1 m THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS ^y* /^ ^r— L ^.^—^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/historyofrepubliOOflow_0 llV HISTORY m E REPUBLICAN PARTY, -EMBRACING ITS ORIGIN, GROWTH AND MISSION, TOGETHER WITH APPENDICES OF STATISTICS AND INFORMATION REQUIRED BY ENLIGHTENED POLITICIANS AND PATRIOTIC CITIZENS. BY FRANK A. FLOWER. ILLUSTRATED. Springfield, III.: Union Publishing Company. 1884. Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year Eighteen Hundred>nd Eighty-four, Bi" FRANK A. FLOWER, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Springfiixd, III.: State Journal Co., Printers, PREFATORY REMARKS. THIS History of the Republican Party is, as it was de- signed to be, partisan. But devotion to Republicanism does not imply apostacy from truth. The book contains nothing not known or believed to be true. The volume is essential^ historical, containing, it is firni- Ij believed, a more authentic and detailed account of the early organization, struggles and disciples of the Republican Party than has hitherto been published in any form what- soever. After tracing the growth of freedom and equality through a long period of darkness and crime, it presents sketches of all the Republican State movements in 1854; how, by whom and when the name Republican was suggested and adopted; a view of the Provisional Republican National Con- vention of February, 1856, and of the eight Nominating Con- ventions which have followed it; the salient features of the various Political Campaigns; lists of Delegates by States to National Conventions; historical accounts of Republican Ad- ministrations and of the lives of the Republican Presidents; the Financial Achievements of the party; Election Methods in the South; Condition and Prospects of the African race; a succinct chapter on the Tariff; Letters of Acceptance of the Presidential candidates; Membership of National Commit- tees since 1856; Official callsfor Conventions; popular Biogra- ty PREFACE. phies of James G. Blaine and John A. Logan, and much other interesting matter, together with Appendices of useful information not otherwise to be had in such convenient form. The scope and contents of this volume amply justify the claim that it is not a catch-penny invention, put forth to reap a harvest from the enthusiasm and excitement of a Presi- dential campaign. It was planned as a work of permanent value. For kindly aid in its preparation, the author desires to return special thanks to Isaac P. Christiancy, of Michigan; Jas. S. Clarkson, of Iowa; John Sherman and B. R. Cowen, of Ohio; H. C. Whitley, of Kansas; John Went worth, of Illinois; Elisha W. Keyes and John Walworth, of Wis- consin; Mark D. Flower, of Minnesota; Alden Sprague, of Maine; George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts; Norman M. Allen, of New York; Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, and the officers and members of the National Republican Committee. The author is particularly desirous that young men should read and ponder the facts herein presented, that they may, perhaps, obtain a fuller understanding of the principles which guide and control this mighty Republic, and be further aided to judge intelligently which political party is most worthy of their support. „ k _ F. A. F. Madison, Wis., July 1, 1881. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. SOURCE OF REPUBLICANISM. The United States the Foremost Nation of the Earth— What Made It So— The Mission of the Republican Party Not Ended— Source of Republi- canism—Slavery—The Seed of the Church— The Original Meaning of. Slave— Slaves First Brought Into Virginia Colony— The Part Played by Great Britain— Georgia's Opposition— Jefferson's Arraignment of the Crown— Slavery in the Articles of Confederation— Taxation and Repre- sentation 9 CHAPTER II. IN THE BEGINNING-ACQUIRING TERRITORY. Noble Preachment, Miserable Practice —The Quakers First to Protest— Ter- ritory from Great Britain— What theVarious States Claimed— Jefferson's Deed of Cession Defeated— Nathan Dane's Ordinance of 1787— Results of Defeating Jefferson's Deed— Attempts to Suspend the Great Ordi- nance of Freedom— Partial Success in Indiana— Illinois Wanted Slavery —Missouri and Illinois: a Prediction— Contemptible Trickery of Flesh- brokers in Illinois Defeated— Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama Admitted with Slavery IT CHAPTER III. CONSTITUTIONAL SLAVERY— THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. The Arrogant Demands of the Masters— Slaves Must Be Property for One Purpose but Persons for Another— Slavery or No Union— Five Serfs Equal to Three Freemen— The First Public Disgrace— Shabby Treat- ment of Great Britain— The Louisiana Purchase— The Price Paid— Or- ganization of Orleans and Missouri— The Great Compromise of 1820— No Slavery Forever North of 36 Degrees and 30 Minutes North Latitude — Maine and Missouri Admitted— The Territory of Arkansas— Violated JFaith- A Black Picture 26 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. PRICE OF FLORIDA-A THRILLING CHAPTER. The Seminoles— Slaves Escape into Their Country— Georgia's Unlawful Expedition— Resentment by Spain— Blowing- Up an Abandoned Fort- Two Hundred and Seventy Defenseless Persons Killed— Battle on the Suwannee River— Jackson's Servility— Scott Relieved— Seizure of Osce- ola and His Wife— Gen. Jessup's Wavering Policy— Blood-hounds Im- ported from Cuba— Jessup Violates the Flag of Truce— The Disappointed Cherokees— Eight Years of War for Slavery— Removal of the Semi- noles— An Astounding Judgment as to Titles in Human Beings— The Purchase of Stolen Property Creates a Good Title— Fugitives Escape into Mexico— They Are Followed by Slave-Catchers— A Bloody Battle and Victory— Peace and Freedom at Last— Florida a Costly Prize 31 CHAPTER V. RIGHTS OF PETITION DENIED— THE MAILS RIFLED. James H. Hammond and the "Impropriety" of Free Speech— John Adams Censured— His Petition from Slave Women— Raving Southerners- Lewis Falls into an Exasperating Blunder— The Circulators of Abolition Documents Should Be Punished— Barbarism of Rev. Woods— The Charleston Postofflce Rifled— Amos Kendall's Remarkable Position- Jackson's Message and John C. Calhoun's Bill Relating to Use of the Mails by Abolitionists— Wm. Lloyd Garrison Indicted in North Carolina —Brazen Demand of Gov. Gayle, of Alabama— Anti-Slavery Sentiment Thriving upon Persecution *^ CHAPTER VI. MARTYRDOM OF ELIJAH P. LOVE JOY. Early Life of Lovejoy— He Edits an Anti-Slavery Paper in St. Louis— De- nounces Burning Slaves at the Stake and Has His Office Demolished— Removes to Alton— Press Destroyed— The Missouri Republican Advises Mobbing— Another Press Destroyed— His Bravery Before the Infuri- ated Democrats— Relation by Geo. T. M. Davis, of New York— A Third Press Destroyed— A "Quiet and Gentlemanly" Mob -Attacked While Watching His Sick Wife— His Own Account of It-The Democrats Meet and Order Him to Cease Discussing Slavery or Leave Alton— The Nigh'. of November 7, 1837— The Attack Described by Lovejoy's Surviving Brothers— Shot Dead— Democrats Jeer as the Funeral Procession Passes— At Rest Between Two Oaks— The Grand Jury's Miserable Trav- esty—The Country Fired from Ocean to Ocean— Hie Jacet Lovejoy it CHAPTER VII. GENERAL VIOLENCE-EXPULSION OF SAMUEL HOAR. Digraceful Mob in Cincinnati— A « 'Conquered" Province of Kentucky- Bloodshed and Rapine in Philadelphia— Churches and Dwellings De- molished— Giddings Arraigns the Slave Power— Dawson Draws a Dagger in the Hallsof Congress-A Threat to CutOff Giddings* Ears— A General Index to the Intolerance and Fierceness of Slavocracy— Southern States, TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII Seize, Imprison and Sell Citizens of the North— Their Acts Declared Un- constitutional but Without Effect— Massachusetts Sends Samuel Hoar to Charleston— The Legislature Orders the Governor to Expel Him— He is Waited Upon and Warned to Leave in Order to Avoid Violence — Not Frightened— The Mob Embarrassed by the Presence of Mr. Hoar's Daughter— Compelled at Last to Return to Massachusetts— Henry Hub- bard goes to New Orleans on a Similar Errand and Meets with Similar Treatment— A Disgraceful Affair 60 CHAPTER VIII. TEXAS. LOPEZ, OREGON, CALIFORNIA. Texas Relinquished for Florida— Slave-holding Settlers on Mexican Soil— The Machinations of Adventurers and Desperadoes— Americans Forbid- den by Mexico to Settle in Texas— Sam Houston's Conquest— Texas Becomes aQuasi-Republic— It Must Be Annexed or the Union Dissolved —Protest and Withdrawal of the Mexican Minister— Annexation Fol- lowed by War with Mexico— Remarkable Prophecies Against th i Slave Power— Expedition of Southerners Under Narciso Lopez to Cuba— De- feat and Death— Young Democrats Captured and Carried to Spain— The Spanish Consul at New Orleans Mobbed— California With or With- out Slavery— More Slave States or Disunion— Compromise of 1850— The Barbarous Fugitive Slave Act— Webster's Speech and Prophecy TO CHAPTER IX KANSAS AND NEBRASKA— A BLOODY CHAPTER. The Slave-Breeders' Last and Mo't Desperate Sally— Douglas' Squatter Sovereignty Bill— Douglas Resided in Illinois but Held Slaves in Missis- sippi—Proposal to Repeal the Missouri Compromise— Vote on the Pass- age of the Bill in the Senate— Disgraceful Scenes— Vote in the House on May 22, 1851 — Settlers Pour into Kansas— Immigrants From Free States Intercepted and Assaulted— Resolutions by the Desperadoes — The Federal Government Sends an Army to Support the Border Kufnans — The Election of November 29, 1851— Shocking Laws Again-t Freedom Adopted by the Slaveryites— A Congressional Committee Discovers Gross Frauds— Gov. Reeder Removed— Militia From the Slave States— The U. S. Marshal Places Them on Federal Pay— Lawrence Sacked— The Free Legislature Dispersed by Federal Troops Commanded by Slave-holders— The Legislature Again Dispe-sed tor "Treason"— Gov. Geary Resigns— Gov. Walker Appointed, but Shocked at Federal Ex- cesses, Resigns— Gov. Denver Resigns and is Succeeded by Gov. Medary— Peace Restored and a Free Constitution Adopted— Kansas Admitted in 1861— A Frightful Record of Democratic Misdeeds 81 CHAPTER X. THE BLUDGEON IN THE SENATE. Charles Sumner's "Crime Against Kais is"— SUvocraey Arousad— Its Devotees Contrive Violence— Preston S. Brooks Assaults Sumner — Committees Appointed to Investiga'e— Henry Wilson, Sumner's Col- league, Describes the Affair— Brooks' Egotistical Speech— Jeff. Davis and the "Chivalry" Cast Laurels upon the Assailant— The Richmond Enquirer's Brutal Sentiments— Sumner and His Friends Must Hang or the Union Dissolve— South' Carolina Resolutions— Southern Sentiment VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS. —Other Northern Freemen Threatened with Similar Treatment— Sum- ner Never Fully Recovered— Ultimate Results of the Ruffianism of Brooksand His Friends 96 CHAPTER XI. THE DRED SCOTT DECISION. Dred Scott, an Alleged Slave, Brings Suit for Assault and for His Freedom -r-Statement of the Case— He Wins but the Superior Court Reverses the Decision— Scott Appeals to the United States Supreme Court— Roger B. Taney's Sophistry— Himself and Four Other Justices Were Slave- Holders—Justices Curtis and McLean Dissent— The Decision Analyzed —What It Declared— Missouri Compromise Unconstitutional— Ordi- nance of 1787 Unconstitutional— The Free States Astir— Martin Van Buren Tells What the Supreme Court Attempted to Do— The Slave- holding Justices Became Mere Political Quacks— They Wanted to Save Slavery and Democracy— What They Ought to Have Done— The Unlaw- ful, Iniquitous Foundation of American Slavery 105 CHAPTER XII. BOOTH AND CLOVER— STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS AT LOGGER- HEADS. An Active Friend of Freedom— Joshua Glover Kidnapped— Beaten and Manacled— The Public Excited— Mass-Meetings Held— Writ of Habeas Corpus Refused by Judge Miller— The Fugitive Liberated by the People —An Exciting Ride— Booth Arrested by the Federal Court— Released by the State Court— Justice smith's Opinion — Booth Re arrested— Tried and Partially Convicted— Judge Miller Sentences Him on the Charges of Which He Was Acquitted, as Well as on the Others, to Imprison- ment for Life— Subscriptions by Charles Sumner and Others— The State Court Again Orders Him Released— A Demonstration by the People — The United States Supreme Court threatens the Clerk of the State Court —Defiance of the Federal Court— The Record Captured by the Washing- ton Justices — Another Suit Against Booth— He is Imprisoned on the Old Charge— Is Rescued, Chased, Captured and Re-imprisoned— Sends a Communication to President Buchanan — Attorney-General Black As- swered It to Please the Man-stealers— Stanton Discovers Black's Error- Buchanan's Last Official Act— Effect of the Prolonged Persecution — Wisconsin Turned the Battery of State-rights Upon the Southerners — Paid in Their Own Coin, though som e of it was Probably Counterfeit. . . . 120 CHAPTER XIII. A GLIMPSE AT SLAVERY— THE MOBILE BOOKSELLERS. What Mr. Patten saw in Missouri— A Blacksmith called in to Beat a Slave Woman— Frightful Chastisement — Her Husband Attempts to Rescue Her— A Mob Gathers to See What Shall be Done— Condemned to One Thousand Lashes— His Flesh Riddled in Presence of Three Physicians- Whipped Day after Day, According to His Endurance— Brutality Un- paralleled— The Mobile Booksellers— Extract from the Mobile Tribune — Win. Strickland and Edwin Upson— Driven from Mobile— Mr. Strickland Returns and is Again Expelled— He States His Offense— Sells two copies of Fred Douglass' "My Bondage and Freedom' ' — "Attention Lunen- burgers"— Mr. Upson's Statement— Extraordinary Persecution and In- justice—Shall the Country Pass into the Control of Such People 13 TABLE OF CONTENTS. II CHAPTER XIV. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY-ITS NAME Gradual Consolidation of Scattered Forces— The Kansas-Nebraska Bill Fires the North— A Modest Patriot Watches His Opportunity— Plans Previously Matured— Numerous Pretenders— Henry Wilson's Testi- mony—A. E. Bovay Writes to Greeley Suggesting the Name "Republi- can" Be Advocated in the New York Tribune— Tells How and When He Did It— Greeley was Moved— Why a New Party was Demanded— Meet- ings for its Formation- Whiggery Dead But IJnburied— Begging to Have Its Carcass Spared— Not a Blind, Unconscious Movement— The Tlcst Republican Committee— The Name Should Not Be Adopted in Ripon, but Come Apparently from a More Noteworthy Source— Major Bovay tells tbe Whole Story— Greeley and Bovay Break Bread and Read Telegrams from the Whig Convention of 1852— Scott's Defeat Pre- dicted—A New Party Demanded— Its Name Should Be Republican- Reasons for Choosing that Title— "Who Could Fight Under the Shadow of a Goose."— Mrs. Bovay's Confirmatory Letter— David' P. Mapes Makes a Statement— Corroboratory Letter from Judge E. L. Runals... 145 CHAPTER XV. THE REPUBLICAN GENESIS. Greeley's Timidity— A Deaf Ear to Bovay's Early Pleadings— The Moun- tain Must Come to Mahommet— Aroused at Last— Sends Fire Brands Among the Philistines— The New York Tribune Declares All the Old Parties Have Outlived Their Usefulness— The Whigs Astounded— The Plan of 1832 Again Urged Upon Greeley in 1854 — LetterfromMr. Bovay Containing an Outline of His Plan— Greeley Still Hesitated— Fac Simile of His Reply— He Enters Upon the Task of Solidifying all the Oppo- nents of Slavery and Slavery Extension— He Indorses the Name— The Great Contest Fairly Begun 156 CHAPTER XVI. ORGANIZING FOR BATTLE-MICHIGAN LEADS. Michigan Acts— Meeting of the Free-Democracy— Patriotic Resolutions- Historical Letter by Isaac P. Christiancy— First Meeting in the Office of the Peninsular Freeman— A Plan agreed Upon— A Call for a Mass- Convention of all Parties Drafted and Circulated— It Receives Thou- sands of Signatures— Copy of the One Published in Detroit— The Peo- ple Meet "Under the Oaks" at Jackson— A Typical Gathering— The Organization— The Platform— A Ticket Nominated— Speeches-Victory —Record of Michigan 169 CHAPTER XVII. WISCONSIN, INDIANA, AND OTHER STATES IN LINE. Wisconsin Makes an Early Move— Great Meeting in the Park at Madison- Organization, Speeches and Platform— Formal Adoption of the Name Republican— An Evening Meeting— Corn for the "Shanghais"— Victory and a Republican United States Senator— Indiana— Schuyler Colfax'a Paper Leads Off— Chapman's Chanticleer Prints the Call for a Mass- Convention— 10, 000 Persons Respond— An Ungracious Custodian of TABLE OF CONTENTS. Public Property— A Delegation of 500 Democrats— The Speakers— The Platform— A Ticket Nominated— Confirmed at the Polls— Schuyler Col- fax Goes to Congress— Vermont Whigs and Free-Democrats Meet— Mass-Convention at Montpelier on July 13— Republicanism Formally Espoused— The Platform— The "Nebraskals" Whipped— Massachusetts Freemen Convene at Worcester— A Republican Platform — A Second Convention Meets and Selects a Ticket Which is Defeated— A Good Start— Claims of New York Examined— Extract from the Tribune— Con- vention at Saratoga— Preston King's Letter— Gist of the Platform- Snow's Resolution — John P. Hale's Speech— Whig Ticket Endorsed— A Mongrel Victory— Ohio— Iowa— Maine— Pennsylvania— Other States... 182 CHAPTER XVIII. ORGANIZING FOR THE NATIONAL STRUGGLE. Attempt to Regalvanize Whiggery— Aggressions of the Slavocracy— Plans to Capture Cuba and other Hot Countries— Riot in Boston — Federal Troops in the State Court-rooms— Virginia Speaks Her Mind— The Georgia Plan of Destroying Republicans— A Slave Woman Kills Her Child to Save it From Bondage— Sentiments of the South— Call for a National Consultation Meeting— The Pittsburg Convention— Lovejoy's Petition to Almighty God — Committees— Eloquent Speeches— The Ad- dress 207 CHAPTER XIX. FIRST NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. The First Call— Delegates Meet in Philadelphia on June 17, 1856— Commit- tees Appointed— Permanent Organization— Nominations for President — Letters from S. P. Chase and John McLean— Fremont Chosen— The Vote— W. L. Dayton Nominated for Vice-President— Exciting Scenes— The Nominations Well Received— Buchanan and his Record— Senti- ments of Preston S. BrookS, Lawrence M. Keitt and Other Slave-Hold- ing Democrats— Disunion Threatened— An Army to Resist the Inaugu- ration of Fremont— An Exciting Campaign— Buchanan Elected 216 CHAPTER XX. CONVENTION OF 1860. The Nation Intensely Excited— Several Candidates for the Presidency— Con- vention meets in Chicago on May 16— Curiosities of the Day— The Mon- ster Bowie-knife— Potter Describes his Difficulty with Pryor— Lists of Committees— Permanent Officers— Greeley's Slavery Resolution— Gid dings offers an Amendment— Leaves the Convention— Geo. Wm. Curtis Triumphs— Seward's Supporters— A Noisy Night— Presentation of Can- didates—Terrific Demonstrations— Taking the Ballot— A Moment of Suspense— Lincoln Nominated— A Scene of Excitement— Candid ites for the Vice-Presidency— Hannibal Hamlin Nominated— Chicago after the Convention— Rails from the Sangamon Bottoms— An Extraordinary Campaign— Sentiments and Utterances of the South— Lincoln Elected —Equal Rejoicing North and South 226 TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XXI. CONDITION OF THE REPUBLIC FROM 1856 TO 1860. The Grasp of Slavocracy— Buchanan's Wily Cabinet— Advice of Southern Senators and Governors— Federal Officials Resign— Buchanan's Servil- ity—Attorney-General Black's Extraordinary Opinion— The Republic Has No Means or Power of Self-preservation— Black' sTrick— The Pres- ident's Message— Treason's Revelry in Washing-ton— The Administra- tion Watches in Silence While Davis Builds up the Southern Confeder- acy—Disarming- the North— Arms and Stores for the South— Lincoln Escapes the Assassins and is Inaugurated— His Calm, Kin ily Message —Beauregard Fires Upon Fort Sumtir— Lincoln's Procla nation— Jef- ferson Davis Asks the Aid of Divine Providence— Lincoln's Policy- Emancipation Proclamation— Democratic Army Officers Resign &nd Return Home— A Sound War Measure as Well as an Act of Humanity — Grant at the Head of the Army— A Grim Warrior who Never Faltered. . 25L CHAPTER. XXII. CONVENTION OF 1864. Lincoln Held the Confidence of the World— Brutally Abused by the Sedi- tious Democracy— He Must be Re-nominated— The National Republican Convention Meets in Baltimore on June 7— Edwin D. Morgan's Address —Temporary Officers— Plea for the Republicans of the Rebellious States —Permanent Organization— Addresses by * 'Parson" Brownljw and Others— Lincoln Chosen on the First Ballot — Unrestrained Enthusiasm — Andrew Johnson for Vice-President— A Vigorous Campaign— Fre- mont's Candidacy— He Finally Withdraws With a Parthian Shot at Lin- coln— Vallandigham and His Crew Meet and Nominate George B. Mc- Clellan— H. Clay Dean's Libelous Prayer— "Ape, Jackass or Hyena' '— Plan of the Democracy— Lincoln's Triumphant Re-election 273. CHAPTER XXIII. ANOTHER TROUBLOUS PERIOD. Lincoln Auspiciously Inaugurated— Tbe North Strong and Hopeful— The South Weak and Fainting — Grant Before the Gates of Richmond— The Stars and Stripes Float Over Richmond— Gen. R. E. Lee Surrenders His Entire Army— Joseph E. Johnston Surrenders— Jefferson Davis In the Wilderness— The Confederate "Government" in a Carpet-bag— Davis and Other Confederates Captured on May 10, 1883— His Hood and Water- proof—Rebel Documents Burned— Democratic Hatred of Lincoln— Plots for his Assassination— Shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth- Death on April 15, 1865— Ruffianly Assault on Seward— Entire Cabinet to Have Been Murdered — Jefferson Davis Supposed to Have Been the Head Conspirator— President Johnson Offers a Reward for His Capture as Such— The North Weeps, the South Rejoices— Johnson's Policy- Reconstruction— Rebels to the Front— Secession Leaders Not Permitted to EnterCongress— Their Status— Johnson and the Northern Democracy Enraged— A Reign of Terror in the South— Dead-lock Between Congress and the President— Articles of Impeachment— Not Legally Convicted— Unfaithful Republicans— Southern States Admitted— Amendments of the Constitution— A Disastrous Administration XII TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. CONVENTION OP 1868. The People'^ Choice— Pre-disposing Events— A Soldier's Convention— Res- olutions— The Veterans Denounce the Republican Friends of Andrew Johnson -Temporary Officers— Four Lists of Committees by States- Permanent Organization— Wm. Pitt Fessenden's Brother— The Soldiers Received — A "Reconstructed Rebel' '—Question of Admitting Terri- tories and Unreconstructed States— They are Admitted— Struggle over the Vice-Presidency— No More Johnsons Wanted— Carl Schurz Amends the Platform— Grant Nominated Unanimously— The Vote— Presenta- tion of Candidates for Second Place— Schuyler Colfax Nominated on the Fifth Ballot— The Vote— "Let Us Have Peace"— The Democrats, So-called, Meet— A Secession Crowd— Horatio Seymour Nominated— A Roaring Campaign— Vallandigham's Threat— Grant Elected 292 CHAPTER XXV. CONVENTION OF 1872-GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. Delegates Meet on June 5, at Philadelphia— No Factions— Lists of Commit- tees by States— A Season of Speeches— Permanent Organization— Rules of the Convention— Resolutions by the Union League of America— The Colored Orators— Paul Strobach's Story— Grant Nominated— He Re- • ceives Every Vote in the Convention— Songs and Cheers— Democracy and Republicanism Contrasted— Candidates for Vice-President— The Vote— Henry Wilson Nominated— Greeley Leads the Democrats— Jere- miah S. Black and Charles Sumner— Ridiculous Features— Southern Butcheries— Grant's Great Majority— Poor Greeley— Grant's Successful Administration 304 CHAPTER XXVI. CONVENTION OF 1876— ADMINISTRATION OF R. B. HATES. The Delegates Meet at Cincinnati on June 14— Speech of Theo. M. Pome- roy— Lists of Committees— Permanent Organization— Equal Suffrage and Kindred Subjects— The Chinese Question Discussed— Vote on Hie Anti-Chinese Resolution— Presentations of Candidates— Robert G. In- gersoll's Glowing Speech— The Seven Ballots for Presidential Candi- dates— R. B. Hayes Chosen— Conkling Defeated Blaine— W. A. Wheeler for Vice-President— A Notification Committee— The Strength of Hayes Increases Day by Day— Samuel J. Tilden and Anti-Resumption— Close Results of the Election— Civil Strife Feared and Threatened— The Elec- toral Commission— It Declares Hayes Duly Elected— Administration of R. B. Hayes— Resumption of Specie Payments— Refunding the Nation- al Debt— Important Achievements 318 CHAPTER XXVII. CONVENTION OF 1880— ADMINISTRATION OF C. A. ARTHUR. Delegates Meet in Chicago on June 2— Large Gathering— Temporary Organ- ization— Speech of George F. Hoar— Lists of Committees— Permanent Organization— Conkling's Resolutions of Impressment— Determined Contest over the "Unit-Rule"— Designed to Help Grant— Its Defeat— Boutwell's Resolution— Webster Flanagan's Sentiments— Gavel of Hia- TABLE OF CONTENTS. VfTI toric Timber— Presentation of Candidates— Garfield's Speech— The First Ballot— Thirty-five Additional Ballots— 36th Ballot in Detail— Scene After its Anouncement— Candidates for the Vice-Presidency— Chester A. Arthur Chosen— Committee of Notification— The Canvass— Disgrace- ful Assaults on Garfield— The Criminal Morey-Chinese Letter— Its Effect —Garfield Elected— He Carried Nineteen States and 216 Electoral Votes —Auspicious Opening of Garfield's Reign— Shot by a Disappointed Office-seeker— A Long Period of Suffering— Death— The Whole World in Mourning— Arthur Takes the Oath of Office— He Enters Upon a Difficult Task— A Dignified and Successful Administration— Good-will and Confidence Take the Place of Coldness and Distrust 335 CHAPTER XXVIII. CONVENTION OF 1884. Almost a Solid North against a Solid South— The Enthusiastic Masses for Blaine— The Cool and Diplomatic Support of Arthur— Independents, Reformers and Some Genuine Republicans Unite on Edmunds— Ten Thousand People Called to Order by Dwight M.Sabin— His Address— J. R. Lynch .Elected over Powell Clayton for Temporary Chairman- Vote by States— Lynch's Address— Lists of Officers and Committees- Resolutions in Regard to Labor, Representation in Future Conven- tions, Liquor Trafic and Foreign Ownership of Lands— Oath of Alle- giance Defeated— John B. Henderson Chosen Permanent Chairman— His Address— Resolutions in Regard to Equal Suffrage— The Knights of Labor — Reports of Committee on Rules — The Minority Favor a Change in Representation— Eloquent Speeches in Opposition— It is De- feated— Nomination of Joseph R Hawley, of John A. Logan, of James G. Blaine, of Chester A. Arthur, of John Sherman and of George F. Edmunds— Uproarious Demonstrations— The Balloting Begins— 334^4 for Blaine, 278 for Arthur— Blaine Gains Steadily and is Nominated on the Fourth Ballot— Logan's Patriotic Telegram— The Ballot in Detail— Burleigh Moves, on Behalf of President Arthur, to Make the Nomina- tion Unanimous— Presentation of John A. Logan for Second Place- All the Speeches are for One Man— The Ballot in Detail— 779 for Logan, 7 for Foraker and 6 for Gresham — Enthusiastic Reception of the Nomi- nees—Few Sores and Disappointments— A Strong Ticket 355 CHAPTER XXIX. FINANCES— NEW BANKING BASIS SUGGESTED .' Work for the Republicans— What the Democracy Bequeathed Us— Nations are Like Individuals— Our First Greenbacks— Democratic Opposition— The Strengthening Act— Chase's Letter— The Resumption Act— Demo- cratic Record on Resumption— Detailed Account of John Sherman's Refunding and Resumption Operations— Opposition to his Ideas— Pre- diction of Failure— Unexpected Success— High National Credit— Fort's Bill— Decisions of the Courts on Greenbacks— Recent Re-affirmations— Proposed Anti-Greenback Amendments of the Constitution— Bland's Counterfeit Silver Dollar— A Wicked and Disastrous Financial Device —Free Coinage— "Double' ' Standards— The National Banking System —Its Stability and Safety— It Should be Retained— Gold Bullion a Basis for Circulation— Taxation of Banks— The Republican Party Alone Ca- pable of Settling this Question 377 XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXX. THE TARIFF— ENGLAND AND THE SOUTH. Object of a Tariff— Free-Trade in Colleges- England Wants Free Trade- She Also Favored Secession— Natural Condition of Great Britain— She Has People and Factories, but no Food or Raw Material— The United States Has People, Food and Raw Material and Wants Factories— The South in Slave Times— The South of To-Day— She Wanted Free-Trade Then— She Wants Protection Now— The Democracy Her Chief Enemy —History Repeats Itself— The Khedive and the Mamelukes— Inequali ties of the Present Tariff — England's Early Oppression of America- Cruel Penalties Against Colonial Enterprise— Effects of the Revolution — Again Crippled By British Masters— ( lamor for a New Constitution- It is Framed— The First Tariff Bill at once Enacted— General Rejoicing —Tariff of 1816— Delight of England and the Slave-holders— Unpatriotic Agents in Our Midst— How England Built Up Her Prowess — A Pound of Wool Makes as Much Cloth Here as in England— How Can England, 3, 000 Miles Distant, Compete With Us— By Paying Low Wages— Consti- tutionality of the Tariff— Right of Self-Protection in Peace or War— Free-Traders' Plan of Gradual Starvation 391 CHAPTER XXXI. SECTIONALISM— SOUTHERN SENTIMENT. Difference Between the Solid South and the Solid North— "The Republic of Republics"— The North, Not the South, Guilty of Treason— Defense, Not Assault, is Crime— Southern Utterances— "The Confederacy ^till Exists and Jeff. Davis is Still Our President' ' — Hatred of the Union — Soldiers' Pensions— The South Complains of Their Payment— Jeff . Davis Speaks— The "Lost Cause" Still Right— How to Teach Treason to Chil- dren—Is There Any Danger in Keeping the South Out of Power Yet Longer — Material Condition of the Late Slave States — Captain Gilles- pie's Wish— Excursion Tickets for Southern Democrats— Sentiment of the North— Not Reciprocated by the South— What the Cotton States Might Be— Opportunities for Profitable Investment— Why They Are Unoccupied— Transfiguration of Atlanta and Chattanooga 407 CHAPTER XXXII. THE NEGRO— IS HIS CONDITION HOPELESS. Race Animosity Not Disappearing— Effect of Commercial Intercourse- Social Privileges Not Conferrable by Statute— Absurdity of Color Dis- tinction—Wherein the Negro is and is not Obnoxious — Deprivation of Semi-public Rights and Privileges— Disfranchisement— The Govern- ment Stultified by Its Failure to Protect its Own Citizens— The Colored People Disheartened— A Table of Significant Figures— Proscription and Degradation of Laborers— How Accomplished— Wages and Manner of Payment— Tricks of the Courts'and Other Officers— Why the Negroes Can be Held in Unlawful Bondage— Victims of Circumstances— Will the North Ever Help Them— If Not, Their Condition is Hopeless 418 CHAPTER XXXIII. SOUTHERN ELECTION METHODS— FRAUD, CRIME AND BLOOD. The Just Fate of Rebels— What the North Asked— What She Received— No Cessation of Hostilities— The Ku-Klux Klan— It Consisted of 550,000 Oath-bound Assassins— Its Doings in Tennessee— Its Texas Bmtcheries TABLE OF CONTENTS. \y too Numerous to be Kept in Account— Its Operations in Louisiana, the Carolinas and Alabama— Northern Teachers Driven Away— Election Diabolism in Louisiana— Frightful Massacre in 1866— Gen. P. H. Sheri- dan's Startling Report in 1875— Forty-two Hundred Fifty-six Killed and Wounded Republicans- Judge Woods States a Case— Grant Describes the Coushalta Murders— A List of the Slain By Parishes— An Appalling 1 Record— The Double-barreled Ballot-box— How It Is Managed— A Blood- saving Invention- The Carolinas— Fac Simile of Tissue Ballots— Mr. Miller Explains Their Use— Mississippi— The Chisolm Massacre— Vil- lainies of the "Shoe-string D strict"— Dishonesty of the Court— The Killing of J. P. Matthews— A Cold-blooded and Shocking Murder- Testimony- at the Investigation— The "Tail-hold Club"— Its Duties — Wheeler Rewarded— Acquitted by Blasphemous Jurors— Assassination of Young Real— Mrs. Chifolm's Bitter Rebuke of the Party 438 CHAPTER XXXIV. OUR DUTY TO THE SOUTH. The Preceding Chapter a Mere Index to the Truth— Disfranchised States- Has the South a Republican Form of Government— If Fraud Changes the Control of CongreES or the Politics of the Presidency, Is not the Nation Defrauded and Practically Disfranchised— How the Democrats Manacled the Government and Gave a Carte Blanche to Fraud and Riot —What a Republican Congress Can Do— Two Other Remedies— Arms and Ammunition for the Negroes— Lambs Never Attack Wolves— The Freedman is the Child and Ward of the Republican Party— That Party Will be Held Responsible for His Wrongs and Sufferings and His Ulti- mate Destiny— Let Us Rally as of Old 451 CHAPTER XXXV. WH.0 CAN SUPPORT THE DEMOCRACY? Foreign-born Citizens Should Be Republicans— Laborers Despised and Ma- ligned by the Aristocratic Democrats— Sentiments of Some of Their Leaders— No Honest Irishman Can Be an Honest Democrat— Results of the Republican Free-Homestead Law— Soldiers Can Not Vote the Dem- ocratic Ticket and Keep Their Record Consistent— No Reason for Turn- ing the Government Over to the Democracy 458 CHAPTER XXXVI. LIVES OF REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS. Abraham Lincoln— Ulysses S. Grant— Rutherford Birchard Hayes— James Abram Garfield— Chester Allan Arthur— The Republican Candidates for 1884— James Gillespie Blaine— John Alexander Logan 462 APPENDICES. NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CALLS, DELEGATES, PLATFORMS AND ACCEPTANCES Ill TABLE OF CONTENT8. ILLUSTRATIONS. Alvan E. Bovay, ------- Frontispiece School-house in which Bovay held his First Republican Meetings, - 148 Church in Which Bovay Named the Republican Party, - - 157 Fac Simile of Horace Greeley's Letter, - - - - - - 161 Horace Greeley, ......... ii^ John Charles Fremont, --------- 230 Wig-warn in Which Linco'n was Nominated, ----- 228 Abraham Lincoln, --------- 249 Ulysses S. Grant, 305 Rutherford B. Hayes, 339 James Abram Garfield, --------353 Chester Alan Arthur, --------- 367 Fac Simile of Tissue-ballots, 441 Jnmes Gillespie Blaine, .------- 505 John Alexander Logan, .-..--- - 530 CHAPTER L SOURCE OF REPUBLICANISM. The United States the Foremost Nation of the Earth— What Made It So — The Mission of the Republican Party Not Ended— Source of Republicanism— Slavery — The Seed of the Church — The Original Meaning of Slave — Slaves First Brought Into Virginia Colony— The Part Played by Great Britain — Georgia's Opposition— Jeffer- son's Arraignment of the Crown— Slavery in the Articles of Con- federation — Taxation and Representation. The Republican party has been, the most powerful cham- pion of freedom and equal rights in the world. The feeble and scattered elements that fifty years ago began to combine, here and there, were all lovers of human equality. Under various names, led by a purer patriotism far in advance of the different political organizations to which they had be- longed, they continued to grow in numbers and influence, until, composing a majority of their respective communities in this Republic, they were, in response to an inexorable law, drawn into one great spirited army, with a common purpose — equal and perpetual freedom for all — and a common name, Republican. McClellan, in his "Republicanism in America," declares that "of all the political organizations in America, none has had so hard a struggle for National existence as that known as the Republican party of to-day; nor has any political party in any country or age achieved so much for the advancement 10 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. of human liberty and the elevation upon a common platform of the religious and civil equality of all men before the law." Looking upon these facts as a complete and accomplished record, it is common for our enemies, and the more superficial members of our o*wn household, to regard the Republican party as an organization that has little more to do except keep itself in office. The cry that "the mission of the Republican party is ended," and that therefore small misfortune, except that it will place the Democrats in power, will result if it shall be dethroned, contains as little truth as the declaration that the mission of the church is ended because the Bible is^ printed. "Democracy is the creed of a province; it dwells in fetid wards. Republicanism is the religion of a Nation; it creates imperial commonwealths out of desert wastes." These "im- perial commonwealths" constitute the foremost nation of the earth — the American Republic. It leads them all in public school systems, home comforts, multiplicity of labor-saving machinery, public service, perfect autonomy of government for local communities, modes of travel, engines of general in- telligence, public caravansaries, means of adjudicating dis- putes between man and man, freedom of thought, religion, press and speech, and in the utmost freedom of action in in- dividuals consistent with good order and the rights of others, without the slightest government restraint or espionage. Notwithstanding the crimes of the South against the blacks, we hold the beacon of civil liberty and personal equality higher than any other nation. The light of our civ- ilization goes farther into the jungles of ignorance and bar- barism, deeper into the dungeons of tyranny and oppression than that of any other people. We are the loadstone of nations, the guiding star of the world. We have achieved this proud position since the great Re- publican party came into power. All these glories are the results of its policy, the offspring of its principles. Who can HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 11 •say such an organization has no further mission? Its mission i is as vitally important as ever. It must guard and protect the people's treasures; for the finer and richer the garden,, the more rank will be its growth of weeds when left without • the gardener's care. Christ was persecuted, betrayed and crucified for the emancipation of all mankind from the penalty of sin. The Republican party came into existence through scourges to kindle those fires of freedom which should melt the shackles from every slave, and obliterate every trace, effect and pros- pect of human servitude and political inequality in the Re- public. The emissaries of Christ, instead of laying down their burdens and leaving the Devil and his followers to convert themselves, are more numerous and zealous than ever, because the gospel of salvation has not reached every heart. So must the Republican organization press forward in its mission until every citizen of the realm is the equal in peace and safety of every other, and in the free and fair exercise of his every right and immunity. ^^*Histories are so written now, in order not to offend the sensibilities of the guilty, and campaigns are so conducted that the young men just stepping into the public arena can hardly avoid the impression that political contests are carried •on for no other purpose than to see which side shall get into the postoffices. They do not know what sacrifices their pres- ent blessings cost. They do not appreciate the dangers of the future nor the struggles of the past. This is not right. The holy religion of our Savior is refreshed and strength- ened by a perpetual return to its great author. Once every | • twelvemonth we go back together to the foundations of | liberty, read anew the Declaration of Independence, and cele- brate the deeds of our forefathers, thus rejuvenating our patriotism and love of country. So may the worshipers of | the Republic, especially the rising generation, be profited, j 12 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. their compasses set right and their souls inspired for the full duties of citizenship by roaming over the rich fields where were sown, amidst toil and bloodshed, the seeds of equal rights, which have grown into the freedom of all mankind in this nation, and have become the religion of the hosts of Re- publicanism throughout the world. The Republican party is the party of to-day, the party of freedom, equality and progress, the party of the future. Its history deserves, therefore, to be written with no reference to the organizations that lie rotting in their shrouds, except to examine the elements out of which it sprung, discover under what circumstances it was born, for what purposes it was be- gotten, and what heresies, errors, vacillations, perverse pas- sions and crimes against civil and political liberty it has con- tended and must continue to contend with, or has overthrown. In other words, in this volume we shall attempt to find who were its parents, what was their condition and ambition for the child, how they brought it up, what were the sur- roundings of childhood, what the achievments of mdnhood and what yet remains for it to accomplish. It is proper to first look for causes. The common way to account for the appearance of the Republican party as an ac- tive factor of policy and government, is to say it was the out- growth of slavery. It would* be true to the same extent and in the same sense to declare that divorce is the result of mar- riage. As divorce is the fruit of the infelicities and tyran- nies of wedlock, and of nothing else, so Republicanism was the inevitable result of the enormous excesses of the Slave Power more than of serfdom itself — of the riots, law-break- ings, outrages, indignities and crimes committed by the De- mocracy in the name of slavery. The "peculiar institution" was indeed bad, but the wicked- ness of its defenders toward the people of the free North in their efforts for its benefit and further propagation, were, if j possible, worse. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 13 The oftener witches were burned at the stake the oftener did new ones appear to be burned. If the ancient zealots of religion had resorted to no persecutions, if there had been no Torquameda and no Inquisition; if hundreds of innocents had not been drawn and quartered in the days of Titus Oates; if none, for the form of their religion, had been burned at the stake, many great churches that are strong to-day would have been feeble. The blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. If slavery had gone on quietly, satisfied to keep within the liberal bounds to which it had been for many years con- fined; committed no excesses; imported no blood-hounds and made no attempts to curse free soil by its forcible extension, we might not have had for a century yet any Rebellion, re- construction, XIII, XIV and XV amendments, civil rights bills, or free Negroes in the South. Slavery, through and of itself, from the depths of its own bitterness and the very productiveness of its own iniquity, finally bore the righteous fruits of universal freedom and gave us the Republican party. The exact beginning of hereditary bondage is not re- corded. Slavery was known to semi-barbaric times as the result of inter-tribal wars, the victors finding it more profit- able to themselves and more humiliating to their enemies to doom captives to servitude than condemn them to death. Slavery brought within its iron grasp, victims from almost every nation of the Eastern continent before it touched the African. All Asiatic countries, as far as the records show, had slaves. Human bondage was recognized in Greece and Rome, and the Jews prospered upon its fruits. The kings of France, by their long line of Eastern wars, filled Saracenic Spain with Sclavonic captives. The term slave, in English, means the Sclavonic people, and the captive bondmen of Spain were, therefore, properly referred to as slaves until the term, meaning in its own tongue glorious , ,14 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. ! became the name and synonym in all civilized history of hereditary degradation and perpetual servitude. Finding slavery a means of wealth, ease and self-indul- gence, in 1442 the Portuguese began raids into Africa for the purpose of entrapping and forcibly capturing Negroes and selling them into bondage. This infamous traffic was confined mostly to Europe, and did not grow to great proportions until the 16th century. The English, Dutch and other Euro- pean nations had sanctioned the slave-trade because it was profitable, and therefore, upon the discovery of America, they were ready to introduce it here. On the 18th day of August, 1620, a Dutch ship crept up ithe James River, with a cargo of fabrics, farming utensils and about two dozen slaves. It was intended to bring thirty Africans, equally divided as to sex, but several of the women and one or two of the men died on the ocean. Others were sick, so the number ofjsaleable "chattels" was twenty. They were readily sold to the colonists, and their children inher- ited hopeless bondage. Thus, in the year 1620, less than five months from the landing of the Puritans upon Plymouth Rock, the seeds of a stupendous iniquity, out of which grew outrages, discords, contentions, feuds, bloodshed, civil war and finally freedom,, were planted in Virginia Colony, on the rich and beautiful banks of the James River. From that date for 150 years, down to the Revolution, the friends and propagators of slavery controlled the policy of England. The traffic in slaves and slavery itself were pro- tected and nourished by Great Britain from the crown to the crier, because by it her merchants were pouring money into the public treasury and into their own coffers. Great Britain had given to her North American colonies 'the harmless sport of passing laws, but the home government (reserved the right to annul them. Repeatedly were the- j efforts of the colonial councils directed toward the suppres- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. lit sion of the slave traffic, but every enactment of this kind was promptly annulled by the crown. Finally, in order to suppress all further annoyance from the philanthropic legis- lation of the colonies, Great Britain instructed the governors not to give even "temporary assent to such laws" on pain of instant removal. In this manner the repeated acts of South Carolina, Penn- sylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia and of the other colonie:; were rendered nugatory, until Queen Anne, holding a one- fourth interest in the Royal African Company, the gigantic monopolist of the slave-trade, issued orders to its managers to furnish liberal supplies of African captives to the colonies of New Jersey and New York, and also instructed the gov- ernors of those colonies to " extend due encouragement" to that company. So the blood and disgrace of the entire enormity must, from the beginning, fall upon Great Britain, and if, as it is natural to believe, God shall mete out his judgments to nations as to individuals, the final punishment of the British empire will be commensurate with her oppressions and her sins; for she planted and fostered vassalage in her American colonies and, under royal decree, prosecuted the traffic in African captives with such heartless zeal that upward of 300,000 of them were brought and sold here before the open- ■^ V ing of the Revolution. Strange as it may sound now, Georgia was one of the very last of the colonies to permit slavery ; but the avarice and cupidity of English agents and Carolina traders finally tri- umphed, although a great mass-meeting of her citizens had declared their "disapprobation and abhorence of the unnatural practice of slavery in America," and Gov. James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony, had forbade bondage within its borders. Up to the war of the Revolution all efforts of the colonists to suppress the traffic in human beings had been smothered by Great Britain, so that, under her mighty guardianship, 16 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. slavery had grown to such strength and favor in America that when the Declaration of Independence came up for adoption, Thomas Jefferson's arraignment of the British crown for forcing hereditary servitude upon the American plantations, in which were used the most powerful adjectives in describing thisi "execrable commerce and cruel war against human na- ture;" was struck out by the votes of the South. When, too, the c-onvention came to the questions of taxation and repre- sentation, in debating the Articles of Confederation, a motion to exempt slaves from taxation "either as persons or as prop- erty" was carried by the votes of Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey and a few votes from New York and Pennsylvania. •■ That was one of the signal triumphs of the slave power, immediately followed by another consisting in striking from the Articles of Confederation "all grants of power" to regu- late commerce by Congress, which left each State free to import Africans and sell them into bondage. Thus, without much thought, probably, concerning the importance of what had been done, Congress let slip from its hand all authority to permit or prohibit the slave-trade, or regulate commerce. It must be easily seen, now, whence slavery came to Amer- ica, by whom it was fostered and how it arose, at the period when the Constitution was adopted, to be the dominating power in the Republic. Thus far it had resorted to no out- rages, except such as were perpetrated upon those in servitude and upon the poor wretches seized and fettered in the African forests to keep the supply full. The Puritan and Quaker influences in the Northern States leavened public sentiment and kept agencies at work until provision had been made for manumission everywhere north of Mason and Dixon's line where slavery existed in any colony or State prior to the adoption of the Constitution. That spirit of domination, intolerance and fierceness that never obtained in any other country of equal civilization, HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 17 which had grown with the growth of slavery in the South and which had triumphed for a hundred years in every im- portant contest between freedom and bondage, now began to assert itself and concoct plans for an increase of territory. In these acts the slave masters wrought out their own de- struction ; hence they must be examined. ■ CHAPTER II, IN THE BEGINNING— ACQUIRING TERRITORY. Noble Preachment, Miserable Practice— The Quakers First to Protest- Territory from Great Britain — What the Various States Claimed — Jefferson's Deed of Cession Defeated— Nathan Dane's Ordinance of 1787 — Results of Defeating Jefferson's Deed — Attempts to Sus- pend the Great Ordinanccof Freedom— Partial Success in Indiana — Illinois Wanted Slavery — Missouri and Illinois, a Prediction — Contemptible Trickery of Flesh-brokers in Illinois Defeated — Ken- tucky,Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama Admitted with Slavery. - If the fountain is impure the stream will be unclean. Let us go back quickly and observe the manner of beginning. On the 4th day of July, 1776, a band of intrepid patriots signed articles of rebellion against Great Britain in the form of an instrument called the Declaration of Independence. They planted themselves upon the divine and enduring foundation that "all men are created- free and equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights;* that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. * * * And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mu. tually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." Here was the highest preachment against human bondage ever formulated by the representatives of any nation; but it was mechanically promulgated in a country per- 18 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. meated ip its every province by the uttermost forms of sla- very. Its principles, noble and correct, were for years and gen- erations basely disregarded. The Quakers were first to discover the glaring discrepancy between the declaration of principles upon which our govern- ment reposed and the actual condition of things under them, and began to move, in their strong and dignified but quiet manner, for the adoption of corrective measures. ,The Congresses spat upon the prayers of the Quakers, although, one by one, the Northern States, influenced by growing public sentiment, had either abolished slavery or enacted laws for manumission, until at the treaty of peace with Great Britain, by which we obtained a large increase of territory, slavery had but a feeble hold north of Mason and Dixon's line. But it was thriving and growing with great vigor in the States of Georgia, Dela- ware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Caro- lina, of the thirteen original colonies. These did not com- prise a preponderance in territory, population and State divisions of original colonies, and the public characters of the slave-holding States were therefore incited to extend their boundaries for the purpose of swelling the number of their human possessions and augmenting their representation and power in Congress. It has been stated that the Republican party was the child of the excesses of slavery. We should proceed, then, to ex- amine its pedigree. Whatever may be brought out in this connection that is unpleasant, is not wantonly dragged for- ward so much for the purpose of making up a black record against our opponents, as to show the causes that for years were operating to conceive the Republican party, bring it forth and, under its wisdom and patriotism, transform the Republic into the resplendent picture of prosperity and pro- gress that it now presents. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 1& Great Britain conceded, in the treaty of Paris, signed Nov. 30, 1*782, which ended the Revolution, that the claims of the States to the territory west of them between the 31st and 47th parallels, was valid, and therefore relinquished all claims to it. The attention of the leaders respectively of the parties of freedom and bondage was at once turned to this vast accession of rich and promising land. Georgia, North Caro- lina, South Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, laid demand under their several charters to portions of this unorganized territory. The other States declared that the newly-acquired section should be managed for the common benefit, and not be given exclusively to the States joining it, as it was the fruit of a struggle in which all were equal participants and contributors. . In the spring of 1784, Thomas Jefferson presented to the Continental Congress, in session at Annapolis, a deed of ces- sion to the general government of all the lands north-west of the Ohio River claimed by Virginia. It also contained a plan of government of the entire territory "ceded or to be ceded," in which was a clause providing that after the year 1800 there should be "neither slavery nor involuntary servi- tude except for the punishment of crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted" in any of the territory ceded by Great Britain. On motion of Richard Dobbs Spaight, of North Carolina, the provision prohibiting slavery was stricken out, sixteen delegates voting to retain and seven to strike out. As the votes of nine States were required to render the anti-slavery clause a permanent section of the ordinance, it failed, though less than one-third of the delegates opposed it. In July, 1787, Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, whose name is perpetuated and honored in Dane county, a rich and beautiful shire of Wisconsin, in the center of which stands the capital of the State, reported the famous ordinance of 1787. It provided a system of government for the territory north-west of the Ohio River, with a clause prohibiting at 20 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. once and forever slavery or involuntary servitude in any form save as a punishment of crime whereof the party had been duly convicted. On the 13th of July the ordinance passed, and thus was dedicated to freedom that splendid tract of country now com- prising the prosperous and powerful States of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and a portion of Minnesota. There is only one black spot on this record — the opposition vote of Yates, of New York. It is difficult to fitly characterize the importance of this act. It is not dangerous, however, to take issue with nearly all previous historical writers and declare that it was provi- dential that Jefferson's ordinance was defeated, for, had it passed, the propagators of slavery would have made such active efforts to introduce and strengthen bondage in the entire territory embraced in the cession from Great Britain, that before the arrival of the year 1S00 the tentacles of the octopus could not have been unfastened. As it was, such a portion of the rich and rapidly-settling country acquired by the treaty of Paris was saved to freedom that, when the Rebellion, the final struggle, came, there could be but little doubt as to the ultimate result. That was the tide in the affairs of a nation which, taken at its flood, led on to victory and freedom. If Jefferson's ordinance had been adopted slavery would have spread everywhere in the Republic, save the few North- eastern States, in spite of all enactments to abolish it in the year 1800. Dane's ordinance saved what is now one of the most wealthy,enlightened and populous portions of the Union, and which, in the Rebellion, furnished 95V,000 sturdy fighters out of the two and one-half millions of all kinds that entered the field. Quick to observe and appreciate what they had lost, the agents of slavery made several persistent efforts to have the ordinance of 1787 suspended. Twice Wm. H. Harrison, who HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 21 subsequently became President of the United States, led the movement to secure a suspension for- ten years of the anti- slavery clause, knowing that once suspended it could never be returned to its original force and effect; and thrice pro- slavery committees in Congress reported in favor of a tempo- rary suspension, but without other or further success. How- ever, local efforts were more enthusiastic and presistent, and more nearly successful. Indiana, which at first included Illi- nois and other territory, admitted slavery in certain forms in direct defiance of the ordinance. Laws were enacted per- mitting immigrants from slave States to bring "any Negro or mulatto above fifteen years of age into the territory," pro- vided they should register such persons and have them sign a contract to serve a stipulated number of years. Children under fifteen years were to be "held to service" in a similar manner, males until the age of thirty-five and females until the age of thirty-two; and "children born of registered servants" were likewise to be held, males to the age of thirty and females to the age of twenty-eight. Under this ingenious system of contracts and registry, with a barbarous code of black laws, the most hateful forms of slavery were openly perpetuated in Indiana, a territory supposed to have been dedicated to freedom. In 1816 Indiana was divided and entered the Union as it now stands, without slavery, and the territory of Illinois was erected. Two years later Illinois, as it is now bounded, became a free State. After the admission of Missouri in 1821, emigrants from Kentucky and Virginia, with their caravans of Negroes, goods and stock, passed through Illinois on their way to that State. As they halted here and there to rest or feed, they shrewdly informed the land agents and settlers of Illinois that they had been prevented from purchasing plantations in and becoming citizens of the State because of the prohibition of slavery therein; and that Missouri would grow into a rich, 22 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. powerful, populous and enlightened commonwealth, while Illinois must remain an unsettled and feeble waste. When Mis- souri was admitted her area was 69,41 6 square miles,population 66,586. At the same time (census of 1820) Illinois contained only 56,650 square miles and 55,162 inhabitants. Now, that is, by the last official reports, Missouri, with 10,000 square miles more of territory, contains 2,168,380 inhabitants and has a debt of sixteen and a half millions of dollars and an assessed valuation of $525,000,000. Illinois, at the same time, con- tained a population of 3,077, 771, with no State debt of any kind, funded or unfunded, and an assessed valuation of $800,- 000,000. At the present time, four years from the date of the last census, the disparity between the two States, in favor of Illinois, is even greater. Not looking into the future with the eye of wisdom, nor feeling any concern for the principles or the organic laws of their State, the settlers and speculators wrought themselves into a high state of jealousy over the sup- posed good fortune of Missouri, and at once began systematic agitation, led by their two pro-slavery Senators, in favor of making Illinois also a slave State. At the election of 1822 this agitation was the chief issue of the campaign. The pro-slaveryites secured the legislature, but, having two candidates for governor, fortunately failed to elect the chief executive, and Edward Coles, a cultivated Virginian who had emancipated his slaves, was chosen by the friends of freedom to that office. The first move .made by the legislature was toward amending the Constitution. The advocates of bondage had the requisite two-thirds vote in the Senate to call a constitu- tional convention, but lacked one in the House. At the same moment, the designs of the slavocracy included also a plan to elect a pro-slavery United States Senator. One county had two contestants for a seat in the House. One of them would agree, if admitted, to vote for the pro-slavery candidate for United States Senator, but would not vote for the conven- HISTORY OF/ THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 23 tion. The other favored the convention, but would not vote for the slave Senator. Now mark the proceedings of the pro-slavery Democracy of Illinois: They admitted the contestant who would vote for their candidate for the Senate, and as soon as they had secured his ballot for that purpose, expelled him and admitted the other! By this violent and shameless trick the enemies of free- dom carried their point. They gained both the Senator and the convention. Believing their success was complete, "with low-bred and indecent effrontery," said Wilson, "they formed a disorderly procession under the lead of the lieutenant-gov- ernor, several judges and a majority of the legislature, fol- lowed by the rowdy elements about the capital, and with horns blowing and drums and tin pans beating, marched to the residence of the governor to insult him by riotous dem- onstrations for opposing their schemes to make Illinois a slave State." What a picture! Yet, what a truthful representation of Democracy ! Newspapers were established, the clergy and women be- came aroused, mass-meetings were held everywhere in the interest of freedom and the sacredness of the ordinance of 1787. Men who had otherwise been lukewarm were urged to the most earnest efforts by the ferocious methods and bru- talizing influence of the slave power, and thus the scheme to introduce slavery was defeated by a decisive majority of the people. That victory forever consecrated Illinois to liberty. Virginia, although ceding the North-west Territory to the United States, yet retained her claim to Kentucky, a fine, well-timbered region, lying west of her to the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, in which slavery was already firmly established and many of her citizens were permanent and prosperous res- idents. Therefore no time was lost in erecting Kentucky 24 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. into a State, which was admitted into the Union June 1, 1*792, with full provision for perpetual bondage. North Carolina, having also what was considered a valid claim to territory west of her, compromised by ceding Ten- nessee to the United States in 1789 upon an iron-clad condi- tion that not only permitted hereditary vassalage, but pro- vided that "no regulation made or to be made by Congress" should manumit or "tend to the emancipation of slaves." In 1790 the deed of cession, with all its destructive conditions, was accepted by both houses of Congress. Many members — perhaps more than a majority — were averse to adopting the slavery clause; but knowing that servitude was already well established in the territory, felt forced to yield their consent. Undoubtedly they were wise, as an anti-slavery law would have precipitated a conflict without making Tennessee a free State. Georgia held her claim to western territory much longer than her sisters, expecting, it is supposed, to enlarge her own boundaries rather than cede to the general government. She therefore clung to the rich cotton and sugar lands now em- braced by the limits of Alabama and Mississippi until 1802, when a deed was drafted ceding them to the United States upon condition that the clause in the ordinance of 1787 pro- hibiting slavery, should not be held to apply to the ces- sion. On this clause of Georgia's deed arose the first debate in Congress as to the power of that body to prohibit or permit bondage in the territories. It is interesting to note that every Southern and pro-slavery member admitted that such power existed, and might be exercised either way, the only question being that of expediency. Mr. Harper, of South Car- olina, declared that the inhibition in the ordinance of 1787 of slavery in the North-west Territory "was proper and wise, but as to Alabama and Mississippi, where the conditions were dif- ferent, the contrary was true." HISTORY OP THE. REPUBLICAN PARTY. 