November elections full- Lincoln's election reasonably sure . 71 34. "The results of the elections in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indianna, increase, it must be confessed the chances of Lincoln's election, but they by no means make it certain. . . . Courage then Democrats. Push on the column here in Michigan. Let us work as though Victory was within our grasp, for it is not impossible that it may be. At any rate we can elect two democratic representatives in Congress, and perhaps the whole State ticket, and a majority of one branch or both branches of the legislature, and we can establish democratic rule in many of the counties." Free Press, Oct. ll, l860. filled this expectation. Lincoln carried every free State but New Jersey. There he would receive one-half of the electorial vote. Breckinridge carried States or districts which would give him seventy-nine electoral votes. Lincoln would receive one- hundred and eighty. Pell would be third with thirty-nine , and Douglas, who received a popular vote second only to Lincoln's would get but twelve. In Michigan the results were very satisfactory to the Repubs licans. Blair's promise of a 25, 000 majority for the electoral ticket was almost redeemed. 88, 480 votes had been cast for the Republican electors, a clear majority of 22, 213 over all oppos= n ing tickets. The Constitutional Union candidates had received - 35 lout 405 votes ; the Breckinridge and Lane ticket but 805. Lin- 35. Tree Press, Dec. 30, 1860. Mich. Manual, 1897, pp. 506-507 {{ ſº 1913, pp. 688-689 coln's percentage of the total vote was 57. l. He carried every county, for which returns were given, except six. Except Bay on Saginaw Bay, these six were sparsely settled counties in the Upper - 36 Peninsula, or in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. Every 36. Mich. Ma Yual, lºl. 3, pp. 688-689. county of the five lower tiers , which included all town of impor- 72 - tance, Wa. 5 carried by the Republicans - Monroe with a population Al- of 22, 22.l., by 51.1 per cent of the total vote, Wayne with 83,326, by 52.2 per cent, and most of the others by larger percentages. Covernor Blair received 56.6 per cent of the total vote cast for the candidates for Governor, and he carried all but thirteen of the counties. The entire Congressional delegation Was Republican, and both branches of the State Legislature had large Republican t; ies . majori 73 CHAPTER V ISSUES ARISING FROM THREATENTED SECTESSION Election day marked the close of one phase of the politics of our period and the inauguration of another wherein lay new prob- lems. Lack of adequate material for this newer period makes it difficult to trace the trend of opinion on these problems. Al- most our only guides to Michigan opinion, until the assembly of the ſiegisltature in January, are to be found in the editorial columns of the partisan journals. The change in the character of the problems precludes any assumption that editorial writers were representative of any large body of opinion in their respective parties. But, though established conclusions he impossible, tile gravity of tae national situation requires an account of every guide to the trend of popular thinking . The present chapter un- º dertakes such a task . For the Republicans of Michigan success at the polls was for -- 1. * º --- º -- t - the moment satisfying. The election of Lincoln and Hamlin by a party in its second National campaign and the complete victories l Within trie State were celebrated in extra vagant phrases . The 1. "Yesterday will form an era not only in the history of the nation, but expecially in the his– tory of the Republican party. From November 6, will date the second independence of the people of the United States. The American people then declared the separation of the government from the slave power, and decided that hereafter it shall be ad- finistered on broad and national principles - that hereafter Freedom must rule and slavery be the ex- ception." The election of "Glorious Abraham Lin- 74 2." coln" had "forever put an end to the treasonable cry of disunion." "The reign of Justice, Humanity, Equality, Honesty, and Patriotism, in the admini Stå- tion of the National Government" had been inaug- urated . "The Nation is Redeemed, Li senthralled, Regenerated." Adv. 7, 1860. "doughface Minions of the slave power" within the Stake had been "Signally rebuked by the people." A celebration was asked for in Detro it . 2. "It is no ordinary victory that We have Won . . . It is the triumph of right over wrong, of morality over vice, of Ilone 5ty over corruption and fraud. Have wé not as Republicans a right to rejoice! Adv. Nov. 8, 1860. - - "The Year of the Jubilee had come "Adv. Nov. 13. "The 6 of November 1860" will "be celebrated by future generations as the day upon which the Amer- i can people again resolved to resist the oppres- sion and tyranny of an arrogant ; arbitrary, and dangerous power - that of Slavery." Pontiac Ga-- zette. Nov. 16, 1860. This period of jubilation was terminated abruptly. News from South Carolina. iridicated that the mal contents of that State were about to make good tile oft repeated threat that secession would follow Republican success. The South Carolina legislature, which had met in the first days of November to appoint presiden--- tial electors, had remained in session to await news of the elec- tions. Tour days after the choice of electors had made Lincoln's election certain, a bill via 5 passed Which made provision for tile election of delegates to a convention. It was to be the duty of this body to give consideration to the relations of South Caro – lina. With the other States of the Federal Union. The delegates Were to meet in the city of Charleston, December 17. -* Democrats at once placed the blame for this action of South - º Carolina upon the Republican party. Republican aggression upon 75 the right 3 of the South was declared to be cause of the seces— Sion movement . The path of duty for the aggressor was also very clearly pointed out . The President-elect and his party must rº 2. Free Press, Nov. 9, 186 º - *- tº .… - º d * conciliate the South, enough at least to make tolerable the new administration. "There is only one Way in which this can be done, if it can be done at all, and that is by dropping the narrow sectional policy hereto fore pursued, and granting all constitutional rights to the South and to slavery. The fugit- ive slave law must be rigidly enforced, the Dred Scott decision must be unhesitatingly sustained in all its parts; the Wilmot Proviso and the plank about Congressional intervention for the prohibition of slavery must be incontinently dropped; ali the State laws nullifying the Constitution must forthwith be re- pealed; Southern slave holders must be protected in their rights equally with the northern abolitionists; in fact, all the car- dinal principles of the party must be immediately sunk, and its past career all belied, or the South cannot be conciliated." One of the most insistent demands of the Democrats Was for the repeal of the personal liberty laws of the State . The speech of Alexander H. Stephens before the legislature of Geor- gia. had served to focus attention on these laws. He had urged delay in secession activities until a demand for the repeal of 5. Free Press, Nov. 17, 1860. Rhodes, 3/17/9 all acts which nullified the Fugitive Slave Law might be made upon the "free" States. The most influential Democratic paper - º º º ---> in Michigan gave hearty approval to the suggested policy. The 76 demand ought to be made by all the Southern States, it said, and "We Wiśn it might be made by a convention of them all." Such 6. Free Press, Nov. 17, 1860. t action Would, it was held, present tile plain issue of performance of constitutional obligations or dissolution of the Union to the people of the "anti-slavery" States. In ca, se Nortinern States refused to repeal the "nullifying" laws, then "could the South go out With clean hands, and in going She Would have the sym- pathy and approval of Hundred of thousands of lorthern Iſlen." The Democrats were not alone in making demands upon the Tepublican party. One conservative using the pen name union." 7. Said to be "one of the leading and most prom- inent-eſſell-Everett men in the State." Adv. Dec. 3, 1860. made a careful resume of the situation. Would the Republicans, re asked, listen to temperate advisers and refuse ear to the "urging impulses of intolerant and intemperate meſ. 2 . . . Not only the continued success of the Republican party, but we may now say, upon tile ability of tile Republican party to allay excitement Llpo Il the question. . Every good citizen is looking with intense anxiety to the development Q f their policy." The Union men of the South, the Writer as Serted, could be Won only by the repeal of the personal liberty & Ct. 3. They were of - -l. Such strength there that With proper encouragement they could i. 8 turn tile scales for peace . 8. The hole letter is an excellently phrased and moderate statement of conservative views. It was printed in the Advertiser for December 3, 1860. Iichigan Republicans were not in clined at first to treat 77 secession agitation serious ſy. "We knowſ for a certainty that ſ Such a movement must be ephemeral, for it is founded upon too A9 narro W and irrational a basis. The excitement came from a 9. Tub. Nov. 10, l860. misunderstanding of Republican purposes, Which had been misrep- resented, for political gain, by the Douglas journals of the - - - 10 North. One paper characterized secession as Tiere "humbug." 10. Pontiac Gazette, Nov. 16, 1860. ll "The Ajaz of Michigan Republicanism" declared that the people J.l. Jacob M. Howard, at the jubilee of Detroit Re-- publicans. of the people of the South were not secessionists. Some were - º l2 - inclined to treat the matter flippantly . º l2. Bx º Wm. A . Howard, speaking at the Detroit, jubilee, a sserted triat there would be no difficulty. An abundance of applications for of- fice would come from the South With the inaugur- ation of the new president . 12. See also Jackson Patriot, Nov. 21, 1860 for a characterization of Republican efforts to view secession lightly . Even with the disappearance of the last doubt that the sit- uation was serious, tile Republican press was not in clined to counsel the party to repeal the obnoxious personal liberty laws. l One moderate sileet thought the demand for repeal to be prepo s– 13 tº erotis . A more radi ăl journal entered into a lengthy defence -- ------- a l3. Tub. Nov. 17, 1860. * of 1 - - - ---, - - - of the laws:# It maintained that tae personal liberty laws in 14. Adv. Nov. 21, 1860. *9 Sense had been causes of the disunion movement in the Cotton C. - - - . - States. The right of protest, if such existed, lay With the 78 border States alone. The laws had been designed to protect the North against the introduction of slavery under authority of lſ, the Dred Scott decision. An additional claim was set up that 15. One Michigan Act was passed in 1855; the other in 1859 after the decision had become public. the free States had but sought to protect their own citizens by the securing of a fair trial to any who were arrested as fugitives. l6 The editor of the Lansing Republican took cognizance of 16. Rufus Hosmer. tile demand for repeal in an editorial addressed to trie Iſleſmbers - l 7 - - of trie Legislature. "Are you ready because treasonous men at 17. Trib. Dec. 10, 1860; 17. Free Press, Dec. 12, 1860. * ºn tº gº l'7, Petition to ethel Legislature praying for and ad- - vising against repeal were in circulation . . the South say 'you shall' " he & Sked, "because the loc fo co en- emy at the North say 'you must, " because faint-hearted and timid friends say 'you had better'? You will be so rely pressed through- - - - * * * - º º - out the coming session to yield. Give no inch of what has been held and maintained by the people of Michigan as belonging to truth, to freedom, and to equal government. The first effec- tual breach in your ranks breaks the organization of the Re- 18 publican party of freedom." 18. The feeling that the agitation for repeal was fostered by Northern Democ cats for the purpose of creating division in Republican ranks was often expressed. See Adv. Dec. 5, 1860. With the growing certainty that secessionist plans Would be carried into execution ºccane increased attention to the legal º nature of the act . 79 At opposite poles on the question of provocation given to the South, Northern Democrat 5 and Republicans seem to have been in a greement in their opinions on secession. Ilegal withdrawal - from the Union Was an impossibility. 19 19. Free Press, Nov. 16, l860. 19. Speech of Jacob M. Howard, Adv. Nov. 6, 1860. There i5: Some evidence that moderate Republicans had come, ty December, 2l - 20 to believe that concessions might be made. The 20. Uncertainty concerning the attitude of lemo – crat 3, the counsels of leading Republicans' for con- ce S 5io Il . - 20. Mio St. Con Spicuously, Thurlovſ Weed of the Albany Journal and the belief of other earnest members of the party that the liberty laws Were unconstitu- tional, were trireatening to party unity . Tribune declared that, while no one would abate a jot from the ~ 2l. Moderate opinion Was firiding expression triro ugll non-partisari channels. We have noted tile existence of petitions a sking for repeal of the personal li-- iberty laws. The Michigan. Historical Society, on December 13, adopted a preamble and resolutions which, noting that the Continuance of the Union was threatened, a sserted thia, t the sentiments of the great masses of the people on the "vital question of the perpetuity of the present Union" was not represented by the partisan newspapers. The Society set a side February 22 as a day on which it might give such expression of their "patriotic attach- ment" that their brethren North and South might be convinced of their determination "to abide by and maintain the present Union in all its Width and in its full integrity." Free Press and Tribune, Dec. 14, 1860. Like sentiments were uttered at a meet- ing of the newly formed New York Society, held at Ann Arbor. 2l. Dec. 17, 1860. Republican platform, the Republican position might be made more impregnable by the States compliance with the Constitution and the law. It held that the Republicans must be entirely in the right or party disruption would follow. But if they stood upon 80 the laws and the Constitution, they "shall be found speaking the Sentiment s and performing tile Will of the Northern masses." THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE lichigan in common with the rest of the country awaited Titi, anxiety the 3. SS embling of Congress and true announcement of the President's policy in his annual message to that body. Se- Cession of many States might be an accomplished fact long before Euchanan's successor could take control. For the interval, much depended upon him. He controlled the military forces and the executive department 5 of the government. What action would he take if South Carolina demanded tile evacuation of the forts in Charleston Larbor or if he prevented the collection of federal - revenues in her ports 2 / The message was read December 4. It carried no good news to the Republicans and it contained much that was unsatisfac- to ry to the Democrats of the Republican States. The President placed the blame for the existing State of affairs squarely up- On the North. The fundamental cause was not the Republican ter- ritorial doctrine, said he, nor was it Douglas doctrines or "nullifying" Northern laws. The real cause was the Northern agitation Włlich had inspired slaves with vague ideas of freedom and waich had rendered insecure the Safety of Southern house- r) holas;’ Mr. Euchanan denied the right of secession, and labored - 22. Richardson, Messages of the Presidents 5/626/-653 hard to overthrow it. The conclusion of trie portion of the Iſles- sage devoted to tle subject was that "this Gover Ilment. . . . is a great and powerful government, invested with all the attributes 81 sovereignty over the special subjects to which its authority ex- tends. - It was in the application of this conclusion that the Pres- ident Was found want ing. Though he admitted his duty to enforce the la V73, ile found, in South Carolina, a state of a fiſä, irs vſilich caused him to view the problem from another angle . *The course of events, said he, is so rapidly ha. Stening forward that the emergency may soon a rise when you may be called upon to decide the momentous question whether you possess the power by force of arms to compel a State to remain in the Union." To the question thus viewed the President an Sºfered that Congress did not possess the power to make War upon a State. such pro Ce S3 , he declared, was at variance with the Whole intent and spirit of the Constitution. º Buchanan believed that the proper remedy for the evils under which the country was suffering was amendment of the Constitution. He proposed its exercise in three particulars; first by an amendment which would give express recognition of the right of property in slaves in the States where the institu- tion existed; second, by one which would recognize the duty of Congress to protect this right in the common territories; third, by the recognition of the right of a master to his escaped slave, to Which was to be appended a declaration that all State enact- ments violative of this right were woid. - º The constitutional theories of the President did not meet acceptance of the Democratic papers. The Free Press reiter- 23. Issue of Dec. 7, 1860. *ted its declaration that legal secession was impossible. On the practical question it reached a conclusion opposed to that of the President. "If the State has not the right to secede it follows a s a logical consequence that the power to enforce the Constitution and the laws belonged to the Government." Its ex- ercise was all that was necessary to prevent secession. "It strikes us that the President has surrendered the Whole ground of the power of the Federal Government to preserve itself, and has opened the way" for any State to bid good-by to the Union on any pretence. The President should have said, asserted this p a pe r , that the Federal Government had no constitutional right 24. *- to permit, a State to secede . It might be added that tile Pres--4 ºvt. 24. . It was also careful to ºver tilat it was not an advocate of force to prevent succession . Should the Gulf States declare their independence, tile grave question Would a rise Wrietier such action should be treated a S accomplished revolution or otherwise . The paper simply desired to emphasize the fact that the Government had power to preserve it self, and that only a revolution could over- throw this right. Issue of Dec. 8, 1860. strictures upon the North and his suggestions for constitutional amendment Iſlet hearty approval . . The Michigan Argus (Democratic, Ann Arbor) while "not much disappointed" in the message, was not satisfied with its posi- tion or its arguments. "It is an absurdity to say that it is not the duty of the General Government to enforce all the laws of Congress in each and every State, despite tile threats of SeCe S Sion . " It is also dissented from the President's declara- 25. Michigan Argus, Dec. 14, 1860. tion that slavery went into tile Territories under the Constitu- tion, and that the territorial Government were powerless to pre- | vent it . The argument was declared to be ill-timed and unpro- ductive of good. 26 "We have looked in vain, " said the Jackson Patriot, 27. Issue of Dec. 12, 1860. "through a large list of exchanges, for an approval of the Presi- - dent's positions upon topics of vital importance to the country. - º . . . The President has failed to meet the issue fairly and squarely . While he claims that South Carolina cannot secede, he says that he has no power to prevent her pursuing that course." The Patriot suggested that the south 5...ould "wait until Lincoln is inaug-e. urated President, and tilen if he does not deal equal and exact justice to the South and the North, enforce the Fugitive Slave Laºſ, and carry out every provision of the Constitution, then it is the right and duty of every slave-holding State to secede, and the democracy of the North who have long and faithfully stood up for their right, Will wish them God speed..." º 28. The Patriot could not neglect the opportunity to declare that the difficulties of the Adminis- tration were due to its attempt to, control the Charleston Convent ion . * º The disappointment of Republican papers in the message Was pro found. "The tone of the President's message is utterly 29 contemptible. It is mean and partisan." The President 's as- 29, Trib. Dec. 5, 1860. Sertion that, the cause of the crisis Was the "intemperate inter- -- ference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in - - - 30 º the Southern States was declared to be false. It Was "known to - -- ------- be false by Mr. Buchanan, who in all his message quietly ignores 84 the great fact 5 of history, in the vain hope that everyone else 31 - Will shut their eyes to them." The questions were asked; "Did 31. "Every school boy knows that the Missouri. Com- promise was a Southern measure – the annexation of Texas and the Mexican Ware were both in the inter- est of slavery ; the repeal of the Missouri Com- promise; the tinparalleled infamy of the treatment r of Kansas; the spewed-out abomination of Le compton; tile bludgeoning of a Northern Senator, Were all acts disapproved of and calculated to exasperate the North, and which gave birth and have given triumph to the Republican party." Ibid. * the President mean to fortify "the South; "did he intend to in- flame the passions of the South further?" "We might have reason- -- --- ably hoped that he would stop here, but he seems in his hatred of the Republican party, infused with the very Spirit of destruc- 32 tion. He proceeds to endorse the extreme demands of the South." º º 32, "He says the people cannot keep slavery out of a territory, that Congress mºist protect slavery there, that the Fugitive Slave Law and a Ter- ritorial slave Code, and a special recognition of (i. yro perty in men and Women must be put in the con- stitution, or that the North, refusing tilis, and the repeal of all personal liberty legislation, the South Will be justifiable in revolution and disruption . What sort of a manner is this in Właich to talk to States already maddened by falsehood and passion, and menacing the continuance of the Union? . . . He is a traitor at heart to his country." The Tribune conceded that the reasoning of tile President in R enial of a right of secession was "able and conclusive." It declared, however, that "the statement of his duty in the premises is certainly not derived from his argument." "It is painfully apparent that the Président will not be equal to the emergency, 33. "He Srio W5 that secession is unconstitutional, reminds himself of his oatl, to support that in- strument, and then the Constitution tells the Southern seceders tº de cannot cºerce, them, and even points out how they can keep him from doingº 35 \ * So . . .What is this Union worth if the power nowhere resides to keep it united? Where is the security in the purchase of States, the expenditure of Fe- deral money within State limits our national credit, our national power?" and that he reaches his conclusions through his fears and lack 34 35 of patriotism, and not by his reason." Tile Advertiser dis- 34. "The Whole nation will fervently rejoice that this is the last Iſlessage that Mr. Fuchanan will in- flict upon the country, Which he leaves upon the eve of dismemberment, and with a approbrium resting up- on him that Will render his nº me infamous in all history." 35. "We cannot deny ourselves the malicious sat- isſa,ction of giving the author of our present troubles a parting blow." This was a publication of the message. Adv. Dec. 6, 1860. missed the message much more flippantly . The impression pre- vailed that the President was desirous of getting out º: office |before a serious breach between the sections occurred . 36. Free Press, Dec. 16, 1860 Trib. Dec. 22, 1860. COMPROMISES As was the case in every previous sectional conflict com- promise proposals were presented to trie country. Thurlow Weed of the Albany Evening Journal Suggested that the ūemand for a re- peal of Personal Liberty Lavis, a s discussed in the Georgia Legis- lature, might be a basis for negotiations. He suggested, too, O that the Missouri Compromise line of 36 30', the division line between free and slave territory might be carried to the Pacific Ocean. The radical Advertiser declared that "the time for com- 37. Nov. 28, 1860. promises with wrong and oppression Ha 5 past." This it believed to be the almost unanimous sentiment of the party. The South, it 86 thought, Would keep compromises only so long as they proved ad- vantageous to slave interests. The more moderate ºn.” had 38. Dec. 5, 1860. - "an intuitive dislike for compromises." They were never a per- manent settlement of any question which involved great privi- leges. It was useless, besides for Republicans to make sugges- tions . The South did not need them except when misrepresented by the Democratic press. It held that no compromises were pos- 39. Trib. Dec. 10, 1860. Sible on the question of slavery in the territories. The party, it said, was Willing to consider anything that did not contra- vene the Chicago platform. It was Willing to fulfill it 5 con-ti. stitutional obligations, overlook minor grievances, and rally - 4.0 With all men to support the Union . 40. Ibid, Dec. 12, 1860. Senator Crittenden of Kentuck 2- ty Ilad proposed a series of 4l * compromises in the Senate Dec. 18. Slavery was to be prohibit- -- 4-l. Rhodes, 3/150-151 - O tº ed in all territory now held to loe later acquired, no rºtli of the line 36° 30' . It was to be protected in all territory South of that line. States were to be admitted from all territory south of that line. States were to be admitted from all territory, With or without slavery as their inhabitants might decide. Sen-- 42 ator Crittenden's effort was not "of a cila, racter to commend 42. Trib. Dec. 19, 1860. itself to Northern people. We however Welcome trie form and spirit in which his tender has been made." A correspondent of this paper wrote; "We are the victors, We Will respect tile feel- 87 ings, the interests and the rights of the vanquished. If this Will not satisfy them there must be no backing down; there must 43 - he no yielding of principle." "There is just as much slavery 43. Trib. Dec. 22, 1860. The writer was probably Duncan Stewart, one of Detroit's leading merchants. in the Constitution now as the Northern public sentiment can 44. stand." 44. Trib. Dec. 24, 1860. The Free Press Which alternated between two positions, at times holding Buchanan, at times the Republicans, responsible for the grave condition of the country, was strongly in favor of any *A concession that would prevent secession. It would evez give up - 45 the principle of popular sovereignty to satisfy the South. º 45. Dec. 15, 1860. It maintained that as the God of -- Nature had precluded slavery in the territories, it there was no real necessity for Territorial or Con- gressional intervention. "Under such circumstances then Why will not the North voluntarily guarantee tile execution, in good faith, of the provision of the Constitution requiring the rendition of fugitive slaves, and agreeing that there shall be no restric- tion as to the introduction of slavery into a Ter- - - ritory ...And although We have been the advocates of popular sovereignty to its fullest extent, yet when the Union is in peril, and our inestimable instit- utions in danger, and more especially Wrien the North cannot be damaged by it. We ask Wrly should We not con- cede so much to the South?" - º - 88 3. CHAPTER VI THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION OF 1861 . South Carolina, fulfilling general expectation, had adopted, on December 20, an ordinance which declared dissolved the ties .." Which had made her a member of the IFederal Union . Mio rever, it had become apparent that large concessions must be made to the slaveholding interests and States, or the Gulf and possibly the Thorder States would follow the example of the Palmetto State. In due course the questions of concession and compromise would come 'before the Republican Legislature of Michigan. Would that body act favorably upon the demand for a repeal of the liberty law and upon any of the compromise proposals before the country? The Legislature assembled in biennial session, January 2, 1861. The Republicans had thirty of the thirty-two members of the Senate, Adair of Wayne and Coulter of the Upper Peninsula being the only Democrats in that body. Out of a House membership * : - l of eignty-two, the Republicans could muster seventy-two members. l. There Were but ten foreign-born members in the Legislature, two in the Senate and eight in the House. The strong anti-slavery character of the body may be explained by the nativity of the re- mainder. Only six members had been born within - the State. Thirty-two had come from New England and fifty-six from New York, Pennsylvania, New t Jersey, and Delaware could glaim tile remaining eight. Michigan Manual, 1861. The messages of the outgoing and in coming governors to the Leg- - º - islature discussed at length the duties of tile State and the party in the national crišiš. MESSAGES OF THE GOVERNORS . The retiring Covernor, lſo ses Wisner, made his final re- 2 - commendation 5 January 3. He denied that the free States had 2. Trib. Jan. 3, 1861. Joint Documents, 1861. trampled upon the slaveholding. The Republican party, he Said, was not organized for aggression upon slavery where it was legal- ly entitled to exist. Slavery was but a "lo cal" institution, one that did not owe its existence to national laws. The Union was the creation of the people and not of the States. This entailed the consequent denial of the right of secession by States. The Democratic press, averred the Governor, was to be blamed for the misconception in the minds of the Southern people of the purposes of the Republican party. º º º ot neglect the demand for a repeal of Tºr.: Governor Wisner did n the State's Personal Liberty Laws. The law of l855, he asserted, had been passed for the protection of the free colored people of the State and not as hindrance to the execution of the Fugitive Slave Act. The law of 1859-–the Kidnapping Act -- sought to pre- vent slavery within the State. "These laws are right and speak the sentiment of the people, and are . . . in Strict accordancee with the constitution and ought not to be repealed . . .This is no time for weak and vacillating counsels, when the cry of trea. Son and rebellion is ringing in our ears." It did not become the Republicans of Michigan, where the party had been organized, to surrender a single principle so long as it was right . Michigan Could not, averred the Governor, recognize a right of secession . "For awards of thirty years this question of the right of a State to secede has been agitated. It is time it was settled. We ought not to leave it to our children to look after. I rec- 9 O | commend that you pass a series of resolutions . . . expressing the sentiments of the people of Michigan upon the subject of our Federal relation. I would calmly but firmly declare it to be the fixed determination of Michigan " that the Federal Consti- tution, the rights of the States, and the Union of the States Inust, and Shall be preserve” The inaugural of Austin Blair proved, beyond doubt, that the newſ executive was not minded to listen to concession. It, contained an explicit denial of a right of secession. It dea clared that the personal liberty laws of the State had not infringed on Southern rights. They had been enacted to pro- tect free citizens against kidnappers, and with no view of de- feating the enforcement of a law of Congress. Michigan's first duty, said the new Governor, was to the rights and liberties of her people. "It is altogether her own affair, and with all due respect to Ehe States of tile South, she does not hold herself under obligation to justify her conduct in regard to tileſſ, . " Besides, argued ir. Jºlair, tile courts of the Union are open to those who question the constitutionality of these lia, ºf 5 . "We are told that we must repeal immediately these laws, or the government will be broken up, and the constitution destroyed. I cannot advise you to listen to this appeal to your fears . I am not Willing that the State should be humiliated by a compliance With this demand, accompanied by threats of violence and war." The Governor promised that Michigan Would be Willing to do not Only all that was just , but also "all that is generous," when º - º "the madness which rules the hour is past, " tree son rebuked,and when the States, threatening rebellion, "have returned to 91. their loyalty." As answer to the contention that the laws should be repealed because they were wrong, the Governor said, "it must be admitted . . . our conscientiousness would seem to have been quickened at a very peculiar season. Whatever we may claim about it, if the personal liberty laws are now repealed, the judgment of the country will be that it is done under the smart- ing of the Southern lash, and that judgment will be correct." Not "concession" but "patriotic "firmness" was needed. "All the present evils either arise from or are aggravated by, the Weak and timid policy of timid men in the past, treason has been ab- betted and encouraged by humiliating expedients, until the mal- º contents of the present feel secure in the temporizing expe-- dients of the past . . . Let us have an end of compromises." Not content, with a declaration of the stand the State Should a ssume in the crisis, the Governor undertook an analysis T} J of tile Southern purposes. It was the rule of the majority the º 3. "It is not at the personal liberty laws that the secessionist 5 aim . They openly Scout at the notion that their repeal Will satisfy them . They war upon the constitution of the United States. That instrument does not answer their purposes, alrld they demand its amendment or its overthrow. Its great doctrine of government by majorities stands in the way of the establishment of the great slave empire which they have set themselves to erect, with tile infamous African Slave trade for one of its pillars, and one way or another it must be de- stroyed." Southern people objected to . . . Could tiley permit a sectional ma- - 4. jority (The North) to administer the General Government . . . 2 The 4. "That is the real question and the only one . -- º º - - , , Shall the government continue as our fathers made it? Shall it administered by majorities, or shall a new one be constructed to be ruled by minorities?" - people had, declared tºe Covernor, elected, in a constitutional º - manner, an eminent citizen of Illino is a 5 President, "and the South demand that we shall repeat of it, . " - Blair had, also , firm views upon the duties devolving up- on the Prê šident in tile crisis. - The laws must be enforced in all parts of the Union at What ever Co St. Secession was revolutiºn, Which in turn was trea. Son, and must be punished as gue. "It is a question of war 5. "The Federal Government has the power to defend X itself, and I do not doubt that that power ſill be - exercised to the utmo St. . " that the seceding States have to look in the face . They who think that this powerful government can be disrupted peacefully have read history to no purpose." The new Governor closed his address with a recommendation that Legislature make clear to the Michigan representatives in both branches of Congress, the loyalty of Michigan and her Willingness to defend "the Union, the constitution, and the laws." He suggested also that the military power of the State be proffered to the President for Such defense. "Oh for the firm steady hand of a Washington, or a Jackson, to guide the ship of State in this perilous storm . . Let us hope that we shall find ſlim on the 4th of March." º -- º - - The addresses of the outgoing and in coming Governors met, on the Whole, a favorable response from their party. The Demo -º cratic press could find little room for approval . Blair, lament- ed the leans journal of the Democratic party, had failed to rise above partisanship at a time When he might have a contrib-. º uted "to arrest the course of events, which if not arrested Will involve the country in the most terrible civil conflict 93 6 ever known." A new phase of the demands upon the victorious 6. Free º, Jan. 4, 1861. party was brought to light in this criticism. The Governor had failed to understand that it was not a question of placating South Carolina, or disunion leaders elsewhere. They did not ask, nor desire, the repeal of the Personal Liberty Laws. But the Southern Union men wanted the repeal of these laws that their hands might be strengthened. "It is cruel in the North not to meet these Southern Union men half way." If the North adopted the attitude of Blair, "irretrievable dissolution" would ensue. "It is idle, utterly, ridiculously idle, to talk about holding the Union together by force." compromise or civil War were the only alternatives. UNION RESOTUTIONS It remained to be seen what the State Legislature itself Would do toward conciliation of Southern opinion. Both Houses attacked the problem at once. They referred to their respec- tive committees of federal relations those portions of tile mes- S&ges of tile outgoing and incoming Governors that dealt with the state of the Union. The radicals however did not await a committee report . South Carolina had seceded, and had demanded the surrender of the United States forts in the harbor at Charle ston . A res- º 6 . If the retention of the forts was to be the government policy, it would be necessary to send provision to Major Anderson in command at loult- rie. The President had failed to take proper action. General Cass, Secretary of State, had resigned, Dec. 15, because of the inaction of the president. Major Anderson had determined to retain control of the property under his care unless ordered by the President to abandon it . 94 olution was introduced in the State Senate Which was strong in 7. By Mr. To War, Senate Journal, Jan. 7, 1861. its praise of Major Anderson, and which condemned the vecil- lation of the President and a "wicked and unscrupulous party press." A resolution of similar purport was introduced into the Ilouse . In each, ca. Se true motions were referred to tile appro- priate Committee 5, already crlarged With a similar task. Another O - radical introduced a concurrent resolution Włlich condemned se— 9. Mr. French, Senate Journal, Jan. 8, 1861. ce S.5ion a S a dangerous political here sy, and Which called for a tender of the military forces of the State to the President. January 14, majority and minority reports came from trie 10 Senate Committee on Federal Relations. Both were made by Re- l6 . Senate Journal, 1861. publican members. The majority report represented tile opinions of the more conservative Republican S, the minority, triat of the radicals. The majority report Was accompanied by a series of resolutions. A carefully worded statement of tile nature of the Union resulted in the conclusion that secession was legally im- possible. Trie seizure of forts and a.r.senals were acts of re- bellion that should be suppressed, asserted the report. Against Such acts the power and resources of tile State Were pledged to the National Government. The seventh among the resolutions de- Clared that Michigan had no desire to interfere with the ex- ecution of an act of Congress . A careful examination of fier laws would be made and if there had been any failure in duty to- ll Wards other States, reform Would be made . 11. "Resolved, that we desire cheerfully and in good --------- 9 5 faith to respect and obey every provision of the Constitution of the United States in its integ- rity; that we never intended nor desired, by any legislation upon our Statute books, and d6 riot no W intend or de Sire to impede or in any ſay in- terfere with the faithful execution of any clause in the Constitution, or any law of Congress in pur- suance thereof; that We will carefully examine in- to our laws, and if there be any which interfere with the duty which we owe to other States or C citizens thereof we will reform the same . . . . . ." The Writer of the minority resolutions was out of sympathy With this last resolution. Ile declared "that argument is at an énd and action has become our duty." The Constitution and laws Were Supreme and they "ought to be executed and obeyed." The 1. t- Öbligations of the Constitution could be escaped, said Ile, only º ºf by amendment. "Michigan remains immovable in her attachment to those great convictions and truths, which she has repeatedly de- Clared through the ballot box, and regards them as vital to au- manity and civilization." Stripped of formal language, this ºn meant that no principle of the Republican party would be altered -º a s a concession to Southern disunionists. Repeal of tile Per- Sonal Liberty Laws was dismissed in this report with tile asser- tion that the State would "make every sacrifice for harmoney ex- cept self respect, honor, and justice, and our noble form of gov- ernment, it self." - The essential difference between majority and Ilirio rity re- ports lay in the expression of Willingness in the former to amend any laws upon the statute book that were found to be unconstitu- ~ *tional. This seeming conce & Sion Was refused in the minority *eport. Both reports came refore tile Senate, O rganized as a com- mittee of the who le. When the committee rose and made its re- A the resolution - pºrt, providing for examination of tile personal liberty law was w 96 missing. The Senate had accepted the view of the minority re- - port on tha. determined 'but With 3, terſſis, ºſa. 5 adverse vot The jo 7. Requests the Governor to transmit copies of resolu- & - t issue . . Thie advocates of the resolution made a figilt for it. A substitute resolution, firm in tone, per So Ilal liberty law repeal rider explicit in its 12 defeated offered. After Some amendment, it was by an 12. By Mr. Withey . . Senate Journal, 1861/105-106. Trib. Jan., 19, 1861. e of twenty-one to eleven. l3 int, resolutions as Shaped by the Committee of the l3. "Whereas a momentous crisis has a risen in our na– tional ili story and citizens of several States of trie Union have appealed to the right of revolution for tile relief of a SSumed grievances, and by all ordinance of secession, by seizure of the National forts, ar- Senal 5, public lands, public buildings, and vessels, and by other no stile acts, have committed treason, and have declared War, Therefore "Resolved: that the Constitution of the United States and all laws of Congress in pursuailce thereof, are the supreme Law of the land. "Resolved: tilat the Union provided for by that Constitution was designed to be perpetual, and to secure the bles sings of liberty to the people of the se United States fo rever . "Resolved: that there is no method for a State, or the citizen 5 of a State, to escape tile obligations imposed by the Constitution except by and through an amendment to that in strument. "Resolved: that We do hereby pledge the power and TGSCTTTCCŞTo f the State of Michigan for the maint en- ance of the authority of the Government against every attempt to subvert it, and the Governor is hereby authorized to tender to the President of the United State 3 tae ºil itary force of the State to aid in the execution of the laws, &nd maintain the integrity of the Laws." Tºxtends thanks to patriotic men . "Resolved: that Michigan is now a 5 she always has beeT, TETTIrely loyal to the Constitution which has secured to a great and powerful nation so large a measure of prosperity at home and renown abroad. And, in order to maintain the Union is prepared to make every Sacrifice except self respect, honor and justice, and constitutional rights." g 7 tions to tile President, the delegation in Congress, and to the Governor of all the States. Whole were ordered to a third reading by a vote of twenty-five to seven, five Republicans voting in the negative. This adverse Republican vote came from the more moderate or conservative mem- bers who represented a section of the party that desired to take any conciliatory step, short of a repudiation of the greater prin- - - ciples of the party. On final passage the resolutions carrie Cl with but a single adverse vote, which was cast by Mr. Adair. The other IJeſúo cra, i, j. c Iſlember Wa. s. a,b sent . Meanwhile the House had been hard at work on a declaration of Michigan's position in the crisis. The House Committee on Federal Relations brought out a long report accompanied by reso – l4. lutions. The nature of the Constitution was set forth in a lA. . House Journal, 1861/105-109. declaration that it was the supreme law ordained" by the people of ..!- a particular State with the people of other States." The States in their sovereign capacities, by a s sent ing to the act of tile people, had surrendered to them, "so much of their sovereign 90 Wer a 5 was necessary to make the general government Supreme . " This statement of the origin and nature of tile fundamental law of the Union led logically to the further statement that the States were to tally unable to give any legal status to citizens in rebellion. From the hour of independence no State could se– Cede from the rest. As a conclusion from, or restatement of the **gument, the committee "deduce that doctrine that the covern- *ent of the United States, in its constitutional capacity, is *preme, With full power to punish and prevent treason, rebellion, • *- 98 revolution or secessiºn, and all other acts calculated to dis- turb its peace and harmony, as also to provide for its self preservation and continuance." Tile duty of lichigan in the crisis Wa, S indicated in tile appeal tilat "if Vie are driven to arms, let us stand Shoulder to Srioulder . . . both in the council and in the field, forgetting all else but that we & re citizens of Michigan ." - The Committee were adverse to the current proposals for compromise. "We are opposed to offering or receiving anº terms of concession, compromise, or capitulation, from citizens under arms and in no stility to the government, holding a 5 our settled conviction, that any accommodations under Such circumstances Will only encourage a resort to violence and revolution upon all disputed points, and upon the slightest aſid mere ideal provo ca- tions." A direct statement upon the demand that the Personal - l; Liberty Laws the repealed was avoided. After Some attempts to l j . "Michigan will not suffer or do any act that shall albridge trie right 3 of tile State S, or any of them, or of tile people, or violate the letter or spirit of the Constitution." amend slightly, the resolutions were ordered to a third reading by a vote of sixty-one to ten, and were adopted January 18, by a vote of sixty-eight to seight. The Republican s of the House voted Solidly for their resolutions. All the Democrats re- gistered negative votes. In essentials the House and Senate resolutions did not differ. Yet a committee of conference was necessary before l6 & £reement could be reached . The conference report was adopted 16. Senate Journal 1861/131-132; 168-169. 99 House Journal l861/160; 383-384. by a strict party vote January 31, and it received the signa- ture of Governor Blair, February 2. The committee gave a more 17 compact form to each resolution and less ened the number. l'7. "Whereas, certain citizens of the gººd States are, at this time, in open rebellion against the government, and by overt acts threaten its peace and harmony, and compass its final overthrow. 1. "Resolved: that Michigan adheres to the Govern- ment as ordained by the Constitution, and for sus- taining its intact, he reby pledges and tenders to the general government all its military powers and material resources. - - 2. "Resolved: that the Government of the United States is supreme, with full inhe rent powers of self protection and defence. 3. "Resolved: that concession and compromises are not to be enterta i ſjed or offered to traitors, while tile rights and interests of Union loving citizens shall be regarded and respected in every place and under all circumstances. 4. "Resolved : that his excellency the Governor, be requested to forward a copy of these resolutions to our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and to the Governors of our Sister States." House Jour- nal 1861/383-384. The Republicans of Michigan in unmistakable terms set forth their view of the nature of the federal Union, and of their de- termination to wage war to preserve that Union. To them sugges- tions of compromise seemed mere subservience, unworthy of a peo- ple who believed themselves in the right. The feeling that con- sent to compromise was craven manifested itself further in the refusal to make positive statement concerning the Personal Li- berty Laws -- the weak links in Michigan's armor. PTERSONAL LIHERTY LAWS. The Personal Liberty Laws of the State had been passed at a time of revolt against tile advances made by the slave-holding Sections. In 1855, the party Organized in protest to the Kansas- Nebraska 1OO bill had passed the first of such laws immediately upon its a c- cession to power. The second was a pro test against a belief that, under tile Dred Scott decision, a Southerner accompanied by slaves might enjoy temporary residence Within the State . The & ct applied the penalties of kidnapping to anyone violating its rovisions. There was excellent ground for tile belief that the p Personal Liberty Laws were unconstitutional, in that they would, if applied, prevent the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. More sober thought induced by the secession crisis, had led many to this view. Already had Vermont, the first State to - adopt such laws, taken steps to repeal them. On December 14, 1860. the National House of Representatives, had recommended almost unanimously the repeal of any personal liberty act that con- 18 travened trie Constitution. The Governors of some of the North- l8. Rhodes 3/ - 1C) ern States made recommendations for repeal. 19. Rhodes 3/252-253. The attempt to attack, a pledge to repeal the laws to the Union resolutions had failed. Republican opinion was divided on the question of the constitutionality of the laws and it was thought best to have a unanimous statement in the Union Resol- r; r. <-- utions. There were three groups to be considered in any account - 20. Trib. Jan. 19, 1861. of the matter of repeal. The Democrats had always held the laws “i to be unconstitutional, and were anxious to make arly concession, ºº º Short of disunion, to the South. Conservative Republicans had Come to believe that the Iſlea. Sures Were illegal, and that simple - --- --- 101. 2l - justice dictated their repeal. Trie third and largest group were 2l. Trib. Feb. 20, 1861. Adv. Jan. 18, 1861. opposed to repeal. Some of this group believed the measures to be valid. Others were unwilling to make any concession to States that had renounced their federal obligations. Repeal would be humiliation and, besides, Would atta in no good end. On January 17, Mr. Ingersoll offered a resolution Wilich - 22 represented the desires of the moderate Republicans. It ca, lº- 22. Senate Journal 1861/102-104. ried instruction to the Judiciary Committee to examine these - 23 laws and report on their constitutionality. 23. A Democrat moved an amendment to the effect that the laws were "unjust, unwise and unconstitu- tional .." The two Deſſio crats of the Senate Wit I, one Republican voted in support of the amendment . These resolutions failed of adoption by a close vote, fif- teen out of a total membership of thirty-two voting yea. The fact that thirteen so voting were Republicans gave some indi- cation of Republican division in the Senate. That there had been a shift of ground on the part of the º, Republicans wilo defended the Personal Liberty Laws was made clear by the uncovering of a report, made February 4, 1859, by 24. the House Committee on Federal Relations. To this committee 24. Free Press, Jan. 20, 1861. Michigan Argus, Jan. 25, 1861. House Journal l859/257. had been referred sundry petitions which asked for a law to pre- Vent the rendition of fugitive Slaves, and for a law. Which would make the claim to property in another, Within the State, a penal offence. The committee report said that it was unnecessary to pass another law to prevent the return of fugitvies, for the act 1 O2 of 1855 "Was designed to, and if faithfully executed, will ac- 25 complish the object for which tile petitioners pray." 25. It was this committee Wilicº, reported tile bill that applied the penalties of tile "kidnapping act" to any Iſla ster Who migrit bring a slave into the State and claim control over him. e & 2 The matter of repeal came up in the House January 29, A 26. House Journal, 1861/349. Republican member from Grand Rapids brought in a bill which provided for the repeal of three sections of tile Personal Li-iº berty Act, and of tile obnoxious clause of the kidnapping law. The Judiciary Committee, to Whom the matter ":; referred, made - 2 perhaps, the best possible case for the laws. The lawſ of l855 27. House Journal 1861/349. r- was, they said, for the protection of the "legal rights" of those Who dwelt within the State . That fugitive slaves Iſlight be brought, at times, before the courts of trie State, was not the intention of the law, if the law "may be construed in accordance - 28 - - With its title." A ca, reful review was made of the leading case - - gº º --- --- º º - ºr -- --- - º 28. "An Act to grotect the rights, and liberties of the 29 inhabitant g of thi & State . " on the subject. The principles laid down in that case were 29. Prigg vs. Pennsylvania. . held not to invalidate the Michigan statute. The committee took the offensive in a declaration that the Fugitive Slave Law was Void in so far as it denied the use of the writ of us in behalf of a person accused a s a fugitive, arid in so it.r as it conferred judicial power upon a mere commissioner. With unconscious humor perhpas, it was urged in Support of the Mich- igan act that "for nearly six years no claiſſant of fugitive | | º: | , - - 1.03 slaves had been at all delayed" by it, ana "no free person has beeſ, kidnapped a. S & Slave Within the State of Iliciligail . " A minority report, which represented tile opinion of Con- servative Republicans and Democrats came from the Judiciary O Committee, February 11. 3 This declared that the fugitive slave 30. House Journal, 1861/576-591. clause in the Constitution was a "condition precedent" to the adoption of that instrument . The Fugitive Slave Law, which but made effective tile constitutional provision, had been upi.eld by several States and by every Federal Court . A careful examina- tion of the Michigan act for the purpose of showing in detail it 5 encroa criment upon Federal jurisdiction was made. The most effective Work of the committee consisted in offering as evi- dence letters written by three of the four judges of the State Supreme Court, each of which held the Michigan Acts to be un- 3l Co Il Stitutional . The right to the return of fugitives was but 31. Trib., March ll, 1861. a fair exchange, said the report, for tile right to prohibit the - 32 importation of slaves after 1808. 32. "We may remark in passing, in view of this last consideration, that it behooves the free States to be cautious about infringing upon their part of tile bargain." Committee report . The more prominent Detroit members of true lower House, James F. Joy and Thomas W. Lockwood, names to be remembered, were untiring in their efforts to convince fellow Republicans that justice lay in repeal. They had the support of one impor- - 33 tant Republican paper and all the Democratic papers of the city. 33. Trib., Feb. 20, March ll, 1860. 104 4. The Daily Advertiser was strongly opposed to any repeal, 3 34. See issue, Feb. 11, 1861. With - - and, it was found a very influential group of citizens. Tour hundred German Republicalls of Detroit Iſlet, February 2, to mem- orialize the Legislature on the subject. The resolution 5 a.de p- ted by the gathering declared that the Germans of the city could not consent to the repeal of the Personal Liberty Laws "unless they were declared unconstitutional by some competent ſº --- .35 º court, . " - 35. The resolutions were of interest because of the Statement 5 on Q ther issues contained in them. Not- ing triat, there was "Some lawless opposition in several States" to "the Will of the American people a s expressed in the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency" they desired to give expression to their principles. In their opinion "according to the tenor and Ileaning of the Declara,tion of Indep- endence and the Constitution of the United States, this Republic has been established for the protec- tion and preservation of Liberty ..." The Constitu- tion gave sufficient protection to the Imembers of the Union and needed no amendment . It was de- clared, too, "that the Republican party, according to the Chicago platform, stands on constitutional grounds, and that there is no reason to abandon the principles of said platform." The Union could be preserved only by a dilering to tile principles of liberty, and not by compromise With rebels and traito rs. The final resolution of this gatilering left in no doubt their position-- "Resolved, That We, American citizens by free cilo ice, &re prepared to stake life and property for the preservation of tile Union 3.11d the maintaining of tile laws." March 7, an indefinite postponement of tile question of the against postponement were cast by Republican members. This division indicated tile situation in the party relative to the *ěpeal question . One conservative Republican paper charac- 105 terized the result by affirming that the Michigan Legislature was put in the attitude of "wilfully insisting upon the preservation of an unconstitutional law." "We have declared for tile maint en- ance of the Constitution; We have denounced the Southern insur- gents for defying it, and we cannot apologize for its infraction 36 anywhere." 36. Trib., March 11, 1861. See also Ann Arbor Jour- hal, Feb. 27, 1861. TC) ACTION Rºlativº, HE WASHINGTON PIEACE CONFERENCE A. The majority of Republican members had expressed themselves as opposed to any concession or any change which might arrest the Secession movement in the Southern States. Their determination Wa. s again put to a test by the action of tile General Assembly of Vir-º- ginia. January 26, Governor Blair transmitted to the Senate reso- - lutions of this body which invited the States "who were Willing to unite ºrith Virginia in an earnest effort to adjust the present un- Happy controversies" to send commissioners to Washington. These commissioners were "to consider, and if possible, to agree upon Some Suitable adjustment." the resolutions was unfortunate if tile co- -jºº The wording of 37. Printed in Senate Journal, 1861/197-199. - ----- *P**tion of tile Michigan Legislature was desired. The invitation Was extended tº to all such States, whetery slaveholding or non- Slaveholding, as are willing to unite Witt, Virginia in an earnest º effort to adjust the present unhappy controversies, in the spirit -- º - in which the Constitution was originally formed, and consistently - º With its principles, 30 as to afford to i.e. people of the slave- - º TT - 38 holding a rº- - - - - **ing States adequate guarantees for tae security of their rights' 1. O6 It was added that if the Commissioners agreed upon a plan which required constitutional amendments "for the further security of the rigiit S of the people of the slaveholding States, " the amend- ment S Should be communicated to Congress . This strong Soutfiern bias was further emphasized in the statement of the conditions of a proper settlement a stiley appeared to the Virginia Assembly . C} The Crittenden **** presented to the United States Sen- 39. See page ate Would be satisfactory, if amended in several point 5. The amendment 3 required that slavery should be legalized in any ter- ritory now held or to be later acquired, South of the latitude of O 36 30'; that property in slaves should be there protected during the territorial status; and that owners of slaves should have the right of transit "With their slaves' between and til rough the non- Slaveholding States and territories." The issue was a difficult one for trie Republican radicals t to meet . It seemed unwise to refuse an invitation from a South- erri State to send delegates to a peace conference. On the other hand there was danger that tire conference might make recommenda- tions impossible of acceptance by the Republicans. A refusal of Such recommendations would place the party before tile Country in a situation more unfavorable trian refusal in true first in stance . A Republican caucus was called for January 30, in an endeavor to secure party harmony on the issue. At this gathering Mr. Howell, 3, radical, offered resolutions which stated that, as the basis of Settlements was fixed in advance in the invitation, and a 5 time for careful deliberation was lacking, it was inexpedient to send - 107 commissioners. A substitute resolution which provided for an 40. Offered by T. W. Lockwood. acceptance of Virginia's invitation was made by one of the con- servatives. The radical s Jere inclined to quibble. The debate showed they made hard Work of the task of finding satisfactory ground for refusal. It was a sserted that Michigan had not been & invited to the conference . The invitation W3. S for trie States only who were Willing to yield added guarantees to the rights of slaveholding States. Michigan could not make concessions . The conservatives led by Joy, Backus, Baldwin, and To clºſood of Wayne, fought to win the caucus to the appointment of commis- 4-l Sioners. On a poll the substitute motion was lost by a vote 40. Adv. Feb. 1, 1861. Free Press, Feb. 1, l861. Of twenty-five to seventy-one. Of the Republicans in the Sen- ate ten voted yea and nineteen nay. Seven of tile members from Wayne County, the most populous by far in the State, voted With the minority. A second proposition that a delegation Which must act under the Ilegislature 's instructions The ap- pointed was lost by a close vote—-forty-two to fifty-one . The following day, January 31, the Senate Committee, to Whom the invitation had been referred, reported the conclusion - 4-2 - of the Republican majority. It declared that the powers of 42. "Your committee unhesitatingly express their loelief that tile people of tiliš State should not and would not consent to any compromise with the slave State S Which allowed or favo Ted the exten- sion of African Slavery into any of tile common territories of the nation to say nothing of Éranting the further compromise and demands con- tained £herein (in invitation), which would QI'3, C- tically annul and render void one of the most cherished and 5a, cred provisions of our State Con- stitution . . . that providing that slavery shall --- 108 never exist in this State except in punishment of crime ! - the commissioners were restricted, seemingly to finding further security to slaveholders. A failure to reach this result would but increase sectional animo sity. Congress Flad power to cor- 43 rect all abuses, it was a verred. A substitute was offered 43. Adv. Feb. 4, 1861. which in connection With the appointment of commissioners made --- - - declaration of the State's views on slavery extension, right of secession, the fugitive law, and the adequacy of the Constitu- tion unchanged. At one stage of the parliamentary maneuvering over this substitute it was adopted by a vote of sixteen to fourteen . Seventeen votes were necessary under the Senate rºº rules, to carry the substitute as the original motion . This could not be obtained, and the final vote was adverse. Approx- imately one-half of the Republicans had refused to be bound by - 44. the caucus decision . This caused some ill feeling. 44. The Democratic members of the Legislature and the Lemocratic press Were angry at the result . Adv. Feb. 5, 1861. The Free Press called for action to secure the Sentiment of the people of Detro it. The Tribune said that tile invitation should have been accepted in the "saſſie patrio ic spirit that prompted it; " Trib. Jan 31, 1861. Further attempts by Republican members were made to secure 47 the appointment of commissioners. Ilittle Would have been done 47. Adv. Feb. ll, 1861. However, had not the Governor reopened the question, February 14, by a special message to the House of Representatives. He 48. House Journal, 1861./683. transmitted to the House copies of tile resolutions by which Indiana and New York had appointed commissioners. He suggested 109 - 49 further consideration for tile' invitation. He stated, too, 49. "It has seemed to me that the circumstances affecting the propriety of sending commissioners are so far changed a s to justify a further con- sideration of the question . " - that some of tile lichigan men in Congress ina, d come to believe 50 that tile State should be represented in tile conference. 50. "It is, perhaps, also proper for me to say that I have communications from some of the delegation in Congress, indicating that While they have en- tirely approved of the previous action of the Le- gislature, they tilink that Michigan might now be represented in the so-called Peace Convention with credit to herself and benefit to the Whole country'. See also Adv. Feb. 15, 1861. Issue of Free Press, Feb. 17, 1861, contained the following: Washington, Feb. 15, 1861. "To Gov. Blair, Lan sing. We advise you to authorize your Senators by telegraph to represent your State in Convention. Salmon P. Chase, James S. Wadsworth, David Dudley Field. The letters to Which the Governor referred were Written to him by Senators Bingham and Chandler. They portrayed the ºit, Situation of the Republican party leaders in Vä. Shington in re- lation to the Peace Convention so clearly that they merit quot- ing at length. They did not accompany the Governor's message but were read in party caucus. Senator Bingham's letter was a s follows: - "When virginia proposed a Convention in Washington in reference to the disturbed condition of the country, I regard- ed it, a 5 another effort to debauch the public mind, and a step to Ward obtaining that concession which the iimperious slave power so in Solently demands . . . The convention has met here, and : ... . Within a few days the aspect of things has materially changed . . Yºr t W We have been assured by friends upon which we can rely, if those º - º º 1]. O two States (Michigan alrld Wisconsin) Sriould selld delegations of true, inflinching men, there Would probably be a majority in favor of the Constitution a s it is, Wilo would frown down rebell- ion by the enforcement of laws...it cannot be doubted that the recommendations of this Convention Will have a very consider- able influefice upon the public mind and upon the action of Con- gress . . . It ſmay be justifiable and pro per by any honorable means to avert the lasting disgrace which will attach to a free people! who have released themselves by tile ballot from the tyranny of - slavery, "if they now should succumb to treasonable threats, and again submit to a degrading trirall dom." 5l. Free Press, Feb. 22, 1861, taken from Lansing. Republican of Feb. 20, 1861. - Adv. Feb. 16, 1861. Senator Chandler's letter, differently phrased, was of like tenor. "My dear Governor: Governor, Bingham and myself tele- graphed you on Saturday, at the request of Massachusetts and New York, to send delegates to the Peace or Compromise Congress. They admit that we were right and they were wrong; that no Re- publican State should have sent delegates; but they are here and can't get away. Ohio, Indiana, and Rhode Island are caving in, and there is danger inillinois, and no W tiley beg us, for God's sake, to come to their rescue and save the Republican party from rupture. I hope you will send stiff-backed men dr - - pe y - none . The Whole thing was gotten up against my judgment and ad- Vice, and will end in thin Smoke . . ." A post script was added to this effect, -- "Some of the manufacturing States think that a - fight would be awful. Without a little blood-letting this Union lll Will not, in my estimã, tion, bel worth a rush." The Governor's message went to a special committee of five . ſ: º 52 º Their report recommended the appointment by the Governor of 52. House Journal, 1861/687-688. five commissioner's Who were to be under control of the Legis- lature. The Committee undertook to explain the position of the State . Their statement Was too mild for the radicals, who of— [… 53 fered, through Representative Pringle, a substitute which 53. Ibid., 690-693. Free Press, Feb. 16, 1861. authorized the Governor to appoint "five able and firm men, re- presenting the popular sentiment of this State." They were to be in Structed not to agree to any constitutional amendment that would "recognize the right of property in man or give any right of transit through free States of masters with their slaves, or authorize the extension of slavery to territories Floyſ free . " Tae substitute was adopted by a vote of forty-three to thirty-five. When read as the original resolution it failed of adoption by a vote of tilirty-seven to forty. As the matter Would corne up again under tile rules, a Re- publican caucus was called . Seventy-one Republican 5 out of a - 54. Republican membership of one hundred and two, were present. 