25 Many years later the representatives from Carolina and other Southern States took the opposite ground and employed volumes of argument to establish the absurd doctrine that no power resided in Congress to regulate or prohibit slavery. The chief representative of this political quackery in the North was Stephen A. Douglas, who labeled his nostrum "squatter sovereignty." After a season of spirited debate upon the problem of ex- pediency alone, the cession of Georgia's western claim was accepted, the only concession made by the representatives of slavery being that no slaves should be introduced into the territory from beyond the limits of the United States. Thus, in dividing and consecrating the territory acquired by the United States from Great Britain by the treaty of 1782, five States were devoted to freedom and four to slavery. In soil, minerals, timber and natural productions the two sections were about equal, but in climate that portion given to slavery had every advantage. The area of the five free States is 239,543 square miles; population in 1880, 11,206,668. The area of the four slave States is 180,558 square miles; pop- ulation in 1880, 5,585,151. The assessed valuation of the five free States is, in round numbers, four and one-quarter billions of dollars; of the four slave States, eight hundred millions of dollars. The debt of the free States is over twelve millions, and that of the slave States over forty millions of dol- dars. If these are not significant figures, none can be made- 2 26 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. CHAPTER III. CONSTITUTIONAL SLAVERY— THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. The Arrogant Demands of the Masters— Slaves Must Be Property for One Purpose but Persons for Another — Slavery or No Union — Five Serfs Equal to Three Freemen— The First Public Disgrace — Shabby Treatment of Great Britain — The Louisiana Purchase — The Price Paid— Organization of Orleans and Missouri — The Great Compromise of 1820— No Slavery Forever North of 36 degrees 30 minutes North Latitude— Maine and Missouri admitted — The Ter- ritory of Arkansas— Violated Faith — A Black Picture. The territory comprising the five free and four slave States mentioned in the preceding chapter was acquired though not all disposed of previous to the formation of our present Con- stitution. It is hardly necessary to refer to the astounding processes of reasoning and arrogant threats of the masters in the convention which adopted that instrument. They de- manded that slaves should be considered "property" so that each State should be the sole judge of dealing with them as it might see fit ; that they should be "persons" when it came to congressional representation so that the South might over- balance the North in national Congresses and conventions ; that the slave-trade should be permitted untaxed no matter what duty might be laid upon other property imported into the United States, and finally, Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, the ideal embodiment of the pride, tyranny and arrogance of the rising slave power, warned the convention that the "peculiar domestic institution" of the South "must be protected" as the exigencies of the case might demand, or that section would not enter the Union. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTT. 27 This bold threat had the desired effect. The Constitution was adopted recognizing slavery; also the slave-trade unmo- lested prior to 1808, and providing that slaves, although "prop- erty" for one purpose, should be "persons" for another — that of representation, five serfs being delared equal to three free white freemen. The Constitution was adopted September 17, l787,contain- ing fundamental doctrines in direct and absurd conflict with the Declaration of Independence as to the States then in ex- istence ; also in direct conflict with the ordinance for the government of the North-west Territory,adopted two months previously, by which slavery was therein forever inhibited. It also contained, what had been purposely and carefully ex- cluded from the Articles of Confederation, a clause for the rendition of fugitive vassals. Having secured the adoption of a slave Constitution, dis- posed of the lands acquired from Great Britain by the treaty of 1782, and frustrated the plans of England to suppress the slave-trade, the attention of the masters now became wholly engrossed with plans to still further enlarge our territorial possessions and open wider fields for bondage. Brief notice should therefore be resumed of their methods and successes. Spain ceded to France, in 1802, her possessions in America west of the Mississippi, consisting, as now named, of Louisi- ana, Arkansas, Missouri, Indian Territory, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, [in part], Iowa, Oregon, Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Washington Territory, and by the treaty of 1803 the French ceded this territory to the United States for the sum of 811,250,000. ] The territory secured was of wide limits and varied rich- ness, and the price paid was insignificant. Although the pur- chase, in the legitimate sense, was a wise government stroke, L The United States also assumed the obligations of the French Government to citizens of the United States for spoliations to the amount of $3,750,000. making the total cost of the Louisiana Purchase $15,000,000. 28 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. yet the real designs to be carried out as soon as its acquisi- tion should be complete, were the extension of slavery and slave territory. Therefore, though well satisfied that com- mercial wisdom required that the United States should have complete control of the mouth of the Mississippi and of as much of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico as possible, the friends of freedom and pure republican institutions did not consent to the purchase without deep inward dread of its con- sequences upon the policy, prosperity and character of the government. By act of Congress the Louisiana Purchase was divided by the 33d parallel of north latitude into two sections for territorial purposes. That to the south was called Orleans and that to the north Missouri. The settled portions of this new and fertile acquisition were full of slavery and thoroughly imbued with slave sen- timent. Orleans was therefore early organized as a slave State, and entered the Union April 12, 1812, under the name of Louisiana. In 1818 the inhabitants of Missouri petitioned for admis- sion into the Union of States. The House of Representa- tives passed a bill to admit the State without slavery; but as the Senate refused to concur in this clause, the bill failed. Subsequently the measure was amended so as to provide for the gradual restriction of involuntary servitude, but the Sen- ate refusing to indorse any anti-slavery proviso whatever, and the House insisting on that provision, the bill again failed. In 1820, while the matter was under discussion, Jesse B. Thomas, of Illinois, presented an amendment which settled all differences between the two Houses and allowed Missouri to enter the Union with slavery. That amendment, famous in history as the " Missouri Compromise," is as follows : HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 29 An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of such State into the Union on an equal Foot- ing with the original States, and to prohibit Slavery in cer- tain Territories. — adopted march 6, 1820. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That in all that terri- tory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, not included within the limits of the State contemplated by this act, slavery and involun- tary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted, shall be, and is hereby, forever prohibited. Provided always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid. The pro-slavery Senators consented to this prohibition because they saw by the determination of the House, that they would be unable, otherwise, to secure the admission of Missouri and other slave States. But before they consented they had linked the fate of the bill to admit Maine with that to admit Missouri, and also secured slavery in the new terri- tory of Arkansas, which, sixteen years later, became a slave State of the Union. "Thus" said the great historian of Mas- sachusetts, "the dark cloud, surcharged with its numberless woes and wrongs, rolled heavily across the Mississippi." The second treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, signed at Ghent, in 1815, stipulated and pledged that the two nations should unite in suppressing the slave traffic. Three years later Lord Casterleagh proposed, through the American minister, that the war-ships of each should have the mutual right of search and the mutual power to detain any ships found with Negroes on board. The slave power forced our government to positively, almost insult- ingly, decline this just proposition. In the following year, 1819, the British Parliament passed a resolution, asking a renewal of friendly negotiations with 30 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. the United States for the suppression of the African slave- trade, but our government was sullenly silent or returned an unfavorable reply. In ] 823 the British minister at Washington sent the ques- tion home to the United States government by officially calling the attention of President Adams to the persistent disregard of the treaty of Ghent by . the American people. Thus pricked forward to duty, the United States minister at St. James was instructed to conclude a treaty with Great Britain making the slave-trade piracy, punishable with death. Parliament promptly accepted the terms and a treaty was signed early in 1825, on the exact basis chosen by the author- ities at Washington. But when the document came before the Senate for ratification, it was emasculated, reduced and shorn of its life and spirit — in short, put into such terms as to be, as was intended, wholly ineffective. Even this was not done until the Senate had been twice urged by the Presi- dent to take some action on a matter proposed and framed by ourselves and promptly accepted by the English. The Parliament, as was natural and proper, refused to sign the changed and mutilated treaty, but proposed the mutual right of search on the coast of America. To this Henry Clay, secretary of state, replied that such a proposition would not be ratified by the Senate, and that further negotia- tions would be useless. These are mild illustrations of the masquerading, insin- cere pretensions and vacillating — yes, dishonorable — diplo- macy, shamelessly engaged by the United States govern- ment from the first for the abhorred and inhuman institution of slavery, and under the direction and influence of its mas- ters. In order to follow events a little more closely in their chron- ological sequence, we may leave the Louisiana Purchase for the present, and take a swift view of the barbarities and dis- honorable transactions in another portion of the country. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 31 CHAPTER IV. PRICE OP FLORIDA.-A THRILLING CHAPTER. The Seminoles— Slaves Escape into their Country— Georgia's Unlawful Expedition— Resentment by Spain— Blowing Up an Abandoned Fort— Two Hundred and Seventy Defenseless Persons Killed— Battle on the Suwannee River— Jackson's Servility— Scott Relieved — Seizure of Osceola and His Wife — Gen. Jessup's Wavering Poli- cy— Blood-hounds Imported from Cuba — Jessup Violates the Flag of Trace— Tne Disappointed Cherokees— Eight Years of War for Slavery— Removal of the Seminoles — An Astounding Judgment as to Titles in Human Beings — The Purchase of Stolen Property Creates a Good Title— Fugitives Escape into Mexico — They Are Followed by Slave-Catchers — A Bloody Battle and Victory — Peace and Freedom at Last — Florida a Costly Prize. Who has not been moved by that sad, sweet strain, "Way down upon the Suwannee River," or felt his blood boil in in- dignation, while reading the dark crimes and cruelties re- corded in Joshua R. Giddings' "Exiles of Florida?" Florida belonged to Spain. Among its aboriginal inhab- itants was a humane and romantic tribe of Indians called the Seminoles. Their manners were gentle and their language soft ; but the wrongs they suffered are as deep and wicked as any ever inflicted by a civilized nation upon a weak and defenseless people. Escaping slaves found refuge in the Spanish territory, formed settlements along the Appalachicola and Suwannee Rivers, and became members of the Seminole and Creek In- dian nations, holding lands and enjoying freedom and the fruits of their labors. Spain refused to deliver up the fugi- tives who had thus intermarried with the Indians, many of 32 HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. whom had never been slaves, and who, after a time, became an almost indistinguishable part of the tribe. The slave-holders were furious. They sent hunters and kidnappers into the Spanish colony, stole and shot the blacks, Creoles and Indians, and carried them back to slavery with- out any particular discrimination. Fraudulent treaties were made with the bribed Indians of one tribe and enforced in blood on those of another. Georgia denounced the federal government, sent troops into the Creek country and laid waste villages, burned huts and killed innocent members of the tribe. Giddings says: "If this conduct could be stripped of all the accessories of governmental prestige, and the forms and dialects, and be tested by the principles and claims of simple morality, as applied to the ordinary rules of human conduct, it would be difficult to equal it by any examples of selfishness, dishonesty, wanton cruelty, and disregard of the clearest claims of humanity, equity and fair dealing." Washington recommended, in a special message to Con- gress, an appropriation to pay their pretended owners full value for the Florida exiles, but no action was taken. The English government refusing to pay for the slaves who, it was alleged, escaped during the Revolution into British territory or enlisted in the British army, the southerners became still more exasperated and made vehement demands upon the federal authorities, greatly embarrassing successive adminis- trations. Being practically defeated in their numerous schemes, the slave-holders demanded the annexation of Florida. They hoped by this move to secure not only the fugitive blacks in the province, but all the descendants of their intermarriage with the Indians, as well as a large tract of territory to be an unholy sacrifice to slavery. The governor of Georgia sent an expedition to Florida to exterminate the Seminoles and in secret session the legis- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 33 lature passed an act for taking forcible possession of the ter- ritory. Spain resented this piratical attempt, and the Presi- dent was compelled to disavow any responsibility for the Georgia law or the bloody executors of it. Still later the legislature of Georgia resolved to capture Florida, and an expedition sent for that purpose passed through the country, leaving behind a track of rapine. Although towns were burned, women and children outraged and cornfields laid waste, the brave Seminoles were not subdued. Florida, their soft and perfumed country, was not conquered, nor were the exiles captured. During the war of 1812, the British erected a small fort on the Appalacbicola River, sixty miles from the boundaries of the United States. When this was abandoned the blacks and their descendants occupied it, and in humble peace tilled their rich plantations for miles up and down the river. In 1815 Gen. Gaines, commanding the Southern frontier, wrote, the secretary of war that negro outlaws and savages had taken possession of the fort, as though that, on the soil of Spain, were any of his affairs, or any concern of the United States. The government was in full sympathy with the slave- owners, and in 1816 Gen. Andrew Jackson wrote Gaines that the fort "ought to be blown up," regardless of the fact that it stood on Spanish land, and to destroy it and return the Negroes to "their rightful owners." Gaines was in high glee at this unauthorized and unlawful permission to invade the territory of a nation with which we were at peace, and at once sent two gun-boats to destroy the peaceable citadel. On the 27th of July 1816, the fort, containing 334 persons, mostly women and children, was attacked by land and water. A hot shot soon pierced the magazine, which blew up with terrific force, tearing 2*70 of the defenseless inmates instantly to atoms and wounding all but three of the others. 34 HISTOKY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Monett's account records that the ensuing scene was one "horrible beyond description." Most of those who recovered from their lacerations and broken bones, were delivered over to Georgia slave-holders, though they were the descendants of blacks and Seminoles who had lived in Florida for more than a century. This inhuman deed darkens many of the bright pages that have been composed of Jackson, and is a perpetual stain upon our national escutcheon. Clay deprecated "the fact of the invasion of Florida, as an indiscreet if not unfriendly and hostile demonstration toward Spain;" but not a soul of the cowardly slave-holders raised a voice to condemn the unut- terable atrocities against a weak and defenseless people. The Seminoles, goaded from their placid ways, attempted to retaliate; but their efforts, though gallant, were feeble. For two years, therefore, Jackson and Gaines passed up and down through Florida, with military forces, for the purpose of subjugating the Indians and returning all blacks and their descendants to Georgia. The poor exiles and their kind Indian protectors, knowing that death or slavery was their only alternative, fought with heroic bravery, but were finally defeated on the Suwannee River. One-half of the exiles perished miserably, many were stolen and carried away to bondage, and the crops, nocks, herds, plantations, houses, food, clothing and property of the little remnant were wantonly destroyed. Though defeated and reduced, the exiles were not conquered. Their feeble, starved and suffering numbers were soon augmented by other fugitives, and the greedy slave-masters, with dastardly cow- ardice and falsehood, pretended the trembling exiles were "menacing" the southern border. Again, therefore, were impetuous demands made for the annexation of Florida. The masters must have more slave territory, and must have the poor exiles and their protectors, the Seminoles, brought within the iron grasp of slavery, so HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 35 that there should be no possible escape for them forever thereafter. And a servile government, enervated and pros- tituted by its foul companionship with slavery, yielded all its good claim to the magnificent empire now known as Texas (then, with Florida, belonging in dispute to Spain, and worth a thousand Florida glades, swamps and impenetrable jungles) for the sake of obeying the slave-hunters' demand. And so the "Land of Flowers," of bloodshed, of outrage and bar- barity, was purchased in order to capture a few exiles and return them to perpetual and hopeless bondage. But this was not all, nor the most disgraceful. The whole power of the government was now turned into the dia- bolical business of hunting down men for bondage, choosing, or rather forcing, the soldiers of the standing army to act as blood-hounds. Has history ever before been compelled to record such a revolting and degrading outrage? The secretary of war, in his zeal to prostitute the active agencies of the federal government to serve the interest of private parties, a thing subversive of the most sacred and fundamental principles of a republican government, even wrote out lists of particular blacks claimed by certain slave- holders, and ordered the military to seize and deliver them up, which, to our unfathomable shame be it said, was done. The Indians protested against this flagrant violation of their treaty stipulations, and complained of the violence of the soldiers who were unlawfully scouring their country; but the reply was further insolence and indignity, and that the sec- retary of war had given permission to violate the soil of an independent nation, and seize whomsoever of its subjects the rapacious slave-hunters might fix upon! And thus the raids upon the Seminole country and its citizens continued, or rather increased in numbers and bru- tality, until Jackson's administration. War with the free people, whose anger and indignation rankled deeper and deeper, was imminent. The President therefore appointed a 36 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. commission, under the direction of the slave-holders, to form a treaty with the Seminoles for their removal to a country west of the Mississippi, where the Creeks already were. This ex parte, so-called treaty, the Seminoles would not and never did ratify, yet Jackson indorsed, on the demand of the slave-holders, an order for their removal. Jackson's personal courage and moral fearlessness are traditional; yet the mean- est black was never a more servile slave of the masters of the South than "Old Hickory." Gov. Eaton, Gen. Clinch and many others protested to the government against the wrongs being heaped upon the Seminoles, but Jackson dared not disobey his master, slavery, and Lewis Cass, secretary of war, though a northern man, sneeringly characterized the appeals in behalf of the Indians and exiles, as the cantings of "false philanthropy," and in- sisted that they must be moved westward and be subjects of the Creeks. This did not suit the slave-holders, who asked the President for permission to go among the Indians on Florida soil "for the purpose of purchasing slaves. Attorney- General Grundy reported that there could be no objections to granting the request, and Jackson signed the grant of permission — an unauthorized, illegal and infamous proceed- ing. Armed with this permission, the slave-holders swarmed into the Seminole reservations, getting false bills of sale from various Indians, after first making them drunk, and in such manner carried away bond and free. Clamor and in- dignation at once became so general and hurtful to the ad- ministration, that the order was countermanded. But it was too late. The government had been wickedly false to the Indians at every step, and hounds, hunters and manacles awaited them in every ambush. They resolved to put no further trust in the government, but to defend themselves as best they might. HISTOBY OF THE REPUBLICAN PABTY. 37 At this time the enslavement of the descendants of early- marriages between Africans and Seminoles became particu- larly cruel. Osceola, a young and handsome chief, had mar- ried the daughter of another chief whose wife was an exile. The young couple went together to Fort King to effect some purchases. While there the wife was seized by slave-dealers, torn from her husband-lover and carried away in withes to perpetual bondage. Osceola, frantic with grief, was cast into a dungeon for some days; but finally escaping, rallied his companions for revenge. Several weeks later he caught the Indian agent Thompson and several army officers walk- ing outside the fort, and fired upon them with unerring ef- fect. Thompson was pierced by fourteen bullets. We may now employ verbatim quotations from Giddings and Wilson in narrating one of the most thrilling chapters in our history. No citizen of the Republic can devote his attention for half an hour to anything more suggestive and instructive: In November General Clinch ordered Major Dade, then near Tampa Bay, to prepare for a march to Fort King, about 130 miles distant. As his march would be through an unsettled forest, with swamp and lake and hommock, he obtained for a guide Lewis, slave of Antonio Pacheco, who spoke and wrote with facility the English, French and Spanish languages, and also the Indian dialect. Knowing the persecutions and outrages inflicted upon his race, he determined to embrace this opportunity to avenge their wrongs. He communicated to the Indians and exiles the information that Major Dade was to go to Fort King, that he was to act as guide, and that he would conduct them near the great Wahoo Swamp. Hostilities had commenced, and the Indians and exiles had gathered near the designated place. The memories of past wrongs and the fear of impending evils gave them a purpose and courage to strike a blow for safety and revenge. Entering the defile into which he and his 110 men had been lured, Major Dade was fired upon, and himself and more than half of his command were killed at the first discharge. Only two soldiers escaped. The murder of the Indian agent and the massacre of Dade's command, both on the 28th of December, 1835, inaugurated 38 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. a war, which proved to be costly in both blood and treasure. But the Indians and exiles had been forced into it by the sordid and all-grasping avarice, the hatred and contempt of the slave-hunters of Florida and the adjacent States. On the 25th of May General Jessup wrote to Colonel Har- vey: "If you see Osceola again, I wish you to tell him that I intend to send exploring parties into any part of the country during the summer, and I shall send out and take all the Negroes that belong to the white people, and he must not allow Indians and Indian Negroes to mingle with them. Tell him I am sending t > Cuba 1 for blood-hounds to trail them, and I intend to hang every one that don't come in." Blacks who had come in fled, though ninety of them, confined within the pickets of Tampa Bay, were immediately, on the 2d of June, sent to New Orleans. This act so alarmed the Indians, who had come in for the purpose of emigrating, that they fled into the interior, re- solved to defend themselves. Hostilities were renewed. The guilt and dishonor rest on General Jessup. At least he was the instrument, though slavery was the inspiration. He had promised the Creeks the "plunder," understood by both parties to mean the slaves they might capture. He now held out the same kind of in- ducement to the Florida militia. In a letter to Colonel Warren he promised that the Negroes of the Indians should belong to the corps that captured them. Field officers were to have three shares, company officers two shares, and privates one share each. Documents published by the XXVth Con- gress reveal the dishonorable fact that the war, which had been renewed, was to be stimulated by the hopes of sharing the profits or spoils of forays in the Indian country, including the capture of Negroes. Even the Indians west of the Mississippi were thus ap- pealed to, and the same disgraceful motives held out, and some of the Choctaws and Delawares actually entered the service of this great and magnanimous Christian nation, for the purpose of harrying and distressing this handful of In- dians and Negroes, with the pledge that Negroes taken, in- stead of being held as prisoners of war, might be sold as their reward or the price of their service. i It is not generally remembered, probably, that the frightful cruelties of chasing- slaves with blood-hounds date back to the trouble with the Semi- noles, during' which these ferocious beasts were imported for that purpose. It was formerly common for the Southerners to boaet vociferously of their superior civilization. Hunting fellow beings with blood-hounds was one of the prominent features of it. These beasts were brought from Cuba for that pur- pose during Madison's administration. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 39 And to make the thing more disgraceful still, at their ex- pressing some discontent at the amount of pay realized, Gen- eral Jessup sought to pacify them with an additional offer, though admitting he had transcended his authority and the law in what he had already "stipulated." He, however, promised that he would pay them $50 for every Negro cap- tured. The war went on and General Jessup continued to em- ploy the military power of the nation in seizing and return- ing fugitives. While the officers and soldiers of the United States army regarded this as odious and degrading, the Florida volunteers were adepts. After General Taylor, however, took the command, there was a great improvement. Discarding his predecessor's policy, the army was no longer employed to chase down and seize women and children, to be delivered into slavery. He denied the right of any citizens to inspect those captured or to meddle with his prisoners. He no longer separated the Indians from the Negroes, but treated both as prison- ers of war. Under his more humane and dignified policy many came in and were sent to their homes in the West. In the spring of 1839 General McComb went to Florida. After consulting with the Indians, he issued an order setting apart a portion of this territory for their future residence, at the same time forbidding any white persons to enter upon it without permission. The people of Florida, understanding that in the war with the Indians the Negroes were to be given up to them, protested for this reason against the peace. The war had continued for nearly eight years. During that time several hundred persons had been seized and en- slaved, nearly $40,000,000 had been expended, and hun- dreds of lives had been lost. The exiles who had been sent west, fearful that they would be reduced to slavery by the Creeks, remained in the Cherokee country, hoping that there would be assigned to them a territory as stipulated in the "additional treaty." The Cherokees, too, were dissatisfied with the refusal of the government to set apart territory for the Seminoles and exiles. But the President adhered to his policy of having the Seminoles removed to the jurisdiction of the Creeks; while the Creeks held firmly to their purpose to re-enslave the exiles whenever they should come under their jurisdic- tion. In 1845 a treaty was made with the Creeks and Seminoles, in which it was agreed that all contests between the tribes in 40 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. regard to rights of property should be subject to the decision of the President. The Creeks agreed that the Seminoles should settle as a body or separately in their country, and no discrimination should be made between the two tribes; and the Seminoles agreed to move to the Creek reservation. But a slave-dealer, who appears by documents in the War Department to have been previously engaged in kidnapping, went among the Creeks and offered them $100 for any exile taken and delivered to him, he assuming all risk of titles. Two hundred Creeks assembled, entered the Negro vil- lages and seized several of the exiles. Those, however, who had arms offering resistance, the Creeks retired with their cap- tives, delivered them to the slave-dealer, and received the stipulated price. The Indian agent obtained a warrant from the nearest judge in Arkansas, and the captured exiles were brought before him. He urged in their behalf the promises of General Jessup, the opinion of the Attorney-General, and the action of the President, as evidence that they were free. But the judge decided that the Creeks had obtained a title to them by their contract; that their title was good; and, having sold them to the claimant, his title vms also good. By this strange and wicked decision these manacled victims were thus suddenly and hopelessly bereft of freedom, taken to the New Orleans market, and sold into perpetual bondage. Thoroughly alarmed, and having lost all confidence in the government, all but about 200 of the blacks abandoned their country and fled to Mexico. Those remaining behind were supposed to be so thoroughly intermarried with or descended from intermarriage with the Seminoles as to be comparatively safe. Stimulated by offers from the slave-dealers the Creeks organized, armed, and pursued the fugitives to Mexico. Overtaking them, a spirited battle was fought, but the exiles, desperate and determined to the last degree, rallied under the leadership of Wild Cat and drove back the Creeks with greac slaughter. The dead slave-catchers were left unburied on the field. Pursuing their course south-easterly, the exiles discovered a rich valley in the Mexican province,where they found homes, HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 41 liberty, peace and protection — all of which had been wan- tonly and wickedly denied them in the land of their fathers. This, one of the black and revolting chapters in the his- tory of civilized nations, was one of the early and powerful factors in giving birth and direction to that sentiment whi ch ultimately crystalized into the great Republican party. Florida, having cost the federal government an abun- dance of blood, treasure, inhumanity and cupidity, became a slave State in 1845, and made an early attempt, in 1861, to destroy the Union. CHAPTER V, RIGHT OF PETITION DENIED—THE MAILS RIFLED. James H. Hammond and the ' Impropriety" of Free Speech — John Adams Censured — His Petition from Slave Women — Raving South- erners — Lewis Falls into an Exasperating Blunder — The Circula - tors of Abolition Documents Should be Punished— Barbarism of Rev. Woods — The Charleston Postoffice Rifled — Amos Kendall's Remarkable Position — Jackson's Message and John C. Calhoun's Bill Relating to use of the mails by Abolitionists — Wm. Lloyd Garrison Indicted in North Carolina — Brazen Demand of Gov. Gayle, of Alabama — Anti- Slavery Sentiment Thriving upon Per- secution. We have examined briefly the misbehavior of the pro- slavery party only in connection with their schemes and con- spiracies to acquire more slave territory. We shall now give some notice to crimes and barbarities of a different charac- ter, which, oft-repeated and long-continued, drove the people at last to organize the Republican party in self defense. In 1834-5 the Democrats, having a steadfast majority in Congress, refused to receive the petitions of thousands of citizens sent up from various portions of the United States asking for the abolition of slavery in the District of Colum- A'-i HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY bia, for suppressing the slave-trade or for the enactment of laws looking to emancipation. This contemptible form of tyranny which was kept up for some time, had»a different result from that expected by the flesh-brokers. James H. Hammond, of South Carolina, said "the large majority by which these petitions had been rejected had been very gratifying to him and to the South; and he hoped it would satisfy the gentleman charged with such petitions of the impropriety of presenting them." It had, however, the very opposite effect. The natural lovers of freedom, who are always numerous but never as active as the emissaries of tyranny and bondage, alarmed at the insolence with which the Democrats stifled the freedom of expression and trampled on the sacred right of petition, sent in such a flood of anti-slavery documents and prayers as startled the slave-drivers of Congress. Measures were then offered for the punishment of any member who should offer an anti-slavery petition, but none were actually adopted. Furious debates ensued. The Southern members were not simply solid against receiving any petitions relating to slav- ery, but were supported zealously by most of the servile Dem- ocrats of the North. Thus session after session, the right of petition was denied and thwarted and the petitions them- selves imperiously and insultingly suppressed. John Adams, of Massachusetts, was the central figure in this struggle. He had repeatedly been offered for "censure," "severe censure" and "proper punishment" for presenting petitions "touching the subject of slavery." Finally he of- fered a prayer from nine slave women of Fredericksburg, Vir- ginia. This was beyond their endurance, and the Southern Democrats raved like infuriated beasts. John M. Patton, of Virginia, examined the names and declared there was only one that he recognized "and that was of a mulatto woman of infamous character." HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 43 A half-dozen "fire-eaters" from the South impetuously de- manded that Mr. Adams be called at once to the bar of the House and censured. Others wanted the documents burned from the clerk's desk and Mr. Adams expelled before pro- ceeding with any other business. Thus the tempest raged until Dixon H. Lewis, of Ala- bama, presented a resolution reciting that inasmuch as Mr. Adams had attempted to present a petition praying for the abolition of slavery contrary to its rules, he had committed a flagrant contempt of the House, etc. Mr. Adams, who had sat calmly contemplating the violence and antics of the South, quietly remarked that the resolution of Mr. Lewis employed a false statement of facts. Thereupon the petition was read and lo! it protested against the abolition of slavery! This incident shows that the Democrats were governed by no principle whatever. Like the intolerant barbarians which slavery had made them, they proposed to gag and silence whoever opposed their hellish brokerage in human — often- times their own — flesh, by any means, right or wrong. They did not care to make respectful examinations of matters com- ing lawfully before them, but determined to suppress by- sheer force, without inquiring into its merits, whatever was presented by their opponents. Naturally the people of the free States were greatly in- censed at this -arrogant form of autocracy in a pretended free country; but it was well. Otherwise the masses would not have been awakened to the designs and encroachments of the slave power until too late to check them, As it was, an ear- nest interest awoke which never thereafter disappeared nor, lagged, but strengthened and grew apace until the opening of the Rebellion, when it had become too powerful to be overthrown by the parasites of human bondage. The friends of freedom, stimulated into activity, were not satisfied with the formation of Abolition societies and agitation by discussion, but contributed liberally of their means. 44 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. for the printing and circulation of anti-slavery literature. This was a form of agitation and education that the slave- drivers of Congress could not reach. Thereupon, demands were everywhere made that "the printing, publishing, writing or circulating pamphlets or articles on slavery should be made indictable offenses," punished in "such a severe manner as would effectually suppress these crimes." The Literary and Theological Review, published in New York by Rev. Leonard Woods, subsequently president of Bow- doin College, declared that "the Abolitionists were justly liable to the highest civil penalties and ecclesiastical censures." Meetings were held throughout the slave States demanding the suppression of abolition literature, and the punishment of its authors and circulators. But they only served to increase the volume of objectionable papers and pamphlets. Goaded to desperation by the devotion and fearlessness of the anti-slavery people, the slave-owners resorted to riot, fire and bloodshed to suppress the "fanatics." In July, 1835, the postoffice at Charleston, South Carolina, was forced open by a mob, the mails rifled, and anti-slavery publications destroyed. A few days later the mob, composed of "persons of high respectability," re-assembled to organize for ferreting out and punishing al) "Abolitionists and persons in sympa- thy with them." The clergy of the various churches partici- pated in these disgraceful proceedings, and received for their services the comfort of a resolution of thanks by the law- less assemblage. Postmasters throughout the South arrested all anti-slavery matter and held it until the mobs could seize and burn it. Such an uproar followed these crimes that the postmaster of New York asked the American Anti-Slavery Society to cease putting out their publications. Of course the request was promptly refused, whereupon Jackson's postmaster-general, Amos Kendall, was asked to order postmasters to refuse to deliver publications treating of slavery. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 45 He replied that be had no authority to do so, but that he did not condemn the action taken by the Southern x>ostmas- ters. Also, that he did not himself order the whole series of anti-slavery publications excluded simply for want of power ! Thus encouraged, all the lesser postal employes seized everything "obnoxious" to the Southern Democrats that en- tered the mails, and not one of them was ever brought to punishment, or even dismissal. In fact they knew from Amos Kendall's letter that the crime of rifling the mails for the benefit of slavery, would never be punished. President Jackson, crawling to do the bidding of slavoc- racy, issued a message recommending the enactment of "such a law under severe penalties" as would "prohibit the circulation in the Southern States, through the mails," of the matter complained of. John C. Calhoun, in 1836, drafted a bill on the subject which was not in exact accordance with Jackson's idea. Looking into the future he held that if the Congress then in session could declare what mail matter should not be circu- lated, the next Congress might, having different political views, declare that the same matter should be circulated through the public mails. His bill provided that whenever any State declared certain publications to be incendiary or detrimental to the community, no postmaster should deliver such mail under penalty. 1 All the Southern States wished either to pass bills de- fining all publications that referred to slavery as "incen- diary," or demanded of the Northern States the "prompt en- actment of laws to suppress and punish the malignant deeds and traitorous designs of the Abolitionists." A short time before, the city of Columbia had offered $1,500 for the detention and conviction of every person found 1 The bill was at last defeated by a vote of 25 to 19, but James Buchanan. Martin Van Buren and Silas Wright, to the astonishment of mankind, voted for it. 46 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. circulating a newspaper called the Liberator, and George- town passed an ordinance making it a penal offense for any person of color to take Wm. Lloyd Garrison's paper from the postoffice. The grand jury of Raleigh indicted Garrison for sending his paper into the Carolinas, and the legislature of Georgia offered a reward of $5,000 for the arrest and conviction of Garrison under the laws of that State. Gov. Gayle, of Ala- bama, made a formal demand upon the governor of New York for the person of Williams, the publishing agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society, who had him indicted in that State for publishing in the JEJmancipator, this sentence : "God commands, and all Nature cries out that man should not be held as property. The system of making men prop- erty, has plunged him and a quarter-million of our fellow- countrymen into the deepest physical and moral degradation, and they are every moment sinking deeper." The governor of New York, a safe and staunch Democrat and friend of slavery, was warned that no such monstrous outrage as that could be consummated, and however much it hurt his political feelings, he was compelled to refuse this audacious demand. It was well known that Williams had never been in Alabama ; therefore, if he could be delivered to the brutal slave-hunters, who threatened to hang him with- out trial, every other citizen of New York whom they might demand, could also be turned over to them to be "hung with- out trial or the benefit of clergy." The attempt of the South to suppress Abolitionism was a more powerful agency in promoting and strengthening the growth of it than the normal condition of Northern senti- ment. If the slave-drivers had not resorted to extreme and uncivilized methods to exterminate it, Abolitionism would .have been for some years a sickly plant. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 47 CHAPTER VI MARTYRDOM .OF ELIJAH P. LOVEJOY. Marly Life of Lovejoy— He Edits an Anti-Slavery Paper in St. Louis- Denounces Burning Slaves at the Stake and Has His Office De- molished—Removes to Alton— Press Destroyed— The Missouri Republican Advises Mobbing— Another Press Destroyed— His Bravery Before the Infuriated Democrats— Relation by Geo. T. M. Davis, of New York— A Third Press Destroyed— A ' 'Quiet and Gentlemanly" Mob— Attacked While Watching His Sick Wife— His Own Account of It— The Democrats Meet and Order Him to Cease Discussing Slavery or Leave Alton— The Night of Nov. 7, 1837— The Attack Described by Love joy's Surviving Brothers- Shot Dead— Democrats Jeer as the Funeral Procession Passes— At Rest Between Two Oaks— The Grand Jury's Miserable Travesty —The Country Fired From Ocean to Ocean— Hie Jacet Lovejoy . We now come to where the hosts of freedom met their rfirst baptism of blood. But in recording the long series of enormities which became the seed of equal liberty and of the Republican party in America, the English language fails as an adequate means of description. Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born at Albion, Maine, Novem- ber 9, 1802. His youth developed extraordinary mental qual- ities. He reveled in literature, wrote poetry and defended the principles of human equality with vehement power. At the properage he entered Waterville College, Maine, from which he graduated in September, 1826, with the first honors of his •class. A few months later he emigrated to St. Louis, Mo., and engaged as a school teacher ; also became a contributor of poetry and philosophy to the Missouri Republican, hi 1828 48 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. he engaged in publishing the Times, advocating the claims of Henry Clay for the Presidency. In January, 1832, he embraced active Christianity, and a few weeks later entered Princeton (N. J.) Theological Seminary for the purpose of studying for the ministry. In April, 1833, he graduated, and received a license from the Philadelphia Presbytery to preach the gospel. His preaching, at New York, Newport and other places, attracted attention throughout the country. In the fall of 1833 he was invited to return to St. Louis,, and in November of that year issued the first number of the Observer. This publication early began a series of unanswer- able reasonings with slave-owners against the unfathomable iniquity of human slavery. St. Louis being the center of a large slave-holding aristocracy, his writings brought about him malignant and unsparing enemies. The " foremost citizens," as the Missouri Republican put it, organized a mob and passed resolutions declaring " that the discussion of slavery was obnoxious and must be discon- tinued." During Lovejoy's absence, therefore, the proprie- tors of the Observer published a card avowing their coward- ice and protesting that such discussion was not with their suggestion, but came alone from Lovejoy, the editor. The mob adopted resolutions saying the Constitution guaranteed the right of free speech, but it did not extend to or "imply a moral right to freely discuss the question of slavery, either orally or through the medium of the press." They also accused Lovejoy of sending the Emancipator "in a box" to a friend at Jefferson City, and warned him to desist from such " seditious and obnoxious acts." To these resolu- tions he replied at length in a strain of stirring and lofty eloquence, maintaining the right of free speech, freedom of the press and inviolability of the mails. He closed by de- claring that he would submit to no dictation as to how he should conduct his journal, and was "prepared to abide the: consequences." HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 49 Other meetings of slave-holders were held and committees appointed to "remove" Lovejoy from the community. The leader of these was Arthur L. McGinnis, a slave-owner and State's attorney for the district. The law officer for St. Louis was the leader of a mob. Two men, charged with the awful crime of "being suspected of being Abolitionists," were actually whipped to death, and a recital of the revolting deed was embodied in a resolution as a warning to Lovejoy. Early in 1 836 a mob of " respectable and peaceable citizens" tied a man to a tree in St. Louis, and in a manner shockingly barbarous and prolonged, burned him to death. An attempt was made to indict the perpetrators but Judge Lawless (Is there, after all, nothing in a name?) decided that the terrible deed was the "act of the multitude, seized upon and impelled by a mysterious, metaphysical and electric frenzy," and the case therefore "transcended the jurisdiction of the court — was beyond the reach of human law!" Lovejoy commented upon this with some severity, and the mob re-organized and demolished the office of the Observer. A removal to Alton, across the river, to Illinois, had al- ready been decided upon. The press was therefore towed over the river, reaching Alton Saturday night. Its presence attracted the leading Democrats during Sunday, who early the next morning gathered and broke it in pieces. A new press was at once purchased, which arrived in sea* son to enable Lovejoy to resume the publication of the Ob- server at Alton, on September 1, with double its former circu- lation. Its tone was not less emphatic and its argument not less eloquent and powerful against slavery. Some of his appeals were masterpieces of human oratory. They pro- duced, as he wrote his brother, " tremendous effect." An article advocating a State anti-slavery organization was too much for the Democrats. They called a meeting to take steps to compel Lovejoy to leave Alton or cease discussing slavery. One Alexander Botkin presented a resolution,, 30 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. which was adopted, declaring that while the assembled "free- men, unseduced by mercenary motives," deprecated mob vio- lence, Mr. Lovejoy must " discontinue his incendiary publi- cations." Meaning that Lovejoy must keep still or be killed. The reply was through the Observer, in an article defining his views and aims and maintaining the right to speak and write according to conviction, answerable only to the law for any abuse of the privilege. Four days later the Missouri Republican stated that "some- thing must be done in this matter, and that speedily." It declared Lovejoy was a fanatic and must be suppressed or ex- pelled from Alton, as he had, by "disturbing the harmony of the virtuous people, forfeited all claims to the protection of that or any other community." In the South, when the Dem- ocrats wish to slaughter a man in a dignified and respectable way, they declare that he has forfeited the right to protection. The Democrats therefore organized a mob of about twenty "peaceable and respectable" but "indignant" citizens, who, on August 21, 1837, assembled shortly before midnight with stones and guns to teach the editor of the Observer that the Con- stitution guaranteed freedom of speech only so far as it suited the sympathizers with slavery. Two employes of the office were seriously wounded, and the press, type and other mate- rials were utterly destroyed. How he himself escaped the "virtuous and respectable citizens" who had organized themselves into a mob, let Col. Geo. T. M. Davis, of New York, an eye-witness, relate: A few weeks prior to the assembling of the mob on the 7th of November, 1837 — in resistance of whose attack upon Mr. Gilman's building, as well as upon his own life and that of others associated with him, he met his death — some eight or ten citizens of Alton, calling themselves of the highest re- spectability, determined to tar and feather Mr. Lovejoy, and then send him adrift, in a canoe secured for such purpose, down the Mississippi River. The night selected for the con- summation of their design was as bright and clear as could be. Mr. Lovejoy resided at that time at Hunterstown, in a HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 51 building in a secluded spot below the road that led to Upper Alton, and his wife, whom he idolized, was prostrated upon a bed of sickness, with but little hope of her physicians or hus- band that she could recover. Between 10 and 11 o'clock, while on his way on foot to the drug store in Alton, a dis- tance of about three-quarters of a mile from his residence, to procure some medicine for his wife, he was met by these eight or ten citizens — all of them disguised — who stopped him in the road, and at once disclosed to him their object and purpose. With the most perfect composure and calmness, he im- mediately replied to them: "Gentlemen I have but a single request to make of you. My wife is dangerously ill, and it is necessary she should have this prescription immediately, and which I was on my way to town to procure. Will one of you take it and see that it is delivered at the house, but without intimating w T hat is about to befall me. I am in the hands of God and am ready to go with you." For a few moments, entire silence reigned. At last it was broken by one of the medical men that made up in part, the disguised party, exclaiming: "Boys, I can't lay my hands upon as brave a man as this is," and turning away, was fol- lowed by the rest, and Mr. Lovejoy was spared the degrada- tion of being tarred and feathered, though a few weeks later, he suffered the death of a martyr, in defense of liberty of the press and of speech. It is a most singular coincidence, that scarcely one of those who made up the tar-and-feather-party of that night, died a natural death. At sunset of September 21 another press and newspaper ■outfit arrived on the banks of the Mississippi— the third Lovejoy had brought to Alton. He was absent on the arrival of his new materials. Although hostile demonstrations were numerous, the press was safely stored in the large warehouse of Gerry & Weller. The mayor, John N. Krum, stationed a constable at the door, to remain on guard until midnight, in- forming the people of what he had done. After the depart- ure of the officer, twelve or fifteen of the foremost citizens of the place, with masks on their faces, broke into the ware- house, rolled the press to the river bank, broke it in pieces and hurled it into the stream. 