54. Adv. Feb. 16, 1861. Though Governor Blair, who was present by invitation "indicated his belief that it would be well to help our friends in Washing- ton out of any embarrassments, " an adverse vote ofttairty-eight nays to thirty-three years Was recorded. 55 February 15, the House again Went at the matter. After 55. House Journal, l861/714. various proposals to amend Were defeated, tile resolutions were recommitted, were again reported out, and were finally defeated because a majority of the total membership did not vote favor- + ably. There were forty affirmative votes, two short of enough, and thirty-four negative votes. The real purpose of the Re- publicans having been made known by the Senator's letters, every 56. They were read in the House during this sit- º - ting. Adv. Feb. 13, 1861. Free Press, Feb. 17, - l66l. - - 57 Democratic member voted in the negative. Later attempts Were 57. Michigan "has been made to stand aloof from the Peace Convention until the abolition conspir– ators saw that tiere Was danger that tile Conven- tion would a coomplish peace, Wien suddently they seek to throw a representation into tile Conven- tion instructed to strike down peace if possible'; Free Press, Feb. 17, 1861. made to appoint an unin structed delegation but no favorable . 58 àction could be secured. 58. House Journal, 1861/741-742. Free Press, Feb. 19, 1861. In conclusion, it may be said that the Struggle Over the Union resolutions, the personal liberty laws, and the peace - | convention, made it clear that the dominant party would take no \ Steps to conciliate any Southern group. The tender of the Inil- itary power of the State to the President to be used in en- 59 forcing obedience to Federal authority expressed more nearly 59. A provision of the Union resolutions - * * * º --- the views of a large majority of the party. lſ IT, ITARY PRE PARATION The secession of Southern States and the organization of 113 a Southern Confederacy meant war, if the Northern States and their President were of one mind with the Republican party in Michigan. Military preparation was needed. The Legislature of 1859 had taken steps to give the State a more effective or- ganization of its lilitia . Orlando B. Willcox and others had toured the State striving to arouse a sentiment for military 6 O preparedness. Justice Campbell is authority for the assertion 60. Campbell, History of Michigan. that General Willcox, though discreet in avoiding any reference to "the peculiar danger" was successful in awakening a sense of the need of preparatiºn for an emergency. Ól Governor Wisner in his final recommendations stated the 6l. Trib. Jan. 3, 1861. Joint Documents, 1861. need of further efforts and of a larger annual appropriation. In a curious subterrace he called attention to the long and un- guarded boundary between the United States and British posses- . Sions, and said, "we are at peace with the Whole World but this peace may not last a year." An act #: provide a military force was introduced into the Legislature. 2 A very important question, the bearings of which 62. House Journal, l861/338. Were at that time not made clear, Was that of tile power of the Legislature to negotiate a loan to place the State on a war 63 footing. The Attorney-General gave a favorable opinion. The T 63. Free Press, Feb. 9, 1861. act was passed and received executive sanction March 16. The 64. Legislature Acts of 1861/545-547. - * - 6 5 9°Casion for it was boldly stated in the preamble. The act 114 65. "Whereas, Certain States have resolved to secede from the Federal Union, have forcibly seized upon ºle the arsenals, fort s, custom-houses, navy yards, and other public property of the general government, and have wilfully fired upon and insulted the flag of the United States, and are nowlin continued de- fiance of the federal laws, by which open rebell- ion and a State of War actually exists; "And whereas, This State, as one of the loyal States of the Union, ought to be prepared to meet this public emergency, and to aid in sustaining the Amer- i can Union and tile federal laws and authority thereforell.---------, . authorized the Governor to muster into the service of the State the uniformed or volunteer non-uniformed militia to the extent of rtº., twenty companies or two regiments. The term of service was to be for a period not less than three months no r longer than three 66 yea I'5. 66. An account written years after the event, by one who visited Lansing to urge the policy of better military preparation upon the Legislature, averred that possibility of War was ridiculed by members. Contemporary evidence seems to the cont- rary . ll 5 CHAPTER Vll. CONSERVATIVE OPINION. While the extremists who made up the Republican majority in the State Legislature were overriding the Democrats and the conservatively-minded Republicans in that body, men out- side of its membership, who were shocked at what was to them fanatical disregard of common sense, were active in giving ex- pression to conciliatory opinion. Late in December twenty-one men, prominent in the busi- l *-- ness life of Detroit, made appeal to Robert McClelland to l. Dec. 31, 1860; See Free Press, Jan 6, 1861. 2. Ex-Representative, ex-Governor of the State, and a cabinet member under Franklin Pierce. express his views "upon the crisis in the condition of our 3 - national affairs." These men were convinced that a cala- 3. "I) is connected from politics since your retire- ment from the national councils, we regard you as a conservative man, who can in an exigency like th this execute the obligations of duty devolving upon every patriotic citizen, uninfluenced by any political considerations whatever." - º mity greater than the country had ever faced was impending: that "ultra men, South and North" were forcing ruin upon it. "Government and politicians, alike failing, " they wrote, the only hope of extrication lay in the people" "in their primary masses . . . . who needed but to know the truth to devise the re- medy” Governor McClelland was to make known the truth. | Moderate Counsels might be expected of Governor º McClelland. He had been, as a member of Congress, firm- § - Sº, ly opposed to any extension of slavery. He was reputed *. - - º, to be one of the authors of the Wilmot Proviso. He had º * - & - x refused d to accept the popular soverengny(ty theory, ori- . . . ginated by Lewis Cass, the party leader of his state. Be - 2. *i. coming a member of the pro-Southern administration of ‘k ": Pierce, he became silent on the slavery issues in Kansas. c & The more intimate association with Southern leaders af- * - s forded by this position, or a more carefully formed judg- ment, softened his earlier Vincompromising anti-slavery < - * Views. : K In his letter of reply to the Detroit men, Governor t § McClelland expressed the conviction that slavery could not be permanent in any of the territories of the United States, - º and in consequence it was the part of wisdom to relinquist, abstract theories in respect to the location of control of the "institution" the re. He believed it best to delay de- cision on slavery in the territories until the people thers- º - of were ready to organize State governments. Concession, McClelland thought, may be made to Northern sentiments by an sº amendment to their liking of the Fugitive Slave Law. If Congress should fail in the steps necessary to harmony, the State legislature should initiate proceedinºs in amendment of the Constitution. The writer's intimate experience with Southern statesmen gave weight to his closing prophecy. - --- "If some suitable adjustment be not speedily affected all the Cotton States will secede, and soon draw after them the bor- 11.7 4 der Slaves States." 4. This letter was given wider circulation º- in pamphlet form. The conservatives of all parties in Detroit were de- termined to make public protest against the work of the headstrong radicals in the Legislature. To this end many men prominent in the business and professional life of the 5 city came together January 28th. Many conservative Republi- 5. The invitation, issued by the Republican mayor and appearing in the advertising col- umns of the daily papers, was extended to all citizens, without distinction of party "who are in favor of the Union as it is," and who "are willing to consent to the adoption of the - principle of the Missouri I, ine, and to the im- mediate admission as States, of all the re- maining territory on the following basis: All north of that line to be free, and all south with or without slavery, together with the other propositions known as the plans of the border State Committee" Detroit papers Jan. 27, 1861. See also Free Press and Tribune Jan. 19, 1861. - - 6 C ºn 5 found place in this meeting. Indeed, Republicans of ºf this color of opinion were chief contributors to the proceed- 6. The meeting "was for the purpose of endorsing the Border State Committee propositions, and the call excluded all not willing to endorse the pro- ject. Most of the dominant party did not parti- cipate." Adv. (Republican) Jan. 29th, 1861. The meeting was well attended, "influential gentle- men of the several parties participated harmonious- ly in its deliberations, although as a general thing, it did not meet the approval of the Republi" cans. Trib. Jan. 29th, l861. The union demonstration. . . . must be regarded as more especially the expression of conservative re- public ens, chiefly by whom it was managed." Free press, Jan. 30, 1861. The purpose of the gathering as announced from the plat- ~ --> form was to sustain and strengthen the Union men of the South and not to attempt the recall of traitors. The Republic an ll. 8 speakers pleaded for the concessions enbraced in the plan of * Border State Committee. The Republican party, said one, which had carried the north by the "strength Of 7. George C. Bates. - its numbers, the purity and beauty and benevolence of its cardinal principles" could never be weakened by a spirit Of concession and kindness toward the border States. He main- tained further that, though the party could never accept a Compromise wili cil would force slavery upon the lands south of 36° 30'. They should give approval to one that made its acceptance optional the re. Another Republicane 'believed that 8. D. Bethune Duffield. his party "could afford to be magnanimous;" it "could at least yield in those things which involved riot, a conflict, withº its ºr "principles." The personal liberty laws of the States came, evidently, within this category. The Legislature should re- peal, he declared, "anything which stands on the Statute Book but to irritate, to inſuriate our brethern of the south." Moderate Democrats were represented in the person º º of G. V. N. Lothrop, recent Democratic candidate for Congress. He declared that the differences due to the diverse social systems of the North and South could be allayed only by a Settlement that would take the issue out of Congress. The extension of the Missouri Compromise Line would make that settlement, he averred. "Slavery gains nothing by it but the maintenance of a principle, for, as Webster once remarked, God himself had set fixed, immutable bounds beyond which slav- ery cannot pass." The fight for the abstract principle of Congressional prohibition endangered the safety of the Union. The resolutions which had been prepared for the accept- ance of this peace meeting set forth well the ideas of the patriotic conservatives who were behind it. These aver red that the disruption of the Union might be prevented by a spirit of conciliation. Preservation of the Union was, more- over, the first duty of every citizen. A satisfactory settle- ment of the slavery issues was believed to lie in the re- establishment of the Missouri line and the immediate organi- Zation of all territories as States, with freedom compulsory north of the line and slavery optional with the inhabitants south of the line. The resolutions expressed approval of the balance of the border State plan. The meeting also provided for the sending of representatives of its views to intercede With the Legislature. DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. Conservative opinion also found opportunity for formal eXpression in the local conventions and in the State convention of the Democratic party. The county conventions of the party gave voice tº the Temocratic sentiments of their respective localities on the national difficulties. These meetings approv- ed the various compromise proposals. Any concession that would prevent war was acceptable. Most important of all was the gen- eral opposition to any form of coercion of the seceding States, 9. - at least until compromise measures were tried. - 12O - 9. . We are opposed to "the idea of coercing that portion of our people, whose rights have been invaded and rights of property disre- garded." Calhoun Convention Free Press, Teb. 6, 1861. --- 9. "As democrats. we are for peace and not war, to save this Union; that we do not be - lieve it necessary that democratic bayonets should open the way for abolition serpents, to the homes and hearths of our Southern bre thren." ºn Washtenaw Convention, reported in Michigan Ar- -- -- -- - --- - - - gus, Feb. 8, 1861. 9. "If the dominant party of the free States fail to accept, or refuse to make, these reas- onable advances toward an adjustment of the diffi- -- culties which threaten to break in pieces and ut- terly destroy this government, then we, as Ameri- canº citizens, will never give our consent, by word or by deed, to coerce fifteen slave-holding States to remain in the confederacy." Cass Coun- ty. Free Press, Feb. 6th, 1861 for resolutions of Monroe and Ingham Counties. Some of the conventions censured the Legislature for mak- ing a tender to the President of the military forces of the State. By others, the repeal of the Personal Liberty Laws was demanded. Secession as a legal right was denied. In one in- stance, the election of Lincoln was held to be no sufficient cause for disruption. 121. The State convention of the Democratic party met in Detroit, February 8. Its resolutions bear evidence of careful preparation. They seem to set forth, beyond question, the posi- tion of the Michigan Democracy at the date of their adoption Well- turned sentences depicted the value of the Union and its Constitution to the people of the country. The trend of reas - - oning among conservative Democrats was made clear. This reas- oning held it to be essential in the crisis to bear in mind that the wide area of the Union embraced communities of diff- ering institutions; that its original foundations had been laid "in a spirit of liberal and patriotic forbearance and comprom- ise ; that its borlds were neither armies, nor navies, Y1Or any form of physical force, but the fraternal feeling and natural sympathies of freemen." A Union so founded, it was averred, could be maintained in no other way. The legal aspects of secession were not neglected. Se- cession was a revolutionary not a constitutional right. Its - emplpyment was justifiable only when a rightful mode of redress & had failed. we neglect to give trial to legal means of redress - I.O.' ' brought condemnation upon the "revolution" in the cotton State 5.. º The Democrats of Michigan would uphold constitutional author- iº 10. The Republican party did not escape censure for its part in this "revolution". A moral lay in tile statement that "the unanimity and rapidity which have marked this great rupture admonish us that whole communities never plunge into revolusio - tion except from a sentiment of great actual or - threatened danger." ity irrespective of party. The resolutions affirmed, however, -- ----- that the only path of safety lay in conciliation. Coercion by 122 arms was War, which in turn would mean disunion forever . The party was thus impelled to give earnest "counsel against all menaces or acts of coercion of States loy arms" as rinot only vain for any good, but certain to yield a bloody harvest of public and private woes. Concession found favor. "In the present great peril of the Union. . . . The democracy of Michigan'ſ would waive "all other differences and stand shoulder to shoulder with other men who nobly sacrifice partisan opinion and interests to the integrity of the Union." The party would give the sovereignty º and accept the Crittenden or the border State compromise re- ll. Solutions. ll. A determined effort was made by many dele - gates to the convention to secure representation of the State at the Virginia Peace Conference. Motions at this end, providing variously for dele- gates of different party affiliations, were before the convention. The sense of a majority of the convention was, however, that a party gathering could not appoint delegates representative of the State itself. Those who desired such appointment had to content themselves with a resolution which provided for the sending of the convention's re- solutions to the Peace Conference as a statement of the voice of the majority of the people of the State . - The adjournment of the convention without having nominated a candidate, when taken with its willingness to abandon its doc- trines and its praise of conservatives, suggests that Democrat- ić leaders at this time entertained the notion that a new con- servative organization might be formed. Some of the convention proceedings and newspaper comment there on strengthen this im- pression though they fail to establish its truth. The pre- 123 siding officer had declared that reason more momentous than the nomination of a supreme court candidate had actuated the º l2 sº committee which called the convention. No part of the pub- l2. The Free Press had said, prior to the meeting of the convention that it would not be a partisan gathering; Issue of Jan. 24, 1861. lished proceedings give adequate explanation of the failure to make a nomination. A resolution that is was inexpedient to do so was before the convention, and was, doubtless, adopt- ed. Another resolution which carried with it an invitation to the Union men of the State to join with Democrats when the convention reassembled, was pending at the time of adjour- l3. - ment. l3. The convention adjourned to March 7th, "at the time perhaps" said the Ffee Press, "the future of the country will be less envelop- ed, in doubt, than it now is, and the conserva- tive people of this State of all political part- ies may have a better appreciation of their dut- ies with respect to the election of a Judge than they now have." - 13. "The Ypsilanti Herald, a democratic paper, fully confirms our understanding of the meaning of the adjournment of the last Democratic State Convention, without making a nomination. It proposes to aband on the democratic party alto- ge ther, and get up some new sort of organization. It says. ". . . . Tribune, Feb. 20th, l861. The quo- tation, as given by the Tribune, made appeal to the TYemocratic State Central Committee to invite conservatives to the adjourned Convention of Mar. 7th, and "if need be, let party names be for a time, ignored, that Michigan may testify to her sister States . . . . that the rule of fanatic is my with- in her borders is at an end," does not establish the Tribune's contention concerning the motives of the party, February 7th. 124 l3. "It will be remembered that when this judicial convention assembled a month ago they declined to make a nomination, under the avowed conviction that the Republican party was about to be rent into two factions-- one radical, and other conservative. With this conviction firmly planted in their simple hearts, they adjourned to the 7th of this month, after inviting conser- vative Republicans either to unite with them or to nominate one of their own number upon whom the Democracy could unite." Adv., March 9, 1861. * There were several noteworthy individuals contributions to the discussion of national problems, John S. Barry, former gov- ernor and recent candidate for that office, presented an extre- l4 mist, ' S view. He affirmed that all the trouble was due to a l4. Letter to ex-Congressman Edwards of North Carolina; printed in Free Press, Feb. 20, 1861. Northern fanaticism fostered by "political demagogues." Seward Wade and Hale were but unprincipled leaders of a misnamed par- ty, without scruple and desirous only of prominence. By pan- dering to a misguided anti-slavery sentiment, in part created by them, these men had elected to the Presidency a mere anti- slavery orator. Governor Barry declared that many had repent- ed of their votes for Lincoln and would now join the "conser- vative" party in confirming to the South her rights under the Constitution. He believed that there was in the North a major- ity desirous of the adoption of compromise measures. Governor Barry was himself opposed to coercion of seceding States and l 5. - believed his party was of like mind. l6. I think I may say that the conservative party of the North, with few exceptions, are opposed to the exercise of force in the settlement of exist in g of political troubles. While I regard the dissolu- tion of the Union as one of the greatest possible evils that could be fall us as a people, yet I pre- fer such a result to the calamities of civil war." 15. Governor Barry had closed his letter with the question; "what is to be done." "The North must do everything," said Mr. Edwards in his re- ply." The South can do nothing except quietly ask her rights under the Constitution. She feels that she has done no wrong--nothing to warrant the unprovoked wrongs perpetrated against her, and must, with becoming for titude, abide the issues forced upon her." During these uncertain months the Detroit, Free Press had published many editorials similar in tone to the letter of Gov- ernor Barry. But it is safe to say that the most clearly re- membered editorial ever penned by any writer for that paper ap- peared in the issue of January 26th, under the caption, "The Attitude of Michigan." The refusal of the Legislature to re- peal the personal liberty laws, and the tender of the military forces of the State to the President had angered the editor in- to saying that "we can tell the republican Legislature and the republican administration of Michigan, and the republican party e verywhere, one thing: that if the refusal to repeal the person- º º º al liberty laws be per sisted in, and if there shall not be a crlange in the present seeming purpose to yield no accomo- dation to the national difficulties, and if troops shahl be raised in the North to march against the people of the South, 16 a fire in the rear, S is. The article became known by this phrases, Will be opened upon such troops which will either stop their march altogether or wonderfully accelerate it. In other words, if, in the present posture of the republican party towards the national difficulties, War shall be waged, that war will be fought in the North. When civil war shall come, it will be war here in Michigan, and here in Detroit, and in every Northern l'? State." 17. The Michigan Argus declared promptly that the Free Press had not expressed the sentiment of Michigan Democrat E. "We submit that to encourage tºle cotton States as 3 r ticles like that from the Tree Press must, is not giving aid" to the border - - States, "in their attempts to roll back the tide º tº of disunion." Issue of February l, 1861. , 17. The Jackson Patriot, on the other hand, a- verred that "the Detroit Free Press speaks the sentiments of every Union loving conservative man in the State." Reprinted in Free, Press, Feb. 1, 1861 17. The Republicans of the State derived amuse- --- ment from the article. A legislature resolution * * * which called for the immediate mobilization of a sufficient force to repel the "fire in the rear." provided that "in case there is not sufficient heavy ordinance for that purpose, that they pro- cure pop and squirt guns made of approved elder timber." House Journal lä6/347. 1.7. "Iºut outside of the Free Press office there are not ten vagabonds in Detroit who sympathize with the drunken frenzy of the paragraphs . . . . And upon such traitors and spies, should an insane folly lead us into civil war, no power will be was ted. A stout cord and a short shrift will - - , send them as far towards heaven as the Creator ever intended them to go." Adv. Jan. 28, 1861. " . 18 This paper later asked for the recognition of the govern- 18. Feb. 28th, 1861. ment of the seceded States by the older government. Reasoning, somewhat naive, supported the suggestion. The newer government ¥ was , it was averred, § de facto government and our foreign pol- icy had always accorded recognition to such governments. Such recognition would result in a state of feeling so improved that 19. peaceable secession could be easily arranged. 127 19. See also issues of March 22, April 10, 13, 1861. - In taking issue with the "fire in the rear" declaration the Michigan Argus had said that "we cannot forget that South Carolina has no real excuse for the present position she accu- pies, and that she is forcing the balance of the South into a wrong position. . . . we cannot volunteer aid and comfort to traitors in South Carolina or elsewhere . " On the issue Of "coercion" the Argus was less positive, "We have no disposi- tion to engage in a fight; we protest against an unholy civil war; we may even prefer in an extremity, peaceable disunion to a resort to arms; but yet, it is the duty of the General Govern ment to enforce the laws of the Union, in all the States of the Union alike . " This was, doubtless, a dilemma that other good; Democrats also found themselves in. On another point, the Argus was clear. The conduct of Michigan, however, much it might be deserving of condemnation, did not absolve anyone from 20 the allegiance due to the Federal Government. ~ E3 20. Issue of Feb. 1, cited above. THE RTPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. We find as we turn again to the action of the dominant party organization, a marked contrast to the conciliatory ef- forts of the conservatives. The Republican State:Convention met at Lansing, February 20, 1861. Republican conservatives had no effective representation, in it. The radicals were in control. The presiding officer while he counselled harmony 21. Sylvester Larned of Wayne, who was later to take a leading part in coalition efforts. 128 22 in the ranks, advised the party to cleave to its principles. 22. "We are invulnerable. Let there be Union for the sake of the Union. . . . not a Union furthered by the sacrifice of political integrity, but rendered symmetrical and permanent by the adherence to a common faith, to the Union and the Constitution. Let not the question be, shall our flag furl its folds and pale its stars in concessions that shall make that Union not Worth its salvation; but in it its stead erect that other sentiment. . . . the Con- stitution. . . . not to be amended but to be obeyed." Free Press Feb. 22, 1861. He was firmly opposedo toº any compromisee ore concessions that would make the Union "not worth its Salvation. "" Governor * Blair addressed the convention in like vein. Republicans, said he, should refuse to make concession to or treat with States i 23. - in rebellion. 23. "Is it not true that what was right in 1854 1856, 1860, is equally right in 1861?" The party would not disband "nor shall We abate one jot or tittle of our principles. . . . A re we afraid," he asked, "that liberty will lose in a contest with slavery or the minions of slavery? . . . . Shall we be wanting for the right, while these Iſler, 3 re so forward for the wrong?!' The Governor felt that there was a limit to the controlling force of fear of an "un- º --- --- natural war." The statement that there were Union men who would fight for the Union today," perhaps sufficiently de- - º 24 fined his position and that of his fellow radicals. 24. Governor Blair realized that the crisis had endangered party solidarity. He believed , how- ever, that the accession of the Republican presi- - dent would restore harmony, and, in addition, would end secession. "On the fourth of March we shall see the last of the rattlesnakes and peli- cans (southern State flags), for they must then come down. Our party will be a unit in all this matter and we shall march on to certain victory; +, s ºf eºn ºne tº of ºre the northern hosts of freedom will be one body that will ride over and destroy whatever may come in their way. Then the fire in the rear will dan- ge rous only to those who attempt it." The party "though now a little divided will come together. The division has a risen for want of a leader, but that leader will soon be supplied, around whom we can rally." Free Press, Feb. 22, 1861. The statement of position in the resolutions was brief, and all that the radicals could desire. The Constitution needed obedience, not amendment. Strict enforcement of its provisions and of the laws would protect adequately, it was asserted, the rights of every citizen, and would, morever, restore fraternal feeling between the members of the Union. To make the party's position even more clear, it was resol- ved "that we maintain an immovable attachment to the great truths and principles embodied in the Chicago platform, and which the Republican party has so emphatically endorsed at the 25. ballot box." 25. Adv., Feb. 23, 1861. The significance of this declaration was , with a reasonable allowance for party bias, stated well in a Free Press criti- cism. "The republican party in Michigan is, then, authoratively declared to be against conces sion, against compromise, against any terms by which the hands of the Southern Union men may be strengthene ed, and for the exercise of force to compel the re- turn of the seceded States. This is the platform and all good republicans must stand upon it." \ \ Issue of Feb. 23, 1861. A briefer statement in (7) the “saſſié editorial had it that "We are for the u- it riion willich we propose to preserve by civil war and on the basis of the Chicago platform." Rudolph Ianning was renominated for the position he held O Yl a Supreme Bench. Of the four Judges of that Court, he was the only one who had kept silence on the validity of the State' s personal liberty legislation. The others had expressed their belief in its illegality. ADJOURNED SESSION, DEMOCRATIC STATE convention. The Democratic State Convertion reassembled in Detroit, March 7. Few delegates were present. No public notice of reas E embly was given. Any hope for a new conservative organi- zation that may have existed at the first gathering, Feb- ruary 7, must have disappeared in the intervening month. If there had been a feeling that party organization should be suspended, the radical stand of the Republican Convention now made the continuance of a conservative organization 3. neces sity. The Republican nominee for the Supreme Court could not be acceptable to the Democracy. The ſonvention adopted no resolutions. Mr. Charles I. Walker, a well know lawyer of 26 The troit, was nominated for the Supreme Court vacancy. 26. For proceedings see Detroit papers. Mar. 8 til, l861. - 26. The Republican papers made fun of the gather- ing. "It was rumored yesterday that eleven or twelve of the delegates of the Locofoco State Convention, which assembled in I)etro it in Feb- ruary had met. . . . We are not able to trace the re- port to a very authentic source (The Free Press had an account), but the fact that the Convention when it adjourned, agreed to reassemble yesterday gives it an air ºf probability. If it is true, it will be remarkable in our local history a 5 the most quiet nomination ever made in Michigan." Adv. , March, 8, 1861. CHAPTER Vlll . WAP AND I TS EFFECT UPON PARTISANSHIP People of every shade of opinion concerning the proper policy of the Federal Government awaited with considerable anxiety the announcement of the views of the President -elect. Governor Blair, representative of extreme radicals, had ex- - pressed misgivings concerning his policy. The circumstances of Lincoln's life had led some Democrats to the not unnatur- all conclusion that he would prove incompetent to deal with the situation if any's largepway. Representative of this group l was the Free Press. To it, the future turned on the group, l. Note also letter of ex-Governor Barry. radical or conservative, which succeeded in obtaining control --- 2 of the new President. º - º º 2. If Lincoln fell into the hands of Seward, Weed, or Cameron, "We shall have hope for the future." If the radicals gained control "we may make up our "minds to complete separation be- tween the North and the South and civil War. " Tree, Press, Feb. 21, 1861. 