52 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. While the Democrats were thus enjoying themselves,. Mayor Krum arrived and ordered them to disperse. They answered that they "were busy," that as soon as they had "completed their little job" they would go home, and that "he had best do the same at once." The brave mayor thereupon speedily departed, and in sub- sequent testimony deposed that he "had never seen a more quiet and gentlemanly mob." A party of armed Democrats who came over from St, Louis at this time to kill Lovejoy failed to find him, and thereupon returned home bloodless, but not liquorless. Mrs. Lovejoy 1 was a sickly, delicate woman. At this time, she was with her mother at St. Charles, across the river, in Missouri. On Sunday night, ten days after the destruction of the third press, while Lovejoy was nursing her and a lit- tle babe in St. Charles, he was again mobbed. At 9 o'clock an ugly knock was heard at the door, accompanied by a ruf- fianly call for Lovejoy, who answered bravely, "I am here." Now let him relate his own story: They immediately rushed up the portico and two of them 2 coming into the room, laid hold of me. I asked what they wanted. "We want you down stairs, damn you," was the reply. They accordingly attempted to pull me out of the house. And not succeeding immediately, one of them, Lit- tler, began to beat me with his fists. By this time Mrs. Lovejoy had come into the room. In doing so, she had to make her way through the mob on the portico, who attempted to hinder her coming by rudely pushing her back, and one chivalrous (?) Southerner actually drew his dirk upon her. Her only reply was to strike him in the face with her hand, and then rushing past him, she flew to where I was, and throwing her arms around me, boldly faced the mobites, with a fortitude and self-devotion which none but a woman and a wife ever displayed. While they were attempting with oaths and curses to drag me from the room, she was smiting them in the face with her hands, or clinging to me zens." Before her mairiage, Miss Celia Ann French. One from Mississippi and one from Virginia and "prominent citi- HISTORY OF TUE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 53 to aid in resisting their efforts, and telling them that they must first take her before they should have her husband. Her energetic measures, seconded by those of her mother and sister, induced the assailants to let me go and leave the room. As soon as they were gone, Mrs. Lovejoy's powers of endurance failed her, and she fainted. I carried her into another room and laid her on the bed. So soon as she re- covered from her fainting, she relapsed into hysterical fits, moaning and shrieking and calling upon my name alter- nately. Her situation at this time was truly alarming and distressing. To add to the perplexities of the moment, I had our sick child in my arms, taken up from the floor, where it had been left by its grandmother, in the hurry and alarm of the first onset of the mob. The poor little sufferer, as if conscious of danger from the cries of its mother, clung to me in silence. In this condition, and while I was endeavoring to calm Mrs. Love- joy's dreadfully excited mind, the mob returned to the charge, breaking into the room, and, rushing up to the bed- side, again attempting to force me from the house. The brutal wretches were totally indifferent to her heart-rending- cries and shrieks — she was too far exhausted to move; and I suppose they would have succeeded in forcing me out, had not my friend, William M. Campbell, at this juncture come in, and with undaunted boldness, assisted me in freeing my- self from their clutches; so the house was now clear for a sec- ond time. They did not, however, leave the yard of the house, which was full of drunken wretches, uttering the most awful and soul-chilling oaths and imprecations, and swearing that they would have me at all hazards. I could hear the epithets, "The infernal scroundrel, the d— d amalgamating Abolitionist, we'll have his heart out yet!" etc., etc. They were armed with pistols and dirks, and one pistol was discharged, whether at any person or not I did not know. The fellow from Mississippi seemed the most bent on my destruction. He did not appear at all drunken, but both in words and ac- tions manifested the most fiendish malignity of feelings and purpose. On October 30, 1S3T. Rev. Edward Beecher, president of Illinois College, preached in Alton, and declared Lovejoy and the right of free discussion must be defended. The church was mobbed, but, although the building was damaged, S4 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. do person was seriously hart. Lovejoy's recommendation that a State anti-slavery association be formed had been car- ried iiato effect, and the Democrats were furious. On the day and evening of November 2, 1837, a meeting of those interested in the perpetuation of Democracy and sla- very was held, and Lovejoy was warned to desist from slavery discussion or resign, a as respectable men had received nu- merous communications from the slave States demanding the destruction of the Observer office unless its editor should keep silence on the subject of Abolition." Lovejoy was present and stated that the power to control and dictate the utterances of men and newspapers did not re- side with the sympathizers of slavery,andhe should continue as before. He then traversed the violence and indignities of his enemies, reciting how night after night his frail wife, suspended between life and death, had been carried into the garret to escape the deadly missiles of the Democratic mobs r and ending with the declaration that men could be killed, but not the spirit of freedom. That, he said, received its un- dying power from the persecutions of its advocates, and he should not turn back though he knew death only waited on his efforts for liberty. His earnestness and manifest sincerity made a deep im- pression upon the audience. Dr. Edward Beecher, who was present, thus describes the scene: "I have been • affected oftentimes with the power of intellect and eloquence, but never was I so overcome as at this hour. He made no dis- play, there was no rhetorical decoration, no violence of action. All was native truth, and deep, pure and tender feeling. Many a hard face did I see wet with tears as he struck the chords of feeling to which God made the soul to respond. Even his bitter enemies wept; it reminded me of Paul before Festus, and of Luther at Worms." On the night of November 5, 1837, at 3 o'clock, another press was landed at Alton, and secretly conveyed to the ware- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 55 house of Godfrey, Gilman & Co., although the sentinel of the mob vigorously blew his horn to rally the marauders for its destruction. Many assembled, but too late. At that ad- vanced hour they had become too sober for the work required. All day Tuesday, November V, the Democrats fired up with whisky and gathered all sorts of deadly weapons. At 9 o'clock they assembled at the warehouse and began a bom- bardment of stones, irons and bricks. The proprietor of the warehouse, Lovejoy and a dozen of his friends were present, armed to a certain extent for the protection of their property. Joseph C. and Owen Lovejoy, brave men who were in the warehouse at the time, brothers of the editor of the Observe) 1 , can best finish this recital: Those in the building had agreed not to fire unless their lives were endangered. After throwing stones for some time, the mob fired two or three guns into the building, with- out, however, wounding any one. The fire was then returned from within. Two or three guns were discharged upon the rioters, several of their number wounded, and one by the name of Bishop mortally. This checked the efforts of the mob and they departed, carrying away those that were wounded. The number is not known, as they were concealed by their friends. After a visit to the rum shops, they returned with their ladders and other material to set fire to the roof of the ware- house, shouting with fearful imprecations and curses, "Burn them out, burn them out." The mayor and Justice Robbins were then deputed by the mob to bear a flag of truce to those within, proposing as terms of capitulation that the press should be given up, and on that condition they might be per- mitted to depart unmolested, and that no other property should be destroyed. The mayor made known the terms of surrender to the little band, at the same time informing them that the mob had determined to fire the building. They promptly replied that they came there to defend their property, and should do it. On returning and reporting the result of his embassy, the mob set up a shout, and rushed on with cries of "Fire the building, fire the building," "Burn 'em out, burn 'em •ut," "Shoot every d — d Abolitionist as he leaves." It was now near midnight. The bells had been rung and a large 56 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. concourse of citizens assembled, who stood inactive specta- tors to these deeds of arson and murder. The mob now raised their ladders and placed them on the north-east corner of the store, and kindled a tire on the roof, which, although of wood, did not burn very readily. About five individuals now volunteered to go out and drive them away. They left the building on the south end, came around to the south-east corner of the building, turned the angle, and two or three tired upon the man on the ladder, drove him away and dispersed the mob. They then returned into the store and re-loaded. Our brother and Mr. Weller with one or two others again stepped to the door, and, seeing no one, stood looking around just without the threshold, our brother being a little before the others and more exposed. Several of the mob had in the meantime concealed themselves behind a pile of lumber that lay at a short distance. One of them had a two-bar- reled gun and fired. Our brother received five balls, three in his breast, two on the left and one on the right side, one in the abdomen and one in his left arm. He turned quickly 'round into the store, ran hastily up a flight of stairs, with his arms across his breast, came into the counting-room, and fell exclaiming, "Oh God, I am shot, I am shot," and expired in a few moments. Mr. Weller received a ball in the calf of his leg, but has since recovered. Some in the building were for continuing the conflict, but they finally resolved to yield. One of their number, the Rev. Mr. Harned, then w r ent up to the scuttle, and informed the mob that Mr. Lovejoy was dead and that they would give up the press, provided they might be allowed to escape un- molested. When this announcement was made the mob set up a yell of exultation, which rent the very heavens, and swore they should all find a grave where they were. Mr. Roff then determined to go out at all hazards and make some terms if possible. As soon as he had opened the door, and placed one foot without, he was tired upon and wounded in the ankle. All except two or three then laid down their arms, left the building at the southern door, and fled down the river. As they escaped, they were fired upon by the mob. The mob then rushed into the building — the fire being extinguished — threw the press out of the window uoon the shore, broke it to pieces, and cast it into the river. About 2 o'clock the mob dispersed. On the door of the building where some of those who had escaped had taken HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 57 refuge, figures of coffins were drawn, under which was writ- ten, "Ready-made coffins for sale, inquire of, etc.," referring to the individuals who had been in the store that night. The next morning the bloody remains of our brother were removed by a few friends from the warehouse to his dwelling. As the hearse moved slowly along through the street, it was saluted with jeers and scoffs, which showed that the hatred of his enemies still raged in their breasts, unsatisfied with his blood. One who had been a principal actor in the tragedy of the previous night said: "If I had a fife I would play thedead march for him." He was buried on Thursday the 9th of November, just thirty-five years from the day of his birth. There was not a large number who attended his funeral. He looked perfectly natural but a little paler than usual, and a smile still upon his lips. He sleeps in a graveyard a short distance from his dwelling, between two large oak trees, one standing at his head and one at his feet. Here ends the tale of blood and barbarity, but the ensu- ing farce was hardly less disgraceful to the community. The grand jury, composed of pro-slavery Democrats, promptly in- dicted a large number of citizens because they had "unlaw- fully, riotously and in a violent and tumultuous manner resisted and opposed an attempt to break up and destroy a printing press" etc, Thomas B. Hawley as foreman, and Francis B. Murdock as prosecuting attorney, signed a "true bill" of indictment against peaceable, respectable, sober citizens who, while con- sulting in their castle, were attacked by a mob with deadly weapons, and whose heinous offense was "resisting and op- posing the attempt" of the mob to "break up and destroy a printing press." W. S. Gilman,one of the owners of the warehouse, secured a separate trial, and after prolonged proceedings was acquit- ted. Subsequently the denunciations of the entire country grew so hot and irresistable that the other citizens guilty of the awful crime of self-defense were discharged. Then a clamor arose for the indictment of the "virtuous andrespectable"Democrats who fired the warehouse,destroyed 4 58 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. four presses, and murdered Lovejoy, which became so impet- uous that a bill was found against them. At the trial Alexander Botkin, before mentioned as the author of a resolution point- ing out that the mob might destroy Lovejoy and his press unless he should cease publishing in the Observer articles that were "obnoxious" to the Democracy, was foreman of the jury, most of whom were in the mob that attacked the ware- house and did the killing. The trial was simply a travesty. The proceedings were railroaded through and Botkin with great promptness and eclat sent up a verdict of "not guilty." This infamous outrage occupied the attention of the Re- public for months and years, is in fact still familiar to every citizen and school child that can read the English language. The storm of denunciation and indignation that followed was enough, had it been directed against an organization more hu- mane and civilized than the pro-slavery Democracy, to have resulted in utter and ignominious destruction. Quincy, Beecher, Channing, Phillips, Garrison and Gid- ding raised their voices in thrilling eloquence, the pulpit thundered and the press hurled its flaming bolts across the public horizon. The great North, teeming with mass-meet- ings and public demonstrations, resembled an army called suddenly and tumultously to arms from the quietude of peaceful encampment. The general public had not yet begun to understand the aims and acts of slavery, its barbarism and cruelty; and the assaults and killings of its proprietors and partisan sympa- thizers were, in the light of Lovejoy's blood, made so distinct and palpable before the masses, that all the liberty-lovers of the Republic were aroused. The battle against human bond- age received an impetus that continued to grow in po* er and breadth, until it took form in the Republican party, and through the Rebellion, extirpated the very causes of Love- joy's death. HISTOEY OF THE EEPUBLICAN PAETY. 59 The orators, the federal judges, the chivalry, the news- papers and the "virtuous citizens" of the country who then rejoiced at the assassination of liberty in the murder of Love- joy, were the ancestors of the great army now marching on the White Horse in the name of State rights, anti-Negro, anti-pure election, anti-civil rights, anti-tariff, anti-national banks, anti-surplus, anti-whisky tax, anti-tobacco tax and anti- everything, almost, that has made the American Republic what it is. In recent years admirers of Lovejoy caused to be erected over the martyr's tomb a plain monument, on which is in- scribed : Hie jacet LOVEJOY Jam puree sepulto. "Here lies Lovejoy; now spare his grave." The spot is visited annually by hundreds of people, who have read Lovejoy's martyrdom with sad but absorbing in- terest. 60 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAPTER VII. GENERAL VIOLENCE— EXPULSION OF SAMUEL HOAR. Disgraceful mob in Cincinnati— A * 'Conquered Province of Kentucky' —Bloodshed and Rapine in Philadelphia— Churches and Dwellings Demolished — Giddings Arraigns the Slave Power — Dawson Draws a Dagger in the Halls of Congress— A threat to cut off Giddings' Ears— A General Index to the Intolerance and Fierceness of Slav- ocrac}-— Southern Slates Seize, Imprison and Sell Citizens of the North — Their Acts Declared Unconstitutional but Without Effect- Massachusetts Sends Samuel Hoar to Charleston — The Legislature Orders the Governor to Expel Him — He is Waited Upon and Warned to Leave, in Order to Avoid Violence — Not Frightened — The Mob Embarrassed by the Presence of Mr. Hoar's Daughter — Compelled at List to Return to Massachusetts — Henry Hubbard Goes to New Orleans on a Similar Errand and meets with Similar Treatment -A Disgraceful Affair. The murder of Lovejoy developed so much earnestness and strength among the friends of freedom, that the mob spirit subsided in the free States until September, 1841, w,hen it broke out with renewed vigor and barbarity. A compara- tively large number of free people of color and a still larger number of Abolitionists resided in Ohio, especially at Cin- cinnati. The slave-breeders of Kentucky warned the busi- ness men of the city, that unless these "nuisances" should be done away with, they would withdraw their trade. Accordingly the business men invited the ruffians of Ken- tucky to come over and hunt out the Abolitionists and cap- ture what Negroes they could. The Kentuckians flocked in and precipitated a riot, which, swelled and strengthened by the Democrats of Cincinnati, held unrestrained sway over HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 61 the city for several days. Bands of armed men patrolled the streets in search of Negroes, men were cast into prison at the caprice of the leaders of the mob, the office of the Philanthro- pist was attacked and its press and material destroyed, a col- ored church edifice was demolished, several dwellings were razed and others sacked, and personal outrages upon women and children were inflicted without number or restraint. Immediately after a public meeting of the merchants and business men and Democratic politicians was held, at which the Kentuckians boasted that hundreds more at home stood ready to come over when needed. Resolutions were adopted, signed by the mayor as chairman, declaring that free Ne- groes should be discovered and watched, escaping slaves should at once be delivered up to claimants and the law re- quiring free Negroes to give bonds should be rigidly enforced. The resolutions also declared to their "Southern brethren" that the people of Cincinnati were "in earnest," and closed by denouncing the entire class of Abolitionists. Thereafter Cincinnati went by the name of "the conquered province of Kentucky," a term as appropriate as it was well earned. In August, 1842, the colored people of Philadelphia at- tempted to celebrate the West India emancipation. Their procession was assailed by the Democracy armed with guns, stones and bludgeons. Deeds of violence and bloodshed were enacted with brutal glee, a public hall and a colored church edifice were burned amidst shouts and yells, and many private houses were demolished. For three days Dem- ocratic incendiarism, rapine, destruction and outrage held high carnival. The fire companies refused to extinguish the fires, and the city authorities, heart and soul in sympathy with the rioters, refused to take any steps for the restoration of peace and order. Dozens of Northern cities were the theaters of similar violences, winked at by the sympathetic authorities and lustily 62 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. cheered by the newspapers of the South. These occurred largely in the Middle and New England States. The West and North-west were never strongly tainted with sympathy for slavery, though Ichabod Codding and a few other anti- slavery orators were a rotten-egged" and otherwise maltreated in those sections. During this period the action of President Tyler was so scandalous that Henry Wilson boldly writes him down in the first volume of his great history of slavery, as having failed "to save his character from the taint of treason and himself from being remembered as the only traitor President." At the close of a session of Congress in 1841, Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, presented a bill to appropriate $100,000 in some form to the Seminole Indians. The object was to purchase from them certain citizens and their descend- ants who had found refuge from bondage among the people of the tribe. Joshua R. Giddings, familiar with the rascalities of the Seminole war, laid bare the infamous but half-concealed pur- poses of the bill, in a speech of great power and eloquence. His expose caused great excitement among the Southern members, many of whom resorted to all forms of blackguard- ism and personal abuse. Ed. J. Black, of Georgia, denounced Giddings "and his Abolition crowd" as a "moral pestilence" and declared that "if Giddings should ever go to Georgia, he would be hanged without ado." Later, when the slave-breeders applied to Congress for the remainder of $75,000 paid by the British government for slaves lost on the Hornet and JEJcomium, which remainder the President had covered into the treasury after paying claims to suit his caprice, Giddings again interposed his vig- orous opposition. The losses had been incurred in the slave- trade and Giddings denounced the principle of the attempt to compel the American people to pay for captives lost in the HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 63 slave-trade as though they were property, as a libel and a falsehood upon them and their principles. He said he felt humbled and deeply humiliated, on look- ing around him, to see two 230 American statesmen sitting in that hall and gravely legislating in behalf of piratical slave-dealers, whose crimes had rendered them moral outlaws, unfit for human association, and fitted only for the gallows. He showed with great force of logic that Congress had neither moral nor constitutional right to involve the people of the free States in a war for the defense of the slave-trade. He sharply criticised, too, both the Pres- ident and the Senate for their action in committing the nation to the support of the domestic slave-trade, and of the heathenish doctrine of property in man. Mr. Giddings then rose to a privileged question. He stated that while he was addressing the House he noticed several persons standing in front of the clerk's desk, one of whom was Mr. Dawson, of Louisiana; that when he had con- cluded his speech he was pushed by what appeared to be the elbow of a person, and at the same moment Mr. Dawson passed him on his way to the clerk's desk; that he addressed him in an undertone when he turned round, seized the handle of a bowie-knife, which partly protruded from his bosom, and advanced towards him till within striking distance. Looking him in the eye, he inquired whether he pushed him in that rude manner. "Yes," he answered. "Forthepur- pose," inquired Mr. Giddings, "of insulting me?" 'Yes," he replied, partially removing his knife from its sheath. Mr. Giddings then said: "No gentleman will wantonly insult another. I have no more to say to you, but turn you over to public contempt as incapable of insulting another." Dawson was then seized by one of his colleagues and taken from the hall. In laying these facts before the House, Mr. Giddings wished it to be distinctly understood that he did not claim 64 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. the protection of the House, but left that body to protect its own dignity. Alexander H. H. Stuart, a Whig member from Virginia, afterward Secretary of the Interior, then stated that he had noticed Mr. Dawson standing in front of the clerk's desk; that from his appearance, he apprehended an intention of violence, but lost sight of him until he appeared in the aisle where Mr. Giddings was standing. Mr. Adams rose and alluded to an incident that occurred a few days before, when the same individual, offended at some remarks made by Thos. D. Arnold, of Tennessee, went to the seat of that gentleman and assured him that if he did not keep quiet he would "cut his throat from ear to ear." Mr. Adams inquired whether Dawson had made the same threat to Mr. Giddings. It was believed that, acting with the approbation of others, Dawson intended to insult Mr. Giddings and thus draw from him a blow, which would have been an excuse for an assault with a deadly weapon. In a letter, written on the same day this scene occurred, David Lee Child wrote: "I was sitting in the gallery. I saw Dawson in the center of the hall, amidst a crowd of Southern members, all of whom were looking extremely wrathful; and one of them, as I am informed by a member, said with an oath: 'I would like to cut off Giddings' ears.' " On another occasion Mr. Giddings introduced some reso- lutions touching a meeting of slaves on the ship Creole. For this the Democrats moved a vote of censure. Giddings re- signed and was at once triumphantly re-elected. In 1845 Mr. Giddings made another speech on the claims of the slave-breeders for compensation for the children that would have been born of fugitives that escaped into Florida if they had not so escaped. His speech was so strong that the flesh-brokers were beside themselves with passion. E. J. Black, of Georgia, rushed at him with an uplifted cane, loudly threatening to knock him down. Black was removed. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 65 whereupon Dawson, of Louisiana, at whose ruffianism we have just taken a glimpse, drew his pistol, cocked it, and pro- fanely exclaimed to Giddings: "I'll shoot him, God damn him, I'll shoot him!" Owing to the interposition of others, he did not commit the murder he had threatened. These illustrations of the courtesy and refinement of Southern chivalry are a few taken from the official records of Congress. They might be multiplied at pleasure ; but the foregoing amply show the nerve required of the little minority that first began to publicly espouse Republican principles. It clearly records, too, the general spirit of fierceness awd intol- erance that characterized and still characterizes the leaders of the slave States. At a comparatively early day South Carolina enacted laws to restrain the emancipation of slaves and prevent free per- sons of color from entering the State. Louisiana and other Southern States quickly followed this example. Under these barbarous statutes the slave-drivers arrested and captured all persons of African descent entering their ports in the employ of the vessels of other States and countries. Petitions and official communications asked Congress to relieve mariners, at least, from these unjust and odious laws, but that body, in full control of the flesh-brokers, refused to act. William Wirt, a Southerner and a slave-holder, de- clared, as attorney-general of the United States, that the laws complained of were "infractions of the federal Constitution, and violations of treaties with friendly nations." William Johnson, of South Carolina, while on the bench of the United States Supreme Court, pronounced the laws "unconstitutional and void." The Southern States then partially ceased seizing colored persons from the vessels of foreign nations, but enacted and enforced still more merciless laws against the colored citizens entering their ports as peamen on the vessels of free States. 66 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Some of those thus forcibly dragged from their ships were only fined and cast into prison; but many were sold into per- petual bondage. This continued for years, the protests of Northern States against such gross treatment of their citizens being cast aside with scornful contempt. Finally, in 1844, the legislature of* Massachusetts authorized the governor to appoint a commis- sioner to reside at Charleston, and another at New Orleans, to collect information as to the number from that State unlaw- fully seized in those cities. Also, to prosecute some of the suits before the higher courts for the purpose of testing the con- stitutionality of the laws under which the forcible seizures were being made. To carry out the purpose of this resolve the governor ap- pointed the well-known Samuel Hoar to proceed to Charles- ton. Venerable, conservative, scholarly, able and kind, Mr. Hoar started at once, with his daughter, on his mission of humanity, arriving at his destination in November, 1844. James H. Hammond was then governor of South Carolina. He was the rankest of those blood-thirsty men for which the Carolinas have long been famous. While in Congress he boldly declared: "I warn the Abolitionists — ignorant, infat- uated barbarians as they are — that, if chance shall thrust any of them into our hands, they may expect a felon 's death/" On receiving the letter announcing Mr. Hoar's appoint- ment, Hammond made all haste to lay it before the legisla- ture. That body promptly flew into an uproar, which was not allowed to subside until a series of resolutions were adopted declaring the right of South Carolina to exclude from her borders all persons whose presence might be considered dan- gerous; denying that free Negroes were citizens of the United States, and calling on the governor to expel* the emissary sent by Massachusetts to their territory. a Resolved, That his excellency, the governor, be directed to expel from our territory the said agent, after due notice to depart; and that the legislature will sustain the executive authority iu any measures that may be adopted for the purpose aforesaid . HISTORY OF THE REIMJBLICAN PARTY. 67 Not satisfied with going beyond the pale of civilization and ■common decency, to say nothing of courtesy, the legislature followed up these resolutions with an act to banish, fine and imprison any person entering the State for the purpose of hindering or questioning the operation of the laws relative to free persons of color. These resolves and acts were promulgated before the presence of Mr. Hoar became generally known. Charleston rose to a ferment of rage. The sheriff called on him to say thathis mission was considered "an insult to the State;" that the people were highly incensed; his life was in imminent peril and the best thing to do was to leave the city at once. The attorney-general wrote a letter practically suggest- ing a resort to lynching — that is, he wrote that Mr. Hoar should be warned to leave in order to avoid being lynched, which "would be a disgrace to the city." He did not care for Mr. Hoar, apparently, but did not like to "disgrace" Charles- ton by hanging him. The venerable emissary declined to depart, saying he had been charged in a legal way with a legal duty, and he could not leave without attending to it. As warnings increased he offered to make up a case and take it to the Supreme Court for the purpose of receiving a decision in the most remote way possible. This offer the sheriff accepted; but as the flesh-brokers saw that the matter would thus be fairly brought before a court where their chances for success were doubtful, they ordered him to withdraw it and renewed their clamors for Mr. Hoar's instant departure. Finally, a bank president and two eminent lawyers, one of them McGrath, subsequently a leader in the Rebellion, called and half ordered Mr. Hoar to leave the city. He re- fused, saying he had come in a lawful manner, had kept the peace and the laws, and could not be rightfully disturbed. They replied that they "would return soon and escort him to the boat." He replied that, although he was too old to DO HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. fight, he would not fly, and therefore they would find him there on their return to be disposed of as they might see fit. As they turned to depart Mr. Hoar observed that his daughter was with him, to which Rose, the bank president, replied: "It is that which creates our embarrassment." They were embarrassed in deciding how to dispose of him in the presence of his daughter without employing too much barbarity. If he had been alone it is easy to surmise what would have become of him. He was "escorted" out of the city, as it was, with his daughter by his side, and returned in sorrow and humiliation to Massachusetts. * The outlawry of South Carolina, which has been painfully demonstrated again and again during the last fifty years, in this case took a more wantonly discourteous form than it ever had before. Although the Constitution of the United States declares that "citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States," she vauntingly defied and violated that provision not only as to the seamen temporarily entering her ports, but hustled from her midst Samuel Hoar and daughter, two of the most respectable, peaceable, refined and accomplished children of the Old Bay State. But the Democratic disgrace of South Carolina was not without company. At the same time Mr. Hoar went to Charleston, Henry Hubbard, a respectable and able lawyer, was sent to New Orleans on a similar errand. His arrival there precipitated demonstrations hardly less violent than had that of Hoar in Charleston. Pierre Soule, subsequently the brilliant United States Senator from Louisiana, called with others and warned Mr. Hubbard to leave, as a general mob outbreak was apparent, and lynching was prepared for and threatened. Mr. Hubbard stated that he was not an Aboli- tionist, did not intend to infringe or comment upon the rights of the Pelican State, but only hoped to protect eitizens of HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 69 Massachusetts imprisoned and sold into slavery without crime. This disclaimer only added fuel to the flames. Several former citizens of Massachusetts, observing that Mr. Hubbard was about to be publicly hanged, begged him to leave, which he did. Returning home he made a brief report of his flight to escape death at the hands of the "respectable and law-abid- ing" people of Louisiana, and resigned. Gayerre's History of Louisiana, written, it must be pre- sumed, for the use of the young in schools, sanctions the hustling of Hubbard out of New Orleans by a mob, and de- clares with complacent relish that the Massachusetts agent "was not permitted to accomplish all the mischief that was in- tended." By mischief he meant preventing the free citi- zens of Massachusetts from being sold into bondage in Louis- iana. These flagrant inroads upon civilization and ordinary comity were laid before Congress, but that body, in deeper slavery to the Democratic masters of the South than were even the blacks themselves, refused to take any action. Mr. Hoar in his report inquired: Has the Constitution of the United States the least practical validity or binding force in South Carolina? * * She prohibits, not only by her mobs, but by her legislature, the residence of a free white citizen of Massachusetts within the limits of South Carolina whenever she thinks his presence there inconsistent with her policy. Are the other States of the Union to be regarded as the conquered provinces of South Carolina? Thus the Southern States, determined that everything, including decency, courtesy, humanity and the Constitution, rnust be subordinate to the interests of bondage, continued, these cruel laws upon their statute books until cause and con-, sequence went down together before the fire and sword of the. Rebellion. 10 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. CHAPTER VIII. TEXAS, LOPEZ, OREGON, CALIFORNIA. Texas Relinquished for Florida — Slave-holding Settlers on Mexican Soil — The Machinations of Adventurers and Desperadoes — Ameri- cans Forbidden by Mexico to Settle in Texas— Sam Houston's Con- quest—Texas Becomes a Quasi-Republic — It Must be Annexed or the Union Dissolved— Protest and Withdrawal of the Mexican Minister— Annexation Followed by War with Mexico— Remark- able Prophecies Against the Slave Power — Expedition of South- erners Under Narciso Lopez to Cuba— Defeat and Death — Young Democrats Captured and Carried to Spain — The Spanish Consul at New Orleans Mobbed— California With or Without Slavery — More Slave States or Disunion— Compromise of 1850 — The Barbarous Fugitive Slave Act— Webster's Speech and Prophecy. In 1803 when Louisiana was ceded by France to the United States, Spain claimed that her cession of the territory to France which the French made over to the United States, did not include Texas, and the United States held that it did — that is, those who favored the extension of slavery so held. Thus Texas became disputed territory, claimed by both this Republic and Mexico, which was a Spanish province. The inhabitants of the slave States rushed upon the disputed ter- ritory, formed settlements, introduced slavery, and from 1806 to 1816 made several unsuccessful attempts to forcibly wrest the country from Mexico. In one of these, in 1813, 2,500 Americans and Mexicans were killed, as well as 700 inhabit- ants of San Antonio. In 1819 the river Sabine was established as the boundary between Texas and Louisiana, and the United States, in order to quiet the clamors of the Georgia and Carolina slave mas- ters, relinquished her claim to Texas as a part of the consid- eration in purchasing from Spain the territory of Florida. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Vl Citizens of this Republic, however, mostly agents and proprietors of slavery in the South, continued to pour into 'Fexas, and by evetry known means fomented trouble and re- bellion. They defied Mexican laws, committed numerous outrages and counseled revolution. In 1820 slavery was abol- ished in Mexico, yet Southern adventurers and desperadoes continued to carry slaves into Texas, in open defiance of Mexican law. These disturbances and insurrections grew into such ag- gravated forms that the Mexican government was compelled to forbid any more Americans settling within her borders. Soon after, in 1833, led by the agents of slavery, an attempt was made to form Texas into an independent Mexican State, which failed. Secret agencies were formed throughout the South for en- listing men to capture the Texan Republic, and in 1835 Sam Houston, of Tennessee, succeeded in this plot, and formed a provisional government, and, being chosen commander-in- chief, received aid enough from the South to enable him to drive the Mexicans out of Texas. Santa Anna invaded the country, but was finally routed at San Jacinto, and Texas be- came an independent republic. Her independence was, with indecent haste, acknowledged by the United States in 1837, and by European countries two years later. Now began a conscienceless and desperate struggle for possession of this new republic, Secretary Calhoun announc- ing that the United States would take possession of it as soon as possible. The Southern Democrats demanded its annexation because its accession would open up a new and vast field to slavery, and ultimately make several new States with Sena- tors and Representatives to overbalance those of the free North. The Free-Soilers opposed the scheme for that very ; reason. "We want it," said Hamilton, "to give a Gibralter | to the South," and said Henry A. Wise, "to give more weight ;to her end of the lever." 72 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Mexico never acknowledged the independence of Texas, as did the United States and various foreign countries, but still claimed her as insurgent territory. Therefore when the scheme of annexation was proposed, the Mexican minister at Washington notified our government that its adoption would be regarded by Mexico as an act of hostile and warlike aggres- sion, which must certainly be resisted to the uttermost by armed force. Heedless of this protest, the slave-drivers con- tinued to howl for annexation. " Texas or disunion" was the Democratic watchword everywhere. At a great mass-meeting in South Carolina, a convention of slave-holding States was demanded, "to take into consid- eration the question of annexing Texas to the Union, if the Union will accept it; or, if the Union will not accept it, then of annexing Texas to the Southern States" A convention at Beaufort announced that the Democracy of the South "would dissolve the Union sooner than abandon Texas." Other conventions put forth similar threats, but the first treaty was defeated in 1843, notwithstanding these threats and the use by the agents of slavery and by the ad- ministration, of the most corrupt influences ever brought to bear upon the Senate. In 1844 James K. Polk, a weak and comparatively unknown character from Tennessee, was nominated for the Presidency by the Democrats. His chief qualifications were that he was a slave-holder, favored the annexation of Texas and all other schemes that would advance and strengthen slaveiy, and was a servile tool of slavocracy. Pie was elected on the "an- nexation-or-disunion" cry and by gross fraud, and the next year a resolution defining the terms of annexation was passed, which was signed on March 2, 1845. Texas formally assented to these terms July 4, 1845,and the Mexican minister demanded his passports, and returned home. Two days later the United States sent a squadron into the Gulf of Mexico to overawe the Mexicans. War en- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 73 sued, and Gen. Zachary Taylor, a Louisiana slave-holder, ad- vanced with an army to the Rio Grande to meet the Mexi- cans. In the meantime Texas had not become a State of the Union; but in December, 1845, Stephen A. Douglas presented a bill for her admission with a constitution forever providing for slavery within her borders. Against its passage Webster made one of his earnest and ponderous speeches, and all the eloquence, argument, humanity and Christianity of the North were poured against it like a mighty flood, but without avail. Texas became a slave State on the last day of the black and eventful year of 1845. Immediately afterward hostilities were opened between the United States and a country which had borne the in- sults and outrages of our slave power until patience had ceased to be a virtue, and a war was inaugurated which lasted just two years. It was a conflict conceived in sin and carried forward in iniquity, mostly by the slave-breeders of the South for the benefit of human bondage and the ascendency of the slave power, and for no other purpose. It resulted (February 2, 1848) in a treaty by which the United States not only received clear title to Texas, but acquired the large stretch of territory that is now included within the boundaries of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. This was a vile plot and a wicked conquest. It was a conflict in which the banners of Mexico were those of free- dom and civilization and the standards of the United States those of subjugation, bondage and degradation. It presented the humiliating spectacle of a national effort on the part of Republican and Christian America to plant slavery where it had been prohibited by law by Mexico. Edward S. Hamlin, of Ohio, declared that the correspond- ence of the Secretary of State concerning this matter showed that "we have no other God but slavery." Henry Wilson cried aloud to the South: "You are warring against 14 HIST0EY OF THE EEPUBLICAN PAETT. civilization, against humanity, against the noblest feelings of the heart, the noblest influences of the human soul and the providence of God, and the conflict must ultimately end in your defeat^ Daniel D. Barnard said that if slavery should triumph the contest would "thenceforth be between freedom and slavery, and the South would then find not only that the sceptre had departed from Judah and a lawgiver from between his feet, but that the Shiloh of the slave had come." Thundered Joshua R. Giddings: "There is a power above us that will visit national sins with national judgments. I feel as confident that chastisement and tribulation for the offenses committted against the down-trodden sons of Africa await that people [the South] as I do that justice controls the destinies of nations and guides the power of Omnip- otence." Wonderful prophecies ! With what terrible exactness they have been fulfilled the prostrate and suffering South alone can tell. Somewhere in 1848 the Democracy of the South invited Narciso Lopez, a Venezuelian by birth, to come to the United States and organize an expedition to seize the island of Cuba and annex it to this Republic in order to prevent Spain, to which it belonged, from abolishing slavery therein. The slave masters were incensed because Spain had refused the offer made by President Polk under pressure of the slave power, of one hundred millions for the island, and desired to accomplish by unlawful moans that which they had failed to do by lawful efforts. Lopez, a desperate and ambitious man, willing to lend himself to almost any scheme, accepted the invitation and came to New Orleans in 1849. Several leading Southern Democrats allied themselves with him and began, not very secretly, to raise men and money to plunder Cuba and wrest her from Spain. President Taylor, observing the prepara- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 75 tions of the pirates, issued a proclamation on August 11, 1849, calling attention to the treaty between the United States and Spain, warning all citizens of this Republic to abandon the expedition or suffer the extreme penalty in such cases made and provided, and calling upon federal officers everywhere to arrest all persons aiding and abetting or connected in any manner with the plot. In Mobile, New Orleans and one or two other cities in the South Taylor's proclamation was suppressed as far as possible, and of course was disregarded. Hundreds of men and scores of fortunes were pledged to Lopez, and a strong military organization was formed at New Orleans, the head- quarters of the outlaws, under his leadership. The expedition, less than 1,000 strong, sailed for Cuba in May, 1850, expecting, no doubt, to be joined on the island by whatever portion of the people might be dissatisfied with Spanish rule. On the contrary the people gathered en masse, and the slave-breeding pirates were driven down into the sea. Hasty flight was made toward Key West, but the Span- ish war ship Pizarro overtook and captured them. They narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Spanish govern- ment, as pirates. Lopez escaped to New Orleans, where he was secreted by the Democratic slave-masters, and another expedition was at once organized. President Fillmore issued a proclamation in April, 1851, similar to that of Taylor, but it had no greater effect than that of his predecessor, except to make the pirate slave-masters more cautious. On the 3d of August another squad sailed from New Orleans on the Pampero. On the 11th they landed in Cuba and prepared for a season of rapine. Lopez went one way with his "army" and Col. Crittenden, his chief officer, with less than 1 00 men, went another. These were captured by the Spaniards on the 15th, speedily tried, condemned and shot on the following day. 16 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. A few days later Lopez was routed by Gen. Enna and some of his command killed, and ultimately himself and 150 men were captured. On August 26, with two or three others, he wasgarroted as a malefactor. The other prisoners, ambitious young Democrats, were taken to Spain, but in 1852, through federal intercession, they were released and per- mitted to return to the United States to organize and partici- pate in the Rebellion against the federal Union. The Southern Democrats were so incensed because Spain did not permit the pirates to seize, plunder and annex her rich and beautiful colony, Cuba, that they organized a riot and mobbed the Spanish flag and consular officers at New Orleans. For this bit of elegant and refined pastime of the Democracy, the United States was compelled to give redress to Spain. This wicked scheme met a just fate, which was not the case with many of the plottings of Democracy and slavery until the war of the Rebellion. ■ In relation to the report that Spain, under pressure of Great Britain, was about to emancipate her slaves, Gov. Herbert, of Louisiana, said in his message of 1854: "Will the federal government, charged with the international inter- ests of the States, anticipate the threatened peril, or patiently and quietly await the occurrence of it? The evil would then be irremediable." This message, milder than many others of the South, meant that President Pierce must do what Lopez and his out- laws had failed to accomplish, namely, acquire Cuba by any means that might be necessary, in order to prevent the aboli- tion of slavery therein. Listening to the clamor of the slave power, Congress had previously offered Spain $100,000,000 for Cuba, but was met with a firm refusal. Gayerre's His- tory calls this a "miserable failure" to "protect Southern rights." The Democratic theory of "protecting Southern rights" was to seize, like a thief in the night, or like a mountain rob- HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 77 ber, all the adjacent provinces of friendly countries and swiftly convert them into slave States. Christian principles, humanity and national honor were never taken into considera- tion in discussing or carrying out their party policies and programmes. Several expeditions for the seizure of Cuba have since been organized. Against these Millard Fillmore issued a proclamation and again in 1854 Franklin Pierce was com- pelled to promulgate a similar manifesto. They were all planned in the interests of slavery and slave-extension, and all failed. On August 6, 1 846, S. A. Douglas reported a bill for the or- ganization of the territory of Oregon. It did not pass, but was raised at the next session. General Burt, of South Carolina, moved to amend by declaring that "inasmuch as Oregon was north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, known as the Missouri Compromise," slavery might be pro- hibited therein. This was a crafty trick to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean. It was defeated in the House, but the slave-drivers, believing they had recruited some new strength, Douglas, a few months later, moved the following substitute : That the line of 36 degrees and 30 minutes of north lati- tude, known as the Missouri Compromise line, as defined in the eighth section of an act entitled, "An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and to prohibit slavery in certain territories, approved March, 6, 1820," be, and the same is hereby, declared to extend to the Pacific Ocean; and the said eighth section, together with the compromise therein effected, is hereby revived, and declared to be in full force and binding for the future organization of the territories of the United States, in the same sense and with the same understanding with which it was originally adopted. 78 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The substitute passed the Senate but was defeated in the House. Finally, after a long and able debate, the Oregon bill passed under the ordinance of 1787, though every South- ern Democrat in the Senate voted nay, and Oregon came into the Union free. The bill to admit California, reported by Henry Clay in the winter of 1849-50, precipitated discussion which clearly demonstrated the gross dishonesty of the Democrats. They had clung desperately to the State-rights and nullification heresies, because they were the ones most favorable to the extension of slavery, claiming that each State and not Con- gress had sole authority to regulate the "divine institution." But when it was proposed to admit California with a consti- tution of her own adoption (November 13, 1849),which forever excluded and forbade domestic slavery, the Southern Demo- crats opposed it. They favored State sovereignty when State sovereignty was asserted in favor of slavery; but like the outlaws that they were, opposed and conspired to over- throw it when it declared for the divine tenets of equal free- dom. The slave-holders of the Senate, not satisfied with speak- ing and voting against admitting California without forcibly injecting slavery into her constitution and borders in spite of the expressed will of the people to the contrary, adopted a set of resolutions "solemnly protesting against the admis- sion" because the fundamental law of the Golden State "made an odious discrimination" against the sacred "property of fifteen slave-holding States of the Union," and declaring that the erection of more free States "must lead to the dissolution of the Confederacy." This seditious protest, signed by J. M. Mason and R. M . T. Hunter, of Virginia; A. P. Butler and R. P. Barnwell, of South Carolina; H. L. Turney, of Tennessee; Pierre Soule, of Louisiana; Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi; David R. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 79 Atchison, of Missouri, and Jackson Morton and J. D. Yates, of Florida, was spread on the journals of Congress. California, however, came into the Union September 9, 1850, free, but there grew out of the discussion relative thereto as an offset to her free constitution, the barbarous fugitive slave act of September 18, 1850, by which persons of color could be seized and arrested anywhere within the United States with- out a warrant or other process, and carried into slavery by any person who would make affidavit that he had lost a slave. It also provided that the seized person's testimony should not be taken in evidence; that any citizen called upon by the slave-hunters must give aid in catching and holding any per- son of color who might be under chase; that if any such al- leged fugitive escaped from an officer "with or without the assent of such marshal or his deputy," the officer should be liable for the value of the escaped fugitive; that any person harboring or concealing, or aiding in the escape of any al- leged fugitive should be fined not more than $1,000 and im- prisoned for not more than six months, "and should more- over forfeit and pay the sum of $1,000 for each fugitive so lost;" and each commissioner should receive an independent fee of $10 for holding any alleged fugitive, but only $5 in case the alleged slave should not be held. Of course every colored person dragged before a Demo- cratic commissioner was held to slavery, even though he had been born and always lived free; for it was twice as profit- able for the commissioner to hold as to discharge. The other concessions made by the advocates of freedom to pacify the wrath of the slave-holders which had been kindled by the admission of California as a free state, were bills erecting Utah as a territory to be admitted as a State with or without slavery as she might elect, and creating the territory of New Mexico upon a similar proviso. The Texas boundary bill, limiting that State as she now appears, upon ■ the payment to her of $10,000,000, and a bill abolishing the 80 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. slave-trade in the District of Columbia, also accompanied as "compromises" the admission of California. When the Democrats announced that although they would break up the Union unless California should be admit- ted with slavery, they should do it "calmly and peaceably," Daniel Webster rose in his greatest majesty and uttered this prophetic warning: I hear with pain, anguish and distress the words secession, peaceable secession! Sir, your eyes and mine are never des- tined to see that miracle — the dismemberment of this vast country without convulsion! The breaking up of the foun- tains of the great deep without ruffling the surface! Who is so foolish as to expect to see such a thing? Sir, he who sees these States now revolving in harmony around a common centre, and expects to see them quit their places and 'fly off without convulsion, may look the next hour to see the heav- enly bodies rush from their spheres and jostle against each other in realms of space, without producing the crash of the universe. There can be no such thing as peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we live here, covering the whole country, is it to be thawed and melted away by secession, as the snows of the mountains melt under the influence of the vernal sun, disappear almost unobserved and die off? No, sir! No, sir! I see it as plainly as I see the sun in heaven. I see disruption must produce such a war as I will not describe in its tiuo-fold characters. This matchless warning, this remarkable prophecy, the voracious and unscrupulous Democrats would not heed. Has it not been divinely fulfilled, and have they not felt their just punishment? The North received California free, and the Democrats of the South received from Webster an earnest signal of danger, that, wisely heeded, would have saved them from de- struction. That warning was unheeded, as will be those of to-day, which are not less earnest or important. HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 81 CHAPTER IX. KANSAS AND NEBRASKA— A BLOODY CHAPTER. The Slave-Breeders' Last and Most Desperate Sally — Douglas' Squatter Sovereignty Bill — Dougla3 Resided in Illinois But Held Slaves in Mississippi — Proposal to Repeal the Missouri Compromise — Vote on the Passage of the Bill in the Senate— Disgraceful Scenes— Vote in the House on May 22, 1854 — Settlers Pour into Kansas — Immi- grants From Free States Intercepted and Assaulted— Resolutions by the Desperadoes — The Federal Government Sends an Army to Support the Border Ruffians— The Election of November 29, 1854— Shocking Laws Against Freedom Adopted by the Slave ryites — A Congressional Committee Discovers Gross Frauds — Gov. Reeder Removed— Militia From the Slave States— The U. S. Marshal Places Them on Federal Pay — Lawrence Sacked — The Free Legis- lature Dispersed by Federal Troops Commanded by Slave-holders — The Legislature Again Dispersed for "Treason" — Gov. Geary Re- signs — Gov. Walker Appointed, but Shocked at Federal Excesses, Resigns— Gov. Denver Resigns and is Succeeded by Gov. Medary — Peace Restored and a Free Constitution Adopted — Kansas Ad- mitted in 1861 — A Frightful Record of Democratic Misdeeds. We now come to the last and bloodiest attempt of the slave-breeders and Hesh-brokers to over-ride and violate the laws previously made by themselves and plant human bond- age on soil solemnly dedicated to eternal freedom — their last effort to force slavery into free territory against the wishes of its people. Missouri was admitted as a slave State in 1820 only upon the terms of the Missouri Compromise, which forever pro- hibited involuntary servitude in territory now constituting Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Dakota, Wyoming, Mon- tana, Idaho and a portion of Minnesota. In 1853, when a 82 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. bill to organize the territory of Kansas was presented, a Southern Democrat arose and demanded that the Missouri Compromise should not be held to prohibit slavery within the new territory, though in express terms it did prohibit it for- ever, and was passed for that purpose. This bill was abandoned and one far more cunning was brought in by Stephen A. Douglas, a slave-holder of the State of Mississippi, who resided in and pretended to represent in the United States Senate the free State of Illinois, but who really represented the slave interests of the South. 1 His bill proposed to erect two territories — Kansas and Nebraska — instead of one, to be admitted as States with or without slavery, as their people might elect. This flagrant violation of the compromise of 1820 he labeled "squatter sovereignty." He expected that through it Kansas would be captured by way of Missouri by the slave-breeders, and that Nebraska would fall an easy victim to the same unholy monster by the hordes that could pass through the gates of Kansas after it had become a slave State. 1 Mr. Editor.— I had the pleasure of attending- a barbacue given by Mr. James Strickland, the agent and overseer of the Hon. S. A Doue-las,of Illinois, at the plantation of this gentleman on Pearl Kiver, in this county, on the 30th ult. The barbacue was intended really for the slaves on the place, in accord- ance with a yearly custom which Mr. Strickland has adopted, but there was a goodly number of ladies and gentlemen present from the immediate neigh- borhood. The Negroes followed the invited guests at the tables, and sat down to the same dainties and delicacies which had just afforded so much satisfaction to our palates. They numbered some 140 in all. It was a goodly sight to see the dark countenances lighted up with pleasure at the sight of the eatables before them; the entire abandon with which they pitched into the good things; the extreme delicacy of the female portion of the crowd, ordering the delighted waiter with fastidious taste and careless toss of the head to "fetch the nice c t piece of the sheep-meat they could find," or "to cut a big slice of de cake wid de icing on it," or to "stand further back, and not crowd on de lady when she war drinking her coffee." The most amusing part of the scene was a table full of little snow-balls— some forty in number, and all about one size and age. They were the blackest of black ' 'little niggers." Their heads rolled from side to side as they crammed In the food, and more particularly the cake, in a pure repletion of animal en- joyment. They did enjoy it. Tears were in their large rolling eyes, but they were tears produced by satiety of cake. They wept because they could " Eat no more!" My object, Mr. Editor, in thus detailing the scene which I witnessed on this plantation is to call the attention of your readers (and it may be some who are not) to the fact that here in our county of Lawrence, in the State of Missis- sippi, is a large plantation of Negroes owned by a Northern United State* Sen- ator, and that these Negroes are better fed, better clothed, and their bodily comforts better provided for, than many of even the white laboring classes of the North— passim? by for the present the condition of its free Negro popula- tion.— From the Southern Journal, August 5, 1853. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 83 This bill, 1 wicked as a covenant with hell, was of course passed, because the President, a majority of the Supreme Court and of Congress favored the extension of slave terri- tory by any means, no matter how foul and dishonorable. And thus was laid bare a splendid region to become a bloody battle-ground between freedom and slavery. As the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, with its le- gitimate consequences,, was a more potent factor than any other in giving force and direction to that tremendous revul- sion which bequeathed to history the Republican party, the Rebellion and the freedom, it is proper to bring to view here the names of those who voted for as well as those who voted against it. The present generation should not be permitted to forget the distinguished statesmen who acted a part which changed the character of the Republic. At 5 o'clock on Saturday morning, March 4, 1854, the anniversary of the inauguration of Franklin Pierce, amidst scenes of drunkenness and disgrace never before witnessed in that chamber, the bill was passed by the following vote: 2 YEAS. New Hampshire — Moses Norris, Jared W. Williams. Connecticut — Isaac Toucey. New Jersey— John R. Thomson. Pennsylvania— Richard Brodhead, Jr. Indiana— John Pcttit. Illinois — Stephen A. Douglas, James Shields. 1 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted * * * that the Constitution and laws of the United States which are not locally applicable shall have the same force and effect within the said Territory of Kansas and elsewhere within the United States, except the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admis- sion of Missouri into the Utiion, approved March 6, 1820, which, being- incon- sistent with the principle of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the Siates and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850 commonly called Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning of the act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States. Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law or regulation which may have existed prior to the act of March 6, 1820, either protecting-, establishing, prohibiting or abolishing slavery. 2 Whigs in Italics, Democrats in Roman and Free-Soilers in smalI/ capi TALS . 84 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Iowa— Aug. C. Dodge, Geo. W. Jones. MicriGAN— Lewis Cass, Chas. E. Stuart. California — Wm. M. Gwin, John B. Weller. Delaware— James A. Bayard. Maryland — Thomas G. Pratt. Virginia— Jas. M. Mason, R. M. T. Hunter. North Carolina — George E Badger. South Carolina— A. P. Butler, Josiah J. Evans. Georgia — "William C. Dawson. Alabama — Benj . Fitzpatrick, Clement C. Clay, Jr. Mississippi — Stephen Adams, Albert G. Brown. Florida — Jackson Morton. Louisiana — John Slidell, J. P. Benjamin. Kentucky — Arch. Dixon, John B. Thompson. Tennessee— James C. Jones. Missouri— D. R. Atchison, Henry S. Geyer. Arkansas— W. K. Sebastian, Robert W. Johnson. Texas — Thomas J. Rusk. NAYS. Maine — Hannibal Hamlin, Wm. Pitt Fessenden. Massachusetts — Charles Sumner. Rhode Island — Charles T. James. Connecticut — Truman Smith. Vermont — Solomon Foot. New York — William H. Seward, Hamilton Fish. Ohio — Salmon P. Chase, Benjamin F. Wade. Wisconsin— Isaac P. Walker, Henry Dodge. Tennessee— Jo hn Bell. Texas— Sam Houston. ABSENT. Massachusetts— Edward Everett. Rhode Island— Philip Allen. Vermont — Samuel S. Phelps. New Jersey— William Wright. Pennsylvania— James Cooper. Delaware— John M. Clayton. Maryland — James A. Pearce. Indiana— Jesse D. Bright. Georgia— Robert Toombs. Florida— Stephen R. Mallory. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 85 The free States gave fourteen yea votes — all Democrats; the slave States twenty-three yeas — fourteen Democrats and nine Whigs. The nay votes consisted of twelve from the free and two from the slave States — seven Whigs, two Free- Soilers and five Democrats. The ten absentees consisted of five Whigs, four Democrats and Robert Toombs. In the House the bill met with such able and determined opposition that for some weeks the lovers of freedom had high hopes of its ultimate defeat. Thousands of earnest pro- tests, from all parts of the free States, were showered upon the Representatives; tens of thousands of letters were writ- ten and hundreds of thousands of prayers offered against the iniquitous and fraudulent measure, but in vain. The admin- istration and the wealthy slave-owners exerted their utmost influence, corrupt and otherwise, in favor of its passage, and postponed final action until May 22, when, having secured the required majority, it became a law by the following vote: 1 YEAS 113. Free States. Maine— Moses McDonald— 1. New Hampshire —Harry Hibbard — 1 . Connecticut— Colin M. Ingersoll — 1. Vermont — None . Massachusetts — None. Rhode Island— None. New York— Thomas W. Cumming, Francis B. Cutting, Peter Rowe, John J. Taylor, William M. Tweed, Hiram Walbridge, Wil- liam A. Walker, Mike Walsh, Theo. R. Westbrook— 9. Pennsylvania— Samuel A. Bridges, John L. Dawson, Thomas B. Florence, J. Glancy Jones, William H. Kurtz, John McNair, Asa Packer, John Robbins, Jr., Christian M. Straub, William H. Witte, Hendrick B. Wright— 11. New Jersey — Samuel Lilly, George Vail— 2. Ohio— David T. Disney, Frederick W. Green, Edson B. Olds, Wilson Shannon— 4. 1 Whigs in Italics, Democrats in Roman, Free-Soilers in small capitals. 86 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Indiana — John G. Davis, Cyrus L. Dunham, Norman Eddy, Wil- liam H. English, Thomas A. Hendricks, James H. Lane, Smith Mil- ler— 7. Illinois — James C. Allen, Willis Allen, Wm. A. Richardson — 3. Michigan — Samuel Clark, David Stuart — 2. Iowa — Bernhart Henn — 1 Wisconsin— None . California— Milton S. Latham, J. A. McDougall— 2. Total— 44. Slave States. Delaware — George R. Riddle — 1. Maryland — William T. Hamilton, Henry May, Jacob Shower, Joshua Vansant— 4. Virginia — Thomas H. Bayly, Thomas S. Bocock, John S. Caskie, Henry A. Edmundson, Charles J. Faulkner, William O. Goode, Zedekiah Kidwell, John Letcher, Paulas Powell, William Smith, John F. Snodgrass — 11. North Carolina — William S. Ashe, Burton Craige, Thomas L. Clingman, John Kerr, Thomas Ruffln, Henry M. Shaw — 6. South Carolina— William W. Boyce, Preston S. Brooks, James L. Orr— 3. Georgia — David J. Bailey, Elijah W. Chastain, Alfred H. Colquitt, Junius Hillyer, David A. Reese, Alex. H. Stephens — 6. Alabama — James Abercrombie, Williamson R. W. Cobb, James F. Dowdell, Sampson W. Harris, George S. Houston, Philip Phillips, William R. Smith— 7. Mississippi — William S. Barry, William Barksdale, Otho R. Sin- gleton, Daniel B. Wright — 4. Louisiana — William Dunbar, Roland Jones, John Perkins, Jr. — 3. Kentucky — John C. Breckenridge, James S. Chrisman, Leander M. Cox, Clement S. Hill, John M. Elliott, Benj. E. Grey, William. Preston, Richard H. Stanton — 8. Tennessee — William M. Churchwell, George W. Jones, Charles Ready, Samuel A. Smith, Frederick P. Stanton, Felix K. Zolli- coffer—6. Missouri— Alfred W. Lamb, James J. Lindley,John O.Miller, Mordecai Olliver, John S. Phelps — 5 . Arkansas -A. B. Greenwood, Edwin A. Warren— 2. Florida— A. E. Maxwell— 1. Texas— Peter Hansbrough Bell, Geo. W. Smyth— 2. Total— 69. Total, Free and Slave States— 113. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PAKTT. 87 NAYS 110. Northern States. Maine— Sam uel P. Benson, E. Wilder Farley, Thomas J. D. Fuller, Samuel Mayall. Israel Washburn, Jr. — 5. New Hampshire— George W. Kittredge, George W. Morrison— 2 Massachusetts— Nathaniel P. Banks, Jr., Samuel L. Crocker, Alex. De Witt, Edioard Dickinson, J. Wiley Edmands, Thomas D. Eliot, John Z. Goodrich, Charles W. Upham, Samuel H. Walley, Tappan Wenlworth — 10. Rhode Island— Thomas Davis, Benjamin B. Thurston— 2. Connecticut— Nathan Belcher, James T. Pratt, Origen S. Sey- mour— 3. Vermont— James Meacham, Alvah Sabin, Andrew Tracy — 3. New York— Henry Bennett, /Davis Carpenter, Gilbert Dean, Caleb Lyon, Reuben E. Fenton, Thomas T. Flagler, George Hastings, Solo- mon G. Raven, Charles Hughes, Daniel T. Jones, Orsamus B. Matte- son, Edwin D. Morgan, William Murray, Andrew Oliver, Jared V. Peck, Rufus W. Peckham, Bishop Perkins, Benjamin Pringle, Russell Sage, George A. Simmons, Gerrit Smith, John Wheeler — 22. New Jersey — Alex. C. M. Pennington, Charles Skelton, Nathan T. Stratton— 3. Pennsylvania — Joseph R. Chandler, Carlton B. Curtis, John Dick, Augustus Drum, William Everhart, James Gamble, Galusha A. Grow, Isaac E. Hiester, Thomas M. Howe, John McCulloch, Ner Middleswarth, David Ritchie, Samuel L. Russell, Michael C. Trout. —14. Ohio — Edward Ball, Lewis D. Campbell, Alfred P. Edgerton, Andrew Ellison, Joshua R. Giddings, Aaron Harlan, John Scott Har- rison, H. H. Johnson, William D. Lindsley, M. H. Nichols, Thomas Ritchey, William R. Sapp, Andrew Stuart, John L. Taylor, Edward Wade— 15. Indiana — Andrew J. Harlan, Daniel Mace, Samuel W. Parker — 3. Illinois — James Knox, Jesse 0. Norton, Elihu B. Washburne, John Wentworth, Richard Yates — 5. Michigan— David A. Noble, Hestor L. Stevens— 2. Wisconsin — Ben. C. Eastman, Daniel Wells, Jr. — 2. Iowa— None. California— None. Total— 91. Southern States. Virginia— John S. Millson— 1. North Carolina— Richard C. Puryear, Sion H. Rogers— -2. 88 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Tennessee — Robert M . Bugg, Wm. Cullom, Emerson Eerthidge, Nahmiel O Taylor — 4 Louisiana — Theodore O. Hunt — 1. Missouri — Thomas H. Benton — 1 Other Southern States — None . Total — 9 ABSENT, OR NOT VOTING— 21. New England States — Wm. Appleton, of Massachusetts— 1. New York — Geo. W. Chase, James Maurice— 2. Pennsylvania— None . New Jersey — None. Ohio — George Bliss, Moses B. Corwin — 2. Illinois — Wm. H. Bissell — 1. California — None. Indiana— Eben . M. Chamberlain— 1. Michigan— None. Iowa — John P. Cook — 1. Wisconsin — John B. Macy — 1. Maryland — John B. Franklin, Augustus R. Sollers—2. Virginia— Fayette McMullen— 1. North Carolina— None. Delaware — None . South Carolina— Wm. Aiken, Lawrence M. Keitt, John Mc- Queen— 3. Georgia— Wm. B. W. Dent, James L. Seward— 2. Alabama — None. Mississippi— Wiley P. Harris — 1. Kentucky— Linn Boyd (Speaker), Presley Ewing—%. Missouri — Samuel Caruthers — 1. Arkansas— None. Florida— None. Texas— None. Tennessee — None . Louisiana— None. There was no necessity for organizing the territory of Nebraska, as, according to the reports of the government agent, Geo. W. Maypenny, it contained no settlements and but three or four licensed traders when the agitation began. Its untimely organization was therefore put upon the gov- ernment by main force, solely in the interests of the slave- breeder's realm. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 89 The civilization of Kansas, when the agitation looking to her erection into a slave dominion began, was but little far- ther advanced than that of Nebraska. Therefore it was found slow work to colonize the new territory, even from Missouri, by a permanent immigration; for the people of that State had land enough of their own, still unoccupied,to absorb for years their surplus population. Their only recourse, therefore, was to send their worst inhabitants across the border, not to be- come settlers, but to vote and fight for slavery. The determination to plant bondage in Kansas at whatever cost of fraud and violence may be inferred from the follow- ing extract from the Jackson Mississippian of July 11, 1854: All the best locations in the territory have already been staked out,and the foundation for a log cabin laid, by hundreds and thousands of slave-owners from the border slave counties in Missouri, who have entered into solemn pledges to protect each other in their claims, and to keep all Abolitionists from the Territory. There remains no longer a doubt but that Kansas has already made a beginning which insures it a slave State. Greeley and the Abolitionists may flounder and flutter until they are satisfied; Kansas is now a slave Territory, and will be a slave State. There are already enough slave-owners in- terested in Kansas to whip out all the Abolitionists who may dare to pollute the soil with their incendiary feet. The slave- owners of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, by hundreds and thousands, will soon seek that delightful country, and would you believe it, Mississippians have already been in the Territory and staked out claims, in the names of men whom they have taken along to erect a log cabin on each pre-emption. * * * It is reasonable to suppose that Kansas will soon present to Congress her constitution, with a slavery clause. Then Southern men will be required to breast the gathering storm, as men who have a country to love-, and they will take pleasure in despising such traitors and doughfaces as Benton, Houston, Bell, and their Free-Soil allies. On July 29, 1854, a meeting of Democrats was held at Weston, Mo., at which resolutions were adopted declaring in favor of extending slavery into Kansas, and a Defensive As- sociation was formed, sworn to assist in removing any and all emigrants who go there under the auspices of Northern 6 90 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. emigrant aid societies. These resolutions were published, signed by G. Gallow as president and B. F. Stringfellow as secretary. Subsequently they were adopted by public meet- ings held in other cities in Missouri. A meeting was held at Salt Creek by ruffians from Mis- souri and Mississippi which adopted several very significant resolutions. One declared that Kansas must be made a slave State; another that it was the duty of Missourians to prevent by force or otherwise all Northern fanatics, Abolitionists or "hostile emigrants" from the free States from passing through the State to Kansas, and the eighth announced: "We will afford protection to no Abolitionist as a settler of Kansas Territory." Everybody acquainted with Southern methods knows what is meant when a public meeting in that section resolves to "furnish no protection." The resolution meant violence. No devotee of freedom and equality would ever be guilty of the absurdity of asking protection from such a wicked and bloody band. Massachusetts had chartered a wealthy corporation called the Emigrant Aid Company; Connecticut followed soon after with a similar company. The New York Tribune opened a Kansas contribution, and aid societies sprang into activity at hundreds of points in the North-west. Thus stimulated, the people of the free States flocked to Kansas in such numbers that in a few months they constituted a decided majority of the actual settlers. The Missourians, with force and arms, attempted to carry out their resolutions and prevent Northern and Eastern set- tlers from passing through their State, for that purpose taking numerous lives and destroying a large amount of prop- erty. But the emigrants then wound around through Iowa, thus circumventing the Democratic ruffians. The adminis- tration became alarmed at the ill success of its palpable wick- edness, and dispatched an army to Kansas to compel the HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 91 establishment and acceptance of slavery. That was not the reason assigned, but history shows unmistakably that it was the true one. The people only slumbered. This high-handed outrage awoke them from their lethargy, and the next House of Rep- resentatives lost its Democratic-ruffian majority. Kansas thus gained a remote chance of becoming free; but the war continued. The "Border Ruffians," x who were numerous near the Missouri frontier,became more violent than ever. The first choice of a delegate to Congress took place November 29, 1854. It was carried by organized bands from Missouri, who crossed the border on election day, and returned at once after giving in their ballots. In the spring of 1855, the ruffians in this way voted to organize a Territorial legislature; and this measure was carried in the same manner. The same roughs, by the same unlawful process,met at Pawnee the next July, and adopted a State Constitution. In their haste, as well as to secure at once the establishment of slavery, they took a sum- mary vote, adopting en masse the laws of slave-holding Mis- souri; and at the same time enacted a set of original statutes, which, to the horror of the civilized world, denounced the penalty of death for nearly fifty different offenses against the institution of human bondage! A committee, of which John Sherman was a member, was sent by Congress to investigate the condition of Kansas. Southern journals, knowing the startling crimes their agents had committed, advised resistance and violence, and it was thought for a time that an investigation would be impossible. Notwithstanding all the obstacles interposed, the active members of the committee discovered that of the 2,871 votes cast at the first election 1,729 were known and proved to be fraudulent. They also found that of the 6,218 votes thrown at the election of March 30, 1855, only 1,310 were legal, and x The name by which the Democratic party was known for several years before the Rebellion, 92 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 791, or a majority, were for the free State or anti-slavery candidates. Gov. Reeder 1 was after a time removed and Wilson Shan- non, of Ohio, appointed to fill his place. Mr. Reeder was at once nominated and elected for delegate in Congress. At the same time delegates were chosen for a constitutional convention. They met at Topeka on September 25, 1855, and promulgated a constitution in which slavery was forever pro- hibited, which, after a bloody fight between the people of Kansas and the armed Democrats of Missouri, was adopted. On January 15, 1856, an election for State officers was held, resulting in choosing Charles Robinson for governor, and a legislature under the Topeka constitution. In April a large body of armed men from Georgia, Louisiana, Missis- sippi, Alabama and other slave States, arrived in Kansas under command of Gen. Buford. Scandalous as it may seem, the Democratic United States marshal placed Buford's men on the pay rolls of the government and armed them with federal muskets. These marauders started at once to lay waste the territory. The people of Lawrence, under promise of peace and pro- tection, gave their arms to the sheriff. Instantly the Southern ruffians attacked the town, blew up the hotel, burned Gov. Robinson's house, destroyed the anti-slavery printing offices and rifled the residences of the free settlers. Civil war now spread throughout the territory. The people of the North held meetings to enlist additional set- tlers, cash poured into the Tribune fund, and food, clothing, seeds, arms and money were sent in quantities to the be- leagured freemen. The legislature met at Topeka on July 4, 1856, and was dispersed by the mongrel United States troops. The "grand 1 Mr. Reeder went from Pennylvania a staunch Democrat, but the con- scienceless frauds of the federal administration and of the Democracy in Kansas drove him at once over to the Republican party, in which he served faithfully till his death. He was removed because he would not aid in forcing slavery into Kansas. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 93 jury" indicted Gov. Reeder, Gov. Robinson and James H. Lane, and other Free-State men for "treason," and the Demo- crats gleefully cast them into jail. On September 8, 1856, John W. Geary, of Pennsylvania, was appointed governor to suc- ceed Shannon. He issued a proclamation of peace, and promised the free settlers protection in their persons, pur- suits and property. They therefore laid down their arms. This was no sooner done than the pirates from the South- ern States organized a numerous army, and with their regi- ments and cannons attacked Lawrence under the command of a leading Democratic member of the Missouri legislature. Gov. Geary, calling forth the United States troops, finally induced the invaders to retire. On January 26, 1857, the free legislature met at Topeka, but was dispersed by the United States marshal, who captured several members and cast them into jail at Tecumseh. The slaveryites now met in legislature at Lecompton and adopted a resolution calling a convention to frame another State con- stitution. Gov. Geary resigned because the pro-slavery United States Senate refused to confirm his appointment of Harrison to succeed Lecompte as chief justice. Lecompte had discharged without trial the ruffians that came before him for killing Free-State men. Robt. J. Walker, of Missis- sippi, was appointed to succeed Geary. The election for a constitutional convention was partici- pated in only by a few slavery men along the border. Soon after, the regular territorial election was held. Gov. Walker guaranteed protection to the settlers, and they turned out and elected M. J. Parrott delegate in Congress by a vote of 7,600 to 3,700, and secured a large majority of the legislature. Enraged at Gov. Walker for guaranteeing protection to the settlers on election day, the pro-slavery invaders at- tempted to overturn the result by a false return from Oxford, a place of only eleven small shanties. Gov. Walker rejected it as a manifest fraud, and on making a further examination 94 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. discovered that a somewhat distinguished Democrat of Lou- isiana had copied the fraudulent Oxford return alphabetically from an old Cincinnati directory! The pro-slavery convention, appointed without an election worthy of the name, met at Lecompton and promulgated a constitution recognizing and protecting slavery and prohibit- ing the passage of any laws of emancipation. A despicable trick was resorted to for the purpose of securing its adop- tion. The ballots were prepared for and against thus: "Con- stitution with slavery," and " Constitution without slavery." This thimble-rig game made it impossible to vote against the Lecompton constitution. No matter which ticket was voted, it was for the slavery Lecompton constitution. Gov. Walker condemned both the constitution and the nefarious proceedings connected with its promulgation, and started for Washington to prevent Congress from accepting it. Apprised of his mission, the President hastened to ap- prove the fraudulent instrument, and had officially signed it before the arrival of Gov. Walker, who, shocked at the dis- honorable course of the administration, promptly resigned. J. W. Denver, of California, was appointed to succeed him. An election was held for the rejection or adoption of the slave clauses of the Lecompton constitution, on December 21, 1856. Being unable to vote in a free manner, the Free-State men did not go to the polls. The obnoxious and fraudulent instrument was therefore adopted by a vote of 6,143 to 569. The affirmative votes came almost solidly from a little stretch of uninhabited country along the Missouri border, in which whites and blacks from every slave State in the South, in- cluding, it was alleged, an ex-governor and two congressmen, fraudulently stuffed the ballot-boxes. The invaders' legislature ordered a vote for State officers under the Lecompton constitution, on January 4, 1858. The settlers' legislature then submitted the Lecompton*constitution to the people, as a whole, to be accepted or rejected, the elec- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 95 tion also to take place on January 4, 1858. It was rejected by a majority of 10,226. Congress, after a long discussion, again sent the Lecompton fraud to a vote of the people, and again was it rejected by a majority of 10,000 votes, on August 3, 1858. Gov. Denver then resigned and Samuel Medary, of Ohio, succeeded him. The settlers' legislature submitted another constitution, which was adopted. Some portions of it proved unsatisfac- tory, and in January, 1859, the legislature submitted to the people the- question of whether they would call another con- stitutional convention. The proposition was accepted by about 4,000 majority. The new constitution, forever pro- hibiting slavery, was promulgated at Wyandot, July 4, 1859, and was adopted October 4, by 4,000 majority. On December 6, 1859, a State election was held under the new constitution and Charles Robinson was chosen governor. On January 29, 1861, Congress having approved her con- stitution, Kansas, with an humane and Christian constitution, became a free State, and under her blood-stained banner marched proudly but peaceably into the capitol just as her foes of the South were rallying to dismember the Union. The facts thus briefly related constitute the civil history of the Kansas struggle against slavery. A fratricidal war raged over her rich plains for three years. Bloodshed, rob- bery, devastation and fire spread like a pestilence through her humble settlements, and but a faint shadow of the fearful record made by pro-slavery Democracy during that eventful period is brought out in this narration. The details of it would fill many volumes. The scenes of butchery, persecution and atrocity that at- tended the effort of the Democratic flesh-brokers to forcibly overthrow their old-time political god, State-sovereignty, be- cause that sovereignty had been asserted against instead of in favor of human bondage in Kansas, have never been writ- ten. Nor will they ever be recorded, except upon the pages 96 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. of those mighty tomes, which, fortunately for the Democracy, will not be opened until the end of time, when God shall sit in judgment on us all with punishment according to our several sins. CHAPTER X. THE BLUDGEON IN THE SENATE: Charles Sumner's * 'Crime Against Kansas" — Slavocracy Aroused — Its Devotees Contrive Violence — Preston Brooks Assaults Sumner — Committees Appointed to Investigate — Henry Wilson, Sumner's Colleague, Describes the Affair — Brooks' Egotistical Speech — Jeff. Davis and the "Chivalry" Cast Laurels upon the Assailant — The Richmond Enquirer's Brutal Sentiments — Sumner and His Friends Must Hang or the Union Dissolve — South Carolina Resolutions — Southern Sentiment — Other Northern Freemen Threatened With •Similar Treatment — Sumner Never Fully Recovered— Ultimate Results of the Ruffianism of Brooks and His Friends. It is impossible to deny that in the popular view the hor- rors of crime are added to or mitigated by immediate sur- roundings. The world is shocked when a President or other high dignitary is struck down by the agents of political diab- olism, but the drunken brawl that ends fatally passes into oblivion without particular notice or regret. On the 19th day of May, 1856, Charles Sumner, of Massa- chusetts, delivered, on the floor of the Senate, his famous philippic, "The Crime Against Kansas." While it was dig- nified and devoid of personality, it was nevertheless a ter- rible indictment of the pro-slavery Democracy. In closing he made answer to Senator Butler, of South Carolina, saying: The Senator dreams that he can subdue the North. He disclaims the open threat but his conduct implies it. How little that senator knows himself, or the strength of the cause he presents ! He is but a mortal man; but against him HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 97 is an immortal principle. With finite strength he wrestles with infinite, and he must fail. Against him are stronger battalions than any marshalled by mortal arm — the inborn, ineradicable and invincible sentiments of the human heart; against him is nature in all its subtle forces; against him is God. Let him try to subdue these! This bold and unsparing utterance lashed the Southern fire-eaters into a furious rage. The speech, being founded on the Gibralter of principles and truth, was not answerable by any form of logic, eloquence, justice or sentiment that the Democrats could command. They must make a defense of another kind. Contriving together, they agreed that a personal assault should be made upon Sumner, and Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, the State particularly referred to by the senator from Massachusetts, was chosen to carry the ruffian- ism into effect. He at first proposed to meet Sumner at the gate-house of the Capitol grounds, or at the foot of the great stairway leading up to the building; but Henry A. Edmundson, a representative from Virginia, advised him that Sumner was physically a brave and powerful man, and it would be "more safe and discreet" to take him at some disadvantage. In this Lawrence M. Keitt, of South Carolina, concurred. Therefore, on Thursday, May 22, Brooks, having fired his courage with whisky, proceeded to the Senate chamber. Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, Robert Toombs, of Georgia, John Slidell of Louisiana, Jesse D. Bright, of Indiana, (Vice- President of the United States) and Lawrence M. Keitt, hav- ing been previously informed of the hour the outrage was to take place, were present. Brooks held a long gutta percha cane, over one inch in diameter and very heavy. Following the advice of Keitt and Edmundson, he approached Sumner, who sat at his desk leaning heavily forward over his writing, from behind, and at once dealt him a powerful blow on the head. Half-dazed, Sumner attempted to rise, wrenching loose his desk in the 98 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. effort; but Brooks continued to rain still fiercer blows upon him, and he soon fell, unconscious, terribly lacerated and bruised, his blood flooding the aisle. Keitt, having also fortified his "chivalry" with liquor, stood cursing and warning back with flourishes of a heavy bludgeon, the advances of those who rushed forward to save Sumner from death. On the following day Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, called the attention of the Senate to the "brutal, murderous and cowardly assault" on his colleague, but declined to offer any resolution. No Democratic senator moving, Wm. H. Seward, of New York, offered a resolution of inquiry. Vice- President Jesse D. Bright, to whom the friends of slavery, ruffianism and disunion owe an undying debt of gratitude, appointed to conduct the inquiry, James A. Pearce of Mary- land, Lewis Cass, of Michigan, Henry Dodge, of Wisconsin, Philip Allen, of Rhode Island and Henry S. Geyer, of Mis- souri — all slave-holders or pro-slavery Democrats, and Sum- ner's enemies. In the House Lewis D. Campbell, of Ohio, A. C. M. Pen- nington, of New Jersey, Francis E. Spinner, of New York, Howell Cobb, of Georgia and Alfred B. Greenwood, of Ar- kansas, were appointed to look into tbe matter. While these committees were engaged in their labors, the entire Republic was blazing with fierce excitement. The South was frantic with delight — the North was profoundly stirred by a mighty indignation. Meetings were held in every community throughout both sections; but their resolu- tions were in violent conflict. In the South Brooks was lauded as a "chivalrous hero," a "brave representative," a "noble son of the Southern Republic," etc. The Senate committee reported "want of jurisdiction," as the assault was made by a member of the other House. The story may be finished by employing the strong but moderate language of Henry Wilson, who was Sumner's colleague when HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 99 the assault was made, and who nearly lost his life 1 in conse- quence of his denunciations of it : The House committee made two reports; the majority recommended the expulsion of Mr. Brooks, and expressing "disapprobation of the act of Henry A. Edmundson and Law- rence M. Keitt." The minority, pleading want of jurisdic- tion, gave sixty-six votes for the minority report. The House censured Keitt, but failed to condemn Edmundson. Keitt re- signed. One hundred and twenty-one members voted to ex- pel Brooks and ninety-five voted against expulsion. Having failed to expel — a two-thirds vote being necessary — a vote of censure was adopted by a large majority. After these votes were declared, Mr. Brooks addressed the House in a speech of mingled assumption, insolence and self-conceit. While disclaiming all intentions to insult Con- gress, the Senate or State of Massachusetts, he seemed to be utterly oblivious that there had been any infringement of law or rights of others; it being simply, he said "a personal affair, for which I am personally responsible." With infi- nite effrontery he affirmed: "I went to work very deliber- ately, as I am charged — and this is admitted — and speculated whether I should employ a horsewhip, or a cowhide, but knowing that the Senator was my superior in strength, it occurred to me that he might wrest it from my hand, and then (for I never attempt anything I do not perform) I might have been compelled to do that which I would have regret- ted the balance of my life." What that contingency he so coolly admitted was, every reader can conjecture. With still greater assurance and self- assertion, he claimed as a matter of credit for his forbear- ance, that he had not plunged the nation into civil war, as if he had held the destinies of the Republic in his hands. "In my heart of hearts," he said, "such a menacing line of conduct I believe would end in subverting this government and drenching this hall in blood. No act of mine, on my personal account, shall inaugurate revolution; but when you, Mr. Speaker, return to your own home, and hear the people of the great North — and they are a great people — speak of me as a bad man, you will do me the justice to say that a blow struck by me at this time would be followed by a revo- lution. This I know" 1 Tn 1873 James L. Orr, a member in 1856 from South Carolina, informed Mr. Wilson that at a secret meeting 1 of Southerners it was resolved to make an attack on him. By the strenuous efforts, however, of Mr. Orr, actual vio- lence was prevented, but for many weeks Wilson went armed, and in a letter to Wm. Claflin, made provision for his little son in case he should fall a victim to Democratic ruffians. 100 HiSToar op the republican paety. Concluding his speech, he announced the resignation of his seat, and walked out of the House. He returned to his constituents, was triumphantly re-elected, in about two weeks went back with his commission of re-election, and again took his seat. A faint conception of the spirit that pervaded the entire slave section of the country may be obtained by perusing the subjoined article published in the Richmond Enquirer, the great administration organ of Pierce's term, a day or two after the assault, and while the question of whether Sumner would live or die, was yet in doubt : It is idle to talk of union or peace or truce with Sumner or Sumner's friends. Cataline was purity itself compared with the Massachusetts Senator, and his friends are no better than he. They are all (we mean the leading and conspicuous ones) avowed and active traitors. The sending the Congres- sional Committee to Kansas was done with the treasonable purpose of aiding the rebellion in that Terrritory. The Black Republicans in Congress are in open war with the government, and like their allies, the Garrisoniai: Aboli- tionists, equally at war with religion, female virtue, private property and distinction of race. They all deserve the halter, and it is vain and idle to indulge the expectation that there can be union or peace with such men. Sumner and Sumner's friends must be punished and silenced. Government which can not suppress such crimes as these has failed of its purpose. Either such wretches must be hanged or put in the penitentiary, or the South should prepare at once to quit the Union. We would not jeopardize the religion and morality of the South to save a Union that had failed of every useful purpose. Let us tell the North at once, if you can not suppress the treasonable actions, and silence the foul, licentious and infidel propagandism of such men as Stephen Pearl Andrews, Wendell Phillips, Beecher, Garrison, Sumner and their Ne- gro and female associates, let us part in peace. We would like to see modesty, female virtue, common morality and religion, independent of government. The ex- periment at the South, to leave these matters to the regulation of public opinion, works admirably. We are the most moral, religious, contented, law-abiding and are daily becoming more so. The reverse of all this is, for the time at least, true at the North. If you can not expel the Black Republicans HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 101 from power, punish them and silence them for the future, you are incapable of self-government. You should adopt a mili- tary despotism. We adhere to our Republican institutions. Your sympathy for Sumner has shaken our confidence in your capacity for self-government more than all your past history, full of evil potents as that has been. He had just avowed his complicity in designs far more diabolical than those of Cataline or Cethegus, nay, transcend- ing in iniquity all that the genius of Milton has attributed to his fallen angels. We are not surprised that he should be hailed as a hero and saint for his proposed war on everything sacred and divine [meaning human bondage] by that pandi- monium where the blasphemous Garrison and Parker and Andrew, with their runaway Negroes and masculine women congregate. He belongs to that crew himself. He is a proper saint for a free-love saloon or an infidel convention. But unless there be enough of patriotism, religion and morality at the North to express general detestation of his crimes and congratulations at his merited castigation, we had better part company. No evil that can befall the South would be so great as association with Sumner and Sumner's sympa- thizers. Sympathy with such a wretch is a crime against mo- rality, RELIGION AND God! The foregoing utterance was copied and approved throughout the South and the following resolutions^ adopted at a great mass-meeting in Columbia, South Carolina, are samples of hundreds adopted by similar gatherings in the slave States: Resolved, That we cordially indorse the conduct of the Hon. P. S. Brooks, of the House of Representatives of the United States, in inflicting upon Senator Sumner of Massa- chusetts, the punishment he so richly deserved by his libel- ous attack upon the State of South Carolina, and our faithful Senator, and upon the entire South. Resolved, That the attack upon our absent Senator was false as it was cowardly, and was gallantly met by his kins- man, his countryman and his friend in the Senate Chamber, which the Abolitionists had desecrated by their foul attack. Resolved, That in the crisis which is upon us, it is ex- pected of every man to do his duty, and especially those to whom the public interests are confided, and that our gallant countryman has shown a noble and just appreciation of that solemn duty. 102 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Said the Petersburg Intelligencer: j We are exceedingly sorry that Mr. Brooks dirtied his cane by laying it athwart the shoulders of the blackguard Sumner. We regret that he did so, not because Sumner got a lick amiss, not because he was not justly entitled to all he got and more besides, but because the nasty scamp and his co-scamps will make capital for their foul cause out of the affair. They will raise a howl that will split the public ear, about the violation of the privilege of debate, Southern bullyism, etc. Master Horace Greeley in particular will jump out of his boots and breeches, have about 4,000 fits, and thus put up the price of asafoetida and burnt feathers through- out the country. Disagreeing with the Richmond Whig as to the effect of Sumner's thrashing, we entirely concur with it, that if thrash- ing is the only remedy by which the foul conduct of the Ab- olitionists can be controlled, that it will be very well to give Seward a double dose at least every other day until it oper- ates freely on his political bowels. It is true that the cunning rascal is a little too smart to violate the decorum of debate, but his adroit demagogism and damnable doctrines are infinitely more dangerous to the country than the coarse blackguardism of the perjured wretch Sumner. Said the Richmond Whig: As will be seen by telegraph, Mr. Brooks, of South Caro- lina, after the adjournment of the Senate on yesterday, ad- ministered to Senator Sumner,the notorious and foul-mouthed Abolitionist from Massachusetts, an elegant and effectual caning. We are rejoiced at this. The only regret we feel is that Mr. Brooks did not employ a horsewhip or cowhide upon his slanderous back, instead of a cane. W r e tryst the ball may be kept in motion . Seward and others should catch itnext. The students and officers of the University of Virginia, voted Brooks a cane, on which the leading Democratic or- gan of the South remarked approvingly: "The chivalry of the South, it seems, has been thoroughly aroused." The Rich- mond Examiner said: "Far from blaming Mr. Brooks, we are disposed to regard him as a conservative gentleman, seeking to restore its lost dignity to the Senate," * * * * * * whose example should be followed by every HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 103 Southern gentleman whose feelings are outraged by unprin- cipled Abolitionists." The Richmond Enquirer ', some weeks after the assault, said: "In the main, the press of the South applauds the conduct of Mr. Brooks, without condition or limitation. Our approbation, at least, is entire and unreserved. * * * * It was a proper act, done at the proper time and in the proper place." Nor were leading statesmen less explicit in their ap- proval. Mr. Mason, in reply to an invitation to attend a public dinner in honor of Mr. Brooks, after referring to his "social and political intercourse" with their "able and justly honored representative" adds: "I know of none whose pub- lic career I hold more worthy the full and cordial approba- tion of his constituents than his." Jefferson Davis, on the same occasion, wrote: "I have only to express to you my sympathy with feelings which prompt the sons of Carolina to welcome the return of a brother who has been the subject of villification, misrepresentation and persecution, because he resented a libelous assault upon the representative of their mother." Nor were they alone Southern men who joined in this formal endorsement. Mr. Buchanan, the Democratic candi date for the Presidency, referring to Mr. Sumner's speech characterized it as "the most vulgar tirade of abuse ever de livered in a representative body," and added that though "Mr Brooks was indiscreet, Senator Butler was a very mild man.' Mr. Savage, of Tennessee, in an eulogy in the H^use, said: "To die nobly is life's chief concern. History records but one Thermopylae; there ought to have been another, and that one for Preston S. Brooks. * * * So shall the scenes in the Senate chamber carry the name of the deceased to all future generations, long to be remembered after all men are forgotten and until these proud walls crumble into ruins." 104 HISTOBY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. History affords no parallel to the brutality and ruffian- ism displayed by the pro-slavery Democracy in applauding and approving Brooks, and insolently threatening similar or "more effective" punishment for Garrison, Wade, Giddings, Wilson and Beecher, Sumner's valiant co-workers for liberty, unless they should "cease discussing" the crimes of bond- age. Sumner was ill for many months in consequence of the blows he received. Gashes four inches in length, and laying the skull bare, covered his head. The fifteen scars left by them never disappeared, in fact, he never was a well man thereafter, though he lived until March 11, 1874 — a period of eighteen years. Nor did the slave power of the Democracy ever recover from the blows dealt it by Brooks, when he shattered his bludgeon over the head of the great apostle of freedom. Sumner, indeed, only partially recovered, but slavocracy, wounded to the heart, could never rally. It staggered on des- perately, yet lower and lower, for a few years, and finally bit the dust in its last prodigious effort of rebellion and blood- shed to secure dismemberment of the Union. Strangely enough Brooks, a few months after the assault, died in a sudden and tragic manner; Keitt fell fighting for State-rights, Democracy and slavery, while nearly all the others lived to see their treasonable prophecies disappear in disgrace and disaster. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Jf05 CHAPTER XL THE DRED SCOTT DECISION. Died Scott, an Alleged Slave, Brings Suit for Assault and for His Free- dom—Statement of the Case — He Wins But the Superior Court Reverses the Decision — Scott Appeals to the United States Su- preme Court— Roger B. Taney's Sophistry— Himself and Four Other Justices Were Slave-Holders— Justices Curtis and McLean Dissent— The Decision Analyzed — What It Declared — Missouri Compromise Unconstitutional— Ordinance of 1787 Unconstitu- tional— The Free States Astir— Marlin Van Buren Tells What the Supreme Court Attempted to Do — The Slave-Holding Justices Be- came Mere Political Quacks — They Wanted to Save Slavery and Democracy — What They Ought to Have^Done— The Unlawful and I'niquik us Foundation of American Slavery. The friends of freedom, down to the lukewarm and in- different, were deeply excited after the promulgation of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the ease of Dred Scott. The cause arose originally in a com- plaint of assault and battery by Scott, an alleged slave, against John F. A. Sandford, and was tried in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Missouri. The dec- laration set out three separate assaults — one on the com- plainant Scott, another on his wife and a third on two of his children. The defendant's plea was "not guilty;" and in addition he pleaded in abatement that the plaintiff and his wife and children were defendant's slaves, and liable, without legal redress, to " flogging or other needful means of coercion." The case was tried in May, 1854, and went to the jury on the following statement of facts to which both parties had agreed : 106 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. In. the year 1834, the plaintiff was a Negro slave belonging to Dr. Emerson, who was a surgeon in the army of the United States. In that year, 1S34, said Dr. Emerson took the plaintiff from the State of Missouri to the military post at Rock Island, in the State of Illinois, and held him there as a slave until the month of April or May, 1836. At the time last mentioned, said Dr. Emerson removed the plaintiff from said military post at Rock Island to the military post at Fort Snelling, situate on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in the Territory known as Upper Louisiana, acquired by the United States of France, and situate north of the lati- tude of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north, and north of the State of Missouri. Said Dr. Emerson held the plaintiff in slavery at said Fort Snelling, from said last mentioned date, until the year 1838. In the year 1835, Harriet, who is named in the second count of the plaintiff's declaration, was the Negro slave of Major Taliaferro, who belonged to the army of the United States. In that year, 1835, said Major Taliaferro took said Harriet to said Fort Snelling, a military post, situated as hereinbefore stated, -and kept her there as a slave until the year 1836, and then sold and delivered her as a slave at said Fort Snelling unto the said Dr. Emerson hereinbefore named. Said Dr. Emerson held said Harriet in slavery at said Fort Snelling, until the year 1838. In the year 1836, the plaintiff and said Harriet at said Fort Snelling, with the consent of said Dr. Emerson, who then claimed to be their master and owner, intermarried, and took each other for husband and wife. Eliza and Lizzie, named in the third count of the plaintiff's declaration, are the fruit of that marriage. Eliza is about fourteen years old, and was born on board the steamboat Gipsey, north of the north line of the State of Missouri, and upon the river Mis- sissippi. Lizzie is about seven years old, and was born in the State of Missouri, at the military post called Jefferson Barracks. In the year 1838, said Dr. Emerson removed the plaintiff and said Harriet and their said daughter Eliza from said Fort Snelling to the State of Missouri, where they have ever since resided. Before the commencement of this suit, said Dr. Emerson sold and conveyed the plaintiff said Harriet, Eliza and Lizzie to the defendant as slaves, and the defendarit has ever since claimed to hold them and each of them as slaves. At the time mentioned in the plaintiff's declaration, the defendant, claiming to be owner as aforesaid, laid his hands HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 107 upon said plaintiff, Harriet, Eliza and Lizzie, and imprisoned^ them, doing, in this respect, however, no more than what he might lawfully do if they were of right his slaves at such times. Before beginning this suit Scott had brought another suit in the State courts of Missouri for his freedom, on the ground that, having been a resident of a free State and a free Terri- tory, he thereby relieved himself from the chains of bondage and became a citizen of the United States. The inferior court gave a judgment in his favor, but on a writ of error to the Supreme Court of the State the judgment was reversed and the case remanded back for a new trial. By consent this action was continued to await decision on the suit for assault and battery against Sanford, brought in the federal court. At the conclusion of the trial Scott's attorney asked the court to charge the jury, on the agreed statement of facts, to find for plaintiff. This was refused and the jury, being in- structed that the law was with defendant, were ordered to so find. The verdict accordingly was that the plaintiff and his wife and children were slaves as alleged by Sanford, and that therefore they had no rights in court and no redress against their master for personal violence. Scott's attorney filed a bill of exceptions to the charge of the court, and thereupon carried the case by writ of error to the United States Supreme Court. The matter was argued at the December term of 1855, and as strong 'dif- ferences of opinion existed among the members of the court, it was continued to the next term, and argued again. In the meantime, by subtle and unseen influences, power- ful pressure was brought to bear on the members of the court, as far as possible, against the cause of the alleged slave. These were emphatically charged as facts by the journals of the North and openly boasted by the indiscreet publications of the South. The court was composed of Roger B. Taney, 1 chief justice, and John McLean, James W. Wayne, 1 John Catron, 1 Peter 108 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. V. Daniel, 1 Samuel Nelson, Robert C. Grier, Benjamin R. Curtis and John A. Campbell, 1 associate justices. The opinion, as delivered by Chief Justice Taney, would occupy about seventy-five pages of this volume, and with the opin- ions of the five who sustained his judgment, touched upon al- most every principle and problem save those of civil service reform and infant damnation. He argued: The question before us is, whether the class of persons described in the plea in abatement compose a portion of this people, and are constituent members of this sovereignty. We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word "citizens" in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and in- ferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by the domi- nant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained sub- ject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the government might choose to grant them. In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories of the times, and the language used in the Declaration of Independence show that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they had become free or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people, nor intended to be included in the general words used in that memorable instrument. They had for more than a century before been regarded as beings of an inferior order, andthorovghlymifit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights tohich the white man was bound to respect ; and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold, and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a profit could be made by it. This opin- ion was at that time fixed and universal in the civilized por- tion of the white race. It was regarded as an axiom in morals as well as politics, which no one thought of disputing, or supposed to be open to dispute; and men in every grade and position in society daily and habitually acted upon it in their 1 Slave-holders at the time of trying the case. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 109 private pursuits, as well as in matters of public concern, without doubting for a moment the correctness of this opin- ion. Upon the whole, therefore, it is the judgment of this •court, that it appears by the record before us, that the plain- tiff in error is not a citizen of Missouri, in the sense in which that word is used in the Constitution; and that the Circuit Court of the United States, for that reason, had no jurisdic- tion in the case, and could give no judgment in it. Its judg- ment for the defendant must, consequently, be reversed, and a mandate issued directing the suit to be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Although the learned slave-holder and chief justice strained himself to the breaking point to establish that a slave was mere property, a chattel and not a person or "part of the people" within the meaning of the several words of the Con- stitution, and that a man has no right to himself unless he is white, yet Sec. 2 of Art. 1 of that sacred charterdeclares that representatives may be apportioned among the States by allow- ing one representative for every 30,000 white free men and one for every 50,000 slaves. The blacks were, therefore, contrary to Taney, a "part of the people." Taney was a learned man and for that reason his mass of sophistry was as difficult to attack and destroy as any ever delivered from that bench before or since. He could indeed, like Belial, "make the worse appear the better reason." In erecting a foundation for his argument he made use of the colonial and other laws of several States which once tolerated slavery, but had long before wiped it out — an inex- cusable mode of reasoning. He declared that "a free Negro of ^African race whose ancestors were brought to this country and sold as slaves" was not a citizen within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States; whereupon McClellan, in his "Republicanism In America," observed: "It will be seen that the court held Scott to be a slave and not a citizen, in consequence of the status of his ancestors. I apprehend that if all persons were held to this rule, many interesting changes would be made even amons 'first families.' " 110 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Justices Curtis and McLean dissented 1 from the barbar- ism of the majority of the court, rendering their names im- mortal. There was no cherished principle of slavocracy that the pro-slavery justices did not in some manner indorse, though in attempting to so fortify the "divine institution" that it could never thereafter be interfered with in any man- ner whatever, even by Congress, they certainly turned in the yoke. It was held by seyen judges (McLean and Curtis dissent- ing) that the record showed Scott to be unable to maintain a suit. Taney, Wayne and Daniel so held on the fact "that Scott being a Negro of African descent whose ancestors were of pure blood and who were brought into this country and sold as slaves,'* was not a citizen and therefore the court had no jurisdiction, and they wanted the case remanded back for dismissal for want of jurisdiction. Campbell and Grier, however, while agreeing that Scott, a slave, was incompetent to sue, thought the more proper course would be to confirm the judgment of the court below, which, instead of dismissing his suit for want of jurisdiction, heard his plea and decided him a slave and subject to the as- saults of his master without legal redress. Such a confirmation of the judgment below was held by Nelson and Catron to be the only proper course, thus array- ing themselves, so far as the question of jurisdiction is con- cerned, with McLean and Curtis; while Grier (making with the other four a majority of the bench) admitted that the rec- ord disclosed & prima facie case of jurisdiction. McLean and Catron held that there was no appeal from the judgment of the Circuit Court on the plea in abate- ment, the question of jurisdiction not being before the court. Taney, Wayne, Daniel and Curtis held, per contra, that, as the courts of the United States were of limited jurisdiction,. 1 See 19 Howard U. S. Court Reports, page HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Ill the question of jurisdiction was always in order. Grier, Nel- son and Campbell were silent on this point. Three judges — Taney, Wayne and Daniel — held that, although the court below had no jurisdiction, and the case must be dismissed on that ground, it was still competent for the Supreme Court to give an opinion on the merits of the case, and on all the questions therein involved. McLean and Curtis dissented from this view. In their opinion, any doc- trines laid down under such circumstances must be regarded as extra-judicial. They based their right of going into the merits on the assumption that the court below had jurisdic- tion, a view in which they were sustained by Catron and Grier. Nelson and Campbell, as they had avoided any ex- pression of opinion on the question of jurisdiction, did the same on this point of judicial propriety; but Nelson, by con- fining himself, in his opinion, to the single point of the re- vival of Scott's condition of slavery by his return to Missouri, seemed to concur in the view of judicial propriety taken by McLean and Curtis. Three judges — Taney, Wayne and Daniel — held that a Negro of African descent was incapable of being a citizen of the United States, or even of suing as such in a federal court. From this doctrine McLean and Curtis dissented, while Nelson, Grier, Campbell and Catron avoided any ex- pression of opinion upon it. Taney, Wayne, Daniel and Campbell held that the Con- stitution conferred no power on Congress to legislate for the territories, the power to make all needful rules and regula- tions being confined solely to the disposition of the land as property, and even that authority being limited to the territor- ies belonging to the United States when the Constitution teas made. 1 They, however, seemed to admit a certain power of legislation in Congress, based on the fact qi acquisition, ai.d 1782 * The territory north-west of the Ohio River, acquired by the treaty of 112 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. growing out of the necessity of the case. McLean, Catron and Curtis held, on the other hand, that under the authority to make needful rules and regulations, as well as by the ne- cessity of the case, Congress had full power of legislation for the territories, limited only by the general restraints upon its legislative power contained in the Constitution. Nelson expressed no opinion on this point; nor did Grier. Taney, Wayne and Daniel held that the ordinance of 1787, though good and binding under the Confederation, ex- pired with the Confederation, and that the act of Congress to confirm it was void, because Congress had no power to legislate for the territories. McLean, Catron and Curtis held, per contra, that the re-enactment of the ordinance of 1787 was a valid exercise of the power of Congress; while Campbell ad- mitted, and in this Catron concurred with him (Daniel con- tra, the others silent), that the ordinance of 1787, having been agreed to by Virginia, became thereby a part of the compact of the cession permanently binding on the parties, and was so regarded by the convention that framed the Con- stitution. Five judges, a majority of the Court — Taney, Wayne, Daniel, Campbell and Grier — held that the Missouri prohibi- tion of 1820 was unconstitutional and void; while Catron argued that it was void, because it conflicted with the French treaty for the cession of Louisiana. McLean and Curtis held the prohibition constitutional and valid. Nelson, silent. Five judges — Taney, Wayne, Daniel, Campbell and Ca- tron — a majority of the court, held that slaves were property in a general sense, as much so as cattle, were so recognized by the Constitution of the United States; and as such might be carried into the territories, notwithstanding any Congres- sional prohibition. McLean and Curtis held,/>er contra, that slaves were reco^fhized property only locally, and by the laws of particular States, being out of those States not property, HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 113 nor even slaves, except in the single case of fugitives. Grier and Kelson silent. It was held by six judges — Taney, Wayne, Daniel, Camp-, bell, Catron and Nelson — that whatever claim to freedom' 1 Scott might have had, he lost it by his return to Missouri. This opinion on the part of Taney, Wayne and Daniel, was based solely on the law of Missouri, as previously laid down by the Supreme Court of that State. Nelson and Catron based it on what they thought the prevailing current of legal de- cision on the subject; and Campbell on the fact that no suf- ficient domicil, either in slave or master, appeared either in Illinois or Minnesota. McLean and Curtis held, per contra, that Scott had been made free by his residence in Illinois and Minnesota, and that the rules of international law respecting the emancipation of slaves by residence were a part of the law of Missouri, which law had been improperly departed from and set at naught by the Missouri decision in the plain- tiff's case; and that on questions depending not on any statute or local usage, but on principles of universal jurisprudence, the decisions of State Courts are not conclusive on the United States Courts as to the laws of the States. Seven judges (McLean and Curtis dissenting) held, that by the facts on the record, it appeared that Scott was a slave, notwithstanding his residence in Illinois and Minnesota. We now can see by this examination, that only three points commanded a majority of voices on the bench, and that no others could properly have been considered settled by this extraordinary effort at wiring in and wiring out, namely: 1. Scott was a slave at the time of bringing the suit, not- withstanding his residence in free Illinois and Minnesota — , seven to two. 2. The Missouri Compromise or prohibition of 1820, was unconstitutional and void because Congress had no power to) 114 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. legislate for the territories — five to two, one silent and one holding it void but not unconstitutional! 3. Slaves are as much property as cattle — five (all slave- holders) to two, and two silent. The great question of whether Congress had power of legislation over the territories was left inter canem et lupem, four pro-slavery judges denying any such power, three asserting its existence, Nelson silent and Grier "in nubibus — hanging by the heels in the clouds." The promulgation of this decision threw the people of the North into excitement of an intense and demonstrative character. Those syllibi which said black people were as cattle; that they possessed no more immunities than cattle and that they had no rights which a white man was bound to respect, called down a storm of wrath and indignation. The five pro-slavery judges were pictured with the broad hats, pistol-belts and spurs of a slave-overseer, sitting on the bench lashing poor Scott and his children, while every Northern legislature and every community in the free States held indignation meetings and adopted resolutions devoting the members of the court to everlasting disre- spect. The decision was clearly an attempt to establish, by the highest tribunal on the Continent, the correctness of Doug- las' sophistical nostrum that Congress had no power to legislate slavery either into or out of the territories, but that, unless the people of a territory should by express vote exclude it, humaji bondage was permissable therein and could not be disturbed by the Congress of all the States. That is to say, if Nebraska had a population of fifteen, and eight of them should vote for involuntary servitude, the Congress of the entire Union would be powerless before the eight to disturb slavery! The decision also established the monstrous doctrine that; the slave laws of a slave State followed a slave into and HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 115 through every free State, in spite of any laws of the free State; but that no laws of free States respecting free blacks or Africans alleged to be slaves, were entitled to any notice in the slave States, or even in the free States. These enunciations, although coming from the high eleva- tion of the Supreme Bench, were too rank for the masses. Their indignation could not be expended in mere resolutions, but crystalized into a well-grounded determination to resist in the free States the enforcement of the* laws of the slave States which contravened or were repugnant to their own. The great State of New York was perhaps more moderate than any of her sisters. Her legislature appointed a com- mittee to discover "what measures the State should adopt to protect her citizens from the serious and alarming doctrines of the United States Supreme Court," and adopted a series of resolutions declaring "that this State will not allow slavery within her borders, in any form, or under any pre- tense, or for any time," and "that the Supreme Court of the United States, by reason of a majority of the judges thereof, having identified itself with a sectional and aggressive party, has lost the confidence and respect of the people of this State." An act was then submitted providing that "every slave who shall come, or be brought, or be in this State, with the consent of his or her master or mistress, or who shall come or be brought, or be involuntarily in this State, shall be free." Also that "every person who shall hold, or attempt to hold, in this State, in slavery, or as a slave, any person mentioned as a slave in the second section of this act, or any free person of color, in any form, or under any pretense, or for any time however short, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be confined in the State Prison at hard labor, for a term not less than two nor more than ten years." 