2. If Seward were a member of the government, "the cabinet must necessarily be a unit upon Mr. Seward's policy, which is such concessions as will satisfy the Union sentiment of the Forder States, and the President's inaugural will an- nounce his policy." Ibid. , March 1, 1861. The inaugural address had at least the ſherit of making clear the views and the intended policy of its author. One of the reputed reasons for secession was groundless, he held. º --- 13; | There had never been any reasonable cause for the fear that a Republican administration would endanger the property, peace or security of the people of the South. Mr. Lincoln, "had no purpose. . . . to interfere with the institution of slavery in - he States where it exists." On the legality of the attempted withdrawal, which had come because of Republican victory, the President offered a definite conclusion. "The Union of these States is perpetual." It was "impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. . . . - No State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of trie Union." The policy which the President's sense of duty compelled him to follow toward the seceded States was stated in unéqui- vocal terms. He must " take care. . . . that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States." The execu- tive power must be used to hold the property belonging to the Government and to collect taxes and customs dues. The Presi- dent desired the use of no force beyond what was necessary to t this purpose. He desired "that the people everywhere shall have the sense of perfect security which is most favorable to thought and reflection." 3. The President's approach to the various pro- blems of the war was well indicated in the in- augural. Said he "the course here indicated will be followed, unless currentº events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper; and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised according to circumstances act- ually existing." - The President in closing placed in solemn language the - 133 issue of War in the hands of the citizens of the Southern ^sº ~, - states." In your hands, my fellow countrymen, and not in N mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not as sail you. You can have no conflict without being 3. yourselves the *ggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government; while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it." The Republicans of the State, the radical and the moder- a tely conservative at least, seem to have been well pleased 4. with the President's announced purpose. The moderately con- 4. "For months past the ship of State has been in the possession of an imbecile commander, treacherous officers and an insurgent crew. But, thank God! This is now ended. The danger is well nigh past. The public mind, that has been so intensely excited, will feel a sense of re- lief from this message such as that of no other President has create. The whole American people have been painfully waiting for the result which the day has witnessed, in our National capitol, some with trembling solicitude as to the charact- er of Mr. Lincoln's first official declaration of views and purposes, and others with painful anxiety lest the beginning of a Republican ad- ministration should be the end of this Union. But the crises has passes, the Nation is redeem- ed., and the people are free." Adv. March 1861. servative Tribune declared that every act proposed by the Presi- dent in the emergency was enjoined upon him by his oath, and - * 5 that opposition to him was opposition to the Constitution. The 5. Issue of March 5, 1861. message pleased the Republican Legislature. 6. Trib., March 6, 1861. 134 The IDemocratic press was not so well satisfied. The Argus (Ann Arbor), while not entirely pleased with the mes- 7 sage, was not disappointed in its position or tone. The 7. "We cannot for the life of us, find in these de Clarations, a proclamation of force or civil war; a reason for any widening of the breach, any dissatisfaction on the part of the loyal border States, any cause for alarm; . . . . The in- augural appeals to all Union loving men North and South, to stand by the Union, and we hope, Sincerely hope, that this appeal will meet with proper response." Free Press, on the contrary, confessed that its worst appre- hensions regarding Lincoln, his inaugural, and his cabinet, 8 were realized. 8. Issue of March 6, 1861. y The President's address made it clear that War Was in- evitable. Seven States claiming a legal right to withdraw from tile Union, had done so. They had organized a new union having the same general powers as the old, and were demanding the possession of all property of the older government, not already siezed, within their borders. In behalf of the older government President Lincoln affirmed that this property must be retained and its laws executed within the limits of the new Union. Two sovereign powers were asserting exclusive juris- diction, in general matters, over the same territory. It was a question alone of the time and place where arm- ed conflict would occur. The situation that promised most in respect was at Charleston where Major Anderson and his amall band were holding Fort Sumter, with all supplies from the mainland cut off. It was known that an attempt to provision the fort would result in an attack being made upon it. After # some indecision the President and his Cabinet resolved to at- tempt this relief. They were aware that a war which was ini- tiated as a result of an attempt to get supplies to federal troops accupying a fortress of the United States would make the South the aggressor in Northern eyes-- a view of incal- 9 culable value to their government. 9. The intensity of feeling during these an- xious days is well portrayed in the 1jetroit pa - pers. For example see Free Press, April 13, 1861. When news of the expected bombardment of Sumter reached the State, its citizens assembled in local gatherings to give evidence of their loyalty and to take counsel on courses of a c- tion. Illustrative of the situation which presented itself to the thoughtful men sponsoring these gatherings was the meet- ing of the Detroit Bar Association. The diverse opinions that had existed on the subject of a correct policy seemed to them to render an interchange of views of men of all part- i es necessary. This gathering decided that the gravity of af- fairs required the participation of the entire community, and a general mass meeting was called. The speeches of Democrats and Republicans in these two assemblages gave emphasis to the differences which had existed between them anterior to the actual warfare and emphasized 136 - likewise their desire to find common ground in its prosecution. , º - To the Republicans the part of duty for all was plain. "With war actually upon us, there can be but one feeling--- the flag - *" l(). - of the Union must be sustained." It was a duty, said Senator 10. H. H. Emmons, Free Press, April 14, 1861. Chandler to disabuse the South of the idea that aid would be ll extended to them by Northern men. Tile Democrat S had more to ll. "Chandler had already exhibited his diff- erences with the administration on the conduct of trie war. He had found himself out of sympathy With the cautious policy of the President during the first month of his administration in respect to Sumter. * - before they could º overcome tº champion war as a remedy for the nation's Wills. They had frequently chosen to assert that the North was the aggressor. They had been earnestly in favor of any comprom- ise that would prevent disunion, and had held the victorious party responsible for the defeat of all conciliatory measures. But they were now for a settlement by force. "We of the demo- cratic party," said Charles I. Walker, "do not profess to have changed our opinions upon the true policy of the government, - - l2. but the time has gone by for the discussion of policies." y 12. Free Press and Adv. , Apr. 16, 1861. 123 In forceful analogy, he tried to show his party's duty. 13. "When the party to which I have the honor to belong was in power in this government and engaged in War with a foreign country, we called upon the old whig party, and told them it was their duty to fight their country's battles. This they did, and many a true whig fell upon the fields of Mexico, but they did not thereby approve of the policy of the war or the motives that led to it." -- l37 * { G. V. N. Lothrop spoke in simkilar strain. While there were many sides to the issue, he said, the country possessed a constitution under wiich evils might be reme died without resort to revolution. "I believe the wrongs the Southern men have suffered can be righted by the constitution. Believing this I shall stand by the side of my country." Mr. Lothrop des- paired of any success at arms, but that was the only choice. Party controversy must be deferred to the end of the war. "At any rate," he concluded, "Our duty is to sustain our government, and I conclude as I began, I stand by our country, 14. right or wrong." l4. The Jackson Patriot, April 24, 1861, ex- - pressed like views. "The government at Wash- ºr sº ington has chosen to adopt the coercive powers confided to it. . . . We are bound by the acts of that government, and its must receive our support in all constitutional efforts to preserve the Union. . . . We are for Our Country, right or wrong! and if she is wrong, we will help place her in the right by sustaining the government against all unlawful as sailants." The resolutions adopted by the citizens' meeting exhibited the unity of sentiment which, in the whole seemed to exist on - lo the subject of war. "The citizens of Detroit, irrespective 15. One resolution which recommended a policy of conciliation was tabled. An ex-mayor of the city refused to act as vice-president of the meeting. of party, and waiving all expressions of opinion as to the causes which have produced this unhappy strife, and as to the proper mode of redress, he reby declare that the duty of every 138 citizen is to sustain the arms of the government so long as actual war exists." 16 The Michigan Argus had an excellent statement untinged l6. Issue, April 19, 1861. by party bitterness, of the position of the conservative Doug- las-Democrats. "In this contest it is our duty, it is the duty of every American citizen to sustain the Tederal Govern- ment. We have had our opinions of the best policy to pursue ; for the present those opinions are charged to 'suspended ac- count', and our voice is raised for the Union, for the whole Union; and with no half uttered or half smothered apologies for the course of South Carolina and her nest of traitors, or for that hot bed growth called the Confederate States; but ºit with a heart full of sympathy for the misguided masses of the ...” South. . . " - * - * * * 17 The Detroit meetings found counterparts in many places 17. Campbell, History of Michigan, 17. Free Press, April 16-20, 1861. 17. Bulkley, History of Monroe County 1/176 º within the State. The citizens of Jackson met "without dis- tinction of party" and resolved that it was their paramount 13 duty to sustain the Union. The Detroit Board of Trade de- clared that it was the duty of all citizens to support the 18. Adv., April 18, 1861. - 19. government and to maintain the supremacy of the flag. Tile 19. Free Press, April lé, l861. l39 - 20 Detroit Common Council passed resolutions to the same end. 20. Trib., April 17, 1861. A common way of showing loyalty was in formal flag-raisings accompanied by appropriate exercises and patriotic speeches. - At one such gathering, the veteran, Cass, made an address, 21 ſt ºf ºilº tº º ºr touching in its devotion to the Union. At a similar cere- 21. Free Press, April 18, 1861. mony, the federal officers, military, naval and civil, stat- ioned at Detroit, joined with the officers of the State, County, and city in appropriate religious services and in a 22. renewal of their oaths of allegiance to the United States. 22. Letroit papers, April 21, 1861. 22. See also Adv. , April 26, 1861. 22. A portrayal of this exhibition of loyalty from a source unfriendly to it is found in the Free Press, issues of April 18,19, 1861. "The ientire populace" it said, "is laboring under a severe attack of the Star Spangled Banner on the brain." The national anthem "is played by bands, whistled by juveniles, sung in the theatres, repeated by --- midnight prowlers . . . . sentimentally lisped by pat- riotic young ladies. . . . ground out on church orº- sº gang . . . and we had almost said barked by dogs." "Those who are going to enlist expect to have a fight with somebody or other but they don't ap- pear to know exactly who or what for." But patriotic tasks of a more difficult kind must be ac- complished. The State must make good its tender of military resources. Difficulties in the way were plentiful. The mal- administration of the late treasurer had stripped the State coffers of funds. Moreever there was serious questions of the 140 legal right of the State to contract a loan which was to be used to send troops beyond its borders. Difficulties did not deter Governor Blair. Upon rreceipt of the President's call for troops he has tened to Tetroit to take counsel with its business and professional men. There it was decided that a loan of one hundred thousand dollars must be made to the State, of which sum the citizens of Detroit were pledged to pay one-half. This quick action enabled the Governor to authorize the acceptance for service of ten com- panies of infantry. Meanwhile tºle question of authority to contract the loan 23 was given due attention. The constitution of the State corn- 23. The question had a risen in connection With the military act of the previous legislature ges- sion. A majority of the Legislature were said to be so doubtful of the legality of such a loan that they preferred to leave the question to a special session, should it be required. Trib. April 22, 1861 tained a provision that "the State may contract debts to repel invasions, suppress insurrections, or defend the State in time of war." The attorney general had held that this conferred am- ple power. Other able lawyers expressed like opinions. A com- mittee of the Detroit Bar Association that had been intrusted with the task of making general recommendations reported on the problem. "We deem it perfectly plain that the threatened in- Vasion and existing insurrection, which our State is called up- on to suppress and repel, justify the contracting of debts for such purposes under our Constitution. The notion that we must Wait, until invasion crosses our boundaries, or insurrection breaks forth within them, before we gather our resources and prepare our army, is contrary alike 14l 24. to the letter and spirit of our Constitution." 24. Report printed in Free Press, May ll, 1861. THE SPECIAL SESSION OF 1861. Action on the part of its legislative body was necessary if the State was to meet the demands upon it. In consequence the Legislature assembled in special session May 7. Its duty was to provide the means whereby "the whole military power of the State may be made available, and sufficient means furnished 25. for arming and equipping the forces." Acts were passed pro- Viº a 25. Adv. April 25, 1861. viding for a military force, for county relief of the families of volunteers, for a war loan of one million dollars, and for a tax to me ºt interest dri the loans. Party feeling was sup- pressed, every war measure receiving unanimous support. A "sedition" bill which provided severe punishment for any act wich tended to bring the constitution or government into con- tempt, or which tended to incite opposition to the Government W3. S favorably reported upon by the Senate committee, to which it was referred. The bill was proº aimed at certain Of - T. 26. the Democratic papers of the State, failed by a large vote. X A petition which prayed for the enactment of such a bill by the 26. See Free Press, May ll, 1861. º 27. House was unfavorably received the re. 27. House Journal, Extra Session, 1861/31–32 THE GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. Any account of the session would fail of completeness which wanted mention Öf the message of Governor Blair. It was com- 9. l e tely out of harmony with the feeling that partisan issues £uld be ignored during the continuance of the war. It made clear that a troublous road was ahead of conservative men who desired to so act. In contrary spirit to the Detroit resolu- tions, the Executive declared that; "Africane slavery, the great and only disturbing element in our institutions, after having ruled the country for sixty years, and during that time driven the free States from one humiliating concession to another, un- til they have fairly reached the wall, and from the mere in- st inct of self-preservation refused to go further, has dropped the mask and taken up arms." It now sought to make its powers predominant by force. Beaten at the polls, said Blair, it nullifies the Constitution, defies the laws, adopts a pretend- ed government, and seeks the overthrow of a lawfully chosen President . The Governor broached ideas in the conduct of tthe war that ran counter to the views of more conservative men. For him, the work of the North was a "sacred" war. He had no sympathy for the view that tile border States were to be regarded as a neutral A. area. "There can be no neutrals in this contest. The State which refuses to aid in the lawful call of the President is as much guilty of treason as the one which . . . . makes actual war upon º º 143 the Federal armies. " Governor Plair left no mariner of doubt about his views of the ultimate goal of the North. "Those who have taken the sword will perish by the sword and this war, inaugurated to establish slaveholding despotism on this con- 28. tinent, will result in its total and speedy destruction. " 28. Message printed in Trib., May 9, 1861. * * The message made for d is cord among new allies. A radical º sheet was satisfied that it was straightforward; , manly, pa- 29 - 30 triotic. A more conservative Republican paper, while prais- 29. Adv. , May 9, 1861. 30. Trib. , May 9, 1861. ing the message in general terms, suggested the wisdom of introducing no "extraneous issues into the public councils to dampen the ardor of the people or distract their energies." Democratic pro test against parts of the message were bitter in tone. The message had a "miserable, partisan character." The war, it was averred, must have "the single great purpose" of up- holding tile Constitution and of guaranteeing " to the people - 31. of every section all tile ir rights under the Constitution." 31. This, of course, would preclude interference with slavery. It was to protect the rights of slaveholder and non-slaveholder alike, The war, if a crusade against slavery, would drive all º the people of the Southern States and the entire Democracy of 32. he North into hostility to it. The Michigan Argus expressed 32. Free Press, May 7, 19, 1861. 32. The Free Press had stated its position at 144 the outbreak of war. "Let nobody suppose that while, as journalists and citizens, we support the government. . . . We shall cease to hold up to the scorn; and dete station of mankind those party leaders who have purposely and maliciously con- spired for the shedding of blood!" Issue of April 13, 1861. dissent from the portions of the message dealing with slavery. "This war has nothing to do with the slavery question, except as to its prosecution may incidently affect the 'peculiar in- stitution', and no man in authority is wise who seeks to ground a simple attempt to sustain the government upon that issue. Democrats 'enlist for the war' so long as it is a war to sus- f ta in the Union, and not to establish and obnoxious political 33. - - creed'. The paper would sustain the government in an attempt 33. "They (Democrats) do not want those in high official station to take advantage of the truce to thrust a full grown "nigger' down their throats in every occasion." - - 33. Adv. , May 20, 1861, contains extract from St. John's Democrat, characterizing Blair's mess- age as sufficient justification for war. to coerce a State to respect its obligations "but we will not raise a hand against their domestic institutions, and we warn both State and national authorities to regard in all things their constitutional obligations while endeavoring to compel States to return to their allegiance." 34. While strictly contemporary evidence is lack- ing that this editorial presented the views of Dem- ocrats generally at the date of its publication, there is adequate pro of that they held its ºriews one year later. The same may be said for the mess- age of Governor Blair and the Republican radicals. Together, they show that coalition of parties would |be difficult. THE UNIOI 1.0 VIIIHMT Li, LETROIT, SEPTFIEER-NOVEMEER 1861. An attempt was made in Detroit to ca. Try into practice the early resolution to suspend partisan activities during the continuance of the War. The Republica Il City Committee asked its rival for "a suspension of political strife and the ces- sation of all party jealousies. " " The resolutions which they offered declared that party nominations in the Wards and in the city at large were inadvisable. It was suggested that the people "without reference to political differences nereto fore existing" should select good men to whom the enthusiastic l - support of all citizens might he given . After some discussion l., Free Press, Oct. 17, 1861. Trib. Sept. 9, l862. . . . - ------- - - -. of this Republican communication tile Democratic City Committee refused consent, October 24, the Democratic organization nom- inated a city ticket and party candidate 5 in the several Wards 2 - of the city." 2. Tree Press, Oct. 27, 1861. Disgruntled at this action, several hundred prominent con- servatives of all parties issued a call for a citizens' mass meeting. Leading members of the bar and of the federal and *** = …, ºxº 3. Trip., oct. 28, 1861. State benches gave the movement their support. The veteran Cass attended the meeting. The resolutions offered to and a c- cepted by this citizens" gathering laid stress upon the feel- ing that there should be unity of purpose on the part of all --- º - - \\ Citizens, and freedom from party strife . While the war continue& - - - - -- 146 they read, "We deem it. Uilnecessary and improper to advert to the cause 3 of this state of things. It exist 3 and must be met and overcome . . . We deem it the duty of everyone who loves his country to rally around her standard, to forego and forget all º mere party and personal considerations, and to unite in pre- -- senting to the World the Sublime spectacle of a people spontan- eously and unanimously co-operating in the vindication of their country's flag." H. P. Baldwin, an esteemed Republican, was nominated for the mayoralty by a committee and accepted by the convention. - - This non-partisan effort fell short of success, in part be- cause of rea, sons foreign to the non-partisan issue. Many of the cerman residents of the city, radical Republicans in Na- tional politics, were dissatisfied With tile Sunday closing laws of the State and With the temperance movement generally. Iſore- over the mayoralty candidate of the Democratic party was a brewer. derman citizens, in Iſla ss meeting, decided to support the Democratic candidates for the principal offices, these men having satisfied them "in regard to the issues of Temperance - 4. and trie Sunday law." The Democrats elected their city ticket 4. Trib., Nov. 4, 1861. and Succeeded, too, in electing seven of the ten aldermen. The result was a blow to the non-partisan ideal. The Free Press in an analysis of the result said, that While prominent Democrats had given earnest efforts in behalf of the Union ticket, the rarik and file of the party had abstained from its support because of their dissatisfaction with the National and 147 State Republican administrations. The Advertiser was less courteous in its explanation . "The Republicans Ilave just been badly cheated, it said. "That is the fault of the 'Union Demo- crats. ' If they are ever cleated again it will be their own fault" 5 5. The Free Press Imade answer to this. "It is plain that tiere is no affinity between the two parties, and any further attempt to unite them would be vain. We are content." Issue of Nov. 7, l861. º ºg tº gº ſº. ... º. {A^*.*, *.*.*.*.*.*.*.*, *, *, ſº ſſ tº º ... ***** ºf ºx. ... ºr as "... º. *** * .# * * **, *, *, ºlas -- º' -- -- - - * } - - . … .º. º: {} º º º, º 'º - º º Aº- º º §º s } & - - 5. isºfºrº .*.*.*-º-º: {. º, º º *** * º *... Zºº *** 23.2% f º * ..." jº º a ºA.A.:4 tº - - - --- º º - - - - § # - a - ****}º tº º * A crºsº, º - As ºf a wº ſº - º n-z-zº-ºw- sº # º - AJA, tºº. º : - º -: º, º ºf ºr a tº º CHAPTER IX THE SPECIAL IEGISLATIVE SESSION OF 1862. 1" Study of the special session of the Legislature in 1862 contributes some little knowledge of the tasks devolving l. It assembled January 2 upon tile State a.s a result of War, and of the differences over 3. the Solution of problems in its conduct which were beginning to divide the dominant party and were Widening the gulf be- tween its radical members and the conservatives of other par- ties. Moreover some faint light is shed upon the more per- Sonal issues Which Were disturbing Republican politics Within the State. Iregislative action was necessary if the State Was to take advantage of a rebate authorized in the law of Congress which levied a tax upon real property in the several States. To every State Which would a ssume the burden of a s sessment and collection of its allotted portion a decrease of fifteen per cent of the amount was granted. Legislation was needed also for the reg- *. - # 3 is º ulation of "bo unties" for enlistment, for relief of soldiers" º A --- families,and for amendment to the military laws of the States. - º - The question of protection to the shores of the State was also 2 to receive consideration. "...; , The story of these matters, though an interest-T ſing chapter in the history of the State, is not all integral part of tile politics of tile period . 2 * The views of Republican radicals found expression in the \ - - 149 Governor's me 353 ºre and in "Union resolutions." Governor Flair 3 manife Sied impatience at tile ill&ctivity of tile armies, and 3. An early stage of tile radical attacks upon General McClellan . - * a satisfaction with trie policies which seemed to prevail in S di the conduct of tile War, especially tile desire to avoid offence º to border States and the continuance of protection to property 4. in slaves. 4. "The people of Michigan are ready to increase their sacrifices, if need be , to require impo 3- 'sibilities of no man . . . But to see tile va, st armies of the Fepublic, and all it 5 pecunia Iy resources, used to protect and sustain the ac- Cursed System Wilich i.a. 5 been a perpetual and ty- rannical disturber . . . is precisely what they will never Suhmit to tamely . . . To undertake to put down a powerful rebellion, and at the same time, to save the cilief Sources of the power of that re- bellion seems to common minds, but a short re- move from simple folly . . . . The time for gentle dalliance has long since passed away . . . Hurl the Union forces, which outnumber him (the enemy) two to one, upon his whole line like a thunder- bolt ; pay them out of his property, feed them from his grantºries, mount them upon his horses. . . and let him feel the full force of the storm he has raised. I would apologize neither to Yen- tucky nor anybody else for these measures . . . Let us hope that we have not much longer to wait." House Journal, 1862/9-20. 4. The Free Press (Jan. 5, 1862) asserted that the Union could no t, he resto red without the aid of the border States. " The democracy of the North Will never submit to pay taxes and shed blood for an abolition crusade.” Blair's policy would in- troduce civil War to the heart stones of the free §ta, tº es ." Radicals and conservatives, WO ricing in harmony in their irst Special session, came into open conflict in the Union -- 5. With the single exception of the proposed "gººd it, ión" lawſ . º: resolutions. The conservative members of the Republican party 150 felt that the expression of radical views was unwise in that it, would alienate Northern Lemocrats and b order State Union men. The Democrats objected to radical policies because these policies meant to them a change in the purpose for which war was being waged. The military forces of the united North should not be used to execute partisan plans extremely objectional le to Democrats. - 6 The radicals had their way and the Legislature declared 6. Senate Journal, 1862/131-132. that it was the imperative duty of the Government to use every Constitutional means to put down the insurrection speedily; that the burden upon loyal men should be lightened by the confiscation of the property of rebels, and "that as between the institution of slavery, and the maintenance of the Federal Government, Mich- igan does not hesitate to say that. . . . slavery should be swept * - .." from the land, and our country be maintained." tº Three Re- publicans in the Senate opposed the passage of this measure. Among the minority in the House were found James F. Joy and Thomas W. Lockwood, Republicans from Wayne. The Union resolution was tempered somewhat in the Senate I 7 by the adoption, at the instance of Senator Baldwin, of the - 7. Republican from Wayne County. resolution on the purpose of the war, accepted by Congress in the previous July. This resolution declared that the war should not be waged in any spirit of oppression, conquest, or sub- Jººtion, nor with the purpose of interfering with the estab- 15l. lished institutions of any State. The refusal of the House to accept a similar resolution was furtrier evidence of the road along which Michigan radicals were travelling since the outbreak of war. THE SENATORIAL FLECTION. Governor Blair had not made an ad interim appointment 8 to the place left vacant by the death of Senator Bingham, 8. Reasons for this failure are suggested in letter of E. M. MacGraw, Nov. 2, 1861; Howard MSS. , Vol. 90. Jacob M. Howard, Hezekiah G. Wells, and the Governor himself - 9 were the chief candidates. Howard was making an active can- 9. Howard had aspired to a position in Presi- dent Lincoln's cabinet. Senator Bingham and the Michigan delegation in the lower House had urged the matter upon the President elect. The letters of James W. Nye, Jan. 13, 1861 ; Rufus Hosmer, Nov. 13, 1960, Henry Waldron, March 2, 1861; Howard MSS. , Vol. 90, tell the story. was 5 for the position. It was supposed that Senator Chandler l O º - ſ- was opposed to ilis candidacy. The fact that Howard lived in lo. It was thought that Chandler had secured the appointment as minister to Honduras for Howard, in order to remove him for Michigan politics. Detroit, the home of Senator Chandler, was an unfavorable cir- ll Cumstance . ll. "My locality, it is true is unfavorable," wrote Howard, "but if to have two senators from Detro it be of itself an inconvenience, it can only last during the present Congress (Senator Chand- ler's term would expire March 4, 1863), unless our legislature to be elected next year shall see fit to continue it. " Howard to Howard M. S.S. , Vol. 90 After six informal ballots Howard was nominated by the 152 Republican caucus. Ex-Governor Alpheus Felch was the choice of the Democratic caucus. The Legislature ratified the Re- publican choice. This seemed to please Chandler's enemies in 12 Detro i t . The Democrats regarded the choice as a conservative 12. Letter of D. Bethune Duffield to Howard, Jan. 4, 1862. Howard MSS., Vol. 90. Duffield, - conservative Republican, was pleased with Howard's ºtiºn ºr election because "it must defeat the return of - such a bra inless fool as now fills the same posi- tion as your compeer." 13. victory. - l3. Free Press, Jan. 5, 1862. Tribune, Jan 13, l862. -** - CHAPTER X. - CONTINUANCE OF PARTY ORGANIZATIONS The most natural inquiry in the field of politics in the first year of the war concerns itself with the continuance of part is an organizations. Could the early determination to give a united support to the Government in its work of sup- pressing the rebellion be sustained? Triere were many problems & arising out of a state of war that were bound to make for dis- cord. Some of these involved the selection of commanding of- ficers and plans of campaign, or the disposition of disloyal citizens and suspected spies, or of rebel property, especially in slaves within army lines. Suspension of the Writ of Habeas corpus was one, of the acts first to attract public criticism. Opinion seems to have - - been simply individual. Conceded to be an infraction of the Constitution, it was approved by some Republican and Democratic J. --- papers. A second act, which might well have provoked, a rior , l. The Trib. , June 20, 1861, argued that it should loe condoned. Those who were distressed at the in- fraction of the instrument were termed "wise men" whD "in trying to save a clause or two of the con- stitution, could they have their own way, would lose all. . . . Acts of not more than necessary dis- cretion, outside of the constitution, designed for its preservation should certainly encounter the most lenient judgment." - 1. The Free Press (June 12, 1861) believed that circumstances justified the suspension of the writ but it as serted that the act, though not warranted by the constitution, should be defended on the ground of neces sity. * 154 a storm of censure, was that of Major-General Fremont, in com— mand of the Western Department. August 30, he issued a pro- clamation confiscating the property of all rebels in Missouri, and declaring their slaves freemen. Yet, strangely, Democrats 2. Rhodes, 3/470. 3 and Republicans alike gave approval to the measure and were 3. "We have no hesitation in saying that we think it is right, and triat it came not a moment too so on. . . We regard slave property no more sac- red than any other property. . . If rebels would save the ir slaves let tºlem cease to be rebel; ;" Michigan Argus, Sept. 13, 1861. 3. See also Free Press. Sept. 5, 1861, and Jackson Citizen (Republican) Sept. 19, Nov. 14, 1861. displeased with the President's modification of it. In spite of such agreement it was plain that the former enemies were uneasy. Throughout the summer of l861 the news- papers urged the need of harmony and were quick to find fault with articles regarded as destructive of good feeling. Republi- C 2. Yı papers complained of Democratic irre concilables. They named the offending sheets, and Supported their indictment by reprinting the objectionable articles. The Democratic papers 4. "We wish our readers could compare the to me of the Democratic and Republican papers in this State . . With very few exceptions, the Democratic press of Michigan is very partisan, denouncing leading Republicans as traitors and knaves too cowardly to help defend the country." 4. "No Democrat ever brea the d any other sentiment than that of devotion to the Union. They told the Republican masses what would be the result of their sucess upon the unconstitutional and wicked plat- form and dogmas they promulgated. Their hostility to the South, their resolves not to abide by the de- c is ion of the Supreme Court, the ir unconstitutional laws upon our Statute books, their 'higher law' doctrines, their hate of a Union with slave holders, their desire for an irrepressible conflict to commence has brought the nation to the present bloody strife . . . . The result of the a scendancy of such a party to pow- err is before us in all its terrible realities." Reprint from Niles Democrat in Tribune, June 4, 1861. 4. "But we enter our solemn pro test against commingling or in any way uniting in a fray with abolitionists. We feel that the God of Battles would frown upon an army in which the Apostles of Hell are enlisted." Reprint from St. Johns Demo- crat in Tribune, June 4, 1861. found opportunity to point out that Republican redicals were insisting on violating the implied truce by advocacy of party +: measures. 5. Michigan Argus, April 19, 1861. Free Press, July 10, Aug. 17, 1861. The demands of radical Republicans were , in fact, increas- ing Democratic discontent and bringing division within Republi- can ranks. We have already noted the stand taken by Governor Blair in his message to the Legislature. Later in the year he stated his belief " that the grand m is take of the war has been that it has not been treated altogether as war. Instead of bringing all our power to bear at once to erusa... a gigantic rebellion, Wę have rather :* by gentle violence to bring back our fellow citizens." The temper of the radical majority 6. Speech at reception to Colonel Willcox, Free Press, August 29, 1861. in the Legislature was exhibited in the Union resolutions of -- º that body. Senator Chandler was a radical leader who had been - rº ſ disappointed at the revocation of Fremont's emancipation order. - -- - -- º º º 156 7. Post and Tribune, Life of Chandler /222. He had approved of the "contraband" theory of General Butler, and 11&d urged upon the President the use of colo red men as 8 soldiers. Fven as early as the first battle at Bull Run, he 8. Ibid. , 251-253 had favored the exercise of the President's war power in acts of emancipation. It was clear that many Republicans were out of sympathy with their radical fellows. To them the one great aim was the su subjugation of the South. No measure that would alienate any Union sentiment that might exist in the South, and that would cause any Northern supporters of the war to waver, must 9 be attempted, - 9. "You will permit me to say that every man of sense knows, the times demand men for Legislators who can stand up in their boots, and not yield to the one idea fanatic is in that is so rampant in Congress." Letter of Charles Jewett to J., M. Howard, Dec. 18, 1861, Howard MS S./Vol. 90 Mr. Howard in reply to this letter said: "I do not think that you and I should differ as to the course Congress ought to take. Unless we win the victory over the rebels, by force of arms and hard fighting, the union is gone and with it our peace and security. The great object there- º fore, of the war is in my judgment to beat down the rebels, and compel them to surrender. Our armies are called out to effect this; their mis- s ion is not to emancipate or return slaves, but to crush the enemy. The Republican party have never presented themselves to the world as aiming to emancipate slaves in the States . . . . But should it be come, in any district under our military occu- pation necessary as a means of prosecuting the war to emancipate the slaves of rebels, the means - should be used as unscrupulously as any other means of weakening and annoying the enemy. And who can- not see the final results of such a policy? . . . . Why 167 strip the union men of the slave states of all hope, by adopting a policy in which they cannot sympathize?" Howard MSS. , Vol 90 9. D. P. Duffield to Howard, Jan. 4, 1862. "There are men here who already denounce you as an abolitionist and a destructionist equal to the man Chandler, or your principal defeated rival (Blair). . . . Stand first and foremost upon the constitution and the Union, re-establish them and in their vindication the other thing (slavery) will in some manner be naturally disposed of, or modified . . . . As I view it the future of this Re- public depends on the upholding of the constitu- tion in its purity." Howard MSS. Vol. , 90. 9. opinion of Ex-Congressman W. A. Howard in Tribune, Jan. 14, 1862. The conflict in the minds of moderate conservatives over action on slavery is illustrated in the editorials of the moder- ate newspapers. The Tribune, representative of the conservative feeling of the Republican party, had emphasized early the lack - º --- of power in Congress to emancipate slaves, and expressed the - l() belief that it had not become a military necessity. Somewhat 10. March 8, 1862. Also see Ann Arbor Journal, July 30, Aug. 6, 1862. later it had come to believe that "all the embarrassments of this war have grown out of the at tempt to carry it on without hurting slavery." It objected to General Hunter's proclama- tion freeing slaves more on the ground of its timeliness and propriety rather then of tº inherent justice. It pleaded for delay in order to avoid division between people who might ul- ll. timately occupy common ground. One small Republican sheet ll. "We believe that slavery Will go down during this war, or as a result of it, but we believe that when it does go down it will be in pursuance of a 158 w very general public sentiment, so deciding its fate. We believe that public action upon the sub- ject which travels faster than public sent iment will not be successful, and we the refore depre cate premature movements, which divide the people who in a few months would have been together, which needlessly embarrass Congress and the administra*io tion, and which by being unsuccessful from these causes, convince many who otherwise were quietly yielding to tile influence around them, that success is impossible." asserted that the Republican press of the State was "in favor of fighting out the quarrel in stead of talking or resolving - 12 - ourselves out of it." However, illustrative of changes in 12. Jackson Citizen, Feb. 12, l862. 13 sentiment was a second editorial which asserted "we now go l3. Ibid. , Sept. 3, 1862. in for the annihilation of the whole accursed system of slav- ery. If it cannot be done by civil law, let it be done by military law; any law so we can, rid of it.” At first the question of a continued party organization Was not • pressing one. After the outbreak of war there were no general elections. until the fall of l862. Organization was also discouraged by the fact that objection was made by Con- servatives of both parties to continuance of partisan dis- cussion. Nevertheless the question must be met. Weehave dealt with the attempted solution in the j)etroit, elections in October, 1861. From the summer of 1861 to that of 1862, the possibility of bi-partisan or non-partisan action was much dis- Cussed. In the early part of this period, Democratic sentiment was against any abandonment of party organization. Union with - 14 the Republican party was held to be impossible. Party organi- f w" 14. Free Press, Aug. 10, 1861. Jackson Patriot, Sept. ll, l861. 15 zations were field to be essential to good government. St, ill. 15. Michigan Argus, Aug. 16, 1861. the "union movement" in Detroit met with approval. l6. Ann Arbor Journal, Ect. 30th, 1861. - Michigan Argus, Oct. 25, 1861. Jacks on Citizen, Oct. 31, 1861. There was a noticeable tendency, too, to criticize the Q. administration. On "War Democrat declared that the Union could be res to red only under the Constitution, and not by any viola- tion of its principles or guarantees of personal or property 17 rights to the loyal citizen." "It is quite easy to overthrow tº l'7. Letter of Judge Littlejohn, Jan. 17, 1862. - T}owen MSS. , B. H. C. all barriers of law and the constitution, and, by yielding to panic or passion, to renew upon this continent the horrors and 18 futility of the French revolution." 18. Free Press, Jan. 4, 1862. 19 Tusion, with the Republican party was distasteful to some. 19. Jackson Patriot, Feb. 5th, Mar. 5th, Aug. 27, 1862. In response to a demand for a party convention, the State Central Committee, in January, called one to meet March 5. Os- tensibly it was for the purpose of making nominations for the fº fall elections. The real purpose of this gathering, months before the customary time, was to arrive at party unity through Conference. The fact that no nominations were made lends sup- port to this view. l60 There is some evidence that differences existed among the leading members of the convention. The more conserva- tive members elected a permanent president by a close vote, 2O and controlled the shaping of the resolutions. Their ex- 20. Trib. , March 6, 7, 1862. treme opponents, failing to get their ideas accepted by the committee on resolutions, offered them again without success, 2l. from the floor. The resolutions which met the approval 21. One of the jembers declared that the ten- dency of one resolution "was plainly to excuse and palliate the conduct of the rebels; the an- imus of the whole thing was to show that their rights had been endangered, and they had struck in self-defence." He would not vote "for any re- solution apologizing for rebels in arms against the government." of the convention, while showing that coalition with conser- Vative Republicans was not impossible, marked the crystalli- 22 fºr Cº. Zation of Democratic views on the conduct of the war. They 22. Free Press, March 6, 1862. declared the intention of the party to sustain the government in all "constitutional" measures. The party could not consent itethe termination of the war until all resistance had ceased. As a warning to radical Republicans it was asserted that the war should not be waged for sectional revenge or sectional pur- poses. The co-operation of Union men at the South was held to be essential to success. Repeal of the personal liberty laws Was akked for. "Political abolitionism" was , equally with "se- cessionism", responsible for the War. Though Democratic papers 161 had found praise for Fremont's proclamation, freeing slaves of Missouri rebels, the resolutions now "hailed with unfeigned de light" the modification of that order. That, with the ap- pointment of a new Secretary of War, manifested the president's - 23 "sense of obligation to constitutional injunctions." T}le 23. Jackson Patriot, Feb. 5, 1862, has similar praise of the president's policy. 23. "The democracy of Jackson County earnestly ºf appeals to all Conservative Citizens to unite with them in sustaining the President in all constitu- tional efforts to suppress the rebellion." Re- solwin, Jackson County Democratic Convention, Jacks on Patriot, Feb. 26, 1862. nomination of candidate for State offices was declared to be inexpedient at that time, in a resolution which was adopted al- most unanimously. One war-Temocrat declared that the North had faith in the Union loving sentiments of the conservative wing of the Republican party. The Republicans regarded the Democratic convention as 3. signal to party activity. A circular which called for the 24. formation of local organizations was sent out. The Tribune, 24. Trib. , March 24, 1862. 25. though opposed to party activities, defended its issue. The 25. "We would it were possible not to put another article of partisan character in the se columns un- til the constitution shall be saved. We deplore the at titude of political strife that so large a portion of the country presents. But it has not come through us and We are impotent to control it." Ibid. …” 26 - question of the organization of a fusion party, though the sub- 26. Jackson, Citizen, May 7, 14, Aug. 27, 1862. º ject was avoided by the Detroit papers, continued to be discussed º. l62 The plans of the leaders were so little known that, in mid August, 27 not be held. 27. Ibid. , August 20, 1862. it was thought possible that the fall elections might 163. CHAP TTR X1 . THE UNION MOVEMENT AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1862. Uncertainty was ended, August 26, by the Democratic State Central Committee. Professing to yield to the desire of a large number of Democrats and to its sense of duty to the country, this body proposed to the Republican State Cen- tral Committee that no party conventions for the nominations of State officers be held; and "that in lieu thereof" the proper party committees "unite in calling a State convention of delegates composed equally of the two political parties, " to perform tilis task. The chairman of the Republican State Central Committee declinea this invitation. He declared that the committee had already decided to hold a State convention and that the day for it had been settled upon. "It seems, therefore, too late to accept and carry into effect the proposition submitted in the manner offered." This chairman readily agreed with the Democratic Committee that there should be but one ticket in the field, and suggested to the Committee that the Republican call for a convention was broad enough to include all who were de- sirous Of uniting to crush the ºnion."peror. the offer and l. Correspondence in Free Press, Sept. 6, 1862. its refusal became a matter of public knowledge, the Republicans sent out a call for a State convention, to meet September 24. 164 There were many reasons why Republicans might be he si- tarnt about sanctioning a ti-partisan convention, recruited in - the manner suggested in the IJemocratic Committee's invitation. Many were displeased at the refusal of the Democratic City Committee of Iletroit to join in a similar meeting the previ- ous year. The defeat of the "People's Ticket" at that time did not increase Republican desire to repeat the experiment. Of greater weight was the fact that the fall elections would fill the State offices and choose a legislature that must elect a United States senator. The present incumbent of the Governor's chair had proven himself one of the most outspoken of radicals. In consequence, he displeased Democrats and con- servative Republicans alike. However, he had been an able exe- cutive and Ilad done excellent work in getting Michigan regi- ments well equipped and at least partly trained for their work in the field. Senator Chandler was even less pleasing to the conservatives of both parties than was Governor Blair. His oft-quoted "blood-letter," his severe indictment of General McClellan, a Democratic idol, his radical views and outspoken manner had not endeared him to the Democrats of the State. He was persona non grata to many prominent Republicans in Detroit. The protests of conservatives came on the heels of the publication of the Republican refusal, September 6. Repub- licans of Plymouth, Wayne County, met and adopted resolutions which averred their intention not to support "any party nomina- tions made in defiance and contempt of propositions so appro- priate and so just, in view of the present exigencies of our 2. country." The citizens of Walled Lake took somewhat similar 2. Ann Arbor Journal, Sept. 19, 1862. action a few days later. 3. Tree Press, Sept. 18, 1862. Conservative 5 in Detroit, Republicans and Democrats, took even more effective action through the Bar Association. Sept- ember 10, and "impromptu" meeting of this organization was 4 held. Its purpose was, in the words of its chairman , to get 4. Halmar H. Emmons, conservative Republican. an expression of opinion from the Bar on the propriety of re- questing that the Circuit Court, "in consideration of the dark a spect of national affairs, and in view of the political con- tests which politicians are seeking to force upon us," be ad- journed until the next term. The chairman declared , it to be a duty to rally unitedly to the support of a government "al- ready to ttering to its base," and that politics should be laid - C a side and politicians crushed. Others spoke to like effect. 5 "Party politics should be laid aside ; poli- ticians, office seekers, men seeking their own āśrandizement at t the expense edf the nation's º - 3. life iblood, no matter whate their influence or --- station. . . . partisans who seek to maintain old d is tinctions in the se times of peril for the -- mere purpose of elevating themselves to office, may claim rank with the vilest of traitors." A committee of men prominent at the bar or in politic 3 was 6 appointed to draw up a statement of the sense ºf the gathering. 6. Free Press, Sept. 11, 1862. The Bar Association assembled the following day, September ll, to discuss the committee's work. It had drawn up four re- 7 solutions. The first three met general approval. The last 166 7. The first resolution consisted of a request to the Court for an adjourntnerit for the term "in view of the anxiety which now pervaded the public mind, and the strong desire felt by all patriotic citizens to devote their time and en- ergies to the great and absorbing interests of the country." The second averred it to be the duty of patriotic citizens to use all means within their control "independent of all former partisan tie 3 or prejudices." of the se outlined the relation that every patriot should take 8 toward the government and toward governmental measures. It 8. "Resolved: that in time of civil war, our national rulers lose the party relations which may belong to them in time of peace ; as the gov- ernment, they become to all loyal men, the organ of law and social order. From the very necessity of the case the government alone can determine the the mode and measures, the military policies and agents by which armed rebellion can be crushed; and though such policies or agents may not be those which our individual judgments or preferences would select, it is yet our duty to refra in from factious assaults there on ourselves, to frown on such assaults by others, and to give the gov- ernment our ungrudging support until treason is coerced to submission and civil authority restored" might well be the creed of thoughtful men who had no partisan º aims in seeking to suspend party activities. The fourth re- sdlution caused warm debate. It stated that the members of the a 33 oc iation, "impelled by a sense of patriotic duty. . . . are pre- pared to ignore all political party of ganizations, names and feelings, until this war is ended, and that we will give our unqualified and individed support to our government in all its efforts to suppress this rebellion." - Senator Howard attended this second meeting to prevent C On Serv gºtive action. Declaring that he was not prepared to abandon party, he voiced his objections to a recommendation of 167 the Detroit Bar to that end. Action by the association would be proper, he maintained after the parties, , assembled in separate conventions, had agreed to unite. He took ground that the Democratic newspapers had occupied in their earlier opposi- tion to coalition. "These parties are separated by principles which could never be reconciled." Even the concessions, so extremely favorable to Republicans, actually in power, that upon the covernment alone rested the decision of military pol- icies and the choice of agents for their execution, and that private judgment should be silent, were controverted by Sena- tor Howard. "We may be united upon the one great question as to maintaining the supremacy of the constitution and crush- ing out the rebellion, but the means must ever remain a sub- ject of discussion and difference of opinion." "The question of Slavery emancipation and the confiscation of property of rebels" were cited as means upon which there could be no agree- ment. Though the Democratic members of the bar association were actually indorsing principles of conduct, declared by him to be impossible of acceptance by them, Senator Howard was, doubtless, correct. The rank and file of the party would hard- ly adopt such a platform, a fact which would have been apparent, had the Emancipation Proclamation of the President been issued - - a few days earlier. - The very practical question at the basis of the Republican opposition, to the fourth resolution was brought up by Mr. H. K. Clark. He asked if there would be any objection to Governor Blair as the head of the non-partisan ticket. He declared too, that there must be some understanding among leaders concerning 168 a candidate for the United States senatorship. There was no response to the questions. "It did not seem to occur to that person (Clark). . . . that the question was in the highest degree impertinent and indelicate in the discussion of resolutions º 9 which referred to no candidates nor to any organization." 9. Free Press, Sept. 14, 1862. The Speakers of the previous day, with some additions to their ranks, again championed the union of parties. These men were Lemocrats, prominent in the bar or in politics, and conservative Republicans. The resolutions were adopted almost 10. unanimously. lo. Free Press, Sept. ll-l4 has the most complete account of speeches. - - The conservatives did not rest content with their efforts at the Bar meeting, Two days i.e.:”. number of them, with the ll. September 13, 1862. addition of some from the country, recommended the holding of a similar meeting in Jackson on September is.” They made their 12. Ann Arbor Journal, Sept. 17, 1862. Tree Press, Sept. 18, 1862. plans known to fellow-conservatives in the interior of the State. Democratic leaders and Republicans conservatives came 13 together at the time and place re commended. 13. Free Press, Sept. 18, 1862. These conservatives decided upon a further attempt to bring about coalition of the parties. A committee was intrusted with trie task of inviting the party conventions to combine in a Union movement. An address to the people of the State was prepared. 169 "Let us. . . . lay a side," this address read, "mere party feeling and party differne Ges, rally to the support of the President in his declared purpose to crush the rebellion" and "maintain the constitution. . . . In time of civil war our national rulers lose tile party relations which belong to them in times of peace ; a 5 tile Government, they then become to all loyal men the organ of law and social order." It was held to be a duty to refrain from factious assaults upon the government. Be- cause "the country itself might be lost by delay," the con- vention urged their fellow citizens, irrespective of all for- mer party associations" to choose delegates to a convention to be held at Jackson, October 2, for the purpose of nominating a "Peoples' State Ticket." The proposal of the Democratic State Central Committee and its rejection by the chairman of thdrepublican commit, tee *&"Yº - be came the subjects of a crimonious newspaper debate. One plaint § ºf Kºva & eſ. ºf frequentſ in the Republican press, was that the manner in which coalition was to be achieved was unsatisfactory. Some papers believed that arrangements should have been made whereby both parties might assemble at the same place and time, and by ne- 14. gotiation, set t le on the terms of union. Other Republican 14. Pontiac Gazette, Sept. 12, 19, 1862. Ann Arbor Journal, Sept. 10, 1862. 15. sheets were opposed to union on any terms. Republican senti- 15. Michigan State News, Sept. 9, 1862. 15. Adv. and Trib., Sept. 11, 1862, contains comments by Grand Rapids Eagle and La peer Re- publican. - - ment generally was opposed to fusion. The Democratic papers, quite contrary to their earlier Views, approved of the pro- ---- ** * - * - º tº - º lº º º 170 position of their State Committee and censured their oppon- l6. ents for its rejection. l6. Free Press, Sept. 13, 14, 1862, contains Comments by Flint Democrat, Kalmazoo Gazette Marshall Expounder, Pontiac Jacksonian Mount Clemens Monitor, Three Rivers Chronicle. 16. Michigan Argus, Sept. 12, 1862. REPUPLICAN CONVENTION. When the Republican Convention met in Detroit, September - 1.7 24, the question of fusion was quickly disposed of. The ap- l'7. The speech of the chairman, Wm. A. Howard was splendidly non-committal on the issue. "We will", said he , "when our judgment t is convinced, cheerfully make any. . . . sacrifice, political or otherwise . . . . It is not possible for a good citi- Zen to put any party above the salvation of his country. But we, as an organization, are the last to whom this question can be put. If the extinction of our organization be comes necessary for the existance of our government, away with it. " peal from the committee appointed by the Union Convention was sent to the committee on resolutions. The invitation to drop party organization was declined in an answer which maintained that the object most desired by the folk who gathered at Jack- son could be promoted best by the preservation of the Republi- can organization. The committee on resolutions in framing a declaration of principles followed cleverly the phrasing dif the address of the Jackson"Unionists," in laying down the attitude of the party toward the National Administration. "Since the administration - is the only legal and constituted agent of the people for main- º taining the existence of the government, we, as good citizens, l71. will sustain them in the use of all appropriate means for pre- serving the constitution, whether they are the measure of our choice or not. With or without choice of measures, we are for the government." The preliminary proclamation of the President announcing a policy of emancipation had been issued but two days before the meeting of the Republican Convention. It was accorded "un- qualified approbation as a war measure, right and proper in it- self, and necessary and effective for destroying" the rebellion. Most of the State officers were renominated, Austin Blair age in heading the ticket. The Francipation Proclamation, ălter- ed somewhat the aspects of the campaign. It would be pleasing to the Republican radicals who were becoming impatient that the institution of slavery be destroyed in the prosecution of the - - * | war. The proclamation ran counter to the statement of Congress on the purpose of the war, counter also, to the sent, iment of the conservative Republicans, who felt the losses would outweigh the gains of such a policy. It was especially objectionable to the Democrats who, whatever their earlier views of Fremont's action, were now solidly opposed to any interference with the institu- is tions of the South, or to an attempt to use the Federal armies - to carry out plans acceptable to Republic aris. The Republican press With few exceptions, Welcomed the 18. - Proclamation. The Republican convention accepted it willing- 18. "We have only time and space to express our satisfaction with the Proclamation of President Lincoln. . . . and our thankfulness for an official promulgation of that which is so near to the hearts of the people . . . . Tharik God! the President has inclined his ear to the popular voice and 172 speaks the People's will." Adv. and Trib. , Sept. 23, 1862. l8. "We believe it will prove a mere delusion to the Northern fanatics and radicals, and a bugbear to the southern people ; and we hope it may prove no tiling Worse than a harmless humbug. We look upon it as a very hazardous and dangerous experi- Inent, which the President seems to have felt com- pelled to adopt, contrary to his own good sense." Ann Arbor Journal, (Republican), ly. Governor Blair, in an address to the convention, mani- l 9. fested his pleasure in its issue. The Democrats had regarded 19. "I can urge upon you this afternoon, with more force than I ever could before, to support the administration of Abraham Lincoln: God bless him! He has removed a great load from our hearts, and we say now, Father Abraham, we are wholly with you. More than ever this war is be- coming a war of ideas. Now we have got upon the platform where our fathers fought for liberty-- liberty for all men. I do believe that, in great numbers, the honest republicans of the country will flock to the starıdard and make it victor- ious. Not for the party alone, but for the great iéea that lies at its bottom-- the idea which I love above all others -- the idea of universal e-- mancipation." the President as a conservative who was resisting radical press- 20 ure for emancipation. They now showed their displeasure with 20. Free Press, Aug. 26, 1862. Resolutions of the Democratic Convention of March 5, Free Press, March 6, 1862. - President's action. To them, it seemed to mark a change in 21. the aims for which the war was fought. Moreoever, it was an 21. "It is the beginning of a revolution, which if carried into full effect, will be second to none recorded in the pages of history. (It) must. . . . loe considered as a triumph pſ the radicals, in the counsels of the administration. A practical enun- ciation that the party platform will henceforth color the war." Free Press, Sept. 25, 1862. 2l. "It's importance consists mainly in the as- sumption of an anauthorized, and we may say, a dangerous power." Jacks on Patriot. Oct. 1, 1862. illegal exercise of power. - 173 The Pro clamation came at a bad time for the conservatives in Michigan. The "People's Union" party was to have as a cardi- nal principle unwºvering support of the President, unmarred by any criticisms of means or policies. When success seemed prom- ising on this platform, the President adopted a policy which was extremely offensive to Temocrats. Conservative Republicans 9 * > * *-.” e. thought it unwise. One might well question its effect upon the 22. Ann Arbor Journal, July 30, 1862. further organization of conservatives. The leading Democratic she et was severe in its condemnation of the measure. In addition, it turned its flood of criticism, formerly reserved for Congress and the radicals upon the Presi- 23 - dent. It announced that it could follow his "devious politi- 23. "We have tried to support Abraham Lincoln, to have confidence in him, and to inspire others with the same feeling. Despite the protests of triousands of Democrats in this Stºte, we believed and tiri e i to make the people believe, in his hon- esty of purpose. . . . but we have arrived at the per- iod when we can follow his devious political policy no further. What we feared at the beginning of the war has happened. He demands that the whole nation shall worship at his partisan shrine, that large numbers of people sºll shed their blood and sacri- fice their property for an object which they loathe) not for the preservation of the constitution, but for, what they regard, it subversion." Tree Press, September 28, 1862. cal policy" no further. An attack on the policy of military ar- rests of civilans was indicative of this change in attitude to- 24 - Ward the President. An at titude the entire party would, in a 24. "Men are now in prison, in government fort- resses without warrant, without accusation, on the secret information of spies, for what they have said in opposition to the war, or in criti- cism of the administration. . . . The suspects go back and forth as mysteriously as ghosts from the fortresses, thrust in without legal complaint; thrust out without explanation, without reparation, tº 174 without even knowing who defamed them, or who connived at their crime if they are guilty." Ibid. - few months, assume. The progress of the new organization was not stayed, however difficult obedience to the policy of sil- - £28. ence. A conservative Democrat, paper took the position more - - , 4./ - - × satisfying to conservative that "so long as the government is earnestly endeavoring to d6 its duty, no matter how great we may think its errors of policy, the re lies before us one path. 25. Let there be no angry discussion of measures decided." 