116 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The act passed the Assembly but failed to become a law by the adjournment of the Senate without final action. The resolutions and acts of New York are singled out as illustrating the public temper of the North toward the pro- slavery court, because they are less rabid than those of other free States, all of which, however, took firm ground, so far as involuntary servitude was concerned, upon the beloved State-right and nullification doctrines of John C. Calhoun and his co-laborers. The worshipers' of State-rights had unsheathed a weapon that, in the hands of the North, became a deadly boomerang against them. The South invented and espoused that doc- trine foi the benefit and perpetuation of slavery; the North seized upon it for the purpose of resisting and destroying slavery. The former hugged a principle intrinsically wrong for the sake of protecting and fortifying a wrong, while the latter made use of it temporarily for the extirpation of a gigantic and cancerous iniquity. The court said that "the act of Congress prohibiting a cit- izen of the United States from taking with him his slaves when he removes to the territory in question, to reside, is an exercise of authority over private property which is not warranted by the Constitution." In other words, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, prohib- iting slavery in the territory north of 36 degrees and 30 min- utes north latitude,was unconstitutional, and its repeal by th« passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act, was good Democratic slavocracy. The same sentence declares that the great or- dinance of 1*787, first drawn by Thomas Jefferson and forever consecrating the North-west Territory to freedom, was also unconstitutional, because "Congress had no power to legislate for the territories. " Thus Mr. Taney, at a single blow, opened the entire ter- ritory of the Union to the bloody advance of slavery. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 1 i 7 It was the general impression that the Supreme Court had less consideration for the constitutional principles and equity involved in the case, than for the political condition and tendency of the public mind. Martin Van JBuren, in his curious but interesting "Inquiry into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States," declares that the judges who united in pronouncing the Dred Scott decision hoped to "arrest the extraordinary revolution in the fraternal and political feelings of the people of the United States" produced by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. This is high authority. It declares that the justices .of the -United States Supreme Court felt called upon, in the interests of Democracy and slavery, to temporarily abandon the search for equity and become quack-doctors, mixing and distilling nostrums intended to purge and sweat the great body politic of its growing anti-slavery and anti-Democratic symptoms. In the same volume Mr. Van Buren says it was expected that such a decision, "in addition to its quieting effect on the public mind, [meaning its supposed tendency to counteract and destroy the increasing demonstrations of hostility toward the Democracy] of right, ought to have a controlling influence over the action of other departments of the government, * * * the action of Congress in particular." •In other words, the Supreme Court, observing that the control of Congress and the government was slowly passing out of the hands of the Democracy by the tremendous expan- sion of the North and the growth of the spirit of freedom, hoped, before it was too late, to so wall in and hedge about the "divine institution" of slavery, that future Congresses would be unable and would not dare attempt to reach it by legislative enactment. What should this United States Supreme Court have done? Original slavery was founded (1) on the sale of chil- dren by parents, (2) the sale of a person by himself, (3) capture 118 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. of persons in a just war and, by way of damages, exaction of their services, and (4) deprivation of liberty of persons con- victed of crime. Justinian gave three grounds for slavery, viz: (1) capture in war, (2) consent — that is, sale of self — and (3) hereditary bondage — offspring of persons enslaved under the first two laws. But none of these gave the master the right of assault or the right to kill his slave. Under the old slave laws then, it was the duty of the court to have condemned Sandford for as- sault and false imprisonment. . But American slavery was founded on none of the original laws of bondage. Our slaves were not captured in war, "just" or otherwise; they did not consist of persons who had volun- tarily sold themselves for any period of service, nor of the descendants of such captives or self-sold persons. TJiey were stolen from their own native land and brought hither by force and violence , without war, excuse or claim of damages. American slavery, therefore, rested on no shred or shadow of law. It was founded on piracy, robbery and violence — the abduction and false imprisonment of a whole race. It is of no consequence that slavery existed here for 200 years; that it was winked at by the Constitution; that it was recognized by some of the courts; that it was protected and fostered by the black codes of the South; that it was succored by the fugitive slave laws of Congress and that even up to 1862, Lincoln and his cabinet dared not touch a hair of its head. No title is acquired of stolen property. No system of slavery can ever grow into a right — especially that founded on piracy, robbery, murder, violence and theft. If it could, Mormonism would now be right, for has it not for some time been tolerated by its enemies and recognized and strengthened by its friends? The pretended right to the black man and exaction of his service for 200 years, simply intensified the wrong. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 119 Whatever laws were enacted by Congress or the Cotton States relative to slavery and recognizing it, did not make it right, but simply protected a wrong. Our slavery was con- trary to natural law, which underlies all human command- ments, and contrary to the law of nations. Our Constitution did not declare in favor of slavery, nor afford positive authority for its existence. It simply slid over it with closed eyes. It was the duty, the oath-bound duty, of the Supreme Court, therefore, in addition to condemning Sandford for assault and false imprisonment, which it did not do, to stand up bravely in the face of the slave States and of the whole civilized world and set Scott and his family free, at the same time declaring American slavery without lawful foundation and void. But that was not done. Taney and his four accomplices chose rather to hedge about the monstrous wrong because it was the corner-stone of Democracy. And subsequent history shows that even as grave and respectable a body as the Su- preme Court of the United States, can not with impunity or success espouse the cause of oppression, wrong and bondage. They expected to so firmly anchor slavery that itcould-never be moved; but instead of that they contributed to the strength of a storm that swept it away before the end of a single decade. 120 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. CHAPTER XII. BOOTH AND GLOVER— STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS AT LOGGERHEADS. An Active Friend of Freedom — Joshua Glover Kidnapped — Beaten and Manacled— The Public Excited — Mass- meetings Held— Writ of Habeas Corpus Refused by Judge Miller — The Fugitive Libera- ted by the People — An Exciting Ride— Booth Arrested by the Federal Court— Released by the State Court— Justice Smith's Opinion—Booth Re-arrested — Tried and Partially Convicted — Judge Miller Sentences Him on the Charges of Which he was Acquitted as well as on the others, to Imprisonment for Life— Subscriptions by Charles Sumner and Others — The State Court Again Orders Him Released — A Demonstration by the Peo- ple—The United States Supreme Court Threatens the Clerk of the State Court— Defiance of the Federal Court— The Record Captured by the Washington Justices— Another Suit Against Booth— He is Imprisoned on the Old Charge— Is Rescued, Chased, Captured and Re-imprisoned — Sends a Communication to President Buch- anan— Attorney General Black Answered it to Please the Man- Stealers— Stanton Discovers Black's Error — Buchanan's Last Offi- cial Act— Effect of the Prolonged Persecution — Wisconsin Turned the Battery of State-rights Upon the Southerners— Paid in Their Own Coin, Though some of it was Probably Counterfeit. The decision in the Dred Scott matter brought the people of the free States — if not to a fighting pitch, certainly to that unusual public tension vvhich resulted in acts and re- solves counseling resistance to the fugitive slave act and other barbarous measures of slavocracy. Attention may now be drawn to a thrilling episode which began contemporaneously with Scott's suit, and which, con- tinuing for some years, carried the spirit and very fact of re- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 121 sistance by the free States to the enactments of pro-slavery Congresses, far beyond the resolves of conventions and mass- meetings, or the acts of legislatures-, and in which the Supreme Court of a young and vigorous State sided unequivocally with freedom and fearlessly defied the pro-slavery Supreme Court of the United States. Reference is had to the rescue of Joshua Glover, which resulted in the so-called "Booth War" and a long series of suits before the federal and State courts, great public excite- ment and more or less physical violence. Sherman M. Booth, a graduate of Yale College and jointly he alleged slave was being hunted down, as though he were a dangerous wild beast, took him into his carriage and drove at all possible speed to Waukesha. He returned to Milwau- kee that night. The next day the mayor of Racine tele- graphed to know whether Glover had been kidnapped. Booth telegraphed in answer that Glover would be in Racine at a certain place by daylight on the following morning. Messinger hired a livery horse, returned to Waukesha, and at daylight on Monday morning met the mayor with the fugi- tive, on time. The slave was then concealed for a month or more on the premises of Sam Pratt, at Spring Prairie, and tiien sent by a propeller to Canada, never to be re-captured. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 123 Soon after Booth was arrested, charged with having "un- lawfully aided, assisted and abetted a person named Joshua •Glover, held to service or labor in the State of Missouri, under the laws thereof, to escape from the lawful custody of a deputy of the marshal of the United States," and Win field Smith, United States Court Commissioner, held him to bail. On May 27, Booth had his bailer surrender him, and he peti- tioned Justice A. D. Smith, of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for a writ of habeas corpus. It was granted, Justice Smith declaring: The -fugitive slave law of 1850 (by providing for a trial of the constitutional issue, between the parties designated thereby, by officers not recognized by any constitution, State or National) is unconstitutional and void. Every person is entitled to his day in court, to be legally notified of the pro- ceedings taken against him, and duly summoned to defend. The passing of judgment upon any person without his "day in court;" without due process or its equivalent, is cojitrary to the law of nature and of the civrlized world. Other courts and other judges may pronounce this provision of the act of 1850 to be in conformity with that provision of the Constitu- tion which declares that "'no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without) due process of law," but whivle'Ihave a mind to reason and a conscience to dictate me, and an oath to support the Constitution of the United States resting upon my soul, I can not so declare it, and for the p»ice of worlds I will not. When the matter came for review before the full bench, Justice Smith's position and his writ of habeas corpus to Booth were sustained, Chief-Justice Whiton delivering the opinion, re-pronouncing the infamous provisions of the fugi- tive slave act unconstitutional and void. In closing he de- clared : The States — the free States — will never consent that a slave-owner, his agent, or an officer of the United States, armed with process to arrest a fugitive from service, is clothed with entire immunity from State authority ; to com- mit whatever crime or outrage against the laws of the State, that their own high prerogative writ of habeas corpus shall be annulled, their authority defied, their officers resisted, the 124 HIST0KY OF THE REPUBLICAN PAKTY. process of their own courts contemned, their territory in- vaded by federal force, the houses of their citizens searched, the sanctuary of their homes invaded, their streets and public places made the scene of tumultuous and armed violence, and State sovereignty succumb, paralyzed and aghast, before the process of an 'officer unknown to the Constitution and irre- sponsible to its sanctions. At least, such shall not become the degradation of Wisconsin, without meeting as stern re- monstrance, and resistance as I may be able to interpose, so long as her people impose upon me the duty of guarding* their rights and liberties, and of maintaining thevdiignity and $. sovereignty of their £tate. The next day after his release by the Supreme Qourt, Booth was arrested upon a warrant issued by Andrew G. Mil- ler, and oast into jail. -He again applied to the Stale Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus on the ground that the fugitive slave -act being unconstitutional and void, its violation by him was no crime and he was therefore illegally im- prisoned and restrained of his liberty. This application was denied on the ground that trhe United States District Court had obtained jurisdiction of Booth's case, and that judicial comity required the State court to presume that the federal court would, on hearing the matter, decide the fugitive slave law unconstitutional and vofti, and thereupon discharge him. In January 1855, he was put on trial. Ihe proceedings lasted five days and were remarkable fdr their extraordinary bitterness toward the prisoner. The presiding judge, A. G. Miller, a strong pro-slaveryite, was so marked in his prejudice against Booth as to become the subject of condemnation by the press. As the soil of Sardinia is so bitter that its acridity is perceptible even in the honey of the country, so Judge MiHer's Democracy was conspicuous in his very judicial rul- ings against Booth. The jury could not agree, whereupon Judge Miller charged them that the fact alone that Booth drew and presented to the mass-meeting on the day of Glov- er's rescue the following resolutions, was sufficient to convict him: HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 125 Resolved, That every person has an indefensible right to a fair and impartial trial by jury on all questions pertaining to his liberty. Resolved^ That the writ of habeas corpus is the great de- fense of freedom and that we demand for this prisoner as well as for our own protection that this sacred writ shall be obeyed. Resolved^ That we pledge ourselves to stand by tins pris- oner and to do our utmost to secure for him a fair and im- partial trial by jury. The judge also charged that Booth was responsible for everything said and done on the 11th of March in connection with the rescue "within three miles of Milwaukee!" The jury convicted Booth of aiding Glover to escape, but acquitted him of resisting an officer, the charge Judge Miller and his friends were most anxious to fasten upon him. Judge Miller promised to have the record show this acquittal, but subsequently refused to allow it to go on the record, and sentenced the prisoner upon the whole indictment. The jurymen said it was understood the court and not the United States was prosecuting Booth, and a portion of them "in order to set themselves right before the public" drew and signed a preamble and resolution characterizing the fugitive slave act as "cruel and odious," declaring that Booth, in rescuing Glover "had performed a noble, benevolent and humane act" and commending him to the mercy of the court.) This novel proceeding still further enraged Judge Miller, who sentenced the prisoner to pay a fine of $1,000 and $461.01 costs, and to stand imprisoned until the fine and costs should be paid — a virtual life-sentence. Booth, with John Ryecraft, previously convicted of the same alleged offense, was then conducted to the jail in the center of the most intense excitement ever witnessed in Mil- waukee. The news of Booth's conviction and of the manner of his trial spread over the Union like wild-fire. Throughout the North indignation meetings were held and money was sub- 126 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. scribed to pay the fines and costs. Horace Greeley subscribed $50, Charles Sumner $100, the New York Independent $427^ James H. Wadsworth $50, the anti-Nebraska members of Congress $10 each, and so on over the free portion of the country, while in the South Judge Miller was glorified in all the extravagant phrases and resolves for which the volatile Southerners have always been famous. Booth at once applied to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin for release on a writ of habeas corpus, which was gran ted. 4 The jury had found him guilty on a portion of the counts in the indictment but the court sentenced him on the entire array of counts in the presentment of the grand jury. In ordering his release Chief Justice Whiton said : It will not be denied that the Supreme Court of a State, in. which is vested by the Constitution of the State, the power to issue writs of habeas corpus, and to decide the questions which they present, has the power to release a citizen of the State from illegal imprisonment. Without this power, the State would be stripped of one of the most essential attri- butes of sovereignty, and present the spectacle of a State claiming the allegiance of its citizens without the power to protect them in the enjoyment of their personal liberty upon its own soil. # On the morning Booth boarded the train at Milwaukee for Madison to appear before the Supreme Court, bells were rung and cannons fired. A storm was raging, the snow was deep and the hour at or before sunrise. Nevertheless a large crowd gathered at the jail with a band drawn by four gray horses, while Booth was placed in a sleigh drawn by four bays. Thus headed the procession moved to the depot. While passing Judge Miller's house the crowd groaned and hissed, but cheered vociferously on reaching Booth's home; also at his printing-office. At the depot 3,000 people had already gathered, and Booth was placed on top of a car and commanded to address them. Similar scenes were wit- nessed at all the stations along the route. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 12? Mass-meetings were held in hundreds, thousands of com- munities, at which resolutions were adopted pledging sup- port to the State court, denouncing Judge Miller and offering money to pay the fines of the Glover rescuers and their ex- penses, as well as the expenses of similar trials that might come on in the future. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin, when the opposition attorneys asked for a writ of error to the United States Su- preme Court, where they proposed to review the proceedings and judgment releasing Booth from the sentence of impris- onment imposed by Judge Miller, directed its clerk not to certify or send up the record and papers in the case. Here came a direct and sharp conflict between the highest court of the State and the highest court of the United States. The State justices having refused to grant a writ, the justices of the United States Supreme Court made a requisition for the record and papers, but failed to get them. They then threatened Lafayette Kellogg, clerk of the Wisconsin court, with imprisonment, sending word to him that unless he should send up the records in the Booth matter they would despatch a marshal of the District of Columbia to take his body forcibly to Washington, there to be dealt with as they might see fit. Mr. Kellogg refused to obey. After fermenting for some time, the United States Sup reme Court assumed jurisdiction of Booth's case, March 6, 185 9, upon a certified copy of pro- ceedings-which any private citizen can have by paying for it — and on reviewing the matter sent its remittur to the Wisconsin court to reverse their decision and remand Booth into federal custody. This command the State court refused to obey, or to allow to go on record, which refusal was applauded by the press and people. In March, 1859, after the Wisconsin Supreme Court had refused to obey the United States Supreme Court ordering Booth remanded into federal custody, the legislature of that 128 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. State adopted joint resolutions denouncing the action of the United States Supreme Court, sustaining the State court and recommending resistance as the only available and therefore only rightful remedy against the aggressions of the slave power in the federal courts. All the legislatures of free States then in session adopted similar resolutions. Attention must now be directed to another feature of this memorable cause. It has been observed that Glover, through the efforts of Booth and others, made effectual escape, and Garland sued Booth, March 25, 1854, for the value of the al- leged slave and the loss of his labor. The suit was tried before the same Judge Miller. The jury, after being out nearly three days, disagreed. The case was then transferred to Madison, where, at the July term of the United States District Court, Booth was sentenced to pay $1,000 and $242 costs. Again was the con- duct of the judge toward Booth of such a character as to call protests and indignation from the public journals. In February, 1859, the United States Marshal levied on Booth's printing presses and steam machinery to satisfy the judgment of Garland, and they were sold for $175. Booth replevined his property in the circuit court for Milwaukee county, and recovered. Garland appealed to the State Su- preme Court. In the meantime, on March 1, 1800, Booth was arrested again by the United State Marshal on the old charge of hav- ing aided and abetted the escape of Glover, and was confined in the custom-house in Milwaukee. Application for a writ of habeas corpus was made to the State Supreme Court, but Justice Paine, having been Booth's counsel, refused to act, and the new justice, Dixon, holding the fugitive slave act constitutional and valid, the court was evenly divided and the application failed. Whoever has observed carefully the tenor of the resolu- tions of the people, mass-meetings and legislatures — advo- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 129 eating resistance when nothing else would avail — must be prepared for what followed. The newspapers kindled un- quenchable fire, the pulpits thundered, and the people met and resolved. Booth was being followed by the federal offi- cials, they declared, year after year for the purpose of wreak- ing the revenge of the slave-drivers of the South. The White House, the cabinet, the federal benches and the fed- eral offices were in the hands of the flesh-brokers. Slaves may be hunted, captured and delivered, slave-drivers pro- tected and avenged, but a free white man in a free State can find no justice, said the people, so we must act for self-pro- tection and freedom. Edward Daniels, who soon after raised the First Regi- ment of Cavalry in Wisconsin, consulted with O. H. La- Grange, afterwards a colonel and superintendent of the United States Mint at San Francisco, as to what should be done. They matured plans which Daniels submitted to Charles Sumner, the substance of which was, that if Booth should be denied any of the privileges usually granted to persons under arrest for any alleged offense, a body of men should rescue him from persecution. Sumner indorsed them. Therefore, on the last day of July, Daniels and LaGrange proceeded to Milwaukee and to the custom-house. Procuring a card of admission to Booth's cell, they entered the building. Just as the jailer was open- ing the door of the jury room in which the prisoner was con- fined, he was seized, Booth released and the keeper locked in his place. Booth and his friends proceeded north from Milwaukee and for several weeks succeeded in evading the deputy mar- shals, or in overpowering them. On October 8, 1860, the hunted man was betrayed and arrested at Berlin, Green Lake county, and again cast into prison in Milwaukee. A special train had been provided for the purpose, and on this Booth and his captors rode over a new, rough railroad at the rate of 130 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. sixty miles an hour, expecting every moment to be killed The officers thus risked their lives for the benefit of South- ern flesh-brokers. After having been re-imprisoned for some time Booth, at the request of the United States marshal and others, ad- dressed President Buchanan a letter in which all the facts were set forth, and asking release from imprisonment under a judgment from which he had been, five years before, dis- charged by the State court on a writ of habeas corpus. He also alleged the unconstitutionality of the fugitive slave act, the defective warrant on which he was arrested, the unfair- ness of the court, the action of the jury and other circum- stances in his favor. The petition was handed over to the late Jeremiah S. Black, member of President Buchanan's cabinet, to be an- swered in his capacity of attorney-general of the United States. After reciting a history of the record, not the facts, of the trial, Judge Black said that inasmuch as Booth nor the community in which he lived had repented, and he had been aided and abetted by a "lawless" State court, he could not be released, though generally it was wrong for the gov- ernment to inflict punishment on a poor man which a per- son of wealth could not be made to feel, referring to the fact that Booth was held in jail because he was unable to pay the fines imposed by Judge Miller, thus making his incar- ceration practically for life. Great indignation followed the promulgation of Attorney- General Black's reply, and it was again proposed to resort to force for the rescue of Booth. This was not done, however, and he continued to lie in jail. But public clamor rose higher and higher, the dark cloud of rebellion had appeared clearly in the Southern horizon, cabinet officers were resigning and Democracy was in the throes of dissolution. On December 17, 1860, Judge Black resigned and Edwin M. Stanton succeeded him as attorney- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 131 general. Stanton pointed out the disastrous effects of Black's opinion and Buchanan, trembling in the high place he had basely prostituted to slavocracy, granted the pardon he had denied only a few weeks before. The document was signed on the morning of the last day of that rotten administration — March 4, 1861 — and was said to have been Buchanan's last official act. This spirited litigation, beginning with the birth of the Republican party and lasting until the close of the Presiden- tial campaign of 1860, operated as a potent factor for the election of Lincoln. That the Wisconsin State courts were right in all their acts will not be claimed ; but they certainly made a righteous use of the old State sovereignty theory, turning it with fatal effect upon its Southern inventors. If the State-rights theory was right as applied by the South to its infamous business of hunting and catching slaves, how much more holy was it when used by Wisconsin in preventing her soil from being turned into a hunting-ground and her citizens into man- catchers? 132 history of the republican party. CHAPTER XIIL A GLIMPSE AT SLAVERY—THE MOBILE BOOKSELLERS. What Mr. Patten saw in Missouri — A Blacksmith cailed in to Beat a Slave Woman — Frightful Chastisement— Her Husband Attempts to Rescue Her — A Mob Gathers to See What Shall be Done — Con- demned to One Thousand Lashes — His Flesh Riddled in Presence of Three Physicians— Whipped Day after Day, According to His Endurance — Brutality Unparalleled — The Mobile Booksellers — Ex- tract from the Mobile Tribune — Wm, Strickland and Edwin Up- son — Driven from Mobile — Mr. Strickland Returns and is Again Expelled— He States His Offense— Sells two copies of Fred Doug- lass "My Bondage and Freedom" — ' 'Attention Lunenburgers" — Mr. Upson's Statement — Extraordinary Persecution and Injustice — Shall the Country Pass into the Control of Such People? The various crimes and outrages thus far examined were committed in the name of slavery and for its benefit. It would therefore seem proper, though it is not necessary, to discover more exactly in what slavery consisted. The unutterable barbarities to which the slaves were per- petually subjected in order to keep them in more perfect subjugation and fear, can barely be referred to here, though they were all-powerful elements in giving life and form to the Republican party. The writer has seen scores of broken limbs and lacerated bodies, and heard from the lips of the victims themselves such stories, sealed and attested by indelible scars, as would chill any heart but that of a person educated and hardened amidst the cruelties of slave-holding. But only one or two instances will be mentioned. A resident of Cleveland, Ohio, described a scene witnessed by himself, as follows: HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 13$ Cleveland, Saturday, Aug. 9, 1856. Daring the past winter and summer I have been travel- ing through Western Missouri and Kansas, and on the 21st of February, 1856, I was in Lexington, Mo., which I think may be regarded as the great hot-bed of those who pride themselves in that appropriate an*l significant name, "Bor- der Ruffians." Un the morning of that day I was, for the first time in my life, a spectator of the sale of slaves. Two young men and a girl about eighteen years of age, were placed upon the block, surrounded by forty or fifty slave-holders. The first put up was a "nigger" of great beauty and fine form. The auctioneer commenced by ex- horting the farmers to remember that the hemp was all down — hands were scarce — "niggers" had taken a rise; and told them that there stood one of the best-looking "niggers" in the State; that he was a slave for life, and had no wife to trouble him — was sound — Lad good teeth and eyes. In short, wa^ an "excellent nigger!" The bidding proceeded until $1,250 was reached, and the hammer fell upon the "nigger," who was led away by the highest bidder. During the sale the auctioneer, aud others, indulged in witticisms and puns upon the boy, which set the crowd to laughing; but the slave did not laugh. Not a smile did I notice during the whole time. His expression was that of deep despondency. Being called away, I did not see the other two sold. Several others were sold in that place during the same week at sheriff's sale. One gentleman told me that he would al- most as soon sell one of his own children as one of his "nig- gers," but he would be compelled to do it, for if he did not the sheriff would. On the afternoon of that same day a large meeting was held in the court-house for the purpose of forming an "Emi- grant Aid Society." A constitution was presented by a committee previously appointed. The necessity of the movement was enforced by an address from the Rev. Prof. Akers, who is now one of the Fillmore electors. He argued that if Kansas was made a free State, Missouri, being sur- rounded on three sides by free States, must sooner or later give up her cherished "institution." The North would have the majority in Congress, and would admit no more slave States into the Union. They would abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and then it would be hemmed in and confined within its own narrow limits, and would smother out and die. 134 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. But oh! with what holy horror that pious man of God raised his hands and his voice against such a terrible result! He urged his friends, in the most passionate strains, to do all they could to make Kansas a slave State, and if they failed they would at least have the satisfaction of having'done their duty. His was a telling speech, for immediately after its delivery about $9,000 was subscribed to send pro-slavery men to Kansas. On the succeeding Friday a scene was presented in that same court-house which almost beggars description. Sheriff Withers, having a "nigger woman," who on the previous day had been neglectful of her taskwork, sent for a blacksmith to come and chastise her. He came, bolted the door, tied the woman's hands together, and lashed them over her head to the ceiling, and commenced whipping. The •screams of the woman brought her husband to the rescue. He broke open the door, and wkh a butcher-knife in his hand rushed forward to cut his wife loose. The slave and black- smith encountered each other, and in the affray the latter got his arm cut. The slave finally surrendered and was led away to jail, while the woman received a double whipping. These are the facts in the case. News of this "horrible outrage" was soon circulated, and the excitement became intense. One leading man was heard say: " God d—n me if I don't sink my soul to hell if I don't put a stop to this slave rebellion,' if I can only get three men to join with me" When asked how he would do it, he said, "I will take this slave and that other one that is in jail, and hang them both upon the same tree, and let them hang there a week." Three men came forward to assist him, and the hour of 4 o'clock that afternoon was agreed upon for the execution. The excitement grew, waxing wilder and fiercer every hour, until such a storm of passion raged as was fearful to behold. At 4 o'clock, the mob, numbering two or three hundred, moved toward the court-house. The "boy," a quadroon about forty years of age, was brought into the building and placed within the bar. ColonelReed was called to preside, and Colonel Walton explained the object of the meeting. He said : " A great crime has been committed— an out- rage upon one of our citizens by a nigger. We have come together not to imbrue our hands in the blood of innocence, but rebellion of slaves is becoming common. Something must be done to put a stop to it, to protect our wives, our children, and our sacred homes." HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 135 A member of the legislature earnestly remonstrated against mob law, and recommended that a day be appointed to whip the boy, and have all the slaves of the county present. He was not heard through, for the speech did not suit the mob. A committee of twelve was appointed to decide immediately what punishment the boy should receive. 'J hat committee retired, but soon returned, with Colonel Reed at their head, who read the following announcement: " Your committee have decided that the boy shall receive one thousand lashes on his bare back, tivo hundred to be adminis- tered this evening (if he can bear it) and the remaining eight hundred from time to time, as in the judgment of the committee his physical nature can bear up under it. Also, we advise that a committee of three physicians be appointed to superintend the operation, an-^c^ ^-^^L HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 173 as a party, they elected a new State Committee, placing me at its head as chairman. In the meantime the Detroit Trioune had, about the time of the Detroit meetings, come out fairly and squarely in favor of the plan of that meeting, and many of the Whig papers in the interior had done the same. r l he Detroit Advertiser (Whig) had held aloof and denounced the move- ment for some weeks after the Jackson convention; but finding the masses of its party had gone zealously into the new movement, also followed suit. Prior to the meeting of the mass-convention at Jackson on July 6, these calls had been so numerously signed by the leading Whigs and Free-Soilers, and by so many of the leading and most influential Democrats, (about 10,000 names being attached to the calls returned to the convention be- sides nearly as many not returned) that the whole conven- tion saw and felt that victory had been organized and that we already had the State. Horace Greeley had been watching this movement and fully approving the manner in which it had been initiated, had great confidence in its success, and in a letter to a prom- inent member 1 of the Jackson convention suggested that the new party take the name of "Republican," which was unanimously approved by the convention. At the meeting of the mass-convention at Jackson, an understanding was had among the leading members of the Free-Soil party that they should remain in the background and not be pressed for prominent positions either as officers of the convention, or as candidates for nomination; but that these should be taken mainly from those who had left the Democratic and Whig parties to join in our movement. It became my duty, as chairman of the Free-Soil (or Free- Democratic) Committee to announce, before adjournment, as I did from the stand, the dissolution of the Free-Soil party and its absorption into the Republican party, composed of men /row all the old parties, but now no longer Democrats, Whigs or Free-Soilers, but Republicans all, animated by a common and patriotic purpose to check the further advance of the slave power, and to make freedom instead of slavery national, by every means permitted by the federal Constitu- tion. 1 Greeley wrote to Jacob M. Howard that he had been advised that Wiscon- sin would adopt the name Republican on July 13, and urged Michigan to anticipate her sister State on the 6th, which was done. This letter was shown to Mr. Christiancy, Zach. Chandler and others on the day of the convention and is abundant proof of the correctness of the assumption that A. E. Bovay 6Uggested the name to Greeley. 11 174 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The State ticket nominated by that convention was tri- umphantly elected. I need not follow the history of the Re- publican party. It has made its own history, which can never be obliterated. And though, like all other parties composed of men, and therefore subject to the infirmities of human nature, it has yet accomplished more for the enfran- chisement of the enslaved and oppressed, and more to make of discordant elements a homogeneous nation, than any other party known to the history of the Avorld. I still cling to it as the ark of our national safety. I await the result with patience and an unswerving reliance upon that Providence which shapes all our ends well. I am very truly yours, I. P. Christiancy. The call drafted by Mr. Christiancy, is as follows, with a few of the names attached to it before publication in Detroit: To the People of Michigan'. A great wrong has been perpetrated. The slave power of this country has triumphed. Liberty is trampled under foot. The Missouri Compromise, a solemn compact entered into by our fathers, has been violated, and a vast territory dedicated to freedom has been opened to slavery. This act, so unjust to the North, has been perpetrated under circum- stances which deepen its perfidy. An administration placed in power by Northern votes has brought to bear all the resources of executive corruption in its support. Northern Senators and Representatives, in the face of the overwhelming public sentiment of the North, expressed in the proceedings of publicmeetings and solemn remonstrances, without a single petition in its favor on their table, and not daring to submit this great question to the people, have yielded to the seductions of executive patronage, and, Judas- like, betrayed the cause of liberty; while the South, inspired by a dominant and grasping ambition, has, without distinc- tion of party, and with a unanimity almost entire, deliber- ately trampled under foot the solemn compact entered into in the midst of a crisis threatening to the peace of the Union, sanctioned by the greatest names of our history, and the binding force of which has, for a period of more than thirty years, been recognized and declared by numerous acts of legislation. Such an outrage upon liberty, such a violation of plighted faith, can not be submitted to. This great wrong must be righted, or there will be no longer a North in the councils of the nation. The extension of slavery, under the folds of the HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 175 American flag, is a stigma upon liberty. The indefinite in- crease of slave representation in Congress is destructive to that equality among freemen which is essential to the per- manency of the Union. The safety of the Union — the rights of the North — the interests of free labor — the destiny of a vast territory and its untold millions for all coming time — and finally, the high aspirations of humanity for universal freedom, all are in- volved in the issue forced upon the country by the slave power and its plastic Northern tools. In view, therefore, of the recent action of Congress upon the subject, and the evident designs of the slave power to at- tempt still further aggressions upon freedom — we invite all our fellow-citizens, without reference to former political as- sociations, who think that the time has arrived for a Union at the North to protect Liberty from being overthrown and down-trodden, to assemble in Mass-Convention on Thursday, the 6th of July next, at 1 p. m., at Jackson, there to take such measures as shall be thought best to concentrate the popular sentiment of this State against the aggression of the slave power. Jno. J. Bagley, Z. Chandler, J. M. Howard, C. A. Trowbridge, D. Bethune Nuffield, H. P. Baldwin, S. S. Barnard, Sylv. Larned, T. H. Hinchman, H. K. Clarke, J. Logan Chipman, Luther Beecher, G. P. San ford, Chas. M. Croswell, W. Shakespeare, Eugene Pringle, Austin Blair, S. B. McCracken, I. P. Christiancy, G. Custer, J. H. Burroughs, N. Maniates, J. Bentley, Jr., and a great number of others. In response to these calls the largest convention ever known in Michigan, assembled "under the oaks" at Jackson. After music and prayer the following officers were chosen: President — D. S. Walbridge, Kalamazoo. Vice- Presidents — F. C. Beaman, Lenawee; Oliver Johnson, Monroe; Rudolph Diepenbeck, Wayne; Thomas Curtis, Oak- land; C. T. Gorham, Calhoun; Pliny Power, Wayne; Emanuel Mann, Washtenaw; Chas. Draper, Oakland; Geo. Winslow, Kalamazoo; Norman Little, Saginaw; John McKinney, Van Buren; W. W. Murphy, Hillsdale. 176 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Secretaries— J ". Van Rensselaer, Detroit; J. F. Conover,. Wayne; A. B. Turner, Kent; G. A. Fitch, Kalamazoo; CM. Croswell, Lenawee; J. W. Sanborn, St. Clair; J. B. Whar- ton, Hillsdale. A committee of four from each congressional district was selected to report a series of resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the convention upon the great questions of the day consisting of the following gentlemen: 1st. Jacob M. Howard, Wayne; Austin Blair, Jackson; Donald Mclntyre, Washtenaw; John Helsendegen, Wayne. 2d. Charles Noble, Monroe; Alfred R. Metcalf, St. Joseph; John W. Turner, Branch; Levi Baxter, Hillsdale. 3d. Marsh Giddings, Kalamazoo; E. Hussey, Calhoun; A. Williams, Ionia; John McKinney, Van Buren. 4th. Charles Draper, Oakland; M. L. Iliggins, Flint; J. E. Simmons, Oakland; Z. B. Knight, Oakland. In order to show the difference between the God-fearing, heart-felt utterances of that day and the more guarded and politic platforms of the present time, the report of the com- mittee, written by Jacob M. Howard, which was adopted amidst shouts and hurrahs, will be inserted. Hesolvecl, That the institution of slavery, except in punish ment of crimes, is a great moral, social and political evil; that it was so regarded by the fathers of the Republic, the founders and best friends of the Union, by the heroes and sages of the Revolution, w 7 ho contemplated and intended its gradual and peaceful extinction as an element hostile to the liberties for which they toiled; that its history in the United States, the experience of men best acquainted with its work- ings, the dispassionate confession of those who are interested in it; its tendency to relax the vigor of industry and enter- prise inherent in the white man; the very surface of the earth where it subsists; the vices and immoralities which are its natural outgrowth; the stringent police, often wanting in humanity and speaking to the sentiments of every generous heart, which it demands; the danger it has already wrought and the future danger which it portends to the security of the Union and our constitutional liberties, all incontestably prove it to be such evil. Surely, that institution is not to be strengthened nor encouraged against which Washington, the calmest and wisest of our nation, bore unequivocal testi- mony; as to which Jefferson, filled with the love of liberty,. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 177 ■exclaimed — "Can the liberties of a nation be ever thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a con- viction in the minds of the people that their liberties are the gift of God? that they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that s; Kentucky — James R. Whittemore; California — Charles A. Washburn; Kansas — S. N. Wood; Nebraska — H. B. Bennett; District of Colum- bia — H. B. French. Several slave States, it will be seen, were not represented. On the motion of David Wilmot, a committee on resolutions was appointed as follows: Maine — Henrjr Carter; New Hampshire — Daniel Clark; Massachusetts — E. R. Hoar; Connecticut — Gideon Welles; Rhode Island — Thomas Davis; Vermont — Edward Kirkland; New York — Preston King; New Jersey — Edward W. Wel- ton; Delaware — Edward G. Bradford; Maryland — Francis P. Blair; Virginia — John C. Underwood; Pennsylvania — David Wilmot; Ohio — Joshua R. Giddings; Michigan — Isaac P. Christiancy; Wisconsin — John F. Potter; Indiana — John D. De Frees; Illinois — George T. Brown; Iowa— James B. Howell; California — John A. Wills; Kansas — J. L. Winchel!; District of Columbia — Jacob Bigelow; Kentucky — Geo. D. Blakesly; Minnesota — Alexander Ramsey. At this point a large delegation of the New York council of radical Democrats appeared and Gen. Viele moved to ad- mit them to seats. The hall was then crowded to suffocation, but members from New Hampshire and Ohio said they would hold the radical Democrats in their laps rather than have 218 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. them excluded, whereupon, amidst universal applause, the members of the New York delegation were admitted as "hon- orary delegates." A committee on permanent organization was appointed as follows: Maine — Geo. M. Weston; New Hampshire — Levi Cham- berlain; Massachusetts — Geo. R. Russell; Connecticut- Charles Adams; Rhode Island — Wra. W. Hoppin; Vermont — Ryland Fletcher; New York — Geo. W. Patterson; New Jersey — Wm. D. Waterman; Delaware — Thomas Waters; Maryland — Elias Hawley; Virginia — Geo. Wright; Pennsylva- nia — Samuel A. Purviance; Ohio — George Hoadley, Jr.; Mich- igan — Thomas Drake; Wisconsin — M. M. Davis; Indiana — E. G. Rose; Illinois — Cyrus Aldrich; Iowa — R. L G. Clark; Kansas — Charles H. Branscomb; Kentucky — John Reiff; California — G. W. Treat; District of Columbia — Lewis Clephane; Minnesota — J. B. Phillips; Nebraska — H. B. Ben- nett. At the afternoon session the committee on permanent or- ganization made the following report which was unanimously adopted: President — Henry S. Lane, Indiana. Vice-Presidents — A. P. Morrill, Maine; H. Carpenter, Vermont; J. Babcock, Rhode Island; John A. King, New York; J. Ritner, Pennsylvania; F. T. Cobb, Maryland; G. D. Blackett, Kentucky; J. Beard, Indiana; K. S. Bingham, Mich- igan; Jacob Bigelow, District of Columbia; S. C. Pomeroy, Kansas; H. B. Bennett, Nebraska; A. Tubb, New Hampshire; C, F. Adams, Massachusetts; C. F. Cleveland, Connecticut; J. C. Hornblower, New Jersey; S. Barr, Delaware; George Rye, Virginia; R. P. Spalding, Ohio; W.B. Archer, Illinois; W. D. McKnight, Wisconsin; F. Springer, Iowa; Alexander Ramsey, Minnesota, and F. P. Folger, California. The platform 1 was now reported by David Wilmot. Its reading heightened the previous enthusiasm, if possible, and brought forth thunders of applause. The last clause of the last resolution, as originally written, was intended to depre- cate Know-Nothingism; but as the Pennsylvania delegates thought it might be offensive to portions of their State, it was changed to the form in which it now stands. 1 For all national Republican platforms, calls delegates, etc., see Appen- dix. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 2] 9 Before proceeding to ballot for a candidate for President, two notable letters were read, written respectively by John McLean, and Salmon P.Chase, of Ohio, both of whom had been widely favored for the Presidency. Both were unselfish and both predicted early and permanent Republican victory. No formal nominations by eloquent orators were made, but E.D* Morgan and G. S. Orth were appointed tellers and an informal ballot was taken without ado, resulting as follows: States. Fkemont. McLean. Maine 15 11 New Hampshire 15 — Vermont 15 — Massachusetts 39 — Rhode Island 12 — Connecticut 18 , . — New York* 93 3 New Jersey 7 14 Pennsylvania 10 71 Delaware — 9 1 Maryland 4 3 Ohio 30 39 Indiana 18 21 Illinois 14 19 Michigan 18 ... — Wisconsin 15 — Iowa - 12 — Minnesota - 3 Kansas 9 — Nebraska — 3 Kentucky 5 — California 12 — Total 359...., 196 A motion for a formal ^ballot was instantly made and car- ried, resulting in the entire vote of the convention being cast for Fremont except twenty-three from Pennsylvania and fourteen from Ohio for McLean, one from Pennsylvania for Seward, and forty-five from Virginia not cast for any candi- date because her representation was not at that moment full and could not be cast as a unit. *Also two for Sumner and one for Seward. 220 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The nomination was made unanimous amidst a scene of intense excitement and enthusiasm. At the instant the re- sult was announced a beautiful American flag was unfurled from the speaker's desk, and the bright, silken folds, in- scribed with " John Charles Fremont for President," were drawn across the platform, extending entirely across the hall. Hats and handkerchiefs filled the air, banners were flaunted from the windows to announce the result, and the vociferous shouts in the building were caught up by the mul- titude without and borne away through the crowded streets and over the wires to the uttermost parts of the Republic. Apparently everybody was for Fremont inside and out- side of the hall, and it would have been difficult to deter- mine whence came the previous opposition to his nomination. It is said that the honor of first formally putting forth the name of the " Path-finder," as Fremont has for thirty- five years been known, belongs to the Republicans of Mishawaka, Indiana, who, in less than a week after the pub- lication of the national call, adopted a resolution indorsing him for the Presidency and asking the delegates from that Congressional district to use all honorable means to secure his nomination.^ On the day following Fremont's nomination, an informal ballot for Vice-President resulted in 250 votes for Wm, L. Dayton, of New York; 110 for Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois; 43 for David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania; 35 for Charles Sum- ner, 46 for N. P. Banks and 7 for Henry Wilson, of Massa- chusetts; 15 for Jacob of Collamer, Vermont; and scattering votes for Joshua R. Giddings, Cassius M. Clay, John A. King and Henry C. Carey. On the formal ballot the votes for Sumner, Banks, Wilson, Lincoln and Wilmot were trans- ferred to Dayton, and he was nominated. 1 A. N. Cole, of Wells ville, New York, who was a close friend of the lead- ing spirits of that time, says Horace Greeley first suggested the prdpriety of nominating Fremont, though ho did not advocate him in bis paper until a few weeks before the convention met. si^V^n^T^r^ HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 221 A committee was appointed to notify the candidates of their nomination, consisting of J. M. Ashley, Ohio; A. J. Bleecker, New York; J. C. Hornblower, New Jersey; E. R. Hoar, Massachusetts; Thad. Stevens, Pennsylvania; K. S. Bingham, Michigan; 0. F. Cleveland and Mr. Aldrich, of Connecticut, with Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, as chairman. The convention then adjourned. Tne nomination of Fremont was well received through- out the free .States. The announcement of it was greeted with bonfires, processions, public meetings and the booming of cannons. The campaign did not "open" as it does now after every Presidential nomination; it simply continued — for it had been actively in progress for more than two years — under the battle-cry of "Free speech, free press, free soil, freedom and Fremont." The ordinary political excitement, however, increased in intensity as the day of election drew near, owing to the con- tinued murders and encounters in Kansas, and the bitter at- tacks of the pro-slavery Democracy upon Colonel Fremont. He was accused of being a Romanist, in order to alienate the anti-Catholic Know-Nothings, and of being an unqualified Abolitionist, in order to intensify the opposition of the South, the pro-slaveryites of the North, those interested in South- ern property and those who thought slavery should not be disturbed where it then existed. Both charges were false. In a letter to E. D. Morgan relative to appearing at the "great Republican Tabernacle Meeting" in New York, he said: "I am opposed to slavery in the abstract and upon principle, sustained and made habit- ual by long-settled convictions. While I am inflexible in the belief that it ought not tohe interfered with where it now exists under the shield of State sovereignty, I am as inflexibly opposed to its extension on this continent beyond its present limits." 14- 222 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. But the truth was not permitted to go before the people of the South, where Fremont was steadily held up as one who had avowed, if elected, to destroy slavery by force if law or diplomacy should not suffice to do it. His opponent was James Buchanan, the idol of the slave- drivers, whose proudest record was that he had never refused, in a long period of public service, a single demand or behest of the slave-power, no matter how barbarous or bloody it promised to be. 1 He was a weak man in every respect, a child in the terrific storm that, kindled before his nomina- tion, subsequently swept over his administration; a pigmy before the great problems then shaking the country. The Democracy of the North supported him because they wanted postoffices. The South stood solid at his back because he was and had been the tool of slavery. The Charleston Courier said: "If it be desirable to triumph over our adver- saries, and preserve the Union UNTIL WE OURSELVES MAY BE READY to ABANDON IT, it is certainly impor- tant to give the candidate of our party the frank and hearty support of all the Southern States." Said Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina: "The people of fifteen Southern States WILL NEVER PASSIVELY »■ The Richmond Enquirer summed Buchanan's virtues thus: 1. In 1836 Mr. Buchanan supported a bill to prohibit the circulation of aboli- tion documents through the mail. 2. In the same year he proposed and voted for the admission of Arkansas. 3. In 1836-7 he denounced and voted to reject petitions for the abolition of slav- ery in the District of Columbia. 4. In 1837 he voted for Mr. Calhoun's famous resolutions, definiipthe rights of the States and the limits of the federal authority, and affirming it to be the duty of the government to protect and uphold the institutions of the South. 5. In 1838-9 and '40 he invariably voted with t he Southern senators against tJie consideration of ab> •lition petitions. 6. In 1844-5 he advocated and voted for the annexation of Texas. 7. In 1847 he sustained the Clayton Compromise. 8. In 1850 he proposed and urged the extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean. 9. But he promptly acquiesced in the Compromise of 1850, and employed all his influence in favor of the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law. 10. In 1854 he remonstra'ted against an enactment of the Pennsylvania legis- lature for obstructing the arrest and return of fugitive slaves. 11. In 1854 he negotiated for the acquisition of Cuba. 12. in 1856 he approves the repeal op the missouri restriction, and supports the principles of the kans as-nebraska act. 13. He never gave a vote against the interests of slavery, and never uttered a word which could pain the most sensitive southern HEART. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 223 SUBMIT, if the strength of the fusionists in the lower House of Congress becomes augmented by Presidential power." Said Senator Mason, of Virginia: "It is time the yoke was thrown off and the question settled." Millard Fillmore wrote: "The SOUTH WILL NOT SUBMIT FOR A MOMENT to the election of Fremont and Dayton." Shouted Robt. Toombs: "OUR DANGER IS NOT FROM ABROAD, IT IS AT HOME. THE ELECTION OF FRE- MONT WOULD BE THE END OF THE UNION, AND OUGHT TO BE." The following toasts were drunk at a Democratic Fourth of July celebration at Atchison City, Kansas, and greeted with cheers: Disunion — By secession or otherwise — a beacon of hope to an oppressed people, and the surest remedy for Southern wrongs. The City of Atchison —May she before the close of the year 1857 be the CAPITAL OF A SOUTHERN REPUB- LIC. Senator Butler, of South Carolina, said: "When Fre- mont is elected, we must rely upon what we have — good State governments. Every governor of the South should call the legislature of his State together and have measures of the South decided upon. If they do not, and submit to the degradation, they will deserve the fate of slaves. I shall ad- vise my legislature to go at the tap of the drum. " At a public meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee, Judge Da^iley declared that "Governor Wise had addressed letters to all the Southern governors, and that the one to the gov- ernor of Florida had been shown him, in which Governor Wise said he had an army in readiness to prevent Fremont from talcing his seat, if elected, and asking the co-operation of those to whom he wrote." At Lynchburg, Virginia, Lawrence M. Keitt, of South 'Carolina, in a public speech, said : "I tell you now, that 224 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. if Fremont is elected, adherence to the Union is treason to liberty. I tell you now that the Southern man who will sub- mit to his election is a traitor and a coward" Henry A. Wise, governor of Virginia, in an address to the people of his State, declared: "The South can not, with- out degradation, submit to the election of a Black Republican President. To tell me that we should submit to a Black Re- publican, under circumstances like these, is to tell me that Virginia and the fifteen slave States are already subjugated and degraded. We will not submit." The Charleston Mercury, the recognized organ of the South Carolina Democracy, announced : Upon the policy of dissolving the Union, of separating the South from her Northern enemies, and establishing a S tuthern Confederacy, parties, presses, politicians and people are a unit. There is not a single public man in her limits, not one of her present representatives or senators in Congress who is not pledged to the lips in favor of disunion. Indeed, we well re- member that one of the most prominent leaders of the co- operation party, when taunted with submission, rebuked the thought by saying, " that in opposing secession he only took a step backward to strike a blow more deadly against the Union." The Washington correspondent of the New Orleans T)elta y a journal high in the confidence of the Pierce administration, wrote : It is already arranged, in the event of Fremont's election, or a failure to elect by the people, [meaning slave-holders] to \,all the legislatures of Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia to concert measures to withdraw from the Union before Fre- mont can get possession of the army and navy and the purse- strings of government. Governor Wise is actively at work already in the matter. The South can rely on the President in the emergency contemplated. Said the Richmond Enquirer: If Fremont is elected the Union will not last an hour after Mr. Pierce's term expires. If Fremont is elected it will be the duty of the South to dissolve the Union and form a Southern Confederacy. Let the South present a compact and undivided front* Let her, if possible, detach Pennsylvania and Southern Ohio, HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 225 Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois from the North, and make the highlands between the Ohio and the lakes the dividing line. Let the South treat with California ; and, if necessary, ally herself with Russia, with Cuba and Brazil. What a campaign it was! How the prodigious energy of Greeley, through the broad columns of the Tribune, woke every patriotic impulse and roused every energy! How Gar- rison, Sumner, Codding, Beecher,King, Smith, Phillips, Stowe, Giddings, Lane, Wilson, Hale, Stevens, Fred Douglass, Col- fax and scores of others passed up and down among the people, shouting liberty in every community and proclaiming freedom from every house-top! Nevertheless the threats of the South had their effect. Thousands of voters in the North feared that the election of a Republican President would indeed be the signal for dis- union, and Fremont was defeated. He had against him the influence of the federal officials North and South, the United States Supreme and the various federal courts, the vast en- ginery of the slave-power, the administration and the pro- slaveryites of the North. He received, however, the eight votes of Maine, five votes of New Hampshire, thirteen votes of Massachusetts, four votes of Rhode Island, six votes of Connecticut, five votes of Vermont, thirty-rive votes of New York, twenty-three votes of Ohio, six votes of Michigan, four votes of Iowa and five votes of Wisconsin — 114 in all, against 173 for Buchanan and eight (Maryland) for Jno. C. Breckin- ridge. The Northern States that voted for Buchanan were New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and California. The remainder of his support came from the slave States. HISTOKY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. CHAPTER XX. CONVENTION OF 18G0. The Nation Intensely Excited— Several Candidates for the Presidency — Convention meets in Chicago on May 16— Curiosities of the Day — The Monster Bowie-knife — Potter Describes his Difficulty with Pryor — Lists of Committees — Permanent Officers — Greeley's Slav- ery Resolution— Giddings offers an Amendment-Leaves the Conven- tion — Geo. Wm. Curtis Triumphs — Seward's Supporters — A Noisy Night — Presentation of Candidates — Terrifflc Demonstrations — Taking the Ballot — A Moment of Suspense — Lincoln Nominated — A Scene of Excitement— Candidates for the Vice-Presidency — Hannibal Hamlin Nominated — Chicago after the Convention — Rails from ihe Sangamon Bottoms — An Extraordinary Campaign- Sentiments and Utterances of the South — Lincoln Elected — Equal Rejoicing North and South. If possible, the people of the North were more thoroughly aroused and fearful over the threats and aggressions of the slave power, as the time for another Presidential campaign drew near, than they had been in 1856. The thongs that bound the Union together were stretched to their utmost tension. That the South had resolved upon dismemberment, was the clearest thing before the public. They were only waiting for the North to take some step, adopt some line of policy, that, not being satisfactory, could be seized upon as an excuse for sundering those bonds without ruth or hesita- tion, and setting up an independent slave empire after their own heart. Therefore was the South a slumbering volcano, a powder magazine which would be exploded by any misstep or devia- tion on the part of the North from the straight and narrow 8 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 229 paths prescribed by the slave-holders. The atmosphere was heavy with apprehension. No one knew what would happen, but every one felt that fearful dangers lurked near and every- where, and that some terrible calamity was about to befall the country. The battle in Kansas had been won for freedom, it is true, but defeat, instead of cooling down the slave power,had only served to exasperate it and render it more demonstrative. Therefore, a large portion of the people were unable to de- termine whether it would be better to let the government run along in the hands of the Democrats and thus save the Union as a general Utopia for slavery and barbarism, or rally at once and wrest it from them, let come what might. Under such circumstances, surrounded by apprehensions and misgivings about equally mixed with a patriotic and de- termined desire to win, was the call for the Republican Na- tional Convention to be held at Chicago on the 1 6th of May, 1860, hung on the outer walls. There were several candidates in the field — W. II. Sew- ard, Simon Cameron, Benjamin F. Wade, Abraham Lincoln, Edward Bates, John McLean and Salmon P. Chase — men of fame and power. The partisans of each claimed that their candidate was the only man who could solidify the North and save the South. Public interest had become thoroughly aroused before the day fixed for the convention arrived, and thousands upon thousands prepared for a journey to Chicago to see that their own ideas were carried out. The morning of the 16th of May found the city swarming with 25,000 strangers. Admirable as Chicago has always been in her skill and capacity to stow away visitors, she found her- self in this instance hardly more than equal to the emergency. Nevertheless, the 40,000 people who choked her streets on the second day of the convention were as comfortably cared for as they could have been in any other city of the Union. 230 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The principal curiosities of the occasion were Horace Greeley, who had "shuffled up from New York to beat Sew- ard;" the great Wigwam, built expressly for the convention by the Republicans of Chicago, capable of seating 7,000 per- sons, and a dreadful-looking bowie-knife, seven feet in length, which the Republicans of Missouri proposed to present to John F. Potter, of Wisconsin. l A gaping crowd followed Greeley everywhere, regarding him as a supernatural being. The Seward men had a fine band, richly and brilliantly uniformed, behind which, 1,000 strong, they marched to and from the Wigwam and up and down the streets at night. They also wore badges, as did the adherents of Lincoln, Bates and others. »- The following letter gives the first authentic account ever published of the trouble between Potter and Pryor, resulting in giving the former the title of "Bowie-knife" Potter, which the Missourians confirmed by their present: East Troy, January 10, 1884. My Dear Sib:— In reply to your request for my account of my difficulty with Roger A. Pryor, I have to say that its origin was political, but as to who should be held blumable you shall judge for yourself. You must understand that we had been engaged for several weeks in an attempt to organize the House. During that time we had been sub- jected to all sorts of insults and abuse from the "Fire-Eaters," and Roger A. Pryor was foremost among them. He aired his vocabulary of epithets- such as "Black Republicans, " "fanatics, ""nigger-stealers," etc., etc., upon every occasion. Soon after the election of a speaker, I think in March, 1860, Owen Lovejoy, of Illinois, was addressing the House. He was standing in front of his desk, on the left of the speaker, and near my seat. While speaking on the slavery question he was constantly interrupted by members on the other side with all sorts of low slang and vile epithets, such as "nigger-thief," "slave-steal er," but he paid little attention to them. Pretty soon I saw Pryor, of Virginia— a man about six feet high and say 160 pounds avoirdupois, with long black hair parted in the middle, leave his seat on the extreme right of the hall and march down the aisle with arms folded, across the area in front of the speaker, and place himself directly in front of Mr. Lovejoy. I then stepped down from my seat and went near them. Pryor was then shaking his lists in Mr. Lovejoy'sface and saying, ' 'God d— n you! you shan't make that speech on this floor," repeating it several times. I replied, "He shall make any speech on this floor that he chooses to make, within the rules of the House, and you have no right or business to come over to interrupt him." The result was a great deal of loud talking, vociferation, confusion, noise, and, if I remember, some blasphemy. But Mr. Lovejoy made his speech. That was all right. The Globe, the official organ of the House, was some few days behind with the reports of the House debates, and a day or two after Mr. Lovejoy came to me and told me that when he went down to the Globe office to look over the report of his speech, he found the report of my remarks, made during the row, inked over and obliterated, and the foreman of the office told him that Mr. Pryor and Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi, came to the office and tore up a part of the notes of the speech and Pryor ' 'did the inking." The foreman said he protested, but it was of no use — "they swore they would do what they had a mind to." As soon as the House adjourned I went to the Globe office, saAv the foreman, who confirmed what Mr. Lovejoy had told me. I then wrote out, as near as I could recollect, the substance of what I had said, as Mr. Lovejoy also did what he had said. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 231 Edwin D. Morgan, of New York, as at Philadelphia four years before, called the assemblage to order, and at once nom- inated David Wilmot for temporary chairman. The several committees were appointed thus: STATES. Maine.. .. Vermont.. N. Hamp. Conn R. Island.. New York. N. Jersey.. Penn Delaware . Maryland . Virginia . . Ohio Indiana... Illinois.. . Michigan.. Wisconsin Iowa Miunesota Missouri . . Kansas California. Oregon — Kentucky. Texas Nebraska . D. Col'bia. ON PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. Leonard Andrews. Hugh L. Henry. Aaron H. Cragin. Linus B. Comins. Arthur B. Calef. Simeon H. Green. Henry H. VanDyck. Ephraim Marsh. T. J. Coffee. Josiah T. Heil. James Jeffries. Edward M. Norton. V. B. Horton. P. A. Haekleman. William Ross. Walter W. Murphy. John P. McGregor. James P. Wilson. Simeon Smith. Allen Hammer. A. C. Wilder. Samuel Bell. Grant Johnson. Allen J. Bristow. M. S. C. Chandler. O. H. Irish. George A. Hall. ON CREDENTIALS. Renssellaer Cram. E. C. Reddington. Jacob Benton. Timothy Davis. E.K Foster. Benedict Lapham. Palmer V. Keilogg. Moses M. Webb. J. N. Purviance. Lewis Thompson. William E. Cole. Jacob Horn brook. Samuel Stokeley, JobnE. Cravens. Stephen T. Logan. Francis Quinn. H. L. Rann. C. F. Clarkson. John McGinsick. J. B. Gardenhire. William A. Phillips. Charles Watrous. Joel Burlingame. Charle3 Hendley. D. C. Henderson. John R. Meredith. James A. White. ON BUSINESS. John L. Stevens. Edwin D. Mason. B. F. Martin. Samuel Hooper. Geo. H. Noble. Nathaniel B. Durfee. A. B. James. H. N. Congar. Wm. D. Kelly. John C. Clark. Wm. P. Ewing. John G. Jenks. R. M. Corwiue. Walter Marks. Thomas A. Marshall. Austin Blair. Elisha Morrow. Reuben Noble. S. P. Jones. S. G. Letcher. A. G. Proctor. J. C. Hinckley. Eli Thayer. Lewis M. Dembitz. G. Moyers. Samuel W. Elbert. Joseph Gorhardt. In order to keep as near right as possible (knowing that Pryor was a fight- ing man, ) I went to several of the members who were near me during the time, and showed them my report of my remarks, which they confirmed. When the Olohe, with the report of the proceedings of that day, made its appearance, I suppose Pryor was, perhaps, somewhat surprised, for he thought he and Singleton had "fixed things." At all events he was evidently mad. He got up. ' 'He arose to a question of privilege." He called the attention of the House to a copy of the Congress- ional Globe ' 'which I hold in my band." etc., etc. Well, the result was that he accused me of interpolating remarks in the speech! I heard him through, and then told the whole story to the House. Pryor said in reply ' 'that he never heard me make the remarks." The whole house laughed. Several members arose and said they heard them, though standing further away than Pryor, and also that the New York report- ers heard and teportedthem. Pryor then asked me if I ' 'persisted in the remarks." I said I did. He said, ' 'Mr. Speaker, the sequel shall demonstrate whether he stands by them or not." Then he invited me to fight. He could shoot a bird on the wing with a dueling pistol. I bad the choice of weapons. I chose bowie-knives. He said bowie-knives were "barbarous." He forgot that he was Ritchie's second in his duel with Pleasants, and the terms were, "one shot each with pistols, then bowie-knives." But poor Pleasants was killed at the first fire. It is sufficient to say he did not fight. These are the reasons why the Mis- sourians presented the giant bowie-knife. John F. Pottkb. 232 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The convention re-assembled at 5 p. m., when the commit- tee on permanent organization reported, making George Ash- mun, of Massachusetts, a shrewd, plump, full-voiced gentle- man, chairman, and appointing the following vice-presidents and secretaries: STATES. Vice-Presidents. Secretaries. California Connecticut Delaware Iowa A. A. Sargent. C. F. Cleveland. John C. Clark. H. P. Scholte. David Davis. John Beard. W. D. Gal lager. Samuel F. Hersey. Wm. L. Marshall. Ensign H. Kellogg. Thomas White Ferry. Aaron Goodrich. Henry T. Blow. Wm. Curtis Noyes. E. Y. Rogers. Wm. Haile. George D. Burgess. Joel Burliugame. Thad. Stevens. Rowland G. Hazzard. Wm. T. Chandler. Wm. Hebard. R. Crawford. Hans Crocker. A. S. Paddock. W. W. Ross. Geo. Harrington. D. J. Staples. H. H. Starkweather. B. J. Hopkins. Illinois 0. L Davis Indiana Daniel D. Pratt. Stephen J. Howes. C. A. Wing. Wm. E. Coale. Charles 0. Rogers. W. S. stoughton. D. A. Secombe. J. K. Kidd. Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri New York New Jersey New Hampshire. . Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island .... Texas Vermont Virginia Wisconsin Nebraska Kansas Dist. of Columbia. Geo. W. Curtis. Edward Brettle. Nathan Hubbard. N. J. Beebe. Eli Thayer. J. B. Serrill. R. G. Hazzard, Jr. Dunbar C. Henderson. John W. Stewart. L. F. Frisby. H. P. Hitchcock. John A. Martin. Mr. Ashmun was escorted to the chair by Preston King, of New York, and Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin. He made a clear, cool-headed speech, at the conclusion of which N. B. Judd, of Illinois, stepped forward and presented to him, in behalf of the mechanics of Chicago, a gavel made of oak from the flag-ship of Com. Perry. On it was inscribed: "Don't give up the ship." Mr. Judd said: "Mr. President, in presenting this gavel to you, in addition to the motto furnished by the mechanics who manufactured it, I would recommend this convention to believe that the person to be nominated here can, when the election in November shall be over, send a dispatch to Wash- ington in the language of the gallant Perry — "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 233 This brought forth loud cheers. A committee on creden- tials was then appointed, as follows: Maine— George F. Talbott. Indiana— Wm. T. Otto. New Hampshire— Amos Tuck. Michigan— Austin Blair. Vermont— Ebenezer M. Briggs. Illinois— Gustavus Kcerner. Massachusetts— George S. Boutwell. Wisconsin— Carl Schurz. Rhode Island— Benjamin T. Eames. Minnesota— Stephen Miller. Connecticut— S. W. Kellogg. Iowa— J. A* Kasson. New York— H. R. Selden. Missouri— Chas. L. Bernays. NewJersey— Thos. H. Dudley. California— F. P. Tracy. Pennsylvania— William Jessup. Oregon— Horace Greeley. Delaware— N. B. Smith. Texas— H. A. Shaw. Maryland— F. P. Blair. District of Columbia— G. A. Hall. Virginia— Alfred Caldwell. Nebraska— A. Sidney Gardner. Ohio— Joseph H. Barrett. Kansas— John P. Hatterschiedt. Kentucky— George D. Blakesly. When the report of the committee on credentials came up for consideration, David Wilmot made a very caustic at- tack on the delegations from slave States "who had no con- stituencies." They were all admitted, however, though some of them, like "Horace Greeley, of Oregon," had never seen the States they represented. The committee on rules made two reports — one providing that a two-thirds vote should be re- quired to nominate and the other declaring that a simple ma- jority should be sufficient for that purpose. The two-thirds scheme, like that to curtail the delegations of the slave States, was intended to defeat Seward. The report declaring a majority was competent to nominate, was finally adopted. When the platform was announced, the delegates from Pennsylvania and other manufacturing States, threw them- selves into a wild demonstration of approval over the tariff plank. Horace Greeley and Eli Thayer worked persistently to have this plank adopted as part of the platform, but failed: Resolved, That holding liberty to be the natural birth- right of every human being, we maintain that slavery can only exist where it has been previously established by laws con- stitutionally enacted; and we are inflexibly opposed to its es- tablishment in the Territories by legislative, executive, or ju- dicial intervention. 234 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. While the platform was under discussion Joshua R. Gid- dings offered as an amendment to the first resolution as it was reported, the following: That we solemnly re-assert the self-evident truths that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are those of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that governments are instituted among men to secure the enjoyment of these rights. The first resolution was as follows: Kesolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Republican electors of the United States, in convention as- sembled, in discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the following declarations. Giddings' amendment was voted down. The old warrior thereupon arose and started in evident sorrow toward the door. Several delegates attempted to stop him, but he waved them aside saying that "all the labors of the past were lost; slavery had not been condemned, polygamy was untouched and the Declaration of Independence had been voted down. He must go." Soon after Mr. Giddings had left the convention with his scars, his earnestness and his oaken patriotism, Geo. Wm. Curtis, of New York, obtained the floor and said: I offer as an amendment to the report, as presented by the committee, the following so the second clause of the report shall read: "That the maintenance of the principles promul- gated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the federal Constitution" — and then, sir, I propose to amend by adding these words, "That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are insti- tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the con- sent of the governed" — then proceed — "is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions; and that the federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved." I have to ask this convention whether they are prepared to go upon the record and before the country as voting down the words of the Declaration of Independence . I ask gen- tlemen gravely to consider that in the amendment which I HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 235 have proposed, I have done nothing that the soundest and safest man in all the land might not do; and I rise simply to ask gentlemen to think well before, upon the free prairies of the West, in the summer of 18G0, they dare to wince and quail before the men who in Philadelphia, in 1776 — in Phila- delphia, in the Arch-Keystone State, so amply, so nobly rep- resented upon this platform to-day — before they dare to shrink from repeating the words that these great men enun- ciated. The picturesque appearance of Mr. Curtis, his apparent earnestness and the nobility of his appeal took the conven- tion by storm. His triumph was complete, and the sonorous sentences of the Declaration of Independence thus became a part of the Republican platform. Subsequently Mr. Gid- dings returned. He had been vindicated. The convention was now ready for work, but adjourned without taking a ballot for the nomination of a candidate. The second night was given over to caucusing, processions, speeches, appeals, consolidations, champagne suppers and general exertions in behalf of the several candidates. Seward seemed to be ahead. New York had sent up a plucky and adroit regiment of politicians to work for him, and thus far all their undertakings had been successful. Late Monday night even Henry S. Lane and Horace Greeley lost hope, and telegrams were sent everywhere announcing that undoubtedly Seward would be the nominee. The convention re-assembled on the morning of the 18th, the third day, and the Wigwam was jammed full to bursting, while 2,500 people surged in the streets outside. A nimble fellow had been engaged to station himself on the sky-light to see what was going on within and announce the proceed- ings to the multitude without. The delegates were anxious to get to business, and immediately after prayer they were gratified. Wm. M. Evarts, of New York, nominated Mr. Seward. N. B. Judd, of Illinois, nominated Abraham Lin- coln. Thomas H. Dudley, of New Jersey, nominated Wm. L. Dayton. Andrew H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, nominated 236 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Simou Cameron. D. K. Cartter, of Ohio, nominated Salmon P. Chase. Caleb B. Smith,of Indiana,seconded the nomination of Lincoln. Francis P. Blair, of Missouri, nominated Ed- ward Bates. Austin Blair, of Michigan, seconded the nomi- nation of Seward. Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, nominated John McLean. Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin, seconded the nomination of Seward. Columbus Delano, of Ohio, seconded the nomination of Lincoln. The only names that produced "tremendous applause" were those of Seward and Lincoln. Everybody felt that the fight was between them, and yelled accordingly. Murat Halstead thus described the scene : The applause, when Mr. Evarts named Seward, was en- thusiastic. When Mr. Judd named Lincoln, the response was prodigious, rising and raging far beyond the Seward shriek. Presently, upon Caleb B. Smith seconding the nomi- nation of Lincoln, the response was absolutely terrific. It now became the Seward men to make another effort, and when Blair, of Michigan, seconded his nomination, •'At once there rose so wild a yell, Within that dark and narrow dell; As all the fiends from heaven that fell Had pealed the banner cry of hell." The effect was startling. Hundreds of persons stopped their ears in pain. The shouting was absolutely frantic, shrill and wild. No Comanches, no panthers ever struck a higher note, or gave screams with more infernal intensity. Looking from the stage over the vast amphitheatre, nothing was to be seen below but thousands of hats — a black, mighty swarm of hats — flying with the velocity of hornets over a mass of hu- man heads, most of the mouths of which were open. Above, all around the galleries, hats and handkerchiefs were flying in the tempest together. The wonder of the thing was, that the Seward outside pressure should, so far from New York "be so powerful. Now the Lincoln men had to try again, and as Delano, of Ohio, seconded the nomination of Lincoln, the uproar was beyond description. * * I thought the Seward yell could not be surpassed, but the Lincoln boys were clearly ahead, and feeling their victory, as there was a lull in the storm, took deep breaths all around and gave a concentrated shriek HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 237 that was positively awful, and accompanied it with stamping that made every plank and pillar in the building quiver. Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, leaped upon a table and, swinging hat and cane, performed like an acrobat. The pre- sumption is that he shrieked, but no one can testify that he made a particle of noise. His mouth was wide open, but his voice was lost in the aggregate hurricane. The faces of the Seward crowd grew white as the Lincoln shouts swelled into the wild hozannas of conscious victory. And they grew whiter as the baliotting proceeded, as follows: First Ballot. Second Ballot. Third Ballot. STATES. * PD >s p. 10 1 a a o £3 6 7 O p 3 CD 00 2 3 CD go 3 p- pa on CD GO CD PS P 1 10 1 3' c_ 2" 6 9 10 4 3 4 pa CO c go 3 CJ r CD P O 0* P on CD CO P l-J & 10 1 pa /- S' r< po p 6 9 10 8 5 4 New Hampshire . 1 21 4 "2 22 70 ' 4 2/ 2 3 ..£.. 7 i" '2 3" 2 18 1 1 70 5 4 i 2 Rhode Island — 1 5 1 2 1 70 '48 "6 14 9 14 26 8* r ^ 8 52 9 6 14 13 29 26 Pennsylvania Maryland V-A 3 4 im '8 6 18 1 1 4 '8 34 2 2 Virginia 8 5 14 (3 8 26 22 1 1 29 8 6 15 Ohio 3 ?, is" 18 18 12 '22 12 22 4 10 2 8 8 6 2 2 2 6 10 2 8 8 6 10 2 8 3 T 3 2 180 "5 'ii ' H Iowa 2 1 1 1 1 V% m California Minnesota 5 " ..... 5 Territories. Kansas 6 3 2 184i/ 2 1 1 2 1 181 2 42/ 2 2 1 Dist. of Columbia. 35 2 8 102 50/ 2 « 22 Totals 48 12 24/ 2 231/2 5 On the first ballot B. F. Wade, of Ohio, received 3 votes; W. L. Dayton, of New Jersey, 14; John M. Reed, of Penn- sylvania, 1; Jacob Callamer, of Vermont, 10; Charles Sum- ner 1, J. C. Fremont 1, C. M. Clay 2. 238 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. On the second ballot Dayton received 10 and Clay 2 votes, and on the third ballot each of these gentlemen received 1 vote. The strongest nerves were strained by the intense excite- ment of the few minutes required for the third ballot, but it soon became apparent that Seward had gone down — "down like lead in the mighty waters" of opposition — and that Lincoln was the coming man. A hundred tally-sheets told the same story — 231^ for ^Lincoln, one and one-half short of giving him the nomination. There was a pause. Every one knew and felt that at a crisis like this some one could be counted on to step forward and distinguish himself by changing his vote and nominating the candidate. The pause was of short duration. D. K. Cartter, of Cleveland, mounted a chair and stretched his hand toward the presiding officer for recognition. All eyes were on him. The Wigwam was silent. "Mr. Chairman,"he began with de- liberation, "I rise to change four votes of Ohio from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln." Wrote Mr. Halstead: The deed was done. There was a moment's silence. The nerves of the thousands, which through the hours of suspense had been subjected to terrible tension, relaxed, and as deep breaths of relief were taken, there was a noise in the Wigwam like the rush of a great wind in the van of a storm — and in another breath, the storm was there. There were thousands cheering with the energy of insanity. A man who had been on the roof, and was engaged in communicating the result of the ballotings to the mighty mass of outsiders, now demanded by gestures at the sky- light over the stage, to know what had happened. One of the secretaries, with a tally Sheet in his hands, shouted: "Fire the salute! Abe Lincoln is nominated!" As the cheering in- side the Wigwam subsided, we could hear that outside, where the news of the nomination had just been announced. And the roar that was heard, like the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, gave a new impulse to the enthusiasm in- side. Then the thunder of the salute rose above the din, and HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 239 the shouting was repeated with such tremendous fury, that some discharges of the cannon were absolutely not heard by those on the stage. Puffs of smoke, drifting by the open doors, and the smell of gunpowder told what was going on. The moment that half a dozen men who were on their chairs making motions at the president could be heard, they changed the votes of their States to Mr. Lincoln. Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Virginia, Califor- nia, Texas, District of Columbia, Kansas, Nebraska and Ore- gon, insisted upon casting unanimous votes for "Old Abe" be- fore the result was declared. While these were being given, the applause continued, and a photograph of Lincoln, which had hung in one of the side rooms, was brought in, and held up before the surging and screaming masses. The places of the various delegations were indicated by staffs, to which were attached the names of the States, printed in large black letters on pasteboard. As the Lincoln enthusiasm increased, delegates tore these standards of the States from their places and swung them about their heads. When the vote was declared, Mr. Evarts, the New York spokesman, mounted the secretary's table and handsomely and impressively expressed his grief at the failure of the convention to nominate Seward — and moved that the nom- ination be made unanimous. John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, Carl Schurz, of Wis- consin, and Austin Blair, of Michigan, seconded the motion in characteristic speeches, that of Mr. Blair being particu- larly strong and dignified. A response in behalf of Lincoln was made by O. H. Browning, and the convention adjourned for dinner. Before re-assembling a caucus of presidents of delegations was held, and NewYork was asked to name a candidate for the Vice-Presidency. Not having recovered from the chagrin and disappointment of her defeat, she declined, and the con- vention met with two favorite candidates for second place — Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine. At one time a thousand voices called "Clay! Clay!" to the convention; and if the multitude could have had their way, he would have been put on the ticket by acclamation. But 15 240 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. it was stated that Mr. Hamlin was a good friend of Mr. Sew- ard; was geographically' distant from Lincoln and had been a Democrat. Therefore he was chosen on the second ballot, thus: First Ballot SttCOND Ballot. STATES. a CO CO CD s o P 3 to So 00 > CD © 3 B p w SB 3 a fed b 3 y a GO d DCl O 3 W p 3 a* B a 3 p a 16 10 10 1 8 5 35 6 11 8 2 16 10 10 26 8 10 70 U 54 10 6 i" "28* 23 U 5 4 2 6 5 "i 1 1 86 New Hampshire Massachusetts 20 1 1 (Connecticut 2 9 1 W2 2 3 23 23 1 4 "2 7 24 2 11 "Y 1 1 3 New York New Jersey 1 8 Pennsylvania , 8 < »hio 46 8 46 13 13 8 20 "5 8 7 7 3 2 "2 367 18 9 9 4 2 8 2 10 2 6 5 5 6 1 1 "8* 1 3 6 5 1 .... 6 1 ?! Territories. 3 Nebraska 1 2 101/2 6 Total 38!/ 2 51 58 194 1 8 8 6 13 After the usual congratulatory speeches and cheers for the nominees, the convention adjourned. Chicago was wild with delight. Processions formed here and there and marched through the streets, bearing rails and instruments typical of rail-splitting, such as handspikes and mauls, brought in from the surrounding country. One hun- dred guns boomed from the top of the Tremont House ; the great business blocks and Republican newspaper offices were HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 241 illuminated and enthusiastic hilarity took the*form of a gen- eral contagion. In front of the Tribune office stood four rails, brilliantly illuminated with tapers, brought from the 3,000 split by "Honest Old Abe" thirty years before on the Sangamon River bottoms. Around these curious emblems of popular prowess the crowds gathered and re-gathered, shouting them- selves hoarse. The result of the convention was the defeat of fame, po- litical splendor and accomplished statesmanship by the irre- sistible influence which honesty, common-sense and the homely attributes of sturdy manhood always exercise over the masses. Therefore the masses rejoiced. The campaign of 1860 was one of intense excitement. The South announced very e arly that it would vote for no Northern candidate or Northern platform. Therefore, when it became apparent in the Charleston convention, in April, that Stephen A. Douglas would be nominated, the fire-eaters withdrew, vehemently threatening to break up the Union. Even before that Wm. L. Yancey, of Alabama, had advised disunion even at the cost of revolution, and warned the Southern delegates to "go to Charleston prepared for de- cisive action." Solomon Cohen, of Georgia, said the South for some time had been divided upon but one question, "and that was time." Charles J. Faulkner, once a representative in Congress from Virginia, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Committee in 1856, and later minister to France, at a Dem- ocratic meeting held in Virginia, over which he presided, said : When that noble and gallant son of Virginia, Henry A. Wise, declared, as was said he did in October, 1856, that if Fremont was elected, he would seize the national arsenal at harper's ferry, how few would, at that time, have justi- fied so bold and decided a measure. It is the fortune of some great and gifted minds to see far in advance of their con- 242 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. temporaries. Should William H. Seward be elected in 1860,. where is the man now in our midst, who wouldnot call for the impeachment of a governor of Virginia who would silently suf- fer that armory to pass wider the control of such an Executive head? Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi, declared: You ask me when will the time for disunion come; when will the South be united? It will be when you elect a Black Republican — Hale, Seward, or Chase — President of the United States. Whenever you undertake to place such a man to preside over the destinies of the South, you may ex- pect to see us undivided and indivisible friends, and to see all parties of the South arrayed to resist his inauguration. We can never quietly stand by and permit the control of the army and navy to go into the hands of a Black Republican President. Mr. Crawford, of Georgia, said: "Now, in regard to the election of a Black Republican President, I have this to say, and I speak the sentiment of every Democrat on this floor from the State of Georgia: We will never submit to the inau- guration of a Black Republican President." Senator Clingman,of North Carolina, in a political speech,, said that "there are hundreds of disunionists in the South where there was not one ten years ago," and that in some of the States the men who would willingly see the Union dis- solved were in the majority. In considering the proper cause for disunion, he said: "In my judgment, the election of the Presidential candidate of the Black Republican party will furnish that cause. * * * No other 'overt act' can so imperatively demand resistance on our part as the simple election of their candidate." Gov. Letcher, of Virginia, in his message to the legisla- ture of his State, avowed the rankest disunion and revolu- tionary sentiments. In this document, he declared, with ref- erence to the election of a Republican President: It is useless to attempt to conceal the fact that, in the pres- ent temper of the Southern peoplej it can not be and will not be submitted to. The 'irrepressible conflict' doctrine, announced HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 243 und advocated by the ablest and most distinguished leader of the Republican party, is an open declaration of war against the institution of African slavery, wherever it exists; and I would be disloyal to Virginia and the South if I did not de- clare that the election of such a man, entertaining such sen- timents, and advocating such doctrines, ought to be resisted by the slave-holding States.. The idea of permitting such a man to have control and direction of the army and navy of the United States, and the appointment of high judicial and executive officers, postmasters included,c$tt not be entertained by the South for a moment. Mr. Clay, of Alabama, in a speech in the Senate, contem- plating the possible defeat of his party in the pending Presi- dential contest, said : I make no predictions, no promise for my State ; but, in conclusion, will only say, that if she is faithful to the pledges she has made and principles she has professed — if she is true to her own interest and her own honor — if she is not recreant to all that State pride, integrity and duty demand — she will never submit to your authority. I will add, that unless she and all the Southern States of this Union, with perhaps but two, or, at most, three exceptions, are faithless to the pledges they have given, they will never submit to the government of a President prof essing your political faith and elected by your sectional majority. When Mr. Clay had taken his seat Mr. Gwin, of Califor- nia, made a speech in which he declared, as "inevitable result, that the South would prepare for resistance in the event of the election of a Republican President." Win, L. Yancey declared : " 1 want the Cotton States pre- cipitated into a revolution.'''' Jno. T. Morgan, of Alabama, said : "If I had the power, I would dissolve this government in two minutes." David Hubbard, of Alabama, shrieked : " Resistance! Resistance to the death, is what toe now wantP'' The following letter, not made public until the campaign of 1860 was well under way, appeared in the Washington States, a Democratic journal : 244 HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Montgomery, June 15, 1858. Dear Sir: — Your kind favor of the 15th is received. I hardly agree with you that a general movement can be- made that will clear out the Augean stable. If the Democ- racy were overthrown, it would result in giving place to a greater and hungrier swarm of flies. The remedy of the South is not in such a process. It is- in a diligent organization of her true men for prompt resist- ance to the next aggression. It must come in the nature of things. No national party can save us; no sectional party can ever do it. But if we could do as our fathers did — or- ganize committees of safety all over the Cotton States (and it is only in them that we can hope for any effective movement) — we shall fire the Southern heart, instruct the Southern mind, give courage to each other, and at the proper moment, by one organized concerted action, we can precipitate the Cotton States into a revolution. The idea has been shadowed forth in the South by Mr. Ruffin; has been taken up and recommended in the Advertiser (published at Montgomery, Alabama,) under the name of " League of United Southerners," who, keeping up their old: party relations on all other questions, will hold the Southern issue paramount, and will influence parties, legislatures and statesmen. I have no time to enlarge, but to suggest merely'. In haste, yours, etc., To James E. Slaughter, Esq. W. L. Yancey. In January, 1860, Robert Toombs said in the United States Senate : My State has spoken for herself. Nine years ago a con- vention of her people met and declared that her connection with this government depended upon the faithful execution of this fugitive slave law, and her full enjoyment of equal rights in the common territories. I have shown that the one contingency has already arrived; the other waits only the success of the Republican party in the approaching Presi- dential election. When that time comes, freemen of Georgia, redeem your pledge; I am ready to redeem mine. Never permit this federal government to pass into the trai- torous hands of the Black Republican party. Gov. George Gayle, of Alabama, said: "Let us breakup' this rotten, stinking, and oppressive government.^ All these things meant insurrection, and nothing else,, unless the North should become, like the blacks, the abject HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 245 slaves of the South. At first the North was frightened; but gradually, as it became more and more apparent that the South cared nothing for country, government, honor, peace or Union, except as a conservator of human bondage, the fright gave way to a stern resolution to move forward in ac- cordance with the spirit of civilization, freedom, Christianity and the Declaration of Independence, let the consequences be what they might. The Northern tickets were Lincoln and Hamlin, Douglas and Fitzpatrick, Bell and Everett; the Southern ticket was Breckinridge and Lane. About the only argument put forth by the Democrats was the threat made everywhere — in every newspaper and from every stump — that if Lincoln should be elected, dis- union would follow at once. The Union was a grand, holy institution as long as it gave offices to the Democracy of the North and slaves to the Dem- ocracy of the South; but whenever it failed to do those things, or even the former, it was a fraud and must be destroyed. That was the gist of Democratic argument, North and South. The Democrats saw, long before the canvass closed, that Lincoln would be elected, and directed all their energies to- ward the work of destroying the Union. The cabinet minis- ters of President Buchanan sent our war-ships into foreign seas, emptied Northern armories into the South, and put forth official opinions, for the guidance of the Executive, to the effect that no power was lodged in the Constitution or with the President to prevent the withdrawal of any State from the Union. The result of the election was no less sectional than the campaign had been. Lincoln received, the electoral votes of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massa- chusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Ver- mont and Wisconsin — 180, and all from the North. Douglas 246 HISTOEY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. received the votes of Missouri. Bell received the votes of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia — thirty-nine, all from the South. Breckinridge received the votes of Alabama, Arkan- sas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Missis^ sippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas — seventy-two, all from the slave States. The desperate bitterness of the South is shown in the fact that in only three of the fifteen slave States did Lincoln receive a single vote of the people. Comparatively speaking, but few people understand what made Lincoln President of the United States. This point may be as convenient as any other for an explanation in that direction. In 1858 Lincoln was a candidate for the United States Senate to succeed Douglas. A series of seven joint debates was arranged a«t as many different cities in Illinois, in order that the people, not only of that State but of the nation, might hear the great overshadowing question then holding the attention of the country, discussed by two of the ablest men in it. It is not possible to quote the addresses of Lincoln in this connection, for, with those of his opponent, they form a complete and valuable volume. A quotation from an oration in 1881 at Chicago, by the late Isaac N. Ar- nold, must therefore suffice: The two most prominent men in Illinois, at that time were Douglas and Lincoln. Each was in the full maturity of his powers, Douglas being forty-five and Lincoln forty- nine years old. Douglas had for years been trained on the stump, in the lower house of Congress, and in the Senate, to meet in debate the ablest speakers in the State and nation. For years he had been accustomed, on the floor of the capitol, to encounter the leaders of the old Whig and Free-Soil par- ties. Among them were Seward, and Fessenden, and Crit- tenden, and Chase, and Trumbull, and Hale, and Sumner, and others, equally eminent, and his enthusiastic friends in- sisted that never, either in single conflict or when receiving the assault of a whole party, had he been discomfited. His style was bold, vigorous and aggressive, and at times defiant. He was ready, fertile in resources, familiar with political his- tory, terrible in denunciation, and handled with skill all the weapons of debate. His iron will, restless energy, united HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 247 with great personal magnetism, made him very popular ; and with these qualities he had indomitable physical and moral courage, and his almost uniform success had given him per- fect confidence in himself. Lincoln was also a thoroughly trained speaker. He had contended successfully, year after year, at the bar and on the stump, with the ablest men of Illinois, including Lam- born, Jliogan, John Calhoun and others, and had often met Douglas himself — a conflict with whom he always rather courted than shunned. Indeed, these two great orators had. often tested each other's powers, andwhenever they did meet, it was, indeed, "Greek meeting Greek," and the "tug of war" came, for each put forth his utmost strength. In a speech of Mr. Lincoln in 1856, he made the follow- ing beautiful, eloquent, and generous allusion to Douglas. He said: "Twenty years ago, Judge Douglas and I first be- came acquainted; we were both young then, he, a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were both ambitious, I, perhaps quite as much as he. With me, the race of ambition has been a failure. With him, it has been a splendid success. His name fills the nation, and it is not unknown in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached; so reached that the oppressed of my species might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow." We know, and the world knows, that Lincoln did reach that high, nay far higher eminence, and that he did reach it in such a way that "the oppressed"did share with him in the elevation. Such were the champions who, in 1858, were to discuss before the voters of I Illinois, and with the whole nation as spectators, the political questions then pending, and especially the vital questions relating to slavery. It was not a single ■combat, but extended through a whole campaign, and the American people paused to watch its progress, and hung, with intense interest, upon every movement of the champions. Each of these great men, I doubt not, at that time, sincerely believed he was right. Douglas' ardor, while in such a con- flict, would make him think, for the time being, he was right, and I know that Lincoln argued for freedom against the exten- sion of slavery, with the most profound conviction that, on suc- cess hung the fate of his country. Lincoln had two advant- ages over Douglas; he had the best side of the question, and the best temper. He was always good humored, always had 248 HIST0EY OF THE EEPUBLICAN PAETY. an apt story for illustration, while Douglas, sometimes, when hard pressed, was irritable. Douglas carried away the most popular applause, but Lincoln made the deeper and more lasting impression. Doug- las did not disdain an immediate ad captandum triumph, while Lincoln aimed at permanent conviction. Sometimes, when Lincoln's friends urged him to raise a st rm of applause, w T hich he could always do, by his happy illustrations and amusing stories, he refused, saying the occasion was too serious, the issue too grave. "I do not seek applause," said he, "nor to amuse the people, I want to convince them." It was often observed during this canvass, that, while Douglas was sometimes greeted with the loudest cheers, when Lincoln closed the people seemed solemn and serious, and could be heard, all through the crowd, gravely and anxiously discussing the topics on which he had been speaking. Douglas, by means of a favorable apportionment, suc- ceeded in securing a majority of the legislature, but a majority of the vote was with Lincoln. These debates made Douglas Senator, and Lincoln President. There was something magnetic, something almost heroic, in the gallantry with which Douglas threw himself into this canvass, and dealt his blows right and left, against the Re- publican party on one side, and Buchanan's administration, which sought his defeat, on the other. The federal patron- age was used, by the unscrupulous Slidell, against Douglas — but in vain; a few were seduced, but the mass of the Dem- ocratic party, with honorable fidelity, stood by him. This canvass of Douglas, and his personal and immediate triumph in being returned to the Senate, over the combined opposition of the Republican party led by Lincoln and Trumbull, and the administration with all its patronage, is, I think, the most brilliant personal triumph in American politics. If we look into English struggles on the hustings for its parallel, we find something with which to compare it, in the late triumph of Mr. Gladstone. If we seek its counterpart in mil- itary history, we must lookinto some of the earlier campaigns of Napoleon, or that in which Grant captured Vicksburg. Douglas secured the immediate object of the struggle,. but the manly bearing, the vigorous logic, the honesty and sincerity, the great intellectual powers exhibited by Mr. Lin- coln, prepared the way, and two years later secured his nom- ination and election to the Presidency. It is a touching inci- dent, illustrating the patriotism of both these statesmen, that, widelv as they had differed, and keen as had been their riv- y/o^-t^cr^y HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 251 airy, just as soon as tbe life of the Republic was menaced by treason,they joined hands to shield and save the country they loved. It is difficult to say which section was more profoundly rejoiced over the election of Lincoln, the North or the South. The North rejoiced because they would soon be partially emancipated from the domination of the slave power, and the South because the election of "a sectional President" afford- ed the long-wished-for opportunity of withdrawing, u peace- ably or by force," from "this rotten, stinking, and oppress- ive government." CHAPTER XXI. CONDITION OF THE REPUBLIC FROM 1856 TO 1864 The Grasp of Slavocracy — Buchanan's Wily Cabinet— Advice of South- ern Senators and Governors — Federal Officials Resign — Buchan- an's Servility — Attorney-General Black's Extraordinary Opinion — The Republic Has No Means or Power of Self-preservation — Black's Trick — The President's Message — Treason's Revelry in Washington — The Administration Watches in Silence While Davis Builds up the Southern Confederacy — Disarming the North — Arms and Stores for the South — Lincoln Escapes the Assassins and is In- augurated — His Calm, Kindly Message — Beauregard Fires Upon Fort Sumter — Lincoln's Proclamation — Jefferson Davis Asks the Aid of Divine Providence — Lincoln's Policy — Emancipation Proc- lamation — Democratic Army Officers Resign and Return Home — A Sound War Measure as Well as an Act of Humanity — Grant at the Head of the Army — A Grim Warrior who Never Faltered. We now have reached a pregnant and difficult period. Buchanan's administration was controlled wholly by the South, because fourteen out of the fifteen slave States elected Buchanan electors. The flesh-brokers also controlled the pro-slavery majority of the United States Supreme Court, as we have seen elsewhere. The entire patronage of the gov- 252 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. ernment North and South was prostituted to the lusts of bondage. Congress had negotiated for the acquisition of Cuba; Buchanan had offered $250 reward for the apprehension of John Brown, in addition to the $3,000 offered by Missouri; the civil war in Kansas had kept excitement to the highest pitch; the raid of the eccentric John Brown into Virginia was trumpeted as typical of Northern sentiment; Northern State courts had declared the fugitive slave act unconstitutional and refused, in some instances, to deliver up fugitives; the American flag had been hauled down from the capitol of Mississippi and treated to similar indignities in the Caroli- nas and Alabama; Southern governors had, in their messages, advised the "cultivation of a martial spirit in order to be pre- pared for emergencies," and every Whig had been thrust from the federal offices. The command had gone forth that no Republican Presi- dent should be inaugurated if elected. Therefore, as soon as it became apparent that the Republican candidate for Presi- dent would receive more votes than any of the other candi- dates, the work of dismemberment began. The source and guiding spirits of rebellion were at Wash- ington. No matter what post mortem defenses may be ful- minated; no matter that distinguished partisans have extolled the virtue and patriotism of Buchanan and his cabinet, the record of official deeds and utterances fixes the guilt where it belongs. Buchanan's cabinet was remarkable for the culture, ex- perience, diplomatic adroitness and political cunning of its members. Where they did not actively engage in the Demo- cratic preparations for war, they dragged their official tails behind, like foxes, to obliterate the tracks of the administra- tion and of the South. John B. Floyd, secretary of war, subtle as a serpent, en- gaged in dismantling forts and stripping arsenals in the free HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 253 States, and concentrating ammunition, stores, muskets and ordnance in the South. Our navy was scattered and weak- ened, and the defensive powers of the North were crippled as thoroughly as possible. As soon as it became known that Lincoln had been elected, South Carolina's preliminary measures of withdrawal from the Union caused Major Anderson to mass his forces at Fort Sumter. This spurred Floyd to redoubled activity. He immediately ordered the heavy ordnance from Alleghany Arsenal, in Pennsylvania, to Galveston and the mouth of the Mississippi River. He demanded the withdrawal of the federal forces in Charleston harbor. This brazen demand being refused, he resigned on December 29, 1860, and was succeeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky. In his speech on the day before election, W. W. Boyce, a representative from South Carolina, said: The- question then is, what are we to do? In my opinion the South ought not to submit. If you intend to resist, the way to resist in earnest is to act. The way to enact revolu- tion is to stare it in the face. I think the only policy for us is to arm as soon as we receive authentic intelligence of the election of Lincoln. It is for South Carolina, in the quickest manner and by the most direct means, to withdraw from the Union; then we will not submit, whether other Southern States will act with us or with our enemies. Gov. Gist convened the legislature of South Carolina in special session on the day before election. He advised the people on that day (November 5, 1860) that "if Lincoln should be elected they must seek redress. The secession of South Carolina from the Union would alone satisfy the people." James Chestnut, Jr., United States Senator from that State, addressed the legislature, declaring "the South would not submit to a Black Republican President and a Black Re- publican Congress; and that for himself he would unfurl the Palmetto flag and ring the clarion notes of defiance in the ears of an insolent foe." 254 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. On the day following election the federal officials in South Carolina resigned, and on the 10th of November the legislature passed a bill for the enrollment and equipment of militia, and the two United States Senators resigned. The South has always claimed, and the hungry dough- faces of the Northern Democracy indorse the claim, that the South was forced into the Rebellion by the North. The facts in relation to the action of South Carolina alone dis- prove that falsehood. The only excuse alleged was that they "would not submit to the rule of a Black Republican Presi- dent." Four months would elapse before even Lincoln's policy would be known. The Republicans had made no an- nouncements, put forth no demands. They could not. They were four months from power. The South had for years threatened secession, as has been seen by the utterances quoted in the preceding chapter, but had never before found an excuse for carrying it into execu- tion. They had controlled the President, cabinet, Supreme Court, federal officials and army. What more could they ask? Now they had lost the administration. That was given out as a sufficient excuse 1 for secession and rebellion, and they were ready and waiting for both. Before Congress met in December, President Buchanan, palsied by seventy years of hard service in the cause of slavery, asked his attorney-general, Jeremiah S. Black, for an opinion relative to the acts of the States that were preparing, in rapid succession, to secede from the Union. Some ex- tracts from that official document will show what a powerful blow it was for the rebels and against the Union: Attorney-General's Office, November 20, 1860. Sir: — I have had the honor to receive your note of the 1 Vth, and now reply to the grave questions therein pro- 1 Alex. H. Stephens, who "became Vice-President of the Confederacy, thought the South had settled on a very flimsy pretext for rebellion. In his speech before the Georgia legislature, November U, 1860, he said: "We went into the election with this people. The result was different from what we wished; but the election has been constitutionally held. If we were to make a point of resistance to the government, and go out of the Union on that ac- count, the record would be made up hereafter against us." HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 255 pounded, as fully as the time allowed me will permit. Mili- tary forces can suppress only such combinations as are found directly opposing the laws and obstructing the execution thereof. It can do no more than what might and ought to be done by a civil posse, if a civil posse could be raised large enough to meet the same opposition. On such occasions es- pecially the military power must be kept in strict subordina- tion to the civil authority, since it is only in aid of the latter that the former can work at all. But what if the feeling in any State against the United States should become so universal that the federal officers themselves (including judges, district attorneys and mar- shals,) shoul d be reached by the same influence, and resign their places? Of course the first step would be to appoint others in their stead, if others could be got to serve. But, in such an event, it is more than probable that great difficulty would be found in filling the offices. We can easily conceive how it might become altogether impossible. We are therefore obliged to consider what can be done in case we have no courts to issue judicial process, and no minis- terial officers to execute it. In that event troops would cer- tainly be out of place, and their use wholly illegal. If they are sent to aid the courts and marshals, there must be courts and marshals to be aided. i Without the exercise of those functions, which belong exclusively to the civil service, the laws can not be executed in any event, no matter what may be the physical strength which the government has at its command. Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them. The existing laws put and keep the federal government strictly on the defensive. Whether Congress has the power to make war against one or more States, and require the executive of the federal government to carry it on by means of force to be drawn from other States, is a question for Congress itself to con- sider. It must be admitted that no such power is express- ly given; nor are there any words in the Constitution which imply it. If it be true that war can not be declared, nor a system of hostilities carried on by the central government against a State, then it seems to follow that an attempt to do so would h As the federal officials resigned just before this opinion was written, it has been generally supposed that Black and Buchanan advised that course in or- der to be able to make use of this very point as a sophistical argument against preserving the Union. 256 HISTORY OF THE REPUIJLICAN PARTY. be ipso facto an expulsion of such State from the Union. Being treated as an alien and an enemy, she would be com- pelled to act accordingly. And if Congress shall break up the present Union by unconstitutionally putting strife and enmity and armed hostility between different sections of the country, instead of the domestic tranquility which the Con- stitution was meant to insure, will not all the States be ab- solved from their federal obligations? Is any portion of the people bound to contribute their money or their blood to car- ry on a contest like that? If this view of the subject is correct, as I think it is, then the Union must utterly perish at the moment when Congress shall arm one part of the people against another for any pur- pose beyond that of merely protecting the general govern- ment in the exerci.se of its proper constitutional functions. I am very respectfully yours, etc., J. S. Black. To the President of the United States. This extraordinary man, Judge Black, announced to the world in that opinion the astounding doctrine that the United States was not a nation; that it possessed no means or power of self-preservation; that if the marshals and courts resorted to the trick of resigning»it would be illegal to employ^ federal force to execute the federal laws in an insurrectionary dis- trict in which they had resigned; and, more monstrous than all the rest, that treason did not consist in disobedience and defiance of the United States by a State, but in an attempt by the United States, to enforce the laws in that rebellious State! No other construction could be put on the opinion. The South was in a frenzy of delight. Black had gone infinitely farther than their most rabid leaders ever ventured as a mat- ter of law. They gathered comfort and strength from its every sentence, and from that moment on there was never a check or falter in secession movements. The attorney- general of the United States had shorn the locks from Sam- son — manacled the mighty limbs of the nation and given a carte blanche to her enemies of the South to do what they pleased, as there was no power in the Constitution or elsewhere to interfere with them or to protect hereslf. HISTOEY OP THE REPUBLICAN PAETT. 257 Assault and dismember the Union, said Black's opinion to the slave-drivers; the Union has no means of self-defense. If she attempts self-defense, she only becomes guilty of treason to you. On this remarkable state paper President Buchanan drafted his message to Congress, which was delivered Decem- ber 4, 1860, at Washington, after several State legislatures had met and begun to contrive dismemberment. He had made no effort to stay the tide of disunion, sent forth no patriotic cry to save his country, uttered no sylable that showed he possessed a country or a spark of patriotism. But, on the other hand, he aided and abetted secession by a message to Con- gress declaring that any attempt to stop it would destroy the Union; that if the Union "could not live in the affections of the people, it must one day perish;" that even Congress had no power to organize and employ force for its preservation, as the sword "was not placed in their hands" for that pur- pose. The people of the North, the lovers of the Union, were struck dumb by this message. They saw the great Demo- cratic party of the free States officially aiding and abetting, from the highest post on the Western Continent, the treason of the South; saw it abandoning honor and country for the flesh-pots of slavery. Hoping, no doubt, to preserve at once the Union, slavery and peace, John J. Crittenden, United States Senator from Kentucky, at the opening of Congress in December, 1860, presented the following iron-clad "compromise" amendment of the Constitution: Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives, that the following be proposed and submitted as an amend- ment of the Constitution, which shall be valid as a part of the Constitution, when ratified by the conventions of three- fourths of the people of the States: 1st. In all of the territory now or hereafter acquired north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, slavery, or involuntary servi- — 16 258 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. tude, except for the punishment of crime, is prohibited; while in all of the territory south of that, slavery is hereby recognized as existing, and shall not be interfered with by Congress, but shall be protected as property by all the depart- ments of the territorial governments during its continuance. All the territory north or south of said line, within such boundaries as Congress may prescribe, when it contains a population necessary for a member of Congress, with a repub- lican form of government, shall be admitted into the Union on an equality with the original States, with or without slavery, as the Constitution of the State shall prescribe. 