25. "In relation to the proclamation, let those who approve it rejoice, while those who disakº prove or doubt, like good citizens, quietly sub- mit to the policy fixed, and patiently, cheerfully, hopefully stand by the Preside nt in the great work before him." Michigan Argus, Oct. 8, 1862. THE STCOND UNION CONVENTION. --- The second Union convention assembled at Jackson, Octo- * - ber 2. The delegates were two hundred and seventy in number, coming from twenty-four counties. The resolve to place a Union fus & 1 to co-operate, and despite the issue of the Emancipation 26. Proclamation. The committee on resolutions reported a plat- 26. Composed of Philo tus Hayden, Sylvester Lar- ned, T. W. Lockwood, D. B. Duffield, Republicans, and G. W. N. Lo throp and ex-senator Charles F. Stuart, Democrats. form which was in keeping with the earlier professions of the conservatives. Their purpose was to present to the people of - the State, without reference to their party views, a State tick- et. It was held that the unity ess ential to a proper support l 75 of the government could not be effected, through the existing political organizations. An energetic prosecution of the war *A* Y and an "Žnfaltering support of the President in the exercise of W. R. X. hte powers conferred upon him were the basic principles of the iv. organization. --- r) --> -ſſ- A more concrete expression was not desired by 27. "We have confidence in the integrity and pat- riotism of the President of the United States and . . . . we recognize that it is his duty to pre- scribe the mode and policy of carrying on the war in accordance with the constitution and the laws of the land, and that although we may, as indivi- duals, differ as to the wisdom of policies which he has here to fore, or may he reafter adopt, we hereby pledge ourselves to an unfaltering support of the President in the exercise of all powers given him for the suppression of the rebellion; if we approve the measures adopted, we will re- joice; if we disapprove or doubt, we will, like good citizens, submit to the policy fixed, and, approving or disapproving, we will steadily, heart- ily, and patriotically, stand by the government." Tree Press, Oct. 3, 1862. the convention. A resolution of approval of the Fmancipation Proclamation, offered from the floor, was declared out of order, 28 - and tabled. A State 28. Michigan State News, Oct. 7, 1862, 28. The Republican committee, in its letter to the Union Convent ion, stated that the new issue presented by the Emancipation Proclamation was an important reason in the Republican refusal to abandon party organization. Adv. and Trib. , Oct. 3, 1862. ticket was nominated. Byron G. Stout, a conser- vative Republican who had opposed the Union resolutions of the Republican majority of the Legislature, became the nominee for Governor. H. H. Riley, said to have been leader of the "war- Democrats," was chosen as candidate for Lieutenant-Governor. THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. The Democrats me t, in State convention at Detroit, October 8. The State Central Committee of the party, in spite of the re- jection of their advances by the Republicans, still professed to be anxious "to co-operate with all men, without regard to former political combinations." Consequently, the invitation to elect delegates was extended to all who were willing to maintain the constitution, preserve the Union in its full in- tegrity, and to sustain the Government and the enforcement of the laws. To this gathering came the conservatives with a re- quest for the adoption of their candidates. The majority of the committee to whom this appeal was referred "recognized" in the Union nominations "men of known abilities and patriot- ism." This majority believed that in view of "the peculiar Ar -- º crises of this country" these men might "with propriety and ad- vantage, be renominated by this convention as candidates of the democracy of Michigan." The convention was of like mind and the Union candidates were severally renominated. That the platform of the Conservatives was unsatisfactory to the Democratic organization, was apparent from the conven- tion' s resolutions. Here was found no promise of unfaltering support of the President, Y1O expressed determination to stand by the Government whether its policies were approved or dis- approved. Though waiving expression of views upon questions º "not rendered imperative by the imperiled condition of their country," censure of many administrative acts was not neglected. - 17, º f t Military arrests of civilans were held to be without justifi- f cation, and were denounced as crimes. The right to canvass - - public measures and the merits º of public men were asserted. The Emancipation Proclamation was attacked indirectly. The Congressional resolution of July, 1861, could not be departed from, said the convention, without a violation of the public 29. faith. The character of the future opposition of the Demo- 29. The Democratic Convention of Cass County had declared, Oct. 6, that the proclamation of the President was a violation of the constitution and that "so far as the institution of slavery is concerned, we are content to leave it where the constitution leaves it -- to take its chances in the present war; if in the progress of our armies' southward to prosecute a war for the maintenance of the constitution, slavery falls, then, we say, let it go down, but we do pro test against making the emancipation of slaves the only motive for conducting the war." cratic party to the Administration was fore shadowed in this statement. Support to the government was pledged in its use 30. of "all legitimate means" to suppress the rebellion. 30. The position of the Democratic malcontents was set forth by ex-Representative George W. Peck in a speech to the convention. Referring to the Union convention at Jackson, he said ; "while they have set in motion a movement that combines all the etements of eppo sition to the administration, they have adopted a platform pledging their support to the abolition admin- is tration, but their platform has been taken up today by a party who oppose the administration. We have nominated men today who will not and do not support the administration." Michigan State News, Oct. 14, 1862. The Convention recommended that the Democrats throughout the State should unite with "the conservative men" in the nom- ination of candidates for Congressional and State representa- tives and for county offices. In the main, this advice was 1.78 followed. Union converlt ions and I)emocratic conventions succeeded in uniting on candidates for members of Congress and for the State Legislature. In some cases but one convention was held. In others separate conventions met at the same time and place. Some times one convention accepted the nominees of 35l. the other convention. This was not as easily accomplished 31. Free Press, Oct. 19, 26, 1862. For first Cong. Dist. , Free Press, Oct. 16, 1862. in county affairs. In Wayne, a plan of compromise could not be agreed upon and the Democratic convention nominated a sepa- 32 rate ticket. The Union convention of this county adjourned 32. Free Press, Oct. 12, 21, 1862. without taking action on county nominations. The Union city convention at Detro it ratified the city ticket of the Democrats, and nominated a legislative ticket, which in turn was ratified, after some expression of dissatisfaction, by the Democratic city convention. CAMPAIGN OF 1862. - The campaign was entered upon earnestly. Naturally the refusal of the Republican organization to suspend party activi- ties colored the campaign arguments. An address of the Republi- * - can State Central Committee of the party was representative of - - QAA- - - - - - - - the party's defaece of its action. Agreeing with Unionists that party tenets could not be discussed, nevertheless the com-º. mittee maintained that the continuance of its organization was necessary. Through it alone could come effective co-opera- tion of loyal people in support of the Government. The Union organization was dismissed with a warning to Republicans to be 179 on guard against the "serpent of secession." It was hinted that the serpent was active in be guiling men into "temporary, - 33 Ephemeral, local organizations." 33. Adv. and Trib. , Out. lºº, l862. Administrative acts, especially the Frnancipation Pro- clamation, must be defended. Senators Chandler, Wade, Harlan, de- gº- * --. º * #. Ł º fending Republican policies. Senator Trumbull acclared, at the Trumbull, and Howard and Governor Blair toured the State beginning of war there was an indisposition tº prosecute it in earnest. The rebels must not be hurt any more than could be helped. Increasing numbers in the North thought that a time for change had come -- that a policy of confiscation of rebel property must be under taken. The Confiscation Act, and the Emancipation Proclamation represented their views, said Trum- 'bull. This speech of Senator Trumbull' s marked clearly the dif- ferences between the parties in regard to the conduct of the W3 1?, whatever cornformed to the rules of warfare and made for injury to the rebels must be done. The Democratic section of opposition, avowedly in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, desired no action that would interfere with any institu- tion controlled, previous to the war, by State suthority. The Republicans who had joined the Unionist ranks were in a somewhat difficult position. Pledged to support administra- tive measures contrary to their individual judgments, they were allied with a party outspoken in opposition to these act 8, and opposed to their former associates who championed with vigor 180° the se same measures. Their speeches betrayed their difficul- ties. One of their number was content to define party differ- ences by declaring that the Unionists stood for the abandonment of party issues while the Republicans' considered it their duty - 34 to adhere to party issues and organizations. Another Republi- 34. Wm. Gray. At Detroit Union Rally, Oct. 30, 1862. See Free Press, Oct. 31, 1862. can conservative declared that his party would do all that the President might ask in upholding and enforcing the Constitution - - 35 short of tearing it down and destroying it. 35. "The rebels may not by right, law or any manner of pretext whatever, set a side the con- stitution and break up the government; but may We do the same in our way, as a means of pre- venting them from doing it? No." William War- ner, Detroit Union Rally. Free Press, Nov. 1, 1862. The Democratic State Central Committee issued an address to the voters of the State which betrayed the differences be- tween the view point of the Democrats and that of their Repub- lican allies. The Committee asserted that the Constitution was as sailed by armed felbellion in the South and by "a vehement sectional fanaticism", armed with paper manifestoes, in the North. "The dictatorial spirit of abolitionism" had nullified the guarantees of personal liberty in the Constitution. This "canting radical faction" had done much to produce the war, nothing to avert it, and had further aggravated the condition of affairs. The address sought to recall to the old men a time when "parties were led by patriots," when "administrations were -- conducted by statesmen," and when the sustaining of "the char- º 36. ter of American liberty was not accounted treason." 181 36. "Then, freedom of speech and of the press, and the right of trial by jury, and to the writ of habeas corºus, were home-cherished rights, and he was a traitor who da red to violate them." The address is printed in Free Press, Oct. 22, 1862. The re-election of Zachariah Chandler to the United States Senate became an important issue of the Michigan campaign. The leading Democratic daily expressed the hope that the people of every legislative district would catechise their candidates 37 on the question of their support of Chandler. The opposing 37. Free Press, Oct. 5, 1862, Oct. 14, 16, 20. 38 Detro it paper accepted the issue thus made. At a later time 38. Adv. and Trib. , Oct. 6, 1862. it declared that the "fusion" movement had had its origin in 39 hostitity to Senator Chandler. Senator Charidler took to the 39. Adv. and Trib. , Jan 6, 1863. See also Free Press, Feb. 13, 1863. stump in his own behalf. He also received able support from other ś enators who toured the State. ELECTION RESULTS la 62. The Republicans elected their State ticket by majorities greatly decreased in comparison with the results two years earlier. The to tal vote was smaller by twenty-four triousand. Governor Blair' s majority was 6, 614. It had been 20, 724 in isso.” The Republican majorities in both branches of the Legis- - - 40. Michigan Manual, l011, pp. 460-463. lature were greatly decreased. The Democrats had but two rep- resentatives in the senate and ten in the House in 1861. The Fusionists, or Unionists elected thirty-seven of one hundred. members of the House, and fourteen of the thirty-two members 41. of the Senate. The Unionists succeeded in electing but one 4l. House Journal, 1863/6-7. Senate Journal, 1863/22. See footnotes, Senatorial Election of 1863. of their Congressional candidates. This was Augustus C. Bald- win, fo the Second District. The Republicans failed to obtain majorities in many of the southeastern counties, the most popu- lous in the State. These were Ingham, Livingstone, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Jackson, Washt enaw, Wayne, and Monroe. 183 CHAPTR Xll. THT LEGISTATIVE SESSION OF 1863. The fight between the radicals and conservatives was to be continued in the Legislature. The Republicans had a satis- factory working majority over the Unionists in each branch. They chose Sullivan M. Cutcheon of Washtenaw as speaker over Thomas W. Lockwood, a Conservative Republican, active at the inception of the Union movement. Mr. Cut Cheon received fifty- eight votes, and his competitor thirty-four. Republicans chose the other House officials by like majorities. SENATORIAL ELECTION OF 1863. One of the most important duties of the session was the election of a United States senator. We may recall the Free Press had attempted to ſnake the re-election of Chandler and issue in the choice of members for the Legislature and that the Advertiser and Tribune aad" accepted" the issue so raised. ſº- . . Senator Chandler's organ now asserted that opposition to him l. ought to cease. The Republican majority of four in the Senate l. Adv. and Trib. Jan 2, 6, 1863. 1. " " If the Republicans can prove that the re- election of Mr. Chandler was the issue in the late election, it would follow as a matter of course, almost, that he must be re-elected. ' " Free Press editorial quoted in Adv. and Trib. Jan. 2, 1862. ºr and twenty-six in the House, insured success for the caucus nominee, granting that all Republicans would go into caucus and 184 loe bound by its action. There was some uncertainty that this would be the gase. The Conservatives hoped that Chandler might be acts tea." The friends of James F. Joy of Tetroit 2. Letter of J. M. Walker to James F. Joy, Dec. 27. 1862. Joy MSS., 540/19 and 2i. - Letter to T. W. Lockwood to Joy, Ibid., 540/48. made earnest efforts to secure pledges of Republican votes for him. Lockwood, Republican Unionist, seems to have had charge of the work. 3. Lockwood to Joy, Jan. 5, 1863, Ibid., 540/82. Mr. Joy was one of the best known men in the State. He had been instrumental in securing the purchase of the Michigan Central Railroad from the State. As a member of the previous Legislature, he had advocated the repeal of the Personal Liberty I, aws ºnaºs of delegates to the Washington Peace Conference. The Detroit Bar Association had urged his candidacy for the Su- preme Bench of the United States. He was a man of means and - º of independence of mind. He had been friendly to Senator Chand- - - 4 ler a nd had not been identified with the Union Movement. 4. Pamphlet to the Legislature, Feb. 5, 1863, Bowen Collection, B. H. C. Mr. Joy came to believe that it was folly to return Chand- ler to the Senate. February 5, he is sued a pamphlet addressed to the members of the Legislature, in which, after a sking that his name be withdrawn from consideration, he undertook a caus- tic review of the work of Senator Chandler and some of Chandler's colleagues in relation to the conduct of the war. A consider- X a tion of this document, throws light on the differences be- tween sincere and able men in the uncertain days of the dark- est period of the war. Mr. Joy attempted to prove that Sena- tors Wade and Chandler, members of the Committee on the Con- duct of the War, must accept the responsibility for the failure 9. of the Peninsular Campaign. The se men "who have never been 5. "It is now; therefore, a fitting time to take a retro spect of the last two years, and examine their conduct and influence upon the actions of the government and the fortunes of the coun- try . . . . . . If their influence has been rashly used; if in the history of the past two years, it has been felt greatly acting upon the destinies of the country; if it has contributed tº bring about the calamities which have befallen the coountry; if in each fresh disaster and defeat we can trace the consequences of their interference with public affairs; if we can clearly see that their measures have always prepared the way for the discomfiture and defeat of our armies; de ranged and destroyed plans of campaigns well made and bidding fair to |be successful; and if tile failure of those plans were the result of that de rangement, then, in the name of Heaven, let us separate so mischievous and influence from all future connection with Congress and the Government." conside red the soundest and the wisest," but who are distinguish- ed for the violence of their opinions and conduct had brought º "by their rash intermeddling" the fortunes of the Republic close to absolute ruin. They should be made to bear much of the responsibility for the first disaster at Pull Run be cause their urging had has tened a forward movement. Secretary Stan- ton was controlled, averred Mr. Joy, by these Senators. The Ž. carefully laid plans of the Penensular Campaign, after having been approved by the President and his Cabinet, had been chang- ed through the insistence of Wade and Chandler. "The power of 186 a commanding general. . . . . had been taken from him." Disaster resulted. Mr. Joy argued that the re-election of Senator Chandler f*** * * 23. 4.4% -jºº Éléº. fººt, tºº had not been, in any proper view, an issue of the previous, general election. He declared that it did not belong to the managers of newspapers to make up political issues, but to the people in conventions assembled. He urged the Legislature to send "the wis est, best and able st man to be found, and not Öne who will seek to discharge the duties of the President, of the Secretary of War, or even to command and control the armies of the country." The Conservative effort was without result. Trle Republi- can caucus renominated Senator Chandler for the position held by him. Every Republican member of the Senate and fifty-seven of the sixty-three Republicans in the House attended the cau- cus. The Unionists, after some discussion, selected Mr. Joy O V ºr ex-Governor Alpheus Felch, for the honor of receiving the Unionists votes. The formal 'ballot in each House confirmed the selection of chandler.” His victory was celebrated by a 6. Senate Journal, 1863/16-17. House Journal, 1863/22 Letter of Lockwood to Joy, Jan. 12, 1863. Joy MSS., m 540/76. dinner at the Benton House, for which, if we may accept the Free Press account, tºle "hanger-on' went into training. That they acquitted themselves well we have the evidence of a prominent gº." - 7. Diary of H. B. Brown, Jan. 1863. 7. Mr. Joy's pamphlet received much attention. He received many notes of reommendation from Con- servative Republicans, (Joy MSS., 540/53, 60, 60 67, 68, 69, 86, 88). Many of these letters betray the low esteem in which Chandler was held by some of his former Republican as sociates, and the dissatisfaction felt by them with the Govern- ment leaders at Washington. The discussion arous ed by the address led the author to issue a second pamphlet. . . . The Testimony of General Hitchcock and the Peninsular Campaign--which reviewed further the Peninsular Campaign and its disasters, and sought to establish more completely the connection be - tween these disasters and the activities of Senators Chandler and Wade. "It was the fatal influence around Washington, pressing, driving, crowding the President with a power which he found himself unable to withstand, and by all the motives which could be brought to bear upon him, and evidently against his will and judgment, and from one fatal misstep to another, each seemi- ing to be a necessary consequence of the preced- ing one, until it became apparently a necessity in his judgment to allow the whole object of the movement to the peninsula, all the high hopes and patriotic efforts of the army and the country fail; and as we may now well fear, for the hope and confidence of mankind in the success of free institutions to be utterly blasted and destroyed for all coming times." The document is in the Bowen Collection, B. H. C. Mr. Joy was not an admirer of General McClellan, holding that "he is not a man of large ability or of any very great decision of character or firmness of resolution or will.” THE GOVERNOR 1 S MESSAGE. Members of neither political party could forget their earlier views of the causes of secession and of war. The ex- tremists did not seem to desire to forget them. Some restraint º was exercised during the campaign of l862, but after the failure of the Union movement and after the issue of the preliminary emancipation measure restraint was abandoned. Typical of radi- cal Republican expression was the message of Governor Blair to the Legislature. In it he asserted that the cause of the re- bellion lay in the desire for the spread of slavery ºver lands yet untouched by it, and not in any fear of danger to the per- manence of the institution in the Southern States. "The bold, bad men who lead the southern mind" had visions of an empire founded on slavery. Southern communities, "already corrupted by the idleness, igno rance and servility which necessarily comes of such a social system" had been easily impressed with the designs of their leaders. The Union was supported so long as it "might be made subservient to their grand purpose." When it was no longer useful the se members proceeded to de stroy it. Governor Blair exhibited radical views on the Flmancipa- tion Proclamation. Delighted with it for its promise of free- dom to the negro, he now sought to defend it on the ground of military neces sity. To "remove these millions of workers from the plantátions and workshops of the South" would, he believed, terminate the rebellion within a year. Though it º was an act of war, the Governor saw no need of withholding - - 8 approval of it as a great humanitarian measure. GO Vernor 8. "This act will be memorable as long as history endures. It has been done for the st strengthening of the country against its ene- miles and under the war power; but it is not for- bidden to the philanthropist and the good every- where to rejoice in the redemption of a race. With it faded away the one great and humiliating stain upon our National escutcheon." Blair had little patience with the suggestions of peace that were becoming current. In words that have a familiar sound today, he asserted that conquest only could bring about a sat- - 9 isfactory peace. 9. "The only way to be secure of peace is to be able to conquer in war. Military prowess is essential to the stability and perpetuºity of a nation." UNION RESOLUTIONS. Of greater interest than legislative routine in consid- eration of problems raised by the war was the insistence of the radicals that the sentiment of the Legislature on national issues be expressed in so-called Union resolutions. The House Committee on Federal Relations reported a set of resolution.” 10. House Journal la 63/87-88. January 14, which announced that the Legislature would sustain the Federal Government "in all its efforts to quell" the re- bellion. More specifically, the final Emancipation Proclama- tion was approved unreservedly as a "measure demanded by the necessities of war, as well as by the soundest dictates of human- ity." This statement of approval was amended by the Committee of the Whole to the end that criticism of the airn of the Pro- clamation might be avoided. It was held to be warranted by military necessity. On its humanitarian aspect, the committee rejoiced that "through the mad and guilty act of the Southern conspirators, that wicked and barbarous institution of African slavery will receive its death blow; and, as lover of humanity and Christian civilization, we hail this great consummation with exceeding joy, not as a cause for the proclamation of the President, but as a beneficient consequence which must flow from it. " The Democratic members of the Union party offered vigorous opposition to these statements. E. G. Morton of Monroe present- ed substitute resolutions which gave expression to the ir views. These averred that the war was caused by the aggravated feeling - igo resulting from the organization of sectional parties. Peace was impossible wilile sectional antagonisms continued. Con- ceding it to be a duty to sustain the Government and the ar- mies, it was also a duty to oppose "the destruction of the con- stitution under any pretext," a duty, too, to inculcate senti- ments of peace and good will. Arrests without due process and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus were held dangerous to liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation was unwarranted by the Constitution or the laws. As a "war measure" it was not \ only unwise, but, in addition entailed pernicious consequences - ...t *#: a 2.A ... ºn . As a W.4 …fºove ºvº- !. which served only to "procrastinate the bloody, intestine War, * ; and to incite "merciless massacres of innocent women and ll children" in the south. ll. House Journal, 1863/242-249. Mr. Morton made a scathing review of the Republican conduct of the war in a speech later circulated by his party as a cam- 1. 2 - …”--~~" - f paign document. Its extreme statements were declared to be - \ 12. Printed in Adv. and Trib. Jan. 25, 1861. ...~~~~~nº" treasonable by the Republicans. The spirited aerence of his colleague by Mr. O. M. Barnes deserves careful examination as an able and calm presentation of Democratic views, rare in a time of excited feelings. Mr. Barnes asserted that Democrats had been as loyal as Republicans. The chief difference between the two parties, he said, iaytin the fact that the Republicans would support the President whether he were right or wrong, while the Democrats would do so only if he were right. Mr. Barnes, himself opposed to slavery, held 191 emancipation to be impolitic. Its value had been established, neither as a war measure nor as a means of actual emancipation, he declared. Loyal men of the South would be injured by the measure. The radical measures had forfeited the loyalty of 8,000,000 whites in the South to gain the support of 4,000,000 blacks. The loyalty of the latter, even if acquired, could a- vail nothing until the whites had been conquered. The speaker expressed a willingness to support the Pres- ident " to the utmost of our power." But the North and the South must agree to terms of accompation "if the war was ever to be ended." "I am not willing to say to him (the Presi- dent) that he shall use no means to restore peace and union but war. There is power (is) negotiation..... I Would have him use every power that statesmanship may give to accomplish the same result. . . . . If everything can be gained by adjust- ment that can be gained by arms. . . . . I am for such adjust- ment." In the radical measures of the Administration Mr. Barnes discovered a tendency to change the political in- stitutions of the country. A lengthy defence was undertaken of the Democratic position on the policy of the Administration toward the press and in the matter of "arbitrary" arrests. Avº Alakonate explanation of the origin and history of the rights of free speech, freedom from arrest, and of the habeas corpus process was entered into in an effort to show the arbitrary and unnecessary quality of the violations of these rights by - 13 the Administration. 192 13. Speech printed in Free Press, Feb. 10, 1863. The Conservative Republicans among the Unionists showed their differences with their Democratic fellows. Mr. Lock- wood offered a substitute to the majority resolutions which, in accordance with the Union platform, pledged support to the Administration without making mention of the Emancipation Pro- claſſlation. Mr. Warner introduced a second substitute ...” 14. House Journal, l863/272-274; 518-524. The se resolutions stated it to be the duty of the war power to employ every means and agency, sanctioned by usage, against the rebels, to free the slaves and use their services, or to vary the rigors of war as the loyal cause might require. Con- fidence was expressed in the "integrity and elevated patriotism" of the President. It was his duty " to select the agents and pre- scribe the mode and policy of carrying on the war. . . . . without infringing the Constitution or the established usages of civil- ized nations." Though the President was to be held accountable for the manner in which he discharged his trust, the Legislature was pledged to hold in subordination party preferences or in- dividual judgments. This re-emphasis of the Union platform ser-" Wed notice on the Democratic Unionists that they had travelled far from the common ground which was the unifying principle Of the Conservative organization. Mr. Warner found it not incon- S is tent with Union principles to rejoice in the hope that "a superintending providence will so overrule the convulsions of the hour, as to give African slavery on this continent its death blow." 193 The Republicans in the House gave their support to the Warner resolutions, and they were carried. The Democratic substitute was defeated by a vote of twenty-eight tito sixty- - 1.5 eight, two of the Unionists, at least, 15 voting adversely. ld. Warner and Lockwood, of Wayne. 2T) ſ' ( \ º The Republican resolutions as shaped by the Committee *: the | , , Whole were adopted. They were accepted by the Senate. l6. Senate Journal, 1863/375. A set of Union resolutions, said to have been drawn up by the chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, had been in the meantime, introduced in to the senate.” As 17. Free Press, Jan. 20, 22, 1863. introduced they were said to be more radical than the House resolutions, giving approval to the Emancipation Proclamation as a humanitarian act rather than as a war measure. This difference threatened division in Republicans ranks, which a party caucus could not prevent. As adopted the Senate declaration differed in no important respect from the House statement. It was accepted by the House. º SOLDIERS SUTTRAGE BILL. The question of passing an act which would make it S. possible for the citizens of the State, serving an the arrmies of the United States, to vote at elections within the State had received some attention during the ****, *. The pro- º posal had received some Democratic support. In that year l6. Free Press, Sept. 11, 1862. 194 it was suggested that the radicals in power were unfavorable to it be cause of a fear of overthrow by the soldiers' vote. With a de crease in Democratic support of the ºur." Caffle 19. Free Press, Jan. 15, 1862. increased desire for the measure on the part of Republicans. The validity of any practicable measure was doubtful. Section l of Article 7 of the State constitution read that "no citizen or inhabitant shall be an elector or entitled to vote at any election, unless he has resided in the State three months, and in the township or ward in which he offers to vote, ten days next preceding such election." n On January 13, a bill for this purpose was introduced in the s.r.º.” The Committee on Privileges and Elections, 20. Senate Journal, 1863/38. to whom the measure was referred, reported themselves, Febru- ary 5, somewhat divided in opinion.” One part of the Com- 2l. Ibid. , 188-191. mittee thought that the bill might be made constitutional by an amendment; a second part held " that no amendment what so- ever would make it constitutional, and at the same time se- cure the objects and results desired." Every elector must offer his vote in the township or ward in which he had legal re-asses.” The bill was reported without recommendation 22. "Every Michigan soldier, wherever he may be, is, by the Constitution, a resident of Michi- gan, and therefore he must vote in Michigan, if he votes at all, and not in Virginia, Carolina, I,ouisiana, New York, or Canada." - 195 by the ºittee. The Committee of the Whole took similar action. 23. Ibid., 286. The friends of the measure succeeded in obtaining for it a new reference to the Judiciary Committee, and likewise a favorable opinion from the Attorney-cººl.” A month 24. Ibid., 291. later Senator Fowler, the originator of the bill, succeeded - in getting it placed on the order of third reading but further progress could not be *...” Divisions on the 25. Ibid. , 727, 813. question were not along party lines. A majority of each party seemed to believe that the sections of the Constitution applicable to trie matter made favorable action impossible. Not content with the attitude of the Senate, Republicans introduced a similar bill into the House. Here the cºmittee O ri Privileges and Elections reported adversely on it. The 26. Adv. and Trib. , March 10, 1863. House Documents, l863, No. 22. Committee interpreted the constitutional provision to mean that no elector could tender his ballot in any other place than in the township or ward in which he was legally resid- ent. One member of the committee made later a minority re- - port in which he argued that the statement of the voter's qualifications contained in the Constitution did not prevent the Legislature from providing opportunity to vote to the 196 soldiers in the field. The section related to residence alone, and "not to the particular manner in which the ballot shall be obtained from an elector, to be canvassed in the place or township of his residence." The majority of the House were of this view, and the bill was passed, March 19, by an almost strict party vote. Several Unionists voted in the affirmative and several Republicans in the *..." 27. House Journal, 1863/1563-1565. The bill reached the Senate on the last day on whiich a quorum was present. A motion to give it consideration was defeated by a vote of fourteen to fifteen. Of the affirma- tive votes five had been cast by Unionists and nine by Re- publicans. Of the negative votes seven were Unionists and eight Republican. Party lines were drawn in the House but not in the Senate on the measure. CHAPTPR XIII POLITICAL DISCUSSION AND POLITICAL CONVENTIONS, 1863. SUGGESTION FOR PEACE CONVENTION. The last important concerted effort of the Unionist Re- *** and Democrats was the at tempt to replace Chandler in the Senate |by James F. Joy. Divisions among the Union members of the Legislature appeared when the Union resolutions were º Y under discussion. The Republican Conservatives seem to have retained a desire to act in the spirit of the Union Platform. But the Democratic members of the party had be come bitter op- ponents of the Administration, severe in their indictment of the acts upon which they were pledged to refrain from criti- cism. Indeed the Democrats had been restive from the beginning of the Union organization. The party had maintained a sepa- rate organization. It had insisted on going through the form of nominating each individual on the Union ticket. Its plat- form had contained words of censure for the Government. The address of its State Central Committee had made no pretence of conformity to the Union platform. It even betrayed sus- l picion of the Conservative organization. Fusion was at an end. 1. "You have stepped out of your party lines and your party discipline. You have boldly incurred whatever of pri aise or hatred may, justly or un- justly attach to such a step. You have doubtless done it deliberately, and democratic conventions have accepted your assurances that you did it pat- riotically." Address of Democratic State Com- mittee, Oct. 1862. 198 Increasing discontent of Democrats with the duration of the war, or with the character of its management, was lead- ing to a change of mind toward the possibility of success through war. Though opposed to war as a solution of diffi- culties in the beginning, the party had been nevertheless, after the outbreak of hostilities, in favor of its vigorous prosecution. Criticism had been confined to the Republican party as its cause, or to the ways of carrying it on. Eman- ". cipation of slaves as a means met especially severe condemna- tion. But now a belief was growing that the Union could not be restored by arms. Proposals which looked to a peace through 2 - negotiation were being entertained. 2." How long will the people endure the struggle between the obst inacy of a weak and infatuated Administration and the stern logic of events? . . . . . Today, three-quarters of the people of this country are convinced that in a national conven- tion alone can peace be obtained and the Union preserved. However, much rabid abolitionists may insist upon their negro programme, comprom- ise or defeat are the only alternatives." Free Press, Feb. 5, 1863. V 2. O, M, Barnes in the previous legislative session $uggested diplomacy as a means of end- ing the war. These proposals had the seal of official approval. A convention of the Democrats of Wayne County declared that "a national convention in which all the States should be fairly represented, would, in our opinion, in the present aspect Of our national affairs, be the means most likely to bring out : just and reasonable settlement of our national difficulties" 3. Free Press, Feb. 9, 1863. 1.99 A few days later, the State convention of the party gave evi- dence that the demand for a peace convention was widespread. It was averred, in one of the resolutions adopted by it, that "the constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union preserved, in opposition to public feeling, by the mere exercise of coer- cive powers, confided to the general government," and that in cases of differences between the States and the Federal Govern- ment, incapable of adjustment by the "civil departments", the "appeal is not to the sword. . . . but to the people, peaceably as- sembled by their representatives in convention." Not content with this expression of opinion, the convention, by resolution, requested Congress, the Executive Department, and the State authorities to take the steps necessary to the assembling of such a body. A somewhat obscure recommendation was made "to our fellow citizens everywhere," asking them to "abstain from all violence," and to gather for discussion of modes of attain- ing "peace, union, and liberty." STATE CONVENTIONS. The Democratic State Convention, the peace suggestions X of which we have just noted, assembled in Detroit, Feb. 11, 1963 , \ -- - 2* The resolutions of this body stated the position the Democrats. of the State were to occupy, during the remainder of the war, on matters of national interest. The wide breach between the Union platform and Democratic principles was apparent. supporº, chief executive of the nation, whatever his plans might be, X found no favor. Silence on measures of doubtful validity aft º 200 fecting the rights of the citizens was not a patriotic virtue. "We stand by the constitution, the Union, the laws, and the personal liberty of the citizen, and hold him unworthy to enjoy constitutional freedom who is willing to sacrific e any or either of the se to the corrupt faction which has set up and is attempting to Şield de spotic and arbitrary power at Wash- ington! To clear up any doubt of the meaning of this statement, 4. The resolutions are printed in the Free Press, Feb. 12, 1863. it was averred further that the citizen's allegiance was to the º - º -- - Constitution and the laws and "not to any man, or officer, or adminſki)tration." Suspension of the provisions of the constitu- tion was, in itself, disunion, because, argued the committee, the Union was created by the Constitution, and it had no existence apart from it. Freedom of speech was defended as essential to liberty. Webster's splendid characterization of its place in - 5 a republic was made part of the resolution. 5. "It is the ancient and constitutional right of the people to canvass public measures and the merits of public men. It is a home-bred right-- a fire side privilege. It has ever been enjoyed in every house, cottage; cabin in the nation. It is not to be drawn into controversy. It is as undoubted as the right of brea thing the air or walking the earth. Belonging to private life as a right, it belongs to public life as a duty. This high constitutional right we defend and ex- ercise in all places, in times of war and in times of peace, and in all times living we will assert it; dying we will assert it; and should we leave no other legacy to our children, by the bles sing of God, we will leave them the inheritance of free principles, and the example of a manly, indepen- dent and constitutional defence of them." We have £efºre noted) that a state of war had brought with it problems other than those concerned with the movements of 201 armies or the government finances. Among these additional difficulties was the presence of disaffected persons, possible spies and traitors, in the loyal States. In the attempt to guard the nation from the activities of such classes, the Government had exercised powers with which the generation then living had had no acquaintance. Republicans, generally, approv- ed of, or at least found no fault with, the Government's poli- cies. Patriots of conservative tendencies included them a- mong the acts to which unquest ioning support was due. Not so with the large body of Democrats. Their dissatisfaction was on the increase, and was well expressed in the resolutions of the State convention. The suspension of the writ of habeas Corpus, the arrest, without warrant, of citizens not subject to military law, the denial of the ordinary rights for the pro- tection of the accused, the prescribing of "test" oaths, the declaration of rāartial law over States not in rebellion were held to be "arbitrary and unconstitutional" acts, subversive Of State and Federal constitutions, and invasions of the reserved rights of the people and the sovereignty of the States. The freeing of certain classes of slaves, the "attempted enforce- ment of compensated emancipation' /taxation of whites to secure freedom for blacks, and the dismemberment of Virginia came under the same ban. Acquiesence in such acts would bring about & deepotism. Silence, under the circumstances, was criminal. The resolutions of this gathering, the first formal as sem- bly of the Democratic party since the acceptance of the Union ticket, placed the Democrats in the role of an opposition party. This character they were to keep until the end of the War. From 2O2 early support of the Administration, they had progressed through mild, followed by severe, criticism of administrative acts to the assertions that conquest was impossible, that a peace convention ought (CU9 be held, and that administrative acts had become sub- versive of every principle of private right and public law. REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. The Republican State Convention met in Detroit, February l2, the day following the Democratic gathering. After nominating candidates for the Board of Regents and the Supreme court, it, too, adopted resolutions. Intentionally or otherwise, they were answers to the indic tnerit drawn up by the Democrats the previous day. Self-preservation was held to be the first duty of govern- ments. The President was required to preserve and defend the º Constitution. "The Charter of our Union is not so absurd as to enjoin upon the chief Magistrate as a duty to be performed at all hazards, that which corresponds to the right of self-defence among natural persons, without fully authorizing the means for discharging such duty; that the Constitution has not undertaken to define and limit the means of defence, for the reas on that it was impossible to anticipate. . . . the measures of offence." In so far as Congress has not prescribed methods of "defensive" war- fare, "the President, as commander in chief. . . . bound to to di- rect the conduct, is jupon every principle of reason and law, vested with the right of deciding upon the means to be employed! The Emancipation Proclamation was "fit and proper in every point of view, taken as a war measure." The convention be trayed no 2O3 liking for negotiation with the Southern States. It declared that no terms of compromise or secºnogation could be offere dºor accepted." - The Republican elected the entire Board of Regents and their candidate for the Supreme Bench with majorities ranging between seven and eight thousand votes. In Detroit, the largest city in the State, and in Wayne County, the Democrats polled the larger vote, having majorities from thirteen to fifteen hun- dred. THE WALLANTIGHAM PROTEST. The Democrats of Detroit were not content with the pro tests incorporated in the resolutions of their State convention. The arrest, trial, and sentence to banishment of Clement L. Vallan- digham, brought sharply before the people of the North, by rea- son of the prominence of the accused, the acts of the Adminis- tration in their relation to the private right of free speech. It gave excellent opportunity for further Democratic protest. Five hundred citizens of Detro it signed a request to "all demo- crats and citizens," "desirous of maintaining the right mention- ed to meet at the City Hall the evening of May 25.” The sponsºrs 6. Free Press, May 24, 1864. - of the meeting were determined that the community should under- stand their position. Robert McClelland, ex-cabinet member, presided at the meeting. Levi Bishop made the oration of the evening. G. V. N. Lothrop, who had remained aloof from the old party organizations, came from retirement to voice his protest. 204 The presiding officer outlined Vallandigham's case as 7 viewed by Democratic eyes. English precedents for the grant 7. "Mr. Wallandigham was arrested in his own house, and deprived of his liberty without due process of law, He neither belonged to the army or the navy, nor was he subject to military law; yet he was tried by court-martial--and no tº by an impartial jury of his country--for addressing the people peaceably assembled for a legitimate pur- pose, and was convicted and sentenced to punish- ment unknown to our laws. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus had not been suspended in his district, and the civil courts of the State Were open, free, independent. . . . yet the learned and experienced Judge refused to grant it upon the most frivolous pretexts." Proceedings reported in Free Press, May 26, 1863. of the writ of habeas corpus in time or war, denied in this case, were c ited. "I have sometimes thought," said Levi Bishop, " that this question (of freedom of speech) was even more important than that other question; "Shall the Southern rebellion be crushed?" Free institutions, free States and confederacies, and even national prosperity might exist with a dismembered Union. "I would say to the President and to his advisers, in all candor and sincerity, we cannot sustain you in your unlawful measures." Mr. Lothrop, the most influential Democrat in the late Union movement and out of sympathy with Wallandigham, declared that he could sustain the Government only when its acts accorded with the Constitution. The resolutions of this Wallandigham meeting were in accord with the sentiments expressed by the speakers. They recited the determination of the assembly to sustain the Government in all of its constitutional measures. The denoused the proceedings \ in the trial of Vallandigham as an "unwarrantable interference" with free speech, and as an illegal exercise of military pow- er. Such exercise of power, if successfully maintained, would abrogate the right of assembly and discussion by the people, would destroy the liberty of the press and the right of habeas corpus, and would be, in fact, a "fatal blow" at the supremacy of law and the authority of American constitutions. POT, ITICAL DISCUSSION OF THE SUMMER AND FAT,L OT l863. Ijuring the course of the spring and summer, Democratic speakers and editors continued their attacks on the policies and 8 acts of the Administration. When it became known that the Presi- 8. Free Press, April 26, June l. dernt was "intriguing for the succession" the Free Press was no longer content to characterize him "as a weak, honest man, ho would be only too glad to get through his term." He must Y1OW 3 ppear, "in cunning and auplicity", aft. most remarkable of men. This ambition of Lincoln would account for "much that has seemed strange." It would explain the removal of Tremont, and McClellan, and the retention of the "odious" stanton. Of such cloth was the political discussion in the columns of this paper during these months. The suppression of the Chicago Times and the New York World called forth much adverse comment. The case of the Chicago 9. Free Press, June 6, 7, 8, 9, 1863. Times had added interest in Michigan be cause its editor, Wilbur F. Storey, had edited the Detroit Free Press, and his counsel was James F. Joy, Conservative Republican and Unionist candidate º 206 1. O for seria to r. 10. , Letters of Wirt Dexter to Joy, Joy MSS. , 540/5 and 8. Levi Bishop, speaking before a Democratic association suggested that the "abolitionists" had organized a vast mili- tary system in the Northern States in order to retain control of the government. He cautioned his "abolition friends" to remember that they had inaugurated one civil war, and that to assume another and much greater one, savored of impropriety. He expressed the belief that the "present rulers have been in- flicted upon us as a national judgment." Absences of activity in State and National politics seems to have led to much idle speculation. Local elections were held in Detro it in November. The news- paper campaign was a bitter one. Unlimited abuse had been heaped upon the Democrats because of the Wallandigham protest meeting. This was carried over into the local campaign. The "vºnaissan Ticket" was the term applied to the Democratic nominees. Tºle º ll. Adv. and Trib. , Oct. Nov. 1863. Democrats were successful at the polls. ºf - -- - - - ºf 2O7 CHAPTER XIV THE SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION OF l864. The Governor requested the Legislature to meet in session January 19, 1864. The matters requiring attention under the call concerned the payment of bounties to volunteers, and the legali- tº-3 1. zation of previous acts of towns and counties to that end. In l. House Journal, 1864/3-4. 2 - his message to the Legislature , Governor Blair reviewed the 2. House Journal, la 64/30-45. methods by which enlistments had been secured and pointed out the need of giving legal sanction to the various measures--bonds is sues, taxation, etc. --by which local authorities had secured money for bounties. Of greater political interest was that part of the message which revived huestion of providing a means to enable electors in the military service to vote at elections within the State. "Patriotism, justice, and policy" required the enactment of such a law, said the Governor, if the constitu- tion permitted. He believed that the Legislature possessed the requisite power. The Governor did not miss the opportunity to dwell upon the Emancipation Proclamation. "The great mistake and wrong of the nation is being put away," said he, "We return to our own great and immortal declaration. In spite of scorn, contempt, and pride of case, of the lust of power and the love of money, of 2O8 stupid ignorance and intellect without conscience, all men in America, will be free." A bill introduced into the House embodied the Governor's wishes in the mºtter of providing a means of permitting soldiers to vote. A like bill was presented in the Senate by Mr. Fowler, the champion of the measure in the previous session. The judi- ciary committees of both houses were authorized, by concurrent resolution, to act together in consideration of the bills. This joint committee reported a substitute measure which would en- able the soldier to cast his ballot by ºxy.” Two minority re- 3. House Journal, 1864/66 Senate Journal 1864/29. ports, favorable to the purpose of the bill, provided that com- missioners be sent to the Michigan regiments in the field to collect the sºuet." The minority bill, with some amendments, - 4. House Journal 1864/79 Senate Journal 1864/30+32. made in the Committee of the Whole, was adopted in the House by an almost strict party Vote. In , the main the arguments for and against the bill were made familiar in the previous session. "It is not a question, said a proponent, whether the elector may vote where he has no vote. . . . but it is a question whether electors, taken from their homes and from the ballot box of their particular localities, to save the nation may have the ballot box taken to tºº." 5. .. of Senator Fowler, Senate Journal lä64/ 30-42. - The constitutional provisions covered only the qualifications --~~~~ of the elector, it was asserted. They did not control the manner or place of depositing his ballot. The opposing minority report held strictly to the letter of the constitution in declaring that a ºn could offer his vote only in the township where he resided. Reasons of policy were advanced by the Democrats for 6. Senate Journal, 1864/70-89. the non-extension of the privilege to soldiers absent from home. The Legislature was warned that no Republic had ever survived the vote of its armies. The vexations question (£6 constitutionality was referred, in the Senate, to the Judiciary Committee. This Committee re- commended that, as neither the constitution nor the judicial decisions contained a clear negative on the legislative power, 3. liberal construction should be given to the instrument. The Senate declined to refer atlle question of the constitutional val- - - 7 idity of the bill to the Supreme Court. The Democratic opponents 7. Senate Journal, 1864/197-199. of the measure moved to amend the title to read, "a bill to teach our soldiers in the field their political duty, our people a disregard of Constitution and law, and to make our elections a farce." The Senate accepted the House bill. The chief inter- est in this matter lies in the fact that Republican opinion had 'become unified on a measure that resulted in party advantage on election day. * - --- The payment of bounties as an incentive to enlistment, and, incidentally, as a de Vice of communities to highlten the rigor of the draft, occasioned problems that form an interesting chapter in the history of the State. A bounty act was passed which le- 21 O galized the earlier acts of the smaller units within the State, and provided for an additional uniform bounty to be paid by the State itself. This act received but one adverse yet." 8. Senate Journal, 1864/ll&–ll9. House Journal 1864/271-275, 306–307. For newspaper comment, Charlotte Republican in Adv. and Trib. , Jaſſ. 7, 1864. Free Press, Jan. 22, 1864. A matter of greater part is an interest was introduced into the House in the form of a joint resolution which nominated Abraham Lincoln as the people's candidate for the Presidency. This was offered, curiously, by T. W. Lockwood, one of the lead- ers of the fusion movement of issa." This resolution recognized 9. Adv. and Trib. , Jan. 28, 1864. in a recent proclamation of amnesty by the President a sound and safe step in reconstructiºn, and in its author "the instru- ment in the hands of Providence" to lead the nation "to a hap- py issue out of . . . . . great trials." This was carried in the tº a House by a party vote. Warner and To clºwood, Republican Union- is ts, voted with their former fºllow...”. return of Republi- - 10. House Journal lað4/149-150 Senate Journal, 1864/101-102. Michigan Argus, Feb. 5, 1864. can conservatives to their former party was noticed by F. G. Morton, Democratic irre Conciliable, in a motion to amend the title to read "a joint resolution to enable Republicans who have rebelled against the party, (in order) to sustain the Union and ll the Constitution, to repent and return to Abraham's bosom! Noth- ll. House Journal, 1864/149-150. ~~ ing can be said of the significance of the resolution for the Republican party in the State. It will be seen shortly that it did not represent the desires of the entire membership of the party. The House was unanimous in its praise of Governor Blair's care of Michigan's "citizen soldiery," though it divided on par- ty lines in expressing approval of his administration of State 12 affairs. 12. House Journal, 1864/220-222. Colored citizens of the State petitioned the Legislature at this session to amend the election laws of the State so as to permit the exercise of suffrage by them. The Senate committee to whom the matter was referred reported adversely on the re- quest. They urged in defence of their recommendation, the large amount of business before the Legislature, the fact that it was in special session and restricted in its action, and their be- lief that a constitutional convention, to which the matter would 13 more properly belong, would be held in 1866. 13. Senate Journal, 1864/171-172. 212 CHAP TTR XV. . º FOLITICAL CONVENTIONS OF la64. Dissatisfaction with the president existed in Republican ranks. The Pomeroy, Circular, issued by Republicans friendly to the candidacy for the Presidency of Salmon P. Chase, Se- cretary of the Treasury, appeared in February. This document at tributed to the friends of I, incoln efforts in his behalf that would "forestall the political action of the people." It W& S argued that the interests of the country required a change in the way of "vigor and purity." The re-election of Lincoln, even if it were desirable, was held to be practically impossible. There is little evidence to indicate that any goodly num- be r of the Republicans of Michigan approved of the plans of - A trºA ºx- the men who issued the Pomeroy Circular. It is true, beyond doubt, that dissatisfaction with the President existed in the state. * The leading Republican daily found fault with the l. Extract from Saginaw Enterprise in Adv. and Trib. , Jan. 7, 1864. Adv. and Trib. , May 18, l864. restoration of Frank Blair of Missouri to a Major-General ship, shortly after Blair had criticized Secretary Chase. "We say with unfeigned sorrow that all the mistakes which the President had previously committed were of light moment compared to his conduct in this matter." The people "have patiently submitted t to many acts of the President, whose wisdom has seemed to them -- - º most questional,le, because they judged him by his motives, and Whenever these have appeared doubtful, they have given him the benefit of the doubt. . . . But all endurance has its limits, and we warn the President that his load of Blairs is getting much 2 too heavy." 2. Adv. and Trib. , May 6, 1864, Free Press, May 7, 1864. Republicans of German nationality were generally radical, strongly in favor of the abolition of slavery, and dissatis- fied frequently With the Presider tº S conduct of affairs. A 3 club of German radicals was organized in Detroit. # It desir- 3. Letter of Veritas, Adv. and Trib., March 5, 17, 1860. 4 ed to see Fremont the Republican nominee. 4. Letter of X, Adv. and Trib. , Apr. 19, 1864. 4. Translation from Michigan Journal (German) in Adv. and Trib. , Apr. 28, 1864. An effort was made by the Republican papers of Detroit to - - - A. *.*.*. **, - induce the State convention to send [a neº-instructed delegation 5 - to the National convention. The German she et as serted that 5. Translation of article from Michigan Journal in Adv. and Trib. , May 18, 1964. a large proportion of the party was not satisfied With the Pres- ident. This wing of the party desired "a more energetic and resolute man than Mr. Lincoln." In no event would many of this group support the President. Others would accept the choice of the National convention in order to prevent, through schism, --~~ the election of a Democratic President. The radicals 'believed, 3].4 said this paper, that the Republican National convention had been packed with Lincoln delegates. This reproach could be a- Voided by a refusal to instruct Michigan's delegation. The 6 Advertiser and Tribune lent its support to this plea. 6. May 18, 1864. The action of the county conventions slowed that a situa- tion existed; quite unlike that of four years earlier when Se- ward was the unanimous choice of the party in Michigan. Re- turns from eighteen counties had reached the Detroit papers. Six Counties instructed their delegates to the State convention for Lincoln. Four had passed resolutions that favored his candi- dacy, and eight, including the populous counties dif Wayne and - 7 Oakland, had taken no action. 7. Adv. and Trib., May 18, 1864. REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. The Republican State Convention met in Detroit, May 18, 1864, º choose delegatºs jo the National Convent ion of the party. The criticism that had been heaped upon the Presi- 8. For proceedings see Adv. and Trib. Free Press, May 19, 1864; Michigan Argus and Pontiac Gazette, May 20, 1864. dent, had its effect upon the convention's action. It decided that no office-holders should be sent as delegates to Balti- more, the place of meeting for the National Cornvertion. The vigorous assaults of the Democrats and the dissatisfaction of Republicans with some a spects of national affairs were reflect- ed likewise in the other resolutions. Under Republican doc- trine, it was averred to be the duty of all citizens to "sus- tain a just government and an honest administration without Y x qualification and without limit, notwithstanding any alleged error of judgment." "upon this pring iple we endorse, sustain and support the present national administration and WII,IL DO so until the last vestige of rebellion is crushed." The confi- dence of the convention in the President was declared to be un- diminished. "He is our first choice for the next Presidency." The delegates were inst ructed to vote as a unit in the Nation- al gathering. They were not instructed, by definite command, 9 to cast their votes for the renomination of Lincoln. 9. These slightly ambiguous resolutions were re- garded by the Advertiser and Tribune as instruc- tion. Issue of May 19, Tile Michigan Journal held tile delegation to be non-instructed. Trans- lation in Adv. and Trib., July 7, 1864. RAIDICAL CONVENTION AT CITEVELAND. The Republicans, opposed to Lincoln, determined to fore- st all the action of the National Convention. Some of their number is sued a call for a convention to meet at Cleveland, May. 31. This invitation accused the Administration of weak- ness and vac illation in the conduct of the war. It was was te- ful of men, but incapable of conquest, and was, moreover, un- satisfactory on the question of the permanent extinction of 1 O slavery. 10. Free Press, May 20, 1864. A mass meeting of the German radicals of Michigan had been called for May 19. But a small number were in attendance. These selected three delegates and three alternates to the ll - Cleveland Convention. Four men from the State at tended that ll. Adv. and Trib. , May 23, 1864. ga, the ring as delegates. The convention adopted a platform which expressed a desire for a single term for the President, the complete emancipation of slaves, and the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine. John C. Fremont was nominated for the Presidency. John Cochrane, of 12 New York became the Vice-Presidential nominee. 12. Free Press, June 1, 1864. McKee, National Conventions and Platforms, l?'7. Republican papers within the State were severe in their ar- 13 raignment of those behind the Cleveland Convention. The Sag- 13. Adv. and Trib. , May 9, June 25, 1864. Saginaw Friterprise, quoted in Adv. and Trib. , June 7, 1864. inaw Enterprise expressed its impatience with the reiteration "of copperhead slang about freedom of the press, arbitrary ar- rests etc. , just as though a government struggling for exist- ence was bound to tolerate utterances of treason. . . . or to await the slow process of civil law when rebel emissaries are over- - -º- --- - runnig the land. . . . If the Administration is at fault in this ºr e- º spect it has been on the side of toleration." This paper pre- ferred Fremont to Lincoln but it could see in the Cleveland movement only the division of a party which should be united. The Democratic papers made much of the new radical move - ment. The Cleveland gathering was composed " of the earnest, thinking men of the Republican party, the honest abolitionists, 14. the genuine anti-slavery men from principle." - - º --- º 14. Free Press, May 31, 1864. Michigan Argus, June 3, 1864. 217 THT REPURLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION. The Republican National Convention of 1864 met at Balti- more, June. 7. Notwithstanding the radical effort at Cleve- land it was well understood that I, incoln would be nominee. Uncertainty, alone, existed concerning the Vice-Presidential candidate. The resolutions be spoke a vigorous prosecution of trie War. The highest duty of the citizen was the maint en- ance of the Union and the Constitution without regard to dif- ference in political opinions. The rebellion must be crushed and traitors punished. The Convention occupied radical ground in a sking for a constitutional amendment which would prohibit slavery. Praise was given to the "practical wisdom, the unsel- fish patriotism and the unswerving fió elity to the constitution" of President Lincoln in the discharge of his office "under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty." Various acts of the President, including the Emancipation Proclamation and the mili- tary employment of former slaves, were approved. The candidate of the Michigan delegates for the Vice-Presidentency, Hannibal Hamlin, failed of renomination. Andrew Johnson, "the sterling patriot of Tennessee," was enose.” l6. McKee, National Conventions and Platforms, 124-126. Proceedings of the First Three Republican Conventions, 225-226. Adv. and Trib. June 9, 1864. The opinion of Michigan Republicans on the task of the National convention and its performance was fairly expressed, possibly, by the leading Detroit paper of the party.” On the 16. Adv. and Trib. , June 7, 10, 1864. 91a morning of the Convention it suggested that the platform be of "the most thorough-going kind." The need of a strong declara- tion against slavery could not be overe stimated. Lincoln should be made to understand that his renomination was an endorsement "of that portion of his policy which has been right and vigorous and not that portion which has been otherwise." The Convention should express its desires concerning his future policy. "The Convention will commit a great mistake if it shall renominate Mr. Lincoln, upon a platform which can be construed as an un- qualified endorsement of all the acts of his Administration." This paper found it possible, later, to defend the Convention' s praise of its nominee. It believed that, considering "the cir- cumstances of unparalleled difficulty" under which the President had labored, he had shown qualities unsurpassed by any President since wºn.” 17. Adv. and Trib., June 10, 1864. The Democratic press found much to condemn in the Republi- can National Convention. Steps in the rec on struction of the --> Southern States were conside red attempts to secure Southern - 18 delegations to the convention favorable to the President. 18. Free Press, June 4, 7, 8, 1864. Lincoln's nomination was adequate proof of a corrupted conven- 1.9 - tion. "Great is " Shoddy' and very meek are office-holders 19. "The hirelings and dependents of Abraham Lincoln. . . . have . . . . voted themselves a continuance in their positions. . . . by nominating the afore said gentleman for the next President of the United States. He is the candidate of the thieves, the public plunderers, the leeches, who have preyed S/ upon the people since March 4, 1861 º' Free Press June 10, 1864. See also issue Sept. 21, 1864. 