2d. Congress shall have no power of abolishing slavery in the State permitting it. 3rd. Congress shall have no power of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia while it exists in Virginia and Maryland, or either; nor shall Congress at any time prohibit the officers of government or members of Congress, whose duties require them to live in the District of Columbia, bringing slaves there and using them as such. 4th. Congress shall have no power to hinder the trans- portation of slaves from one State to another, whether by land, navigable river, or sea. 5th. Congress shall have the power by law to pay any owner the full value of any fugitive slave, in all cases where the marshal is prevented from discharging his duty by force or rescue made after arrest. In all such cases the owner shall have the power to sue the county in which the rescue or violence was made; and the county shall have the right to sue the individuals who committed the wrong, in the same manner as the owner could sue. 6th. No future amendment or amendments shall affect the preceding article, and Congress shall never have power to in- terfere with slavery within the States where it is permitted. Even this, as thoroughly as it would have placed the North under the iron heel of slavery and at the mercy of its man-stealers, was not enough. An absolute slave empire, un- disturbed by the irritating presence of freedom and Christian civilization, and not troubled by any alliance with free terri- tory, was the ideal the Southern Democrats had set up; hence nothing short of secession would satisfy them. Buchanan sent Caleb Cushing secretly to Charleston to meet the leading secession spirits and beg them to do noth- ing but prepare for secession during his term. He evidently HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 259 wanted them to secede, but not till Lincoln should sit in the White House', dishing was authorized to promise the South- erners that if they would commit no overt act until after the end of the administration, no reinforcements would be sent to Major Anderson. What treason! At about the same time Lawrence M. Keitt was serenaded at Columbia, South Carolina. In his public speech of acknowl- edgement he thus set forth Buchanan's treason : South Carolina can not take one backward step now with- out receiving the curses of posterity. South Carolina, single and alone, is bound to go out of this accursed Union. MR. BUCHANAN IS PLEDGED TO SECESSION AND I MEAN TO HOLD HIM TO IT. Take your destinies in your own hands and shatter this accursed Union. South Carolina can do it alone; but, if she can not, she can at least throw her arms around the pillars of the Constitution and involve all the /States in a common ruin. The American Republic tr embled from ocean to ocean. Southern representatives swarmed around the capitol in a double capacity. They wished to cripple the government as much as possible ; learn its plans and secrets and communi- cate them to their own States ; an d, while voting and schem- ing in the halls of the government which they had aban- doned, were arranging for maintaining their attitude, if necessary, by force. They all intended to "desert the old concern" soon, but wished to remain as long as they could be either of service to the South or injury to the North. The scenes of flagrant sedition enacted in the halls of Congress during the last weeks of Buchanan's term are unequalled in the history of the world. He sat in the executive chair in a comatose con dition, deaf and drowsy, while his cabinet winked and smiled at the panorama of destruction going on unchecked around them. Thus, while the Democratic spectre still occupied the White House, one after another of the slave States wheeled out of the Union. The flag was trailed in the dust and 260 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. burned in public amidst jeering crowds throughout the South. The Southern Confederacy was organized February 8, 1861, and Jefferson Davis, thirty days after his withdrawal from the United States Senate and from Buchanan's bosom, was inaugurated, with a full cabinet, as "President" of the new slave government; yet the Democratic administration made no attempt whatever to save the Union, vindicate the perpetuity of our institutions or shield our national honor, but, like dastards and co-conspiritors, sat in passive compla- cency and saw the country going headlong to destruction. General Scott, observing the energy of the rebels, called upon Buchanan repeatedly and urged that strong garrisons be sent to the imperiled fortrenes, some of which were in- differently occupied and some not at all. Buchanan steadily refused to allow Scott to do anything to save our forts and arsenals, and also refused to allow the old hero to send a cir- cular of warning to the handfuls of soldiers that formally occupied some of the government posts, until it was too late to be of avail. Had Scott's plan been adopted, active secession would have been checked and public property valued at nearly $6,000,000 would have been rescued at once. And possibly, probably, we may say, the Rebellion would also have been averted, 1,000,000 lives preserved and $400,000,000 in treas- ure saved. But his plan might likewise have perpetuated slavery. Scott's patriotic pleadings were not heeded, and Fort Moultrie, the arsenal, Castle Pinckney and the revenue cutter William Aiken were seized at Charleston in December ; and before the close of January the forts and arsenals in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana had been seized by the rebels and the secession flag was floating from the Southern capitols. Until Lincoln was safely seated in the White House, there was a perfect revelry of treason at Washington as well HISTORY OF THB REPUBLICAN PARTY. 261 as in the South. But, not satisfied with dismantling our fortresses, scattering our navy, emptying Northern arsenals into the armories of Southern militia, draining our treasury almost to the last dollar, and setting up a new government for themselves, they must attempt to assassinate the Presi- dent of a "section" which they had just abandoned in con- tempt, and which, as Robert Toombs declared, " must for- ever remain to them as a foreign nation." Although they had been permitted to peacefully inaugu- rate their own "President," Jeff. Davis, they declared we should never inaugurate ours. The conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln before his inaugural having been discovered, the matter of conducting him to Washington was intrusted to Allan Pinkerton, of Chicago, and his corps of famous detect- ives. Having been advertised to pass over one route, Lin- coln suddenly chose another, and, disguised in partial Scot- tish costume, rode safely into the capital, completely baffling the Democratic conspirators. Gen. Scott, in his Autobiography, wrote thus signifi- cantly: The inauguration of President Lincoln was perhaps the most critical and hazardous event with which I have ever been connected. In the preceding two months I have re- ceived more than fifty letters, many from points distant from each other, some earnestly disuading me from being present at the event, and others distinctly threatening assassination if I endeavored to protect the ceremony by military force. Nevertheless the brave old warrior did "protect the cere- mony with military force," and in a formidable and imposing manner. Assassins lurked near, but were overawed by his demonstration of federal power, and at noon of March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office as the first Re- publican President of the United States, and delivered his inaugural message. Although the Southern Confederacy was fully organized and running on schedule time, and had levied war against the 26^ HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. federal government by firing on the Star of the West as she entered Charleston harbor, yet his message contained no sectional or hostile sentiments, no sentence that could be tor- tured into a policy of infringement or aggression on the rights of any State, real or assumed. But that had no effect on the rebels. The Democracy had declared they "would not live under Black Republican rule," and, having made that "solemn announcement," the simple fact of Lincoln's inauguration was all the reason they wanted for proceeding with their scheme of rebellion. Lincoln's calm and kindly yet wise and firm inaugural message, as the first ever delivered by a Republican Presi- dent and as a remarkable state paper in strained and troublous times, shall be inserted before proceeding farther: Fellow- Citizens of the United btates: In compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President, before he en- ters on the execution of his office. I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to dis- cuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that, by the acces- sion of a Republican administration, their property and their peace and* personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such appre- hension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of _ those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists." I believe I have no lawful right to do so ; and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and elected me, did so with the full knowledge that I had made this, and made many similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And, more than this, they placed in the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law^ to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read : HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 263 "Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend ; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes." I now reiterate these sentiments ; and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming administration. T add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another. There is much controversy about the delivering up of fu- gitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its pro- visions : " No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on .claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress -swear their support to the whole Constitution — to this provision as well as any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come with- in the terms of this clause "shall be delivered up," their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath? There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority; but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done ; and should any one, in any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept? 264 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in the civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that " the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States?" I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find impunity in having them held to be uncon- stitutional. It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the gov- ernment. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task, for the brief con- stitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar diffi- culties. A disruption of the federal Union, heretofore only men- aced, is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the con- templation of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national gov- ernments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termin- ation. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of a contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? Descending from these general principles we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is per- petual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PART* . 265 The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued in the Declaration of Independ- ence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation, in 1778; and, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for or- daining and establishing the Constitution was to form a more perfect Union. But if the destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less than before, the Constitution having lost the^ital ele- ment of perpetuity. It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect, are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary, or revolutionary, according to circumstances. I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faith- fully executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, I shall perfectly per- form it, so far as is practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisition, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and collect the duties and imposts; but beyond wha.t may be necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and so universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding federal offices, there will be no attempt to force ob- noxious strangers among the people that object. While the strict legal right may exist of the government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices. 266 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here indicated will be followed, unless eurrent 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 the circumstances actually ex- isting, and with a view and hope of a peaceful solution of the national troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sym- pathies and affections. That there are persons, in one section or another, who seek to destroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny. But if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not speak, before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruc- tion of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes? Would it not be well to ascertain why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step, while any portion of the ills you fly from, have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones you fly from? Will you risk the commission of so fear- ful a mistake? All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution has been de- nied? I think not. Happily the human mind is so consti- tuted, that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution; it certainly would, if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the'vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guar- anties and prohibitions in the Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain, express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authorities? The Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Territories? The Con- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 26 Y stitution does not expressly say. From questions of this class, spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the government must cease. There is no alternative for con- tinuing the government but acquiescence on the one side or the other. If a minority in such a case, will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will ruin and divide them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such a minority. For instance, why not any portion of a new confederacy, a year or two hence, arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only, and pre- vent renewed secession? Plainly, the central idea of seces- sion is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional check and limitation, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does, of ne- cessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impos- sible; and the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible. So that, rejecting the majority prin- ciple, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left. I do not forget the position assumed by some that consti- tutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consid- eration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the government; and while it is obviously possible that such de- cision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be over-ruled and never become a pre- cedent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government upon the vital questions affect- ing the whole people is to be irrevocable fixed by the decis- ions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, as in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own masters, unless hav- 268 HISTOEY OF THE REPUBLICAN PAETY. ing to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to decide cases properly brought before them; and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions into po- litical purposes. One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended; and this is the only substantial dispute; and the fugitive slave clause of the Consti- tution and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave-trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, 1 think, can not be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave-trade, now imper- fectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived, without re- striction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only par- tially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other. Physically speaking we can not separate — we can not re- move our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different sections of our country can not do this. They can not but remain face to face; and inter- course, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than be- fore? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the ex- isting government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending, or their revlutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the na- tional Constitution amended. While I make no recommend- ation of amendment, I fully recognize the full authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either niSTOBT OF THE EEPUBLICAN PARTY. 269 of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself, and I should, under existing circumstances, favor, rather than op- pose, a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add, that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others not espe- cially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be pre- cisely such as they would wish either to accept or refuse. I understand that a proposed amendment to the Constitution (which amendment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to the effect that the federal government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of States, in- cluding that of persons held to service. To avoid miscon- struction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irre- vocable. The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix the terms for the separation of the States. The people them- selves, also, can do this if they choose, but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present government as it came to his hands, and to trans- mit it unimpaired by him to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our present differences is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal, the American people. By the frame of the government under which we live, this same people have wisely given their pub- lic servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the govern- ment in the short space of four years. My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. 270 HISTOBY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Con- stitution unimpaired, and on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulties. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The govern- ment will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to de- stroy the government; while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect and defend it." I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth- stone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. Federal troops yet occupied Fort Sumter, in front of the city of Charleston. That having been decided by the Dem- ocrats to be "a menace to the free people of the State," was attacked by Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, on the order of Geo. W. Randolph, secretary of war for the Confederacy, on the 12th of April, 1861. On the 14th, Major Robert Anderson and his gallant little band were forced to surrender, and thus were the fountains of the great deep broken up, deluging the South in blood and turning her smiling fields to desolation. On the 15th of April Lincoln issued a proclamation declar- ing the South to be in a state of rebellion and calling for 75,000 militia "to re-possess the forts, places and property seized from the Union." He also summoned both houses of HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 271 Congress to assemble in extraordinary session on July 4, 1861. The War of the Rebellion now began in earnest. With the firing on Fort Sumter a radical change took place in the sentiments of a large portion of the Democracy of the North. Every free State and the slave States of Delaware and Mary- land pledged means and troops to suppress the Rebellion, and such Democratic leaders as Stephen A. Douglas, Matt. H. Carpenter, Dan. S. Dickinson, John J. Crittenden and Ben. F. Butler, announced their hearty support of the President. Jefferson Davis also issued a proclamation two days later, calling upon the "good people of the Confederacy" to rally and drive out the "invader." Like the Maltese pirates and the Utah Mormons, he asked the aid and blessing of Divine Providence in behalf of his wicked efforts. Although the Rebellion was carried on and finished by the Republicans, the history of that terrible conflict is of such a nature that it can not well be incorporated in a volume of this character. Lincoln's policy was for some time criticised as timid and slow. His more hardy and aggressive advisers demanded that the Negroes be either emancipated or declared contraband of war at once, as the Southern armies could never be whipped while 4,000,000 of blacks, without cost or remuneration, were at home tilling the soil for the support of the whites in the field. After waiting long enough to see that the South did not want peace upon any terms save a permanent withdrawal from the Union and recognition by the North as an independ- ent sovereign power, he issued a provisional proclamation of emancipation on September 22, 1862. In January, 1863, he supplemented it by a manifesto extirpating all forms of human bondage throughout the Republic. This met with desperate resistance in the South, and bit- ter denunciation among a considerable class of Democrats in the North. Many Democratic army officers tore off their in- 272 HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. signia of rank, resigned their commissions and returned home in disgust. Large as was the faction that denounced the emancipa- tion as "an Abolition crusade," and withdrew their support from the administration, it had no perceptible effect. The hope with which it inspired the masses of a speedy end of the war, entirely overshadowed the Democratic deflection, and rendered that deflection odious. The second and absolute proclamation of emancipation was a noble document, ending thus: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the consider- ate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God." The "considerate judgment of mankind" was expressed by the London Spectator when it declared: We can not read it without a renewed conviction that it is the noblest political document known to history, and should have for the nation, and the statesmen he left behind him, something of a sacred and almost prophetic character. Surely none was ever written under a stronger sense of the reality of God's government; and certainly none written in a period of passionate conflict ever so completely excluded the partiality of victorious faction, and breathed so pure a strain of mingled justice and mercy. The proclamation of emancipation could have been de- fended throughout the world as an act of progress and civil- ized humanity; but it was in reality a war measure, and as such fully sanctioned by the laws and usages of nations. The armed slave-holders and their Northern allies were vociferous in claiming that emancipation was inhumanity and cruelty, as the Negroes were more comfortable and con- tented in slavery. The falsity of this assertion requires no proof beyond reference to that extravagant idolatry of Lin- coln which at once possessed the blacks and continues una- bated to this day. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 273 The history of the first four years of Lincoln's adminis- tration is the most remarkable in the annals of the world. Never were prodigious military, diplomatic and civil ma- neuvers of a new and untried nature undertaken and con- summated with greater courage, foresight ami success. The South was solid, the North divided. At first the "mas- terly inactivity" of McClellan, the disobediance and treason of such officers as Fitz John Porter, and the powerful aid fur- nished the rebel cause by Great Britain, the Knights of the Golden Circle and the peace-cryers of the North, settled dis- couragingly upon the President. But finally Chase revived our credit, and Lincoln put at the head of the federal forces a grim warrior — Ulysses S. Grant — who believed the only way to win battles was to fight, and then the tide of victory set in, never to be reversed or checked. CHAPTER XXII. CONVENTION OF 18G4. Lincoln Held the Confidence of the World— Brutally Abused by the Seditious Democracy — He Must be Re-nomiuated— The Na- tional Republican Convention Meets in Baltimore on June 7 — Edwin D. Morgan's Address— Temporary Officers— Plea for the Republicans of the Rebellious States — Permanent Organization — Addresses by "Parson" Brownlow and Others — Lincoln Chosen on the First Ballot — Unrestrained Enthusiasm — Andrew Johnson for Vice-President — A Vigorous Campaign— Fremont's Candidacy — He Finally Withdraws With a Parthian Shot at Lincoln— Vallan digham and His Crew Meet and Nominate George B. McClellan — H. Clay Dean's Libel .. us Prayer — "Ape, Jackass or Hyena"— Plan of the Democracy— Lincoln's Triumphant Re-election. With the advance of 1864 it became more clear that Abra- ham Lincoln would be re-nominated by the Republicans for the Presidency. He had, indeed, been conservative, but no man had ever occupied a position beset with so many new dan- — 17 274 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. gers and unsettled questions, and it was necessary to proceed? with all the care that human genius could invent. He could not lead public sentiment; only keep fully abreast of it. Yet he had the confidence, not of the Republican masses of the North alone, but of the whole world. His homely but sturdy ways, backed by keen common sense and the mighty men around him, had wrought prodigious successes. For these reasons the Democrats were frantic against him. What a storm of denunciation, abuse and detraction beat against his weary soul! The Democratic adders, not content, to crawl through the Northern gardens and strike the venom of treason into all the war measures of the federal power, must personally assault, with falsehood and vilification, the- patient martyr who stood in the frightful breach attempting to save a government, a country and a flag/br them as well as for posterity. The call for the Republican convention, to meet at Balti- more on the 7th of June, was published February 22, 1864* There was no doubt that Lincoln would be almost unani- mously re-nominated. Public interest in the meeting centered,, therefore, largely on the character of the platform to be adopted and the probable nominee for the Vice-Presidency. About 600 delegates gathered i-n the Front Street Theater, which, by order of the city council of Baltimore, had been gracefully festooned with flags. The speaker's chair was on an elevated platform under a beautiful canopy of flags. At noon, precisely, of Tuesday, June 7, the Second Regi- ment band, from Fort McIIenry, brought the assemblage to order by a grand overture. Edwin D. Morgan thefi arose and Members of tlie Convention: — It is'a little more than eight years since it was resolved to form a national part^, to be conducted upon principles and policy which had been estab- lished and maintained by those illustrious statesmen, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. A convention was held in Philadelphia, under the shade of trees that surrounded the Hall of Independence^' and candidates (Fremont and Dayton)/ HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 275 were there nominated, who had espoused our cause and were to maintain it. But the State of Pennsylvania gave its elect- oral vote tojames Buchanan, and the election of 1856 was lost. Nothing daunted by defeat, it was determined to fight "on this line "not only "all summer" but four summers and four winters, and in 1860 the party banner was again unfurled with the names of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin inscribed thereon. This time it was successful, but with suc- cess came the Rebellion, and with the Rebellion of course war, and war, terrible and cruel war,has continued up to this time, when it is necessary under our Constitution to prepare for another Presidential election. It is for this highly responsible purpose that you are to-day assembled. It is not my duty nor my purpose to indicate any general plan of action by this convention — but I trust I may be permitted to say that in view of the dread realities of the past, and what is passing at this moment, the fact that the bones of our soldiers are bleaching in every State of the Union, and by the further knowledge of the further fact that this has all been caused by slavery, the party of which you, gentlemen, are the delegated and only representatives, will fall short of accomplishing its great mission unless among its other resolves it shall declare for such an amend- ment of the Constitution as will positively prohibit African slavery in the United States. In behalf of the national committee I now propose for temporary president of this convention, Robert J. Breckenridge, of Kentucky. The nomination was at once unanimously confirmed, and Preston King, of New Yoi-k, and Alex. W. Randall, of Wiscon- sin, conducted the venerable "war-horse of Kentucky" to the obair. He was greeted with boisterous applause, and made an eloquent speech. He "did not," he said, "enter the delibera- tions of the convention as a Republican, nor as a Whig or Dem- ocrat, but as a Union mem. And, as a Union man, he would follow the party that was for the Union to the encls of the earth and to the gates of death." When it came to calling the roll of States in order to makeup a committee on credentials, Thad. Stevens, of Penn- sylvania, objected to seating, or recognizing the right to vote, of the delegations from the States belonging to the Southern Confederacy. 276 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, L. H. Chandler, of Vir- ginia, and James H. Lane, of Kansas, made pleas for the loyal delegates from the rebellious States. W. G. Brownlow and Horace Maynard were particularly eloquent in behalf of the "suffering, Union-loving people of Tennessee," and at last that State was admitted. Later the other slave States — except Virginia, South Carolina, Florida and North Carolina — were seated. Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas had no representatives present. Considerable attention was given to speech-making and fraternizing with Democratic-Union men. Many distinguished public characters were present. \Ym. Lloyd Garrison was in Baltimore for the first time since he was thrown into jail for his opposition to slavery. That consummate politician, Thurlow Weed, was conspicuous, working vigorously for the nomination of Gen. Winfield S. Hancock for the Vice-Presi- dency. The statesmen of Massachusetts, Iowa and Connecti- cut were equally assiduous in urging Gen. Benjamin F. But- ler for the same position. Committees were chosen as follows: STATES. Credentials. Permanent Organization. Resolutions. California. J. Bidwell. W. S. McMurthy. G. T. Campbell. Conn Augustus Brandegee. 0. H. Perry. W. T. Minor. Delaware . E. G. Bradford. Jacob Moore. Illinois J. W. Shaffer. J. Y. Scammon. E. P. Ferry. Indiana.,.. Jesse J. Brown. J. S. Collins. W. M. Dunn. Iowa Geo. D. Woodin. Frank Street. Wm. Stone. Kansas M. H. Insley. M. W. Delano. A. C. Wilder. Kentucky. Samuel Lusk. John A. Prall. James Speed. James H. Drummond. Maine B. W. Norris. Jas. Drummond. Maryland.. H. H. Goldsborough. J. A. J. Creswell. Hugh Lenn'ox Bond. Mass James T. Robinson. Ginery Twitchell. T. Wentworth. Michigan. . Marsh Giddings Edwin Lawrence. 0. D Conger. Minnesota W. G. Butler. Daniel Cameron. Warren Bristol. N. Hamp. . B. J.Cole. Sheperd L. Bowers. D\ivid Cross. N. Jersey.. Joseph M. Scoville. Socrates Tuttle. Chas. R. Waugh. New York. Preston King. Clark B. Cochrane. H. J. Raymond. Ohio G . V . Dorsey . R. Sherrard, Jr. S. F. Cary. Oregon.... H. Smith. Josiah Failing. T. H. Pearne. Penn A. H. Reeder. A. K. McClure. M. B. Lowry. R. Island.. H. H Fay. John J. Reynolds. E. Harris. Vermont. . Edwin Hammond. A. B. Gardner. E. P. Walton. W. Va Jas P. Smith. J.N. Boyd. G. D.Hall. Wisconsin. U. B. Cassoday. J. M. Gillett. Edward Salomon. HISTORY" OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 277 The committee on permanent organization reported as follows, the report being at once adopted : President — William Dennison, Ohio. STATES. Vice-Presidents. Secretaries. Robt. Gardner. H. A. Grant. Geo. Z. Tybout. M. P. Brown. John Beard. Geo. W. McCrary. G. C. Smith. F. W. Potter. Nath. M. F;irwell. A. C. Green. Moses Kimball. Chas. T. Gorham. Chas. M. Dailey. Onslow Stearns. W. A. Newell. Lyman Tremain. D. Tod. Fred A. Channan. W. W. Ketcham. J. DeW. Perry. H. Stowell. C. D. Hubbard. Jno. F. Potter. James Otis. Connecticut Delaware S. L. Warner. Benj. Burton. Illinois Lorenz Brentano. John W. Ray. D. P. Stubbs. A. G. Hodges. W. H. H. Lawrence. Lot M. Morrill. L. E. StrHiighn. Geo. A. Shaw. W. R. Noyes. Charles Taylor. Iowa Kentucky Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota New Hampshire.. New Jersey Ed. Spaulding 1 . Edward Brettle. Ohio . . J. C. Devin. Oregron J. W. Southworth. Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont John Stewart. Joel M. Spencer. Horace Fairbanks. West Virginia — Wisconsin G. D. Hall. C. C. Sholes. Galusha A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, and James H. Lane, of Kansas, conducted Mr. Dennison to the stand, who, on tak- ing the chair, delivered an address favoring a vigorous pros- ecution of the war, complete suppression of the Rebellion and the eternal abrogation of slavery. "Parson" (W. G.) Brownlow, of Tennessee, entertained the audience with one of his characteristic speeches, bringing groans and hisses from the Maryland secession sympathizers who crowded the galleries. The convention then adjourned for the day. The delegates re-assembled at 10 o'clock on Wednesday. All contests were settled, rightfully if not amicably. The State of Missouri sent a straight Republican delegation and a delegation of Democrats favoring a restoration of the Union with slavery. Even Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia — slave States — voted, with refreshing emphasis, against admitting the Union-without-slavery delegates. 278 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Henry J. Raymond, of New York, read the platform. It was greeted with such demonstrations of applause and ap- proval, that a pause after each plank was required for shouts and huzzas. Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, sent up a resolution, after the adoption of the platform, declaring "Abraham Lin- coln, of Illinois, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, the unani- mous choice of the convention for President and Vice-Presi- dent." This question was, after some debate, divided, and a vote on the first portion of it resulted in the nomination of Lincoln on the first ballot as follows: Maine, 14; New Hamp- shire, 10; Vermont, 10; Massachusetts, 24; Rhode Island, 8; Connecticut, 12; New York, 66; New Jersey, 14; Pennsyl- vania, 52; Delaware, 6; Maryland, 14; Louisiana, 14; Arkan- sas, 10; Tennessee, 15; Kentucky, 22; Ohio, 42; Indiana, 26; Illinois, 32; Michigan, 16; Wisconsin, 16; Iowa, 16; Min- nesota, 8; California, 7; Oregon, 6; West Virginia, 10; Kan- sas, 6; Nebraska, 1 6; Colorado, 1 6; Nevada, 6; — total for Lincoln, 494. Missouri, having been so instructed, gave 22 votes for Ulysses S. Grant; but as soon as the ballot was announced, Mr. Hume, of that State, moved to make the nomination of Lincoln unanimous, which was carried amidst a tempest of hurrahs, while the band pealed forth "Hail Columbia." The nomination of a Vice-President being declared in order, Daniel Mace, of Indiana, presented the name of An- drew Johnson, of Tennessee. Simon Cameron, of Pennsyl- vania, offered that of Hannibal Hamlin; Lyman Tremain, of New York, presented Daniel S. Dickinson; Horace Maynard, after picturing the sufferings and persecutions of the loyal people of Tennessee, declared they must not be slighted, and seconded Andrew Johnson. His speech produced a marked effect. The balloting proceeded, Johnson taking the lead. 1 These territories were given the votes of States because they were organ- izing- for admission to the Union as such. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 2*79 As it became apparent that he was securing a majority, the scattering States hastened to change their votes before the xesult was announced, giving the gentlemen from Tennessee 490, to 17 for Dickinson and 9 for Hamlin. After the usual congratulations the convention adjourned, and in the evening a monster ratification meeting was held in Monument Square. The mayor of Baltimore presided, and speeches were made by "Parson" Brownlow, Horace May- rcard and others. The succeeding campaign was stirring and vigorous. John C. Fremont had been nominated very early for the Presidency, with John Cochrane, of New York, for Vice- President, by a convention of dissatisfied radicals who met at Cleveland. His letter of acceptance was as unsparing as it was unjust in its arraignment of Lincoln's administration. He said he had resigned his commission in the army after he had "for a long time fruitlessly endeavored to obtain service," and, believing an indorsement of Lincoln and his policy "would be fatal to the country," advised the people "to organ- ize against him every element of conscientious opposition, with the view to prevent the misfortune of his re-election." It will be easily seen that Gen. Fremont was disgruntled. His acceptance was dated June 4; but in September, having found the masses emphatically against him, he changed his mind and withdrew from the field, writing a letter which ended by declaring Lincoln's "administration politically, mil- itarily and financially a failure." In August the "Democrats" met at Chicago and held a "national" convention for the nomination of a candidate for President. Their so-called convention had been called to meet on July 4, but, as the late Matt. H. Carpenter declared, "the rascals did not dare" to meet on that holy day, and so adjourned to "dog-days." The South revolted in order to establish a slave empire. A large wing of the Democratic party at the North, by 280 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. means frequently as wicked and disgraceful as they always were treasonable, were its accomplices. No species of denial and sophistry can ever disprove the truth of that statement, which, more than ever before, shone out clear and unmistak- able in the Chicago convention. Venerable remnants of slavocracy, with their sins fresh- blown upon them and their pockets full of resolutions de- nouncing Lincoln as a "bloody monster" and the war as a "wretched failure," revivified by the hope of once more marching into power and turning the North over to the Soutlv, gathered eagerly, at Chicago to cheer and strengthen each other's treason. Rev. Henry Clay Dean, the only pious rebel in Iowa,. prayed: For over three years Lincoln has been calling for men,, and they have been given. But with all the vast armies placed at his command, he has fa\\edl failed f failed! Such a failure has never been known. Such destruction of human life has never been since the destruction of Sennacherib by the breath of the Almighty. And still the monster usurper wants more men for his slaughter-pens. * * Ever since the usurper, traitor and tyrant has occupied the Presidential chair, the Republican party has shouted " War to the knife, and knife to the hilt." Blood has flowed in torrents, and yet the thirst of the old monster is not quenched. The cry is for more blood! Clement L. Vallandigham, banished for treason, had re- turned J and was in the convention helping to frame a plat- form, as were several leading confederate officers and states- men. They indicted Lincoln as a "butcher," declared the war was a failure and, after some of the rebel members of the convention had furiously assailed him for attempting to sup- press secession in Maryland, nominated as their candidate for President, George B. McClellan, of New Jersey, who had 1 He was not re-arrested because Lincoln learned that if any attempt should be made to punish bim for his treason, the Knights of the Golden Circle- had planned to set lire to shipping - , cities and homes of Republicans through- out the North. . HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 281 been dismissed from the head of the army by President Lin- coln for idleness. The campaign was conducted against the Republicans on the war-a-failure plan. The rebels rallied around McClellan with tolerable zest because, while commanding the federal army, he had so managed as to do the least possible harm to them. But in the North his support, outside of the Knights of the Golden Circle, was lukewarm and weak. The foregoing prayer by Henry Clay Dean and the fol- lowing extract from the Richmond Enquirer, illustrate the qualities of the men composing the "Democratic" party of 1864: The convention of Black Republicans in Baltimore has nominated for President of their country Abraham Lincoln, the Illinois rail-splitter, and for Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, known in the West as the Tennessee tailor, and the meanest of the craft. Whether they shall ever be elected or not, depends upon the confederate army altogether. If we were now at peace with that section, it would be altogether indifferent to us what ape, or jackass or hyena they set up to govern them. * * It is for the interest of the Democrats, if they would elect their President, to do their very utter- most to weaken the federal army, discredit federal finance, in short, extinguish the war altogether in order to extinguish the party which invented it, governs it and lives by it. This advice was well followed, as history has recorded. The plan of the Democracy was to break down the adminis- tration, force the North to make peace on Southern terms,, and, having upset the party in power and jumped into their places, adopt the rebel constitution entire, apply for admis- sion to the Southern Confederacy and thus "restore the Union" — leaving out New England as "vermin and offscour- ings" — to a perfect Utopia of slavery, free-trade, free whisky and general profligacy. But they failed, as all who believe that God sits on his throne and right prevails, knew they must; and Lincoln was triumphantly re-elected, receiving the electoral votes of 282 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. twenty-two States, including the slave States of Maryland and Missouri, and West Virginia. "Little Mac," the candidate of Vallandigham and the Knights of the Golden Circle, received the votes of New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. CHAPTER XXIII. V ANOTHER TROUBLOUS PERIOD. Lincoln Auspiciously Inaugurated — The North Strong and Hopeful — The South Weak and Fainting— Grant Before the Gates of Rich- mond — The Stars and Stripes Float Over Richmond — Gen. R. E. Lee Surrenders His Entire Army — Joseph E. Johnston Sur- renders—Jefferson Davis In the Wilderness — The Confederate "Government" in a Carpetbag — Davis and Other Confederates Captured on May 10, 1865 — His Hood and Water-proof — Rebel Documents Burned— Democratic Hatred of Lincoln — Plots for his Assassination — Shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth — Death on April 15, 1865 — Ruffianly Assault on Seward — Entire Cabinet to Have Been Murdered — Jefferson Davis Supposed to Have Been the Head Conspirator — President Johnson Offers a Reward for His Capture as Such— The North Weeps, the South Rejoices — Johnson's Policy — Reconstruction — Rebels to the Front — Secession Leaders Not Permitted to Enter Congress — Their Status— Johnson and the Northern Democracy Enraged— A Reign of Terror in the South — Dead-lock Between Congress and the President— Articles of Impeachment — Not Legally Convicted — Unfaithful Republicans — Southern States Admitted — Amend- ments of the Constitution — A Disastrous Administration. No pretense can be made of giving even a resume of the great events of the succeeding four years of Republican power. Lincoln was duly inaugurated March 4, 1865, stronger and more hopeful than ever. ' The overwhelming indorse- ment of him at the polls had added a new light to his sad and anxious face. It also swept over the South like a plague, destroying the last vestige of the forced courage of HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 283 its leaders and withering the hopes of the tattered, starving and misled but ever brave rebel soldiery. Victory could be felt in the air. Business was moving forward in wider channels with a deep and powerful cur- rent; Europe acknowledged the wonderful energy and re- cuperative strength of the North; our navy was well equipped and seeking engagements, and our credit was good. "Presi- dent" Davis could only replenish his army by issuing frequent proclamations; confederate soldiers Were deserting by the thousand; want was a common visitor throughout the rebellious district; Sheridan was sweeping with his cavalry down the Shenandoah Valley like a tornado; Sherman, with his terrible army, was pushing the march of victory "from Atlanta to the Sea," while Grant, the Mars of modern war- fare, with his face invincibly set upon Richmond, was draw- ing the death-grip of his circle of bayonets closer and closer around the heart of the Rebellion. On the first of April, 1865, he stood with his batteries be- fore the gates of the rebel capital. Lincoln was at City Point, a few miles distant. He could see by the resistless advance of Grant that no power in the South could stand be- fore him more than a few days at the utmost, and he wished to be as near victory as possible. The events of the next two days were more momentous than any of the preceding four years. The slaughter before Richmond was terrible, but the hour for the final blow had come, and no losses or bloodshed could deter Grant from thrusting his bayonets home to the vitals of the Rebellion. On the morning of the 3d, General Weitzel entered Rich- mond, run up the stars and stripes 1 and took formal posses- sion of the city. The next day President Lincoln, on foot and with but few attendants, passed into and about the >- The regimental flag- of the I9th Wisconsin Regiment was the first to float from the rebel capitol. It was run up by Colonel Vaughn, of Portage City, Wisconsin, who had previously handed down the confederate colors. It occu- pies a conspicuous place in the capitol building at Madison, Wisconsin, and is pointed out to visitors by the veterans with honest pride. 1584 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. mined capital. The Negroes, recognizing him, crowded around in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy and reverence. They shouted, wept and prayed. They had seen "Massa Linkum, the 'mighty Lord," and had nothing further to ask. Lincoln was deeply moved. On the afternoon of April 9, Robert E. Lee surrendered his sword tearfully and sadly to U. S. Grant under the shat- tered apple-tree at Appomattox. A few days later other rebel generals, one after another, succumbed, and on April 26, Joseph E. Johnston, with his army of plucky but starved and weary soldiers, capitulated to General W. T. Sherman. The Rebellion was at an end. But Jefferson Davis, with the confederate "government" tumbled promiscously into a small carpet-bag, was wandering through the South, seeking an opportunity of escape. He knew that by the common usages of war and of nations, he would be shot if captured. A reward of $100,000 had been offered for his capture, by President Johnson, as an accom- plice in the assassination of Lincoln. Colonel Henry Harn- den, of Wisconsin, was on his trail. At Poor Robin Ferry, Georgia, on May 9, 1865, Harnden fell in with Colonel Pritch- ard, of Michigan, and related that he was "close upon the heels of 'President' Davis." Pritchard, having fresher horses and men, immediately started in pursuit, and getting ahead of Harnden, technically made the capture, though, at the moment the rebel chieftain was taken, Harnden's men had surrounded Davis' camp and wftre waiting for the approach of daylight in order to make the seizure. The capture was effected just in the gray of morning on Thursday, May 10, 1865. The locality is near the Allapaha, a branch of the Suwannee River, and is known as Irwin.yille, Irwin county, Georgia. It is in the "pine barrens" — the country of the "clay-eaters," or much-despised "white trash." HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 285 Davis, who bad on a hood and his wife's water-proof, car- ried a water-pail, personating a woman about to fetch water from a neighboring spring. He at first drew a bowie-knife and showed fight, but, seeing resistance useless, soon gave up. 1 Mrs. Davis was very indignant, and warned "the Yanks" that "some of them would get hurt." With Davis were Postmaster-General Reagan, of Texas, Edmund Cooper, the "President's" private secretary, and several others. As soon as the capture had been effected one of the pris- oners cast a bundle of papers into the camp-fire, and another stepped aside and touched a match to a large package of doc- uments, supposed to have been of great importance. The nature of the papers thus destroyed has never been, and probably never will be, divulged. There was now nothing left of the slave empire but pov- erty, defeat, distress and ashes. Not Grant, not all the "Yankee" generals and soldiers who had conquered them and their rebellion, were so bitterly hated by the South and their Northern sympathizers as Lin- coln. Their venom and resentment centered upon him. Several plots had been contrived for his assassination, but all had fallen far short of success. For four years he had been watchful, his near friends constantly warning him of his danger. But after the triumphant election of 1864 and the apparent collapse of the rebellious slave power, he gave no further thought to secret assassins. Richmond having fallen, "President" Davis being a fugi- tive, Lee's armies having been captured and the end of the war being in sight, Lincoln went in good humor to Ford's Theatre on the evening of April 14, 1865, the fourth anni- versary of the surrender of Fort Sumter, to witness a repre- sentation of " Our American Cousins." Suddenly, as the play progressed, those in the immediate vicinity of the President's box were startled by the report 1 "President" Davis was subsequently bailed by Horace Greeley and others. He was never tried . 286 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. of a pistol. The audience, however, supposing the noise came from behind the scenery, gave no attention to it until John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and secessionist, leaped down upon the stage in riding costume, and, swing- ing aloft his smoking pistols, shouted, "The South is avenged!" The fall injured one of his limbs ; but he sprang from the stage, rushed out through the theatre, mounted a horse that stood in waiting and rode rapidly away, before the in- formation reached the auditorium that Lincoln had been as- sassinated. The President was conveyed quickly to the White House, where he lingered until morning in an unconscious condition, and then died, aged fifty-six, occupying the highest place in American history. Booth, the tool of an extensive conspiracy that never was and never will be fully known, entered the President's box at half-past 10 o'clock, armed with pistols and a bowie-knife* Having fastened the door of the box behind him, shot Lin- coln and plunged the knife at others in the apartment, he thrust his head from the window of the box and shouted, " Sic semper tyrannis." 1 At precisely the same hour Lewis Payne Powell, by pre- tending to have med4cine for the patient, gained entrance to the apartments of Wm. H. Seward, secretary of state, wbo was prostrate with wounds resulting from a fall from bis carriage. He struck savagely at Seward's throat with a bowie-knife, inflicting desperate but not fatal wounds. He also seriously wounded several attendants, but, notwithstand- ing the outcry and confusion, easily escaped, as did B^oth, and rode rapidly away. The plan of the conspirators was to assassinate the Presi- dent and his entire cabinet, leaving Andrew Johnson, the 1 "Ever so to tyrants"— the motto of Virginia. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 287 Vice-President, free to act in accordance with such influences as the South could bring to bear upon him. The shooting of Booth by Boston Corbett, in Maryland, on the 26th of April, the capture and execution of Mrs. Sur- ratt, Payne, Harold and Atzerott, on the 6th day of July, 1865, and the imprisonment of others for life, did not go far toward punishing the conspirators. It has been asserted that some of the highest men in the confederate " government," including Jefferson Davis, 1 were parties to the assassination; but no proof sufficient to secure conviction was ever brought forward. It is certain, however, that the South was greatly rejoiced over the news of the assassination — almost the only drop of sweet in the heavy draught of bitterness which seces- sion had for four long years been pressing to their lips. When the news of Lincoln's assassination flashed over the country, the North was celebrating the fall of Richmond in the freest manner. In every hamlet bonfires were blazing, cannons roaring, processions inarching, mass-meetings shout- ing, bells ringing and the people generally rejoicing. Suddenly the flaunting pennants of victory gave place to the sombre emblems of sorrow. The change was startling. The country was shocked, paralyzed: It was hardly possible to believe that rebellion, in its expiring throes, had beea able to rally and strike down our beloved President. But so it was. It was well that the Rebellion had practioally closed 1 On the 2d of May President Johnson issued the following- proclamation : Whereas, It appears, from evidence in the bureau of military justice, that the atrocious murder of the late President, Abraham Lincoln, and the atr tempted assassination of the Hon. W. H. Seward, secretory of the State, were incited, concerted and procured by and between Jefferson Davis, late of Rich- mond, Virginia, and Jacob Thompson, Clement C» Clay, Beverly Tuelaer, George W. Sanders, W. C. Cle&ry and other rebels and traitors ag-ainst the government of the United States, harbored in Canada. Now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do offer and promise, for the arrest -of said persons, or either of them, within the limits of the United States, so that they can be brought to trial, the following rewards: $130,000 for the arrest of Jef- ferson Davis ; $25, 000 for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, late of Mississippi; $25, 000 for the arrest of George W . Sanders ; $25,000 for the arrest of Beverly Tucker; and $10,000 for the arrest of William C. Cleary, late clerk of Clement C. Clay. The provost marshal-general of the United States is directed to cause a description of said persons with notice of the above rewards to be pubirebed. 288 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. when Lincoln was assassinated, for, had it been otherwise, the Union armies, spurred to revenge, would have literally destroyed everything before them in the South. Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as President at 11 o'clock of the day of Lincoln's death. He proceeded in short order, in obedience to the instincts of his original De- mocracy, to throw the country into civil chaos, passion and anarchy, not exceeded by that from which it had just escaped. He essayed to be greater than Congress, to be above the North which elected him, and beyond laws, precedent and people. He proposed to reconstruct the rebellious States to suit himself, or rather, to suit them, defying Congress in his progress as an usurper and dictator. At the close of the Rebellion he appointed provisional governors for the rebellious States, Congress having estab- lished military control of the South. Under these military governors the rebels held elections, choosing only such per- sons as had been actively hostile to the Union. Union men were ostracized, pronounced ineligible, driven from the State, or assassinated. Elections were also held for Senators and Representatives, resulting in sending to Washington the lead- ers of secession and rebellion in 1860 and 1861. The rebellious States proposed to adopt no new constitu- tions, but elected officers and determined to wage war in a new form under their old slave charters. As the rebels pre- sented themselves for ad mission, Congress declared against their entrance. It was not proper that men who had been public enemies, levying war against the government, should be permitted to enter Congress and vote down the measures presented to subdue them. If those rebels had been admit- ted then, unconditionally, the fruits of emancipation and of the war would have been destroyed, and all the losses sus- tained by the slave States would have been ordered paid — saddled upon the North, as the South had but little property left. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 289 This is not a mere assertion, founded on presumption; it is just what the Southern leaders openly avowed, as, insolent and blood-bespattered, they prowled around Washington de- claring they had "no regrets for the past, and no guarantees for the future" except hostility to the government. Men do not cease to be public enemies when they are forced to stop for want of power, not for want of will. Congress declared that the rebel leaders, by their acts of war, had wrought attainder of treason, and they should not be permitted and were not qualified, to participate in public affairs until they had been purged. They were not even legal voters upon federal matters.