20. conventions' 20. Michigan Argus, June 10, 1864. TEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. The Democratic National Convention was to have met in Chicago, July 4. The call for the Michigan Convention was 21 - made public April 12. When the convention assembled, June 15, 2l. This call occasioned pessimistic comments on National affairs by the Free Press. "If the same policy is adhered to by the administration, which has brought us many disasters in the field, if the same partisan course is pursued which has placed the continuance of the republican party in power as of more consequence that the restor- ation of the Union under our old constitution, the chances are at least even that our armies will be beaten, and the power of the government utterly distroyed. . . . It matters little who is to be our candidate, or who is to be the Pfe sident, if the re is no hope of the Union, for with the loss of our Union there is every reason to be- lieve we silall use our liberties also." Issue of April 13, 1864. some of the best known I}emocrats of the State were chosen as delegates to the Chicago conventiºn.” The re Was no commit, tee 22. Free Press, June 16, 1864. on resolutions. The sole resolution adopted Włº S offered from the floor. It was a brief statement that the party in the State stood upon "the platform of the Union, the Constitution, and thie supremacy of the laws." The meeting of the Democratic National Convention, origi- nally called for July 4. had been postponed to August 29. Chicago remained the place of assembly. Here, almost three months after the renomination of Lincoln, George B. McClellan, deposed leader of the Army of the Potomac, became the Presi- dential candidate of the Northern Democracy. George H. Pen- dle torn of onio was the party's choice for the Vice-Presidency. The declaration of the party's principles created a situation as interesting as the nomination of the dis credited military leader, whose lack of success, in Democratic eyes, had been due to the perverse and incompetent President. The second resolution declared it to be "the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by tile experiment of war, durving which, under pretence of mili- tary necessity, or war power, higher than the constitution, the constitution itself has been disregarded in every part. . . . jus- tice, liberty, humanity and the public Welfare demand that im- mediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities with a view to an ultimate convention of all the States or other peace- able mea.115, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment, º peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the states." 23. McKee, National Conventions and Platforms, 3ré. ed., 122-123. The other resolutions expressed in a formal way the posi- tion the members of the party had come to accept on the matters º raised by the war. "The extraordinary and dangerous powers" assumed by the Administration tended to prevent the restoration º - of the Union. Some of these extra-constitutional powers were - - wº- f º * exercised in arbitrary arrestº, trial A sentence of civilians by - º military authorities, in the suppression of a free speech and free press, in a disregard of State rights, in a requirement of 221 unusual test oaths, and in the subversion of civil by military law in loyal States. Resistance to interference in State elec- tions by military authorities was promised. SECOND REPUBLICAN STATF CONVENTION. The Republican Convention for the nomination of candidates for State offices and the Electoral College assembled in Detroit, July 7. The need of taking the advantage offered to the party by the Soldier's Suffrage Law caused the choice of this early date. Time was needed to locate the Michigan troops and to get - 244 - party issues before them. In the call for the cornvention "all , 24. Adv. and Trib., June 6, 1864. men who are for the Government as against rebels and traitors - 25 unconditionally" were invited to act with the Republican party. 25. Ibid. , July 4, 1864. The resolutions of the convention were in accord with pre- vious statements of the party's position. The rebellion, which was without justifiable cause, must be put down "without quali- fication or compromise." "Unconditional surrender is the only 26 terms to armed traitors." 26. The resolutions of the Wayne County Conven- tion expressed better the attitude of Detroit Republicans toward the Baltimore nominations trian did the statement of the State Convention. "Resolved, that, laying a side all personal pre- judices and preferences, and earnestly approving the efforts of Abraham Lincoln to bring this bloody contest to a speedy and honorable termination. . . . his renomination shall receive our warm, united, and untiring support from this hour forward. . . . " Adv. and Trib. , July 5, 1864. Henry H. cravo. of Flint, Wà 5 § elected as the party's C & Kl- didate for the Governorship. E. W. Grosvenor, of Jonesville, was named for the second position. James B. Porter, of Lansing, for Secretary of State; John Owen; of Ijetroit, for Treasurer; Fmil Anneke, of Lansing, for the auditor-general ship; and Al- bert Williams, of Ionia for Attorney-General were nominees for tile positions named. SECOND DEMOCRATIC STATE CONVENTION. The postponement of the Chicago Convention delayed the calling of the second Democratic State Convention so that it did not meet until September. 27. Its proceedings were brief. 27. Free Press, July 12, 1864. Presidential electors and candidates for State offices were plac- ed in nomination. The principal nominees were William M. Fen- t Orl for Governor, Edwin H. Lothrop for Lieutenant-Governor, George B. Turner for Secretary of State, George C. Monroe for Treasurer, Levi Bishop for Attorney-General, Charles W. Butler for the auditor-general ship, and George schmidt for the State Toarid orris.” The resolutions were two in number. One de- 28. Free Press, Sept. 2, 1864. clared the party to be in favor of "the union, the Constitution, and the supremacy of the Laws." It adopted the Chicago plat- form, peace plank and all. The other resolution requested the Governor to appoint Democrats equally with Republicans as e- lection commissioners for the iſionigan troops. It might be add- ed that Governor Blair found ground for to refusing the request. CHAPTER XVI. POLITICAL CAMPAIGM 1864 TEMO CRATIC CAMPAIGN In the fall of 1861, and during the first half of 1862, the Lemocratic organs fired their broadsides at the Republi- can Radicals. Though somewhat uncertain of the President, they chose to regard him as conservative. The Emancipation Pro- clamation, as we have seen, greatly displeased the members of the party in the State . Because of the fusion with the con- servative Republicans, on a platform who se chief plank pledged Support to the administration, unqualified by partisan or per- sonal bias, the Democrats were handicapped in the expression of the full measure of their disapproval. During l863, discus- sid n of administrative acts was much less temperate . The place was soon reached where extreme partisanship seems to have tº colored every estimate of administrative measures. The year following, 1864, found expression on Republican misdeeds even less reserved in tone . The party had come to accept completely certain views of public affairs. A time for dispassionate judgment seemed to ſave passed . Criticism of the principal faults of the administration was endless. Anyone of a number of Speeches and editorial º - comments contained a statement of most of these faults. A Free Press article of Feb. 7, 1864, and a letter of ex-Governor Barry, under date of April 30, Were representative of many of 1. See Adv. and Tribune, May 4, 1864. 224 these summaries. The suspension by the President, of the writ of habeas corpus, in districts not under martial law, was a 2 constant cause of complaint . The abolition of jury trials in 2. Free Press, Feb. 7, 1864, also Jan. 23, 1864. Letter of J. S. Barry, Adv. and Trib., May 4, 1864. Speech of Wºm. M. Fenton at Grand Rapids, Sept. 17; see Free Press Sept. 20, 1864. Speech of N. A. Balch at Camp McClellan, Detroit, Oct. ll; see *::: Press, Oct. 12, 1864. Free Press, Oct. 23, lö64. . certain cases, Summary arrests without warrant and the sup- pression of free speech and a free press, were uncea singly ~) dwelt upon . It was averred that freedom in legislative debate 3. Letter of Governor Barry, cited above, Free Pre 55, Mar. 17, May 24, Aug, l.2, ..l.º., Sept. 23, 1864. 4. -- had been denied. The establishment of martial law unneces- 4. Free Press, Feb. 7, 1864. sarily was a further º as was the subordination of 5. Letter of Gov. Barry, gives above . the Constitution to military authority . 6. Free Press, Feb. 7, 1864. The Emancipation Pro clamation took an important place in campaign controversies. The proclamation was held to be in defiance of the Constitution . Governor Barry held that the 7. Ibid. North was even precluded from discussing the institution of slavery, which was purely a State matter, and not to be pre- - by those unacquainted with it. * sumptio usly judged as Wicked, 8. Adv. and Triº., May 4, 1864. - º - It was further charged that the President's policy on slavery had destroyed the Union sentiment of the South. The severest Iº e º : eech of G. V. N. Lothrop, reported in Free . , July 3, 1864. . indictment of the policy represented by the Pro clamation came in the charge that it had changed the purpose of the war from one for the maintenance of the Union to one for the abolition lO of slavery. It was no longer a people's War. It was but a lo. Free Press, Aug. ll, 1864. - ll. "crusade in behalf of an ethical theory." It had become an ll. Free Press, Aug. 12, 1864. 12 instrument of usurpation . The war had been pro longed to ac- 12. Free Press, Aug. 14, 1864. - l3 complish the abolishment of slavery . The Michigan Argus dif- l3. Wm. Gray, at Detroit Ratification Meeting, Free Press, Sept. 19; see also Free Press, Oct. 24, l864. fered somewhat from its Detro it contemporary in regard to slavery . Its editor asserted it to be folly to attempt to save slavery. The institution was doomed from the moment trie first secession ordinance had been passed. "Put down the rebellion l4 and let slavery take the consequences" This paper pro tested, l4. Issue of June 17m 1864. however, against the pro longation of the war in order that 15 slavery might be killed . 15. Issue of Nov. 4, 1864. Unmeasured abuse was heaped upon the President . He was - spoken of as a man without capacity, and actuated by the most selfish of motives. A person of "very small intellect", he had inaugurated a war policy by the only successful military - º º - . . . . strategy attributable to him -- the attempt to victual Sumter. This was for the purpose of drawing rebel fire upon the fort- l ress, and thereby to unite the North in waging war. The 16. Letter of Gov. Barry, cited above. l'7 2~ falseness and baseness of the men powere were dwelt on. The ...-nº-" l'7. Michigan Argus, May 27. "vacillation and indecision" of the President were the real l8 Causes of the non-success of the armies. His pro clamation 3 --- 18. Michigan Argus, Mar. 18, 1864. has strengthened the South. His re-election was hoped for 1C - there . It was a 5 serted that he was the most unfit man ever 19. Free Press, Apr. 6, Sept. 20, 1864. Michigan Argus, Nov. 4, 1864. 20 nominated by any party for the Presidency. Fre/mont had been 20. Free Press, Jan - 28, May 7, ll, July 23, Aug. 13, 1864. Michigan Argus, Oct. 28, 1864. 21. shelved because he might become a dangerous political rival. 21. Free Press, June 20, 1864. So far as known, Democrats did ſlot take ground against conscription or "the draft", as a method of filling armies. Such attacks as were made were indirect, and sought rather dis- credit the Administration . It Was Suggested that the entire 22 population be ordered out . The law of l864 was criticized be- 22. Free Press, Mar. lé, l864. 23 - cause of the absence of an exemption Clause, though an earlier -- 23. Free Press, July 6, 1864. 2 4. - act had been attacked because it contained one . A bad time of 24. Adv. and Trib., July 15, 1864. 25 year had been selected for the drawing. "Lincoln's lottery of 25. Free Press, Aug. 26, 1864. 6 2 life is to have another drawing" it was announced . 26. Free Press, Sept. 17, 1864. Much fault was found by the Free Press with military move- ments. It was a 5 serted that party triumphs, rather trian mili- 27 C. ta.ry successes, Were desired. The effect of deva station in 27. Issue of Aug. 20, 1864. the South upon the "defenceless Women and children" was brought 28 c. [...} - into contrast With the care bestowed upon the negroes. 28. Issue of Oct. 21, 1864. 28. Issue of Oct. 23, 1864; see also issues of May 6, June 15, July 17, 26, Aug. 12, Sept. 10, 1864 for uncomplimentary reviews of military matters. Foreign affairs were given Some attention, entirely to -: * the end that the Administration might be censured for its con- duct in relation to Mexican affairs, and in denial of a right of asylum, We had bullied the World in the Monroe Doctrine - 29 and then i.e., u tamely submitted to France, it was averred. Tax- 29. Free Press, June 5, 1864; also issues April 8, and May 6, 1864. ation and the currency program received comment, although 30 little pain staking and unbia. §§ed analysis is apparent . 30. Free Press, Apr. 2, 8, May 4, Aug. 3, 1864. "Reconstruction" of the conquered portions of the Southern Confederacy received SOIſle attention . Discussion seems not to tº have been on the problems in the establishment and government - -- in the conquered districts facing Congress or the Adminis- tration. It seemed to have been the purpose of the President *s critics to hold as Wrongful any order Which assumed that States were out of their proper constitutional relations with the General Government . The Free Press indictment before refer- ed to recited that States had been denied rights other than the President had seen fit to accord them; that a State had been required to change it 3 constitution in a given way; that part 5 of the new State constitutions had been declared in- operative by military order; that conditions had been imposed l - upon the suffrage in the election of State eraces: Recon- 31. See also issue of May 5. struction in Tennessee was regarded as a scheme for obtaining - 2 presidential electors for the Republican canalaaº The gov- 32. Free Press Oct. 12, 1864. erning bodies in Arkansas and Louisiana were declared to be - 33 sham. 33. See also Michigan Argus, July 15, 1864. Free Press, June ll, 1864. The possibility of peace received attention. March 5, an article appeared in the Free Press, purporting to contain a portion of an address of the rebel Congress to the people of the South. This extract contained an a ssertion that overtures toward peace negotiations were useless in view of the policy of the Washington authorities. While there was nothing in the quotation, § given by the Free Press, to lead anyone to think that the South desired to negotiate in the basis of reunion, it - - º º was evidently the intention of that paper to imply the conclu- 34 sion. A later issue spoke in praise of the statesmanship 34. July 12, 1864. revealed in another manifesto of the rebel Congress. This - again asserted that the Congress "profess an earnest desire for negotiations tending toward peace." This again, by a totally un"Warrantable conclusion, would place Lincoln in the position of refusing to take steps toward peace . The negotiations conducted at Niagara Falls between Horace Greeley, as the representative of the President, and several Southerners of undefined position, brought the question of a. peace to the fore . The Free Press believed that Union on the loa. Si. 5 of the Constitution, a.s it was loefore the War, Would be "hailed with joy unspeakable." It even suggested the Wisdom of "the assumption of the war debt of both parties by the Unit, ed state.” This paper declared that the South was will- 35. Free Press, July 22, 1864. ing to negotiate a peace Which would restore the Union, "in statu quo ante tellum;" conceding in addition freedom to all negroes actually freed by the operations of War; requiring the assumption of all War debts by the United States; and the recognition of the old gºne of States' rights in the ne– cessary secºnsº 36. Free Press, July 24, 1864. Peace negotiations were terminated abruptly by the Presi- dent's "To whom it may concern" letter, in which he expressed his Willingness to consider any proposition coming from the power controlling the Southern arties, and eſſibracing peace with the resto ration of the Union and the abandonment of slavery a s necessary º 37. Free Press, July 24, 1864. Rhodes, Vol. IV/514. The President 's insistence on the abandonment of slavery a 5 the sine qua non of negotiations, made him the renewed ob- *** ject of attack on his slavery policy. Democratic papers sought to imply that the South desired a resto red Union, that the object for Which War was Waged in the first in stance Wa. s. With- in tº reach. and the President perversely blocked its atta, in- - 3. - *...* 33 J ment. Not a single sured of evidence presented by these 38. Michigan Argus, July 24, Aug. 12, 1864, Free Press, July 24, 26, 1864. papers shows that tile South desired peace on tile basis of a -1 restored Union. Everything they printed bears a more reason- able interpretation that the South desired peace only on basis of independence. -- 1– The large fact that the War must go on until the aboli- tion of slavery was made more certain by this Niagara Falls episode. This knowledge did not serve to allay the feeling of Deſmo Cra, tic extremists triat they had been tricked into the Sup- port of a War o Stensibly for the Union, and in reality only for 39 tile abolition of slavery . 39. Letter of Gov. Barry cited above . While a general indictment written before the July peace negotiations, it may not be a miss to quote from it as illustrative of an extremist 's position. "In April . . .he [Lincoln) planned the only suc- cessful strategic movement of the military of which he has been the author during tile War. He ostentatiously Iſlade a feint to victual Sum- ter, with a view to draw rebel fire upon that fortress, and thus unite the North in Waging a War upon the South. The rebels took the bait and Sumter fell. The North, to avenge the out- rage, declared for war."' - "Here the Democratic party committed their first great error. Up to this time, the party had been unanimous for a peace policy , but now, de- s ceived by false professions in regard to the ulterior object 3 intended, many of its members gave their adhesion to a War policy than Wilich no thing could be more disastrous and which they had hitherto opposed. The true position of the Democratic party then, Would have been a decided opposition to a war policy. This Union can never The preserved by force of arms . . . The Federal authorities do not even pretend that its (the war) object is to restore the Constitution and the Union. The object is nothing else than to eman- cipate slaves, and instead of the Union to set up an unity under a central military de Spot i &m, which Will be much Worse in its results than a dissolution." The "peace resolution" of the Chicago platform proved to The a. most unwise addition to it. The Republican journals, ignoring General McClellan's virtual Aepudiation of the peace º - clause, construed it to Inean à demand for an immediate ces- - 4.0 - - sation of no stilities . The Free Press labo red hard to prove 40. Free Press, Sept. 9, 1864. Michigan Argus, Sept. 16, 1864. that, * platform and tae opinions of the General were in har- mony. It averred that "the administration press conceals from 41. Issues of Sept. 7, 9, 1864. its readers the Wide difference between an immediate cessa- tion of no stilites and "immediate efforts for a cessation of hostilities." "General McClellan, the candidate of the con- vention which enunciated tile platform, has a right to inter- pret that platform, and he has done so to the utter over- whelming of all those demagogues Who would to riture it into de- ~~ claring for peace on any other conditions than restoration and 4.2 - preservation of the Union . David A. Noble, Democratic nominee 42. Michigan Argus, Sept. 16, 1864. Lº for Congress, First District, asserted that "Our peace would bring a reunion of the country and give to each State her right under the laws. My faith is strong that the South would, to - day, lay down tileir arms for such a peace. I do not believe that they are fighting for the establishment of a separate na- tion or even for the preservation of slavery ..." I’ven if Il ego - tiations failed, the Union need not be lost . . "We will have - 43 the Unior, peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must ." 43. Quoted in Free Press, Sept. 9, 1864. RETUET,ICAN CAMPAIGN Most matters of interest relating to the Republican cam- paign in Michigan have already been told. After the renomin- ation of the President, the rank and file of the party seem to have been unwavering in the support of their candidate. The campaign Was vigorously pushed. Many meetings, large and Small, and With all the usual aids to enthusiasm, were held and were addressed by leaders of local and national fame. Unquestioning support was given to the Emancipation Pro- 44. - - clamation. Leaders were anxious to go much beyond it . 44. Pontiac Gazette, Jan. 1, 1864. "Slavery commenced the War, and it must perish when the rebel- ºf lion perishes. Regret was expressed by the leading Repub- 45. Wim. A. Howard; Adv. and Trib., June 23, 1864. lican sheet of Detroit that the House had failed to adopt a 46 º constitutional amendment prohibiting slavery . We have seen 46. Adv. and Trib., June 18, 1864. paper desired a strong declaration against the in...- 4.7 placed in the Baltimore platform . 47. Adv. and Trib., June 7, 1864. The Withdrawal of Fremont a 5 the candidate of the Radical Republicans in September is of interest to the student of liichigan politics because of the part that Senator Chandler is suppo 5ed to have played in bringing about General Fremont 's 48 resignation . 48. Trib. and Post, Life of Chandler, 273-277. ELECTION RESULTS--1864. The Republicans regained some of the ground lost in the campaign of 1862. 147, 662 votes were cast for Presidential electors within the State, and 12.3% Thallot s ºffere received from Michigan soldiers in the field. The President received 49. Michigan Manual, 1911/364-365. 79, 149 votes, or 53.6 per cent of the numbers cast within the State. He received 9,402 votes from the soldiers. Seventy- six per cent of this vote was favorable to the President . Lin- coln's popular vote was thus 88, 551, or 55.3 per cent of the to tal vote cast by Michigan citizens anywhere within the United States. This is a loss of two or more per cent when r- 50 compared with the results of 1860. Wayne, with the city of 50. The returns given in the various State man- uals and other sources do not agree. The stat- istics given in the Manual of l897 and in Free Press, Dec. 30, 1860 give to Lincoln 57.1 per cent of the to tall vote . Those of the Manuals of 1911 and 1913 give to the President 57.7 per cent . - - Detroit, Washtenaw, Macomb, Oakland, Livingston, Monroe and St. Clair returned Democratic majorities. The entire Congressional delegation of six was Won by 234. the Republicans, Augustus C. Baldwin, Democratic stalwart in the Second District, lost, it is said, by the adverse vote of the 5l. Letter of C. A. Trowbridge to Edw. Trowbridge, Nov. 30, 1864. Trowbridge Letters B. H. C. º -- º º 235 CONCLUSION The Democratic party in Michigan was antagonistic to the extension of slavery in the years 1845–1848. Lewis Cass seems to have been the first Michigan Democrat of prominence who, by the advocacy of popular sovereignty, leaned to pro-slavery concession. Many of his fellow-Temocrats in the State seem to have taken a similar stand during the fight on the Comprom- ise Measures of 1850. They continued to remain firm in their a cceptance and support of Southern policies until the quarrel between Douglas and Southern leaders over the Le compton Con- stitution, when they deserted the South. That all Democrats were not in agreement with Cass is proved by the opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The free - so il Democrats combined with the anti-slavery Whigs to form the first Republican organ- ization. The Michigan Democrats, with the exception of a minor group, who formed a Freckinridge organization, were ardent fol- lowers of Douglas in 1860 and remained with him after the div- ision of the party at Charleston. They pleaded, during the campaign, for popular sovereignty and the acceptance of the I) red Scott decision. The Republicans of the State made seward their candidate for the Presidency. I)isappointed at his rejec- tion, they accepted Lincoln with some misgivings and campaigned earnestly on a platform opposed to the extension of slavery. A conservative group fostered a Constitutional-Union movement. After a victory at the polls, the majority of the Republican *. refused to 1 isfer to Democratic demand S for conce S S ions that might prevent or retard secession. The Tlegislature refused to g repeal or amend the personal liberty laws, and it refused to send delegates to the Washington Peace Conference. The crises, however, occasioned Republican division, and conservatives made known their desire for any concession that did not mena re- linquishment of the major aim of the party. Though the Democrats of the State were inclined to place the blame for war upon their opponents, all parties gave support to the Administration at the outbreak of war. Many men hoped that party politics and partisan discussion might disappear While war existed. Republicans and conservative Democrats a t- tempted to unite the parties for the Detroit elections of l861. In 1862 I)emocrats and conservative Republi &ans joined in a union movement for the elections of that year. This was motived in part, by opposition to the Republican radicals, Flair and Chandler. With the Emancipation Pro clamation came the accusation that the purpose of the war had been changed. The armies, acquired by an appeal for a united effort to save the Union, were to be, used in an Abolition crusade. This, with the non-suncess of the fusion party, increased the expression of d is content with those acts of the Administration which curked the rights of free speech, free press, and the liberty of the individual. The Democratic party soon became an opposition party-opposed, seemingly, to every administrative act or policy. In the campaign of l864, the Democratic party continued its 237 opposition course. Many within the party demanded that, an attempt be made to bring the South to terms through negotia- tion. Some dissatisfaction with Lincoln existed in Republi- can ranks, but , with his renomination, all elements of the party within the State gave him support, and carried the State for him in November. 238 BIET,IC) GRAPHY. MANUSCRIPTS. The manuscript material in the Burton Historical colles- tion is in consecutively numbered volumes. The volume num- bers in the footnotes do not indicate the number of volumes of the particular manuscripts, to which reference is made, that the Collection contains. Blair, Austin, Autobiographical No tes. Public Library, Jackson. Brown, H. B., Diary, 1860-k365. District Attorney of Federal Court at Detro it, later Justice of Federal Supreme Court. Bowen collection, Public Library, Detro it. Howard Manuscripts, Burton Historical Collection, Wols. 85-91,172,402,874. Howard, J.M., Memoranda Book, Senatorial Election l865. Vol. 93, Burton Historical Collection. Joy Manuscripts, Vols. 276-744, 788-794, Burton Histori- cal Collection. Trowbridge Letters, Burton Historical Collection, Vols. 1154–ll 57, 412, 414, 415,417. The Burton Historical Collection possesses hundredsº of volumes of the bound manuscripts of men prominent in the pub- lic life of the Civil War period. They are not indexed. A somewhat patient search has failed to reveal anything of value for the period. It is not impossible that a thorough search 239, would uncover much material of value. Among the se volumes are the Fraser, the Campau, the Backus, the Romeyn, the Wil- kins, the Toms, the Felch and Palmer, the Walker, and the Wilkins on Manuscripts. OTTICIAL DOCUMENTS. Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan, 1861- 1865. journals of the House of Representatives, l861-1865. Journals of the Senate, 1861-1865. Joint Documents of the State of Michigan, 1861-1865. I}ocuments of the House of Representatives, l861-1865. Documents of the Senate, l861-1865. PAMPHILFTS. Abstract of the Proceedings of the Grand Council of the U.L.A. (Union League of America) for the State of Michigan, at Detroit, Sept., 1863. 16 pages. Bowen Collection. Proceedings of the State Grand Council of the U. L. A. of Michigan, at the Special Meeting held at Detroit, March 2, 1864. 27 pages. With these Proceedings are bound the Proceed- ings of the Executive Committee. Bowen Collection. Atwood, W. S. The Political Issues of the Day, 1860. Issued by Republican Committee. Bowen Collection. Bagg, B. Rush. Address delivered at the Republican Wig- wam, Detroit, Nov. 5, 1860. Burton Historical Collection. Bishop, Levi. The Political Situation, Dec. 4, 1865. º iſ Observations upon the Proposal to amend the Federal Constitution, Abolishing Slavery throughout the United States, and the History of Parties, and the Condition and Pro spects of the Country. Jan. 19, 1865. Bowen Collection. Eldredge, Azariah. A sermon Preached to the United con- gregations at the Fort Street Presbyterian Church, Nov. 29, 1860. Bowen Collection, Detroit Public Library. Copperhead Conspiracy in the Northwest and Copperhead Catheci sm. Burton Historical Collection. Facts for the People, An address of the Republican Central Committee of Ingham County, July 23, 1860. Burton Historical Collection. Fairfield, Rev. Formund B. , L.L. D. Christial Patriotism, A Sermon Preached in Representatives' Hall, Lansing, Feb. 22, 1863. Bowen Collection. - McCoskry, Rt. Rev. Samual. A Sermon Preached in St. Paul's Church, Detroit, Sept. 26, 1861. Bowen Collection. Jennison, Wm. , Jr. Oration on the Uniori, delivered at Clarkston, July 4, 1865. Bowen Collection. - - Joy, James F. Addres 5 to the Legislature, Jan. 5, 1863. tº " . " The Testimony of General Hitchcock and the Peninsular Campaign, Feb. 4, 1863. Rowen Collection. Rattle snakes and Copperheads, or Rhyme s for Thie Times. Furton Historical Collection. 241. Seward, W. H. The National Devergence and Return, Speech delivered in Detroit, Sept. 4, 1860. Burton Historical Collec- tion. Smart, Rev. James. S. A Fast Day Sermon, Jan. 4, 1861. Powen Collection. The True Design of the Chicago Convention, or The Con- spiracy of the Rebels and the Peace Democrats. U.L.A. Pan- phlet. Burton Historical Collection. Warner, Wm. soldiers' Suffrage, Speech in Legislature of Michigan, Jan. 28, 1864. Burton Historical Collection. MICHICAN NEWSPAPERS. The Adrian Expositor, Adrian, (1860-1865, incomplete); Public Library, Adrian. The American Citizen, Jackson, (Sept. 1, 1861-Aug. 24, 1864). Also called The True Citizen, The Weekly Citizen and The Jackson citizen: Public Library, Jackson. The Ann Arbor Journal, Ann Arbor, (Aug. 18, 1858-Aug. 1, l660; Aug. 25, 1860-1863); Library, University of Michigan. The Battle Creek Journal, Bay City, (Oct. 1864-Jan. 1866). The Bay City Press, Bay City, (Sept. 1859-Sept. 1860). The Bay City Press and Times, Bay City, (Sept. 1860-Oct. 1864). These Bay City papers are in Public Library, Bay City. - The Detroit Daily Advertiser, Detroit, (Jan. 1, 1860-July 7, 1862). - The Detroit Daily Tribune, Detroit, (Jan. 1, 1860-July 7, 1862). The Detroit Advertiser, and Tribune, Detroit, (July 8, 1862– June 1877). The Detroit Free Press, Detroit, (1860-1865). Public I, ibrary, Detroit. The Coldwater Union Sentinel, Coldwater, (April 22, 1864- Aug. 26, 1860). - The Branch County Republican, Coldwater (seven issues). The Coldwater Daily Union, Coldwater (twenty-five issues); in Collections Branch County Historical Society, Coldwater Pub- lic Library. The Grand Rapids Eagle, Grand Rapids, (1856-1860, 1863– 1865). - The Grand Rapids Weekly Eagle, Grand Rapids, (1864-1868). The Grand Rapids Weekly Enquirer, Grand Rapids, (1860- 1862). The Grand Rapids Enquirer and Herald, Grand Rapids, (1857– 1861. Ryerson Public Library Puilding, Grand Rapids. The Hillsdale Standard, Hillsdale, (1860-1865); Mitchell Public Library, Hillsdale. The Hudson Gazette, Hudson, (1860-1865); Public Library, Hudson. The Jackson Patriot, Jackson, (1844-1865); in Patriot Office, Jackson. The Lansing State Republican, Lansing, (Jan. 12, 1858-Apr. 23, 1862); in Michigan State Library, Lansing. (Vol. for 1880-1861; 1861-1863; 1864-Nov. 1865)--Library, Michigan Agri- cultural College, East Lansing. The Manistee Gazette, Manistee, (1864-1865), Manistee City, Public and School Library, Manis tee. 2.43 The Marshall Statesman, Marshall, (1839–1892); in poss- ession of Mr. W. R. Lewis, Marshall. Issues July 30, 1856- Nov. 30, 1864 reported in Michigan State Library, Lansing. The Michigan Argus, Ann Arbor, (June 18, 1861-1865); Library, University of Michigan. The Muskegon Reporter, Muskegon, (Aug. 28, 1859-Sept. 24, 1864); The Hackley Public Library, Muskegon. The Michigan State Journal, Lansing. (three copies for period). Michigan State Library, Lansing. The Michigan State News, Ann Arbor, (Aug. 28, 1860– June 23, 1863); Library, University of Michigan. The Niles Democrat-Republican, Niles, (Jan. 23, 1858- March 29, 1862); Michigan State Library, Lansing. The Peninsular Courier, Ann Arbor, (Jan. 18, 1861-Jan. 8, 1863); Library, University of Michigan. - The Pontiac Gazette, Pontiac, (1860, 1862, 1864, 1865); Furton Historical Collection. The Saginaw Enterprise, Saginaw, (1860-1865, incomplete); Hoyt Public Library, Saginaw. The True Democrat, Ypsilanti, (March ll, l064-March 10, - 1865). Name became The Ypsilanti Commercial, March 10, 1865; Women's Free Library, Ypsilanti. 244 GENERAL WORKS. C. R. Tuttle, General History of Michigan, 1874. James W. Campbell, Outline of the Political History of Silas Farmer, History of Detroit and Michigan, 2 vols. , 1884. Thomas M. Cooley, Michigan (American Commonwealth Series), 1886. Henry M. Utley, Byron M. Cutcheon, and C. M. Burton, Ad- visory editor, Michigan as a Province, Territory and state, 4 vol. , 1906. Lawton T. Hemans, History of Michigan, l906. Charles Moore, History of Michigan, l015. 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