* This decision was as fatal to the Democracy as was the fall of Richmond and surrender of Lee. President Johnson furiously opposed it, as did, of course, the South and the hun- gering Democrats of the North. Johnson and the Democracy held that the South had never been out of the Union, that Congress had no power to prescribe conditions of admission, that the President alone had power over those questions and that Congress was "no Congress, but a body hanging upon the verge of the govern- ment." Thus encouraged, the rebels inaugurated a fearful reign of terror and bloodshed in the South. They defied all federal and military laws and committed outrages and butcheries without number. Congress and the President came to a dead-lock. Several leading Republicans and loyal Democrats who were patriotic lovers of office and federal patronage, joined with Johnson in this new rebellion against Congress and the Constitution, because they thought if he should win, and they believed he would, the Democracy would be borne triumphantly into power on the backs of the rebel South, and they, having a chance at the first places in the crib, would thrive and fatten — 18 290 HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.. forever on State-sovereignty and the fruits of Southern dom ination. Thereafter no bill of importance became a law except over the President's veto. Johnson became, as far as he could in time of peace, a worse rebel than Jefferson Davis. The South, which reviled and denounced him in 1864, was now lavish in its praises, extolling him as a "noble patriot" and the "only true friend of constitutional liberty," which meant "liberty" to hold slaves, evade the revenue and defy the federal laws. He vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau bill, the bill to admit Nebraska with a constitution giving Negroes the right of suffrage; vetoed the reconstruction bills, the tenure-of-office act, and acted as a general obstructionist to the end of his term. So gross had Johnson's misdemeanors and serviltiy to rebels become, that in the spring of 1868 the House brought in an exhibit of impeachment against him for violating the tenure-of-office act in suspending Edwin M. Stanton, his sec- retary of war. He was tried by the Senate, but not legally convicted, bemuse his friends, by means of various influences, secured seven Republicans — Wm. Pitt Fessenden, J. B.Hen- derson, Lyman Trumbull, P. G. Ross, James W. Grimes, J. S. Fowler, and O. G. Van Winkle — to vote with twelve Dem- ocrats, thus making the exact nineteen votes required to pre- vent formal impeachment. Congress, however, went forward with the work of re- construction, and one after another the States lately in rebel- lion were admitted to the Union with constitutions prohibit- ing slavery and otherwise conforming to the amendments of the federal Constitution and a Republican form of govern- ment. Lincoln lived to see the XIII amendment, forever prohib- iting slavery, proposed, but it was declared in force by John- son in December, 1865, after having been ratified by Ala- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 291 bama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, In- diana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachu- setts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin — 34; and ratified conditionally by Alabama and Mississippi. It was rejected by Delaware and Kentucky. The XIV article of amendment was proposed by Congress on June 13, 1866, and proclaimed in force on July 28, 1868, after having been ratified by Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan- sas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Penn- sylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin — 33. Of the foregoing thirty-three States, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Caro- lina, Texas and Virginia, first rejected the amendment but finally ratified it. New Jersey and Ohio rescinded their rati- fication. No final action was taken by California, and the amendment was rejected by Delaware, Kentucky and Mary- land. Johnson's administration was unfortunate in every aspect. His usurpations and his trucklings to Democracy prolonged the bitterness of the war, retarded Southern progress and conciliation, and encouraged the rebels to defy all federal laws as far as possible, in the hope that whenever the Demo- crats should again get into power, the consequences of the war would be wiped out. 292 HISTOEY OF THE KEPUBL1CAN PARTY. CHAPTER XXIV. CONVENTION OF 1868. Tiie People's Choice— Pre-disposing Events — A Soldiers' Convention — Resolutions — The Veterans Denounce the Republican Friends of Andrew Johnson — Temporary Officers — Four Lists of Committees by States — Permanent Organization — Wm. Pitt Fessenden's Brother — The Soldiers Received— A "Reconstructed Rebel"— Ques- tion of Admitting Territories and Unreconstructed States— They are Admitted — Struggle over the Vice-Presidency — No More John- sons Wanted — Carl Schurz Amends the Platform — Grant Nom- inated Unanimously — The Vote — Presentation of Candidates for Second Place — Schuyler Colfax Nominated on the Fifth Ballot — The Vote — "Let Us Have Peace" — The Democrats, So-called, Meet — A Secession Crowd — Horatio Seymour Nominated — A Roaring Campaign — Vallandigham's Threat — Grant Elected. A candidate for the Presidency had been nominated by the loyal people of the United States long before even the call was issued for the Republican National Convention of 1868. It might also be said that the candidate had been elected, so thoroughly united was public sentiment at the opening of that Presidential year. The convention met in Crosby's Opera House, Chicago, on Wednesday, May 20. Ten thousand prominent generals and statesmen were present, their vast following of laymen swelling the attendance beyond that of 1860. No one discussed candidates for the first place. There was but one, and nothing remained but to go through the motion of putting him on the ticket. He had been practically nominated for months. The only issues were the Vice-Pres- idency, the financial portion of the platform and whether HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 293 "the seven traitors," as they were harshly termed, who had voted against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, should be formally read out of the Republican party. Excitement was intense. General John A. Logan had been assaulted with stones by the Democrats of York, Pennsylva- nia, as he passed along on his way to Chicago; several Re- publican members of the Louisiana legislature had recently been assassinated by the Democrats; President Johnson, whose odious administration had aroused the entire North, had just escaped impeachment without a vote to spare, and, it was alleged, by disgraceful means. The people, therefore, were awake and active. There also assembled in Chicago at the same time, a general convention of soldiers, which was more numerous and not less conspicuous for distinguished men than the regular political gathering. It was presided over by General Lucius Fairchild, of Wisconsin, with such men as Generals John A. Logan, John Cochrane, Alfred Pleasanton and Dan- iel E. Sickles for vice-presidents, secretaries and other officers. They also had in their midst an object of enthusi- astic admiration, "Old Abe," the famous war eagle, which passed through every battle of a four years' campaign with the Eighth Wisconsin regiment. The gallant old bird screamed as the bands played, and was greeted with cheers every- where. The soldiers met a few hours in advance of the political convention, and after speeches and songs, adopted resolu- tions nominating Grant for the Presidency, declaring the Republicans who voted against Johnson's impeachment were unworthy the confidence of a brave and loyal people, and also the following: Hesolved, That for the maintenance of those principles which underlie our government,and for which we have fought during four years of war, we pledge our earnest and active 294 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. support to the Republican party, as the only political organ- ization which, in our judgment, is true to the principles of loyalty, liberty and equality before the law. JResolved, That we, the soldiers of the Republic, extend to the loyal men of the South our sympathy, and the promise of our support in the struggles yet in store for them under the present administration, before they can enjoy the liber- ties of American citizens, without fear of persecutions and assassinations, and that, if necessary, we stand ready to aid them with our strength in the future as we have in the past. When the names of the seven Republican Senators who voted for Andrew Johnson, were denounced by the soldiers as "disloyal to the cause which had cost four years of blood," the band played "The Rogue's March," and the old veterans groaned and sang "Old Grimes is Dead." Thus, it will ap- pear that the gathering of soldiers was as much a Republi- can convention as the one called to nominate a President. The regular Republican convention was called to order at 12 o'clock by Marcus L. Ward, of New Jersey, in a brief speech. He nominated for temporary chairman, Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin, who was conducted to the chair by Lyman Tremain, of New York, and Richard W. Thompson, of Indi- ana. He acknowledged the compliment in a scholarly speech, which was greeted with applause. When he said the people did not understand how great a loss they had suffered in the assassination of Lincoln until they saw the smallness of Andrew Johnson, the cheering was emphatic. In closing he declared: "I spurn the idea that the American people can ever so far forget themselves as to throw the destiny of the nation into the hands of men who yesterday attempted to destroy the Republic and who to-day stand ready to dis- honor it." The temporary secretaries were B. R. Cowen, of Ohio, Luther Caldwell, of New York, and Frank S. Richards, of Tennessee. The following committees were appointed: HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 295 STATES. CREDENTIALS. PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. RESOLUTIONS. RULES. Alabama. J.P. Stow J.J.Martin D.C.Humphries tfc.M. Reynolds Arkansas S.F.Cooper RWMcCheseney H.B.Morse L.H. Roots California Colorado . . P.Connor John Evans W.E.Lovett John Evans G.M.Chillcothe J.B.Chaffee Conn W.G. Coe A.H.Byington J. M. Woodman S.L.Sayles Delaware.. N. B.Smithers W.L.Cannon C.S.Layton I. J. Jenkins Florida H.H.Moody V BChamberlain RT.Rhombeaur VBChamberlain Georgia. . . L.P.Gudger W T . H.Watson H.K.McCoy D.G.Cotting Illinois J.H.Addams A.C.Babcock H. Raster Emory A.Storrs Indiana . . . J.C.Albert G.H.Buskirk R.W.Thompson G.K.Steele Iowa E.T.Smith Seth Craig G.M.Dodge L.M.Holt Kansas N.A.Adams J.A.Martin B.F. Simpson C.W.Babcock Kentucky. A.G.Hodges O.H.Burb ridge C.Eginton T.J. Pickett Louisiana. A.L.Lee G.C.Benham W.R.Fish A.J.Svpher Maine H.M.Plaisted... Wales Hubbard Eugene Hale W.P.Harriman Maryland . J.L.Thomas, Jr. G.W.Z. Black Mass G.B.Loring A. R. Field F.W.Byrd Kstes Howe Michigan.. J.W.Longyear H.Rich R.R.Beecher W.H.Williams Minnesota J.C.Rudolph C.C.Andrews R.M. McLaren A. A. Butler Miss T.B. Sears R.M.Tindall A. R. Howe D.McA. Williams Missouri .. D.P.Dyer G.A.Moser R.T.VanHorn A.W.Mullin Nebraska . L.Giratd P.B.Stephenson R.W. Furnas S.A.Striekland N.H J.E.Bickford J.H.Bailey J.F.Briggs E.A.Vaughn N. Jersey.. J.W.Hazleton J.H.Bartlett J.Davidson C.H.Skillman N. York... T. G.Younglove H.Harris O.Andrews Geo. Barker Nevada L.Hyntman H.H.Beck C.E.Dciong O.R.Leonard N.Carolina H.Potter, Jr. W.R.Myers L.G.Estes F.F.French Ohio James Scott Wm. Stones John C. Lee T.L.Yowig Oregon — L.S. Thompson R. Mallory H.R.Kincaid Max. Ramsey Penn John Cesna J.H.Orne S.E.Dimmick T.E.Cochrane R. Island.. J.DeW.Perry L.Flagg R.G.Hazzard W.H. Reynolds S. Carolina H . E . Havne B.FWhitteinore B.O.Duncan J.P.McEpping Tennessee W.Bosson L.C.Houk W.Y\ Elliott W.J.Smith Texas El. K.Smith A.H.Langley G.W. Paschal N.C.Rioltet Vermont. Luther Baker W.W.Grant W.H.Johnson G. C.Shepard Virginia .. J. M. Thatcher I.Hauhurst Lysander Hill U.K. Smith W.Va F.P.Pierpont E.R.Hall R.S.Brown H.C.MuWhorter Wisconsin. E.L.Browne A.S.Sloan Horace Rublee A.J.Turner The committee on permanent organization reported as follows: President— Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut. STATES. VICE-PRESIDENT. STATES. VICE-PRESIDENT. Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia . Willard Warner A. McDonald James Coey. J. B. Chaffee W. H. Pierson L. Thompson H. H. Moody Foster Blodgett Jesse K. Dubois Walter Q.Gresham J. M. Hedrick S. S. Prouty J. F. Speed Wm. P. Kellogg. T. A. D. Fessenden H. Stockbridge D. W. Gooch Henry Waldron H.P. VanCleve T. L.White Missouri Montai a Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York . North Carolina. Ohio A. J. Harlan W. F. Saunders A. Saunders J. M. Walker E. Gould J. S. I tick C. M. Depew Alt. Doekerv N. C. McFarland Joseph R. Failing J. K. Mooreheaa W. Green C. T. Stolbrand T. A. Hamilton. S. D. Wood Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Pennsylvania... Rho^e Island. .. South Carolina. Tennessee Texas Virginia Vermont West Virginia.. Wisconsin Maryland Massachusetts.. Michigan Minnesota Mississippi John Burke G. J. Stannard S. D. Karns Edward Salomon 296 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Secretaries were chosen as follows: Thomas D. Fister. Wm. C. Goodloe. Luther Caldwell. D.V.Bell. C. W. Lowell. J. W. Holden. C. B. Higby. S. D. Lindsey. Coates Kinney. F. B. Salomon. E. F. Waters. Max. Ramsey. B. Bent. J, H. Easton. J. C. S. Colby. Wm. E. Rose. Joshua T. Heald. Lewis Weil. Samuel Maxwell. T. McKinley. J. Rhombeaur. Charles Seymour. G. N. Collins. Wm. P. Home. Geo. G. Wilber. Geo. G. Briggs. Francis B. Ayer. S. D. Ringree. James P. Root. W.W.Scott. Robt. C. Bellville. Edgar Allen. Chas. R. Hogate. A. W. Patterson. A. C. Harmer. Joseph T. Hoke. When the name of T. A. D. Fessenden was announced as a vice-president from Maine, the delegates demanded to know whether he entertained the same views as his brother, Senator Fessenden, relative to the guilt of Andrew Johnson. The answer was quickly made that he did not, and the audi- ence shouted their approbation. At this point a delegation from the soldiers and sailors' convention, headed by Gen. Lucius Fairchild, entered and presented this resolution: Resolved, That as the soldiers and sailors, steadfast now as ever to the Union and the flag, fully recognize the claims' of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to the confidence of the American people; and believing that the victories won under his guid- ance in war will be illustrated by him in peace by such measures as will secure the fruits of our exertions and restore the Union upon a loyal basis, we declare our deliberate con- viction that he is the choice of the soldiers and the sailors of the Union for the office of President of the United States. Having read the resolution, Gen. Fairchild said: "The soldiers of the United States ask the nomination of Grant for President because we love him. We love him, sir, be- cause he is loyal to the Union, loyal to justice, loyal to free- dom and loyal to right. If you will give us our comrade as a leader in the campaign of 1868, we will bear upon the ene- my's works as we did in the field in 1864." This brief speech acted upon the great audience like magic. All rules, restraints and proceedings were forgotten. When the uproar had subsided Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, leaped upon a chair and moved to nominate Grant by acclamation. This was contrary to the rules, but the delegates didn't care for rules. They wanted Grant nominated at once and with- out rules, so they could let off their yells and hurrahs. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 297 Order was restored, finally, and Joseph E. Brown, a "re- constructed rebel," of Georgia, delivered a manly address of some length. He found no resentment or hatred at the North, and thought it depended entirely on themselves whether the Southerners should advance in peace, prosperity and harmony. A debate of considerable ability arose over whether the territories and those lately rebellious States that had not yet been reconstructed and admitted to the Union, should be allowed to vote. The argument in opposition was that as those States and the territories could not participate in an election for President, it was neither logical nor sensible to allow them to take part in selecting a candidate for others. The Southern and Western delegates were eloquent, ar- guing that as an age of progress had been inaugurated, no moss-back precedents should be followed, and that as the President was a chief executive for all, it would be a small favor to allow all a voice in naming the candidate. Gen. Lee, of Louisiana, then reported that the territories and the District of Columbia be given two votes each, and all the unreconstructed States be admitted to equal privi- leges with the others. The report was adopted, and thus the precedent was es- tablished of giving territories representation in national conventions. After distributing a deluge of campaign songs, the con- vention adjourned for the clay. The evening of the 20th was remarkable for the activity of the log-rollers for Vice- President. Lincoln had been assassinated, thus giving the White House over to the enemy, and as the Democrats had threatened to kill Grant also, if he should be elected, the masses were determined that the nominee for the second place should be a man of ability, patriotism and tried princi- ples. 298 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. The leading candidates were Andrew G. Curtin,of Pennsyl- vania; Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts; Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine; Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana; Reuben E. Fenton, of New York; and Ben. F. Wade, of Ohio. Wade's great strength consisted in the conspicuous record made by him as one of the managers, on the part of the House, of the trial of Presi- dent Johnson. The convention re-assembled at 10 o'clock on Thursday. The resolutions of the National .Council of the Union League of America were read and ordered spread on the records. They were greeted with cheers. Several attempts to nomin- ate Grant by acclamation had to be drowned with speeches, pending the report of the committee on resolutions. F. Has- saurek, of Ohio; John M. Palmer, of Illinois; and John W. Forney, of Pennsylvania (Johnson's "dead duck") addressed the impatient audience with unusual ability and effect. Gen. Palmer's reference to the recreant Republicans who voted against Johnson's impeachment, brought forth marked dem- onstrations of approval. Richard W. Thompson, of Indiana, now appeared with the platform, which he read, each plank eliciting hearty cheers. It consisted of twelve sections. Carl Schurz moved to add the two resolutions which now stand as eleven and twelve, and they were unanimously adopted. Nominations being in order, John A. Logan, of Illinois, arose and said: In the name of the loyal citizens and soldiers and sailors of this great Republic of the United States; in the name of loyalty, liberty, humanity and justice; in the name of the national Republican party, I NOMINATE as a CANDIDATE FUR THE CHIEF MAGISTRACY of THIS NATION, ULYSSES S. GRANT. The band struck up "Hail to the Chief," a volley of mus_ ketry rent the outer air and the audience went off into a spasm of screaming enthusiasm. The roll of States was called as soon as the secretary's voice could be heard, the chairman of each delegation re- HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 299 sponding in a brief but characteristic speech with a unani- mous vote for Grant. Chairman Hawley then arose and declared: "Gentlemen of the convention, the roll-call is complete. You have 650 votes and you have given 650 votes for Ulysses S. Grant.'* A scene wholly indescribable now ensued. The audience, rising, waved every loose article in the room, and every pair of lungs gave forth their utmost yell. While the tumult of enthusiasm was at its highest the scenery was skillfully shifted on the stage so as to bring to view a large and spirited pic- ture of Grant, represented as standing on one of the pedes- tals in front of the White House, with the Goddess of Lib- erty by his side. A still more frantic yell greeted its appearance, and suddenly, like a message from on high, a dove, painted red, white and blue, was let loose from the stage and flew gracefully over the shouting thousands, while the band played "The Battle Cry of Freedom." George F. Root, when quiet had been restored, sang, " We'll Fight It Out Here, On the Old Union Line," with fine effect. Old soldiers wept for very joy and thousands of eyes were moist. It was indeed a soul-inspiring occasion. It was the long-roll, that, gathering strength and volume, rang and reverberated through the campaign from the Bay of Fundy to the Pacific Ocean. Nominations for Vice-President being in order, Wm. Claflin, of Massachusetts, brought forward Henfy Wilson; Henry S. Lane presented Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana; Ben. F. Wade was nominated by R. P. Spalding, of Ohio, and Reuben E. Fenton was nominated by Lyman Tremain, of New York. James Speed, of Kentucky, A. G. Curtin, of Pennsylvania, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, James Harlan, of Iowa, S. C. Pomeroy, of Kansas, J. A. J. Cresswell, of Mary- land, and Wm. D. Kelly, of Pennsylvania, were also pre- sented. The several ballots stood: 300 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. BALLOT FOR VICE- First Ballot. STATES. ac o © Ms jg o P M 3 p CD a P w p B p" O P P w p p p 3 a> w CD Vf 03 O CD W © Alabama 18 10 10 6 12 2 6 2 6 18 2 32 26 16 6 22 14 14 14 24 16 8 14 22 2 6 6 10 14 66 18 42 6 62 8 12 20 12 10 20 10 16 650 4 9 1 "I ' 6 "it 6 4 "2 6 2 2 "2 2 2 1 5 2 4 California 2 Colorado 2 4 Dakota Delaware 2 "3' Florida 2 6 2 3 1 Idaho 3 26 15 11 Indiana 16 Kansas 6 Kentucky Louisiana io' '19 "2 "i" 14" 22 Maine 14 Maryland 13 Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota 8 5 20 2 5 2 Mississippi 4 Missouri Montana Nebraska N e vada 4 New Hampshire New Jersey New York 14 66 North Carolina. "2 12 ii' 18 5 119 "6* 1 3 18 42- Ohio Oiegon Pennsylvania 3 2 .... 48 Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee 6 io' "i" T 115 3 1 11 Texas Vermont Virginia 2 2 147 West Virginia "6 126 "2 28 1 1 51 Wisconsin 16 6 4 22 Total 14 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 301 PRESIDENT, 1868. Second Ballot. Third Ballot. Fourth Ballot. Fifth Ballot. 3 p 11 10 Q p 1 "2 6 1 2 5 "2 2 ' 3 26 4 2 9 "2 3 © 2 5 3 CD P O P 2 "2 SB 3 p O P •-S p p 11 10 9 X 1 "i 6 3 2 5 2 4 "4 26 8 2 10 3 88 a 2 "8 "2 "2 "h ii "2' 12 5 'io" rt> P c+ p 2 1 ' 7' .... "2 8 2 3 ' 8 2 EC B p P a 5 p 11 8 O Ms M 1 "i" 6 2 5 2 2 "5' 3 PB Pi ? 2 2 7 ' 37 "7' 3 11 "fi" 6 14 6 "e 1 10 10 4 11 186 36 6 ii' 1 '46' '2' fi "h 5 44 33 2 "3' 11 2' 1 206 3 52 8 12 12 5 11 "3 "3 144 Ttf 6 io' 4 3 7 145 3 9 11 3 ?n 1? 10 6 2 8 165 10 12 2 1 1 170 2 'e' 144 "2 30 45 10 7 101 2 1 1 178 2 5 5 ?Q 6 "2 25 69 J8 10 5 139 2 25 lfi 114 40 87 541 302 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Mr. Colfax, elected to Congress in 1854 in the first cam- paign of Republicanism, and re-elected six times in succession, was then speaker of the House of Representatives and very popular throughout the country. His nomination, therefore, gave general satisfaction. He was known to be able, genial, patriotic and experienced, and his candidacy added strength to the ticket. Grant's brief but meaty letter of acceptance ended with the famous epigram, "Let us have peace" It was caught up by songster and poet among the loyal people ; the fires were kindled from hill-top to hill-top ; the country resembled a vast military encampment, so active were the "Boys in Blue," and a campaign of intense activity and roaring enthusiasm at once began. On the 4th day of July, 1868, the Democrats, so-called, held a "national" convention at New York, while President Johnson issued from Washington, on the same day, his procla- mation of plenary amnesty to all rebels not under indict- ment. The " convention" was a rank gathering. Among the delegates were Fort Pillow Forrest, D. W. Voorhees, a bright and shining light of the Knights of the Golden Circle; Edmund Cooper, " President" Davis' private secretary ; Charles O'Connor, who said in 1860, that in case of secession, only those who attempted to save the Union would be guilty of treason ; A. S. Aldrich, the first man to suggest a general secession convention; fifty rebel colonels and generals; 100 members of the Knights of the Golden Circle; a dozen leading members of the bloody Ku-Klux Klans ; ex-Senator Chest- nut, the bitterest Union-hater in the South ; G. W. Wood- ward, of Pennsylvania, who declared that if he were Presi- dent Johnson he would order up the congressmen from the unreconstructed rebel States, and if Congress should refuse to admit them, command them to disperse Congress at the point of the bayonet; about half of the rebel Congress of 1861-5 ; Samuel J. Tilden, who, in October, 1860, composed one of HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 303 the most poisonous secession letters that emanated from the North, besides such notorious secessionists as E. Barksdale, R. Barnwell Rhett, Ben. H. Hill, Wade Hampton, Wm. M. Tweed, August R. Wright and C. L. Vallandigham. 1 It was a grotesque and troublous gathering. As showing the retrogressive, secession spirit that controlled its proceed- ings, it may be stated that only the rare adroitness of a few cool leaders prevented the adoption of a resolution declaring the convention would be "governed by the rules of the House of Representatives prior to 1860." Several platforms were presented. One declaring that "the Union is indissoluble; no State can withdraw from the Union, nor can it be dissolved by Congress," raised intense commotion. It was spewed out in hot haste. The principal talk was "restoration." Horatio Seymour was chosen permanent chairman, and accepted the "honor" in a speech that would have done credit to Jefferson Davis in 1861. After a session of six days he was also nominated for President on a platform of shameless repudiation and fiat-moneyism, with Francis P. Blair, Jr., for Vice-President. If the business of selecting the Democratic candidates had been left to the Republicans, they could not have found two others more weak and unpopular than Seymour and Blair. Grant was elected, receiving the electoral votes of Ala- bama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Caro- lina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Ten- 1 Before the nominations were made, Vallandigham declared: "Of one thing- in our deliberative judgment and deep conviction, all con- cerned may rest assured ; and therefore Eastern 'Conservative and War Democrats, ' and their allies in the West may take notice of it and govern themselves accordingly : No platform or candidate will or can carry Ohio, or any Western or Border State, that is committed, openly or tacitly, to the pro- scription of the sagacious, gallant, and truly patriotic men who refused to support the late civil war, with all its evil and bitter fruits accumulating now every day. Let the Captain Cuttles of the War Democracy and Conservatism 'make a note of it.' " 304 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. nessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin — 25 States and 214 electoral votes. CHAPTER XXV. CONVENTION OF 1872— GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. Delegates Meet on June 5, at Philadelphia — No Factions— Lists of Committees by States — A Season of Speeches — Permanent Organ- ization — Rules of the Convention — Resolutions by the Union League of America— The Colored Orators — Paul Strobach's Story — Grant Nominated — He Receives Every Vote in the Convention — Songs and Cheers — Democracy and Republicanism Contrasted — Candidates for Vice-President — The Vote — Henry Wilson Nom- inated — Greeley Leads the Democrats — Jeremiah S. Black and Charles Sumner— Ridiculous Features — Southern Butcheries — Grant's Great Majority — Poor Greeley — Grant's Successful Admin- istration. The Republican National Convention of 1872, which con- vened in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, on Wednes- day, June 5, was comparatively tame. It was generally un- derstood that, owing to the popular demand for Grant's re- nomination, there would be no contest — none of that sparring of political giants for vantage-ground and coveted points which gives interest and excitement to such gatherings. The assemblage was called to order by Wm. Claflin, of Massachusetts, in a brief speech referring to our improved public credit and general prosperity. He then presented Morton McMichael, of Pennsylvania, as temporary chairman, who, on being unanimously elected, was escorted to the stand by Henry S. Lane, of Indiana, J. H. Piatt, of Virginia, and James Lewis, of Louisiana. As he could never open his mouth and do otherwise, Mr. McMichael made an eloquent speech, followed by music from ^^**^?-«*^~ HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 307 the band engaged for the occasion. John W. Newlin, of New Jersey, Hiram Potter, Jr., of Florida, and John R. Hub- bard, of West Virginia, were chosen temporary secretaries, and the various committees were appointed as follows: STATES. CREDENTIALS. PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. RESOLUTIONS. RULES AND OR- DER OFBUSINESS Alabama.. J. W. Burke Isaac Heyraan R.M.Reynolds W.B.Jones Arkansas . J.H.Johnson J.M.Johnson W.H.Grey S.Wheeler California. Thos. Fallon F.K.Shattuck J.H.Withington C.M.Patterson Conn J.D.Frary Bartlett Bent J.R.Hawley Daniel Chadwick Delaware . Ben j. Burton John C.Clark H.F.Pickels C.F.Richards Florida J.H. Arm strong F.N. Wicker J.W.Johnson J.W.Butler Georgia... Edwin Belcher J.F.Long D.A.Walker J.M.Simms • Illinois.... J.F.Alexander Enoch Emery Herman Raster I.A.Powell Indiana . . . M.L.Bundy G.K.Steele Charles Cruft C.W. Chapman Iowa I.Pendleton A.R.Anderson W.Vandever I. W. Card Kansas Wm. Baldwin J. Kellogg C.A.Morris H.C.Cross Kentucky. S.L.Casey J.B.Bruner James Speed W.H.Gibson Louisiana. M.F.Smith E.W.Robinson John Ray W.G.Elliott Maine J.E.Butler Hiram Bliss, Jr S.T.Pullen A. H.S.Davis Maryland . A lex. Randall John T. Ensor T.A.Spence S.M. Shoemaker Mass E.B.Stoddard S.Johnson J. B.D.Cogswell Oliver Ames Michigan . J.H.Stone James Birney W.A.Howard Geo.Willard Minnesota. C.H.Goodsell A.E.Rice W.E. Hicks R. F. dwell Miss Edwin Hill A.K.Davis J. R. Lynch A.Parker Missouri .. G.A.Moser E.O.Stanard J.H. Stover J.C.Orrick Nebraska . John Roberts John D.Neligh J.B.Weston H.M.Atkinson Nevada. .. C.C.Stevenson G.M.Sabin L.H.Head G.M.Sabin N. H D.Richards Daniel Barnard OssianRay J.W.Johnson N. Jersey. George Wurts L.D. Jarrard Charles Hewitt David Vickers New York E.W.Foster J.N Hungerford J.N.Matthews B. P. Carpenter N.Carolina Lewis Hilliard J.H.Harris J.W.Hood G.H.Brown Ohio Griffith Ellis N.H.VanVorhis H. B.Hayes W.C.Cooper Oregon.... Hiram Smith Myer Hlrsch H.R.Kincaid J.F.Devore Penn L.D. Shoemaker Chas. Albright G.W.Scofield O.W.Gilfillan R. Island.. E.L. Freeman W.D. Bray ton Wm.Goddard L.W.Ballou S. Carolina S.A.Swails W.B.Nash R.B.Elliott T.J.Mackey Tenn R.R.Butler W.Y.Elliott A. J. Ricks G.E.Grisham Texas W.A.Sayler W.A.Ellett J.W.Talbot J.P.Newcomb Vermont.. G.W.Grandey Geo.Wilkins B.H.Steele J Hutchinson, Jr Virginia .. Robert Norton J. A.Harman Edwai*d Daniels G.G.Goddell W. Va .... Geo. Edwards J.E.Schley T.B.Swann D T. Fa rns worth Wisconsin. J.G.Thorpe T.C. Pound T.S.Allen C.J. L.Meyer Arizona.... John Titus J.H.Toole (No nomination) (No nomination) Colorado . J.B.Chaffee G.M.Chillicothe J.B.Chaffee G.M.Chillicothe Dakota (Contested) (No nomination) (No nomination) (No nomination) Dis. of Col. John F.Cooke A. R. Shepherd A. R. Shepherd John F.Cooke Idaho E.J.Curtis E.C.Ford E.J.Curtis B.J.Curtis Montana . . L.B. Church L.B. Church W.F.Sanders L.B. Church N. Mexico. Wm.Breeden (No nomination) (No nomination) (No nomination) Utah (Contested) (No nomination) (No nomination) (No nomination) Wash't'n.. E.Dorfield (No nomination) (No nomination) (No nomination) Wyoming . J.W.Donnellan G.W.Corey J.W.Donnellan G.W.Corey While the committees were out preparing their reports, the intervening time was occupied by some notable speeches. John A. Logan, of Illinois, led off with an address eulogistic of Gen. Grant. He was followed by Gerrit Smith, of New —19 308 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. York; Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana; James L. Orr, of South Carolina; Richard J. Oglesby, of Illinois; J. R. Hawley, of Connecticut; Marcus D. Boruck, of California; Wra. H. Grey, (colored) of Arkansas ; Robert B. Elliott (colored) of South Carolina; and James H. Harris (colored) of North Carolina. The convention was astonished" at the rich eloquence and clear logic of the colored speakers, and cheered them vocif- erously. The committee on permanent organization reported as follows: President — Thomas Settle, of North Carolina. States. Vl CE-PRESI DENTS . Secretaries. Alabama Paul Strobach. Elisha Baxter. William V. Turner. Arkansas L. G. Wheeler. California U.S. Sargent. Marcus !>. Boruck. Connecticut Sab in L. Sage. Daniel Chadwick. Delaware Isaac Jump. Dennis Egan. 8. F. Conly. Florida J. W. Butler. Georgia P.M. Shirtley. Illinois Emery A. Storrs. Daniel Shepard. Indiana Sol. D. Meredith. W. H. See vers. John C. Carpenter. 0. M. Wilson. Iowa A. J. Felt. Kansas Henry Buckingham. Kentucky R. M. Kelley. T. C. Buerles. Louisiana Louis Frager. P. F. Robcy. E. L. Weber. Maine E. C. Brett. Thomas Kelso. Alexander K. Rice. W. G Tuck. Massachusetts Charles E. Whiting. Michigan Eben B. Waul. C. S. Draper. Minnesota C. T. Benedict. Otto Wallmark. Mississippi R. W. Flurnoy. B. K. Bruce. Missouri John F. Benjamin. Theodore Breuer. Nebraska John S. Bo wen. J. B. Weston. Nevada C. C. Stevenson. New Hampshire.. Wm. H. Y. Hackett Charles S. Whitehouse. New Jersey Dudley S. Gregory. John W. Newlin. New York H. B. Clafiin. D. Ogden Bradley. North Carolina. . . Edward Cantwell. T. A. Syke*. Ohio Jacob Mueller. John P. Booth. James A. Sands. Oregon H. R. Kinus. Pennsylvania H. W.Oliver. H. H. Bingham. Rhode Island A. E. Burnside. Wilson W. Aldiich. South Carolina. . A. J. Pansier, H. G. Maxwell. Tennesseo William H. Wisner. Thomas Waters. Texas A. B. Norton. G. T. Rubey. Vermont J. Fairbanks. W. Harris, Jr. Virginia Charles T. Malord. John W. Woltz. West Virginia Charles Horton. I. T. Hoke. Wisconsin Luciad Fairchild. L. F. Frisby. Colorado George M. Chillcothe. Jerome B. Qhaffee. Dist. of Columbia. John F. Cooke. Alex. R. Shepherd. Idaho John R. McBride. E. J. Curtis. Wyoming John W. Donnellan. George W. Corey. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 309 This completed the labors of the first day. The conven- tion re-aseembled at 10 o'clock on Thursday and received and adopted the report of the committee on rules. \ A communication from the Union League of America was read and entered upon the record of the convention as a part of its proceedings, several planks of which are here presented; First. We reject, as utterly unfounded, the idea that the mission of the Republican party has been accomplished, and that no necessity exists for its continuance. By its princi- ples and actions the nation was saved during the period of the late Rebellion, and by them must it be preserved and ex- alted in coming time. /Second. Whatever may be its pretenses, the Democratic party remains unchanged in character and ultimate purposes. What it was from April, 1861, to April, 1865, it still is, and 1 Rule 1. Upon all subjects before the Convention, the States shall be called in alphabetical order, and next the Territories. Rule 2. Each State shall be entitled to double the number of its Senators and Representatives in.Congress according to the recent apportionment, and each Territory shall be entitled to two votes. The votes of each delegation shall be reported by its Chairman. Rule 3. The report of the Committee on Credentials shall be disposed of before the report of the Committee on Platform and Resolutions is acted upon, and the report of the Committee on Platform and Resolutions (-hall be disposed of before the Convention proceeds to the nomination of candidates for Presi- ident and Vice-President. Rule 4. In making- the nominations for President and Vice-President, in no case shall the calling of the roll be dispensed with. When it shall appear that any candidate has received the majority of the votes cast, the President of the Convention shall announce the question to be, "Shall the nomination of the candidate be made unanimous?" But if no candidate shall have re- ceived a majority of the votes the Chair shall direct the vote to be again taken, which shall be repeated until some candidate shall have received a ma- jority of the votes cast. Rule 5. When a majority of the delegates from any two States shall de- mand that a vote be recorded, the same shall be taken by States, the Secretary calling the roll of States in the order heretofore stated. Rur.E 0. In the record of the vote by States the vote of each State shall be announced by the Chairman; and in case the votes of any State shall be divided, the Chairman shall announce the number of votes cast for any candi- date or for or against any proposition. Rule 7. When the previous question shall be demanded by a majority of the delegation of any State, and the demand seconded by two or more States, and the call sustained by the majority of the Convention, the question shall then be proceeded with, and disposed of according to the rules of the House of Representatives in similar cases. Rule 8. No member shall spet k more than once upon the same question, nor longer than five minutes, unless by leave of the Convention, except that delegates presenting the name of a candididate thall be allowed ten minutes to present the name of such candidate. Rule 9. The rules of the House of Representatives shall be the rules of this Convention, so far as they are applicable and not inconsistent with the foregoing rules. Rule 10. A Republican National Committee shall be appointed, to con- sist of one member from each State, Territory and District represented in this Convention. The roll shall be called, and the delegation from each State, Territory and District shall name, through its Chairman, a person to act as a member of such committee. 310 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. will continue to be. Incapable of reform or improvement, it will always be unfit to direct or govern the nation. Third. In the so-called Liberal-Republican party 1 we find no attractive political virtue and no important distinctive principle. It is manifestly an organization created by per- sonal designs, and by feelings so embittered and intense that it is prepared and solicitous to form an alliance with the Democratic party, as the only possible method of accomplish- ing its narrow and unjustifiable purposes. This fact alone de- velops its true nature; and it requires no other to present it to the people as inherently base and ignoble, and altogether undeserving of their approval and support. Ninth. All tariff and internal taxation needed for the re- duction of the public debt and for the support of the govern- ment should be so adjusted as to bear with least weight upon the laboring classes, and to foster and encourage the indus- tries of the nation, which are the foundation of all national prosperity. i Speeches were heard from Geo. W. Carter, of Mississippi) ■n colonel in the confederate army; Paul Strobach, of Ala- bama, a naturalized German, who recited the details of how a Negro was killed and his wife burned at the stake, near his home, by the Democratic Ku-Klux Klans. Emory A. Storrs, of Illinois, John B. Henderson, of Missouri, John R. Lynch (colored) of Mississippi, and E. F. Noyes, of Ohio, also ad- dressed the convention. I The rules were now suspended in order to proceed with the nomination for President, and Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, "in the name of liberty, loyalty, justice and law," .nominated Ulysses S. Grant to be his own successor as Presi- dent of the United States. A wilderness of hats, caps, umbrellas and handkerchiefs and a roar of huzzas greeted the nomination. The band struck up a national air and an equestrian, portrait of Grant, heroic size and filling the entire rear end of the stage, was suddenly rolled down back of the speaker and band. When the applause had ceased the nomination was sec- onded by S. L. Woodford, of New York, and Marcus D. Boruck, of California. ^ Carl Schurz's pcrsonal-hatred-of-Grant party. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 311 The roll was then called and every one of the 752 votes to which the various States and territories were entitled, were cast for Grant. The announcement of this solid vote of the Republic for her great chieftain threw the assemblage into another paroxysm of enthusiastic excitement. The band, catching the infection, rendered "John Brown," "Rally Round the Flag" and "Yankee Doodle" with spirit. The entire audience joined with fervor in all the choruses, and repeated entire the thrilling battle-song under which so many of them had marched with Grant to victory — " Rally Round the Flag." Lucius B. Church, of Montana, being called for, ascended the platform and sang "The Red, White and Blue," as he sung it in 1860 at Chicago, before the nomination of Lincoln, the audience and band taking part in the chorus. He then sang " Marching Through Georgia," in which the crowd, still standing and waving hats and handkerchiefs, joined with redoubled fervor. Every heart was thrilled by the sub- limity of the occasion, and when the music died away, there was hardly a dry eye in the hall. In referring to the wonderful scene just described, in which the spirit and battle-songs of the Republican party, bursting from a thousand throats, were those also of the na- tion, it is impossible to refrain from contrasting it with the miserable meetings of the Democracy, who have no history that is a part of human progress, no songs that vibrate in unison with the anthems of freedom and the nation. The nomination of a Vice-President being next in order, Morton McMichael presented Henry Wilson, of Massachu- setts, who was seconded by Geo. B. Loring, of that State, Ossian Ray, of New Hampshire, and J. F. Quarles, of Georgia. R. W. Thompson, of Indiana, nominated Schuy- ler Colfax, seconded by W. A. Howard, of Michigan, J. R. Lynch, of Mississippi, Gerrit Smith, of New York, and Cortlandt Parker, of New Jersey. John F. Lewis, of Vir- 312 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. ginia, was presented by James B. Sener, of that State ; E. J. Davis, of Texas, by Webster Flanagan, of that State, and Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, by David A. Nunn, of that State. The ballot was then taken and resulted in the nom- ination of Wilson, by the following vote : States. OB o *i o3 bo © © A «H d a o b a © H OS «H O © 02 13 u c3 C & 03 Fh O w to S> 03 P 1-9 13 a 3 a ^3 s 03 w M X3 a OB 1-8 09 Alabama 20 12 12 12 6 8 22 42 30 22 10 24 16 14 16 26 22 10 16 30 6 6 10 18 70 20 44 6 58 8 14 24 16 10 22 10 20 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 12 12 12 6 "'&" 22 25 ""jo" 10 4 5 4 "**26" 27 2 6 10 "ie" 20 30 "58" 9*' 7 1 California Connecticut 6 6 3 Delaware Florida Illinois 17 30 3 Indiana Iowa Kansas 20 11 10 16 "22" 10 4 2 4 Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Mississippi 1 1 Nebraska Neva a New Jersey 18 53 1 Ohio 14 6 Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island 8 5 Tennessee 24 Texas 16 '"26" 9 15 " i" 2" i 10 2 1 5 2 1 2 2 2 Virginia West Virginia . Dakota District of Columbia Montana Utah 2 2 1 Wyoming Total 752 399H 308V4 26 16 1 1 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 313 The campaign which followed turned largely upon the de- plorable and bloody condition of the South. It was what the Democrats termed a "bloody-shirt" campaign. Grant's oppo- nent was Horace Greeley, who, having been for years the most radical and aggressive Republican in America, was suddenly, in one of those grotesque and incomprehensible freaks which that party periodically makes, taken up as the standard- bearer of the Democracy. Having winked at the secession theory after it had been defeated by the arbitration of arms, and given bail for Jefferson Davis, he felt certain he could be elected. Although the ides of November brought the overwhelm- ing re-election of Grant, the result was for some time after the campaign opened, in serious doubt. Charles Sumner, Carl Schurz and several other leading Republicans had turned back on the records of a life time, and were making unprec- edented assaults upon the administration. Many of the weaker members of the rank and file in the party were also announcing their adherence to Greeley's plan of peace, which, no matter how disguised, meant nothing less than the abandonment of all effort to restore the South to anything like the civil freedom of a Republican form of government. Jeremiah S. Black, a powerful leader of the Democracy, was actively opposing Grant, because, as he wrote to the Baltimore Gazette on August 6, 1872, the election of Greeley would "begin the process of the gradual extinction of the XlVth and XVth amendments of the Constitution, which," he said, "were frauds upon the spirit and letter of that instru- ment, inasmuch as they effected the worst outrage which it was made to prevent." Charles Sumner was at the same time urging the Negro Republicans to vote with Judge Black for Greeley because, under his administration, their rights would be better pro- tected than under that of Grant. 314 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Black wanted Greeley elected because it would wipe out the XIV and XV amendments, and Sumner wanted him elected because it would strengthe?i them. The candidacy itself of Greeley was the only feature of the campaign that exceeded this one in utter ridiculousness. The Southern Democrats, in armed bands called Kti-Klux, White Camelias, Pale-Faces, etc., were scouring the country and killing Republicans by the hundred, burning their houses, destroying their property, defying law and courts, and committing barbarities without number; Southern claims were multiplying apace, and there was an apparent general revival of the old rebel spirit throughout the South. This reign of anarchy and bloodshed turned Greeley's "shake-hands-across-the-bloody-chasm" business into the ver- iest babble of imbecility. The people couldn't swallow it, and Grant was elected by a vote that was practically unani- mous. He carried thirty-one States, but as the votes of Ar- kansas and Louisiana were not counted for either side, he was given the benefit of only twenty -nine — that is, 286 electoral votes, 300 including those of Arkansas and Louisiana. Poor Greeley was the victim of poetic justice. He had, by his great energy and patriotism, contributed more than any other man to kill the Democratic party and make a giant of Republicanism. And then, strange to relate, he stooped in his declining years to bring the old Bourbon corpse back to life, and was crushed in the very act by the giant nursed to greatness by himself and his Tribune. He went straight from his nomination at Cincinnati to the grave. GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. Grant first entered upon his administration of public af- fairs in the face of extraordinary difficulties. Soldiers were to be paid and pensioned in accordance with the principles of equity; an enormous war-tax was to be modified and ad- justed to the ways of peace; public credit was to be strength- ened; our securities and paper money must be brought to HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 815 par; the Southern States were to be further and fully recon- structed; an unparalleled reign of terror and assasination by the Southern Democracy was to be checked; the floods of fraudulent claims from the South were to be exposed and re- sisted; the amendments of the Constitution must be upheld; payment of the enormous war-debt must be provided for — in short, the strained and high-pressure condition of private business and public affairs must be brought back to the calm, steady flow of peace, and that, too, without destructive shock or disturbance. Choosing his counsellors, he set about accomplishing these things with that quiet determination which always characterized his victorious generalship of the federal armies. The second clause of the XIV article of amendment did not make Negro suffrage absolutely imperative. It became apparent that some of the States would therefore soon dis- franchise the blacks formally, as they already had practically,, and just before Grant took his seat the XV article was pro- posed in Congress. He favored its adoption, it was adopted, and on the 30th of March, 1870, he declared it in force. It was ratified by the legislatures of Alabama, Arkansas, Con- necticut, Florida , Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mis- sissippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin — 30. Georgia and Ohio first rejected, but finally ratified the amendment, and New York rescinded her ratification. The amendment was rejected by California,. Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey and Oregon — 6 — and no final action was taken by Tennessee. The civil status of the Negro being now fixed, the white Democrats of the South, encouraged by Northern Democratic statesmen and newspapers, organized into secret bands to prevent the blacks from voting, holding office or earning a 316 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. livelihood. These bands, known as Ku-Klux Klans and by various other names, engaged in general midnight assassin- ation, controlled and directed by such leading Democrats as Gen. N. B. Forrest, for the avowed purpose of exterminating all Republicans in that section, white and black. Therefore the famous sentence — "Let us have peace"— with which Grant ended his first letter of acceptance, could not be carried into practical effect; for while he sat in the White House, his eye dwelt upon a more dreadful state of affairs in the South than existed while he was leading the Union army over that prostrate and lacerated section. He grappled with the matter in a manner at once brave and firm, and, as far as possible, made use of the army and other federal powers to protect the Negroes. As several thousand blacks were assassinated during Grant's adminis- tration in spite of his efforts to save them, it would be diffi- cult to conceive what wholesale slaughter would have fol- lowed a policy less strong and determined than his. While the great captain occupied the White House, the Alabama claims against Great Britain, founded on the fact that the English were active sympathizers and aiders of the secessionists, were adjusted, and the sum of $15,500,000 dam- ages secured. * The enormous frauds of the whisky-ring were also discovered and broken up, and several men high in public place and confidence punished; the public debt was steadily reduced; the faith of the nation was pledged anew to pay the national debt in full in strict accordance with the original intent; the vast territory of Alaska was annexed to Washingion Territory as a county; to a large extent the Ku- Klux Klans, White Camelias and other Democratic bands of midnight assassins in the South were broken up; the force bill and civil rights bill, for the benefit and protection of the 1 By the treaty of Washington, ratified by the United States on May 24, 1871, arbitrators were appointed by Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States to examine and decide upon these claims. The award was made on September 14, 1873, at Geneva, Switzerland. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 31 T Negroes, were enacted; thousands of pensions were adjusted and paid; other thousands of fraudulent claims from the South were examined and rejected; the standing army was reduced; the pensions for soldiers were increased in various ways three or more times; railways were built and new ter- ritory opened up to settlers; all soldiers were given home- steads; the great asylums for disabled volunteers were opened; Benj. F. Butler's inflation bills were vetoed; civil service to a certain extent was inaugurated; a special amnesty bill was passed; the resumption law was enacted; the Sumner sup- plementary civil rights bill became a law; the Centennial Ex- position was prepared for and held; the San Domingo an- nexation scheme was disposed of; the complex election troubles of Louisiana and other Southern States were partial- ly straightened out and the reconstruction acts of Congress and the legal-tender notes were declared valid and constitu- tional. Grant's administration covered eight years of prosperity and advancement. 318 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. CHAPTER XXVI. CONVENTION OF 1876-ADMINISTRATION OF R. B. HAYES. The Delegates Meet at Cincinnati on June 14 — Speech of Theo. M Pomeroy — Lists of Committees — Permanent Organization — Equal Suffrage and Kindred Subjects — The Chinese Que s! ion Discussed — Vote on the Anti-Chinese Resolution— Presentations of Candi- dates— Robt. G. Ingersoll's Glowing Speech— The Seven Ballots for Presidential Candidates — R. B. Hayes Chosen — Conkling De- feated Blaine — Wm. A. Wheeler for Vice President — A Notifica- tion Committee — The Strength of Hayes Increases Day by Day — Samuel J. Tilden and Anti-Resumption — Close Results of the Elec- tion—Civil Strife Feared and Threatened— The Electoral Commis- sion — It Declares Hayes Duly Elected — Administration of R. B. Hayes — Resumption of Specie Payments — Refunding the Na- tional Debt — Important Achievements. In conformity with the usual notice by the national com- mittee, the delegates to the Sixth National Republican Con- vention met at Cincinnati on Wednesday, June 14, 1876, and were called to order by Edwin D. Morgan with an address appropriate to the centennial year, recounting with pardon- able pride and eloquence the giant growth and achievements of tbe Republic, and especially its advance under Republican rule. He then nominated Theodore M. Pomeroy, of New York r as temporary chairman, who, upon being unanimously chosen, was escorted to the chair by H. P. Baldwin, of Michigan, and Charles C. VanZandt, of Rhode Island. Mr. Pomeroy'& speech was one of power, and elicited hearty applause. Among other things he said: HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 319 The Republican party can not continue to live by reason of its splendid achievements in the past, nor the Democratic party expect to be returned to power upon its glittering promises of reform in the future. The former party has but to present men representative of its principles; the latter must discover both its principles and its men. In for- mer days, when party ties were firmer, when the imme- diate pressure of impending national calamity hedged us about and compelled party fidelity, the platform carried along the man, whomsoever he might be. Party ties are looser now, and no platform is buoyant enough to float an unworthy can- didate. The necessity for the continuance of the administrative policy of the Republican party, while not so apparent in im- mediate results, is as commanding respecting future conse- quences as at any time in its history. We are told that it has accomplished its mission, and, therefore, has no longer claim to live. Well, if it has, and the time for its dissolution has come, it can die triumphantly, like the apostle of old, ex- claiming. "I have fought a good fight; I have kept the faith." It has fulfilled many missions. It fulfilled the mis- sion of its birth in neutralizing the disastrous effects of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, in saving freedom to the great territories of the North-west, and in bringing California into the sisterhood of States undefined by slavery and adorned like a bride in the glitter of her golden promise. It fulfilled the mission of its youth in accepting the "irrepressible con- flict," and it was a mission worth living for to have saved a nationality like ours; to have freed 4,000,000 slaves and raised them to the dignity of American citizenship, and to have reconstructed the federal Constitution so as to place the liberties of the citizen and the credit of the nation upon foundations strong enough to endure anything except the im- becility of a Democratic administration. On motion of David Atwood, of Wisconsin, Irving M. Bean, of that State, and H. H. Bingham, of Pennsylvania, were elected temporary secretaries, and on motion of W. A. Howard, of Michigan, Gen. E. W. Hincks, of Wisconsin, was chosen sergeant-at-arms. The usual committees were then appointed as follows: 320 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. STATES. Arkansas . Arizona.. . California. Conn Colorado.. Dakota Delaware.. Georgia. .. Indiana ... Illinois Iowa Idaho Kansas — Kentucky. Louisiana. Maine Maryland . Mass Michigan.. Minnesota Mississippi Missouri . . Montana.. Nebraska.. Nevada . . . N. Hamp. N. Jersey. New York. N.Carolina N.Mexico. Ohio Oregon Penn R. Island.. S. Carolina Texas Tennessee Utah Vermont. . Virginia . . W. Virg'a. Wisconsin. Washing' n Wyoming . CREDENTIALS. O. P. Snyder. De F. Porter. N.D.Rideout. Joseph Selden. J. B. Chaffee. Alex. Hughes. James Scott. James Atkins. Asbury Steele. G. S. Bangs. J. T. Baldwin. D.P.Thompson. A. H. Horton. J. W. Finnell. Chas. E.Nash. SethL.Millikin. John T. Ensor. John E.Sanford. Geo. Hannahs. W. G. Ward. R. C. Powers. M. A. Rosenblatt W. F. Sanders. L. W. Osborn. C. N. Harris. Alonzo Nute. Wm. J. Magie. Thos. C. Piatt. James Heaton. Wm.P.Breeden. Wm. H. Upson. J. B. David. Wm. S. Quay. Henry Howard. S. A. S wails. J. P. Newcomb A.G. Sharp. G. A. Black. W. G. Veazie. J.F.Dezendorf. Nathan Goff, Jr. David Atwood. T. T. Minor. Wm. Hinton. RULES AND BUSINESS. R. A. Dawson. De F. Porter. J. M. Pierce. J. T. Rockwell. Geo. W.Morgan. Alex. Hughes. J. H. Hoffecker J. F. Long. T. M. Browne. H. S Baker. S. M. Clarke. Austin Savage. A. J. Banta. T.O.Shakleford. G. B. Hamlet. James M. Stone. Wm. Perkins. Wm. T. Davis. W H Withington John T. Ames. J. J. Spellman. H. E. Havens. B. H. Tatem. R. G. Brown. R. S. Clapp. Thos. C.Rand. J. H. Kendrick. W. L. Sessions. R. M. Norment. W. P.Breeden. J. T.Updegraff. J. H. Foster. John Cessna. I.F.Williams. Robert Smalls. Richard Allen. W.Y.Elliott. J. B. McKean. F E Woodbridge J. F. Lewis. J. E. Schley. R. L.D. Potter. Elwood Evans. J. M. Carey. RESOLUTIONS. C. C. Waters. R C McCormick Chas. F. Reed. J. R. Hawley. J. B. Belford. A. McHench. Eli R. Sharp. H. M. Turner. R.W.Thompson C. B. Far well. Hiram Price. Austin Savage. T. D. Thacher. James Speed. Henry Dumas. N. Dingley, Jr. L. H. Steiner. E. L. Pierce. H. P. Baldwin. J. B. Wakefield. C. W. Clarke. R T. VanHorn. W. F. Sanders. N. R. Pinney. J. P. Jones. Chas. H. Burns. Fred. A. Potts. Chas. E. Smith. R. C. Badger. S. B. Axtell. Ed. C.Cowles. H. K. Hines. E. McPherson. Charles Nourse. DHChamberlain E. J. Davis. A. A. Freeman. J. B. McKean. G. H. Bigelow. Wm. Miller. J. W. Davis. Jas. H. Howe. Elwood Evans. W. Hinton. PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. M. W.Benjamin RC McCormick. L. H. Foote. Sam. Fessenden John L. Routt. A. McHench. J.R.Lofland. Edwin Belcher. K. G. Shryock. G. B. Raum. W. G. Donnan. D.P.Thompson. D. P. Lowe. J. J. Landrum. S. B. Packard. John L.Stevens. Joseph Pugh. Geo. B. Loring. D. L. Filer. J. L. Merriam. J. T. Settle. George Bain. W. F. Sanders. C. F. Bayha. Frank Bell. B. F. Whidden G. A. Hobart. Wm. Orton. W. H. Wheeler. W. P. Breeden. R. P.Buckland. H. K. Hines. Chas. Albright. J.M.Pendleton. HGWorthingt'n S. H. Russell. Edward Shaw. G. A. Black. W. C. French. Ross Hamilton. T. H. Logan. Geo. C. Ginty. T. T. Minor. J. M. Carey. While these committees were out, J. A. Mason, of New York, offered a resolution favoring universal suffrage with- out regard to sex; Geo. Wm. Curtis presented an address of the Republican Reform Club of New York; Abram J. Dit- tenhcefer offered the resolutions of the German Republican Convention of New York, and speeches were made by John A. Logan, of Illinois, J. R. Hawley, of Connecticut, Henry Highland Garnett, of New York, W. A. Howard, of Michi- gan and Frederick Douglass, of Washington. The report ol the committee on permanent organization was as follows: HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 321 President — Edward McPherson, of Pennsylvania. Secretary — Irving M. Bean, of Wisconsin. STATES. VICE-PRESIDENTS . ASSISTANT SECRETARIES. Arkansas M. W. Gibbs H. M. Cooper California George S. Evans Isaac Hfcht Colorado Henry McAllister W. B. Osborn Connecticut Martin J. Sheldon John A. Tibbitts Delaware David W. Moore John H. Hoffecker Georgia K. L. Mott J. T. Collins John I. Rinakcr James S. Frazer W. T. Shaw Thos. A. Boyd L. Noble Indiana Iowa J. D. Hunter Wil.iam Martindale E. It. Weer Kentr.cky T. E. Burns Louisiana George Y. Kelso W. G. Brown Maine. J. B. Brown C. A. Boutelle Maryland James A Gary F. M. Darby Massachusetts... P. A. Chadbourne Smith H. Phillips Michigan Henry P. Baldwin B. D. Pritchard Minnesota L. Bogen R. B. Langdon Mississippi M. Shaughnessey J. A. Hoskins Missouri G. A . Finkelnburg DanielS. Twitchell Nebraska H. S Kaley R. G. Brown Nevada Thomas Wren C. N. Harris New Hampshire.. E. A. Straw Geo. W. Marston New Jersey William A. Newell James N. Stratton New York Marshall 0. Roberts James W.Husted North Carolina. .. James H. Harris T. M. Owen Ohio .. Benjamin F. Wade L.J. Critchfleld Oregon J. H. Foster J. B. David Pennsylvania — J. Smith Fulhey Henry H. Bingham Rhode Island Henry Howard Edward L. Freeman South Carolina... R. H. Gleaves Wm. J. McKinley Tennessee Horace H Harrison J. T. Wilder Texas A. B. Norton Adolph Zadck Vermont George Howe Mason S Colburn Virginia R. H. Carter W. N Stevens West Virginia W.E. Stevenson Z. D. Ramsdell Wisconsin James Bintliff De Forest Porter Alexander Hughes R. C. McCormick Dakota Andrew McHench Idaho Austin Savage D. P. Thompson Montana B< njamin H. Tatem Samuel B. Axtell W. F. Sanders New Mexico William Breeden Utah James B. McKean Ellwood Evans George A. Black Washington T. T. Minor Wyoming William Hinton J. M. Carey The proceedings of the second day began with some re- marks by Mrs. Sarah J. Spencer, on equal suffrage. She pleaded eloquently to have the Republican party adopt equal suffrage as a part of its creed, and presented a memorial of similar import from Susan B. Anthony, in behalf of the National Woman's Suffrage Association. The report of the committee on rules was then adopted, which was the same as that given in the proceedings of the convention of 1872. 322 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. When the report of the committee on resolutions came up for adoption, an animated discussion arose over the eleventh section, relating to the free immigration of Chinese. The clause was opposed as un-American and contrary to the Dec- laration of Independence, by E. L. Pierce, of Massachusetts, and Geo. Wm. Curtis, of New York; and was championed by S. B. Axtell, of New Mexico, John P. Jones, of Nevada, and James B. Belford, of Colorado. The convention refused to strike it out by the following vote : States. Aye. Alabama 10 Arkansas 8 California — Colorado — Connecticut 5 Hela/w are 2 Florida — Georgia 7 Illinois 2 Indiana 10 Iowa 13 Kansas — Kentucky 14 Louisiana 5 Maine 6 Maryland 15 Massachusetts 20 Michigan 6 Minnesota — Mississippi 11 Missouri 12 Nebraska — Nevada — New Hampshire 2 New Jersey — No. 10 4 12 6 States. - Aye. New York 30 North Carolina 3 Ohio Oregon 7 Pennsylvania. 4|Rhode I«l ind. 18 South Carolina Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Arizona Dakota District of Columbia. Idaho Montana New Mexico Utah Washington Wyoming No. 35 17 25 6 — 58 5 3 14 — 2 22 16 4 6 — 22 3 7 P.) — 2 — 2 Totals 215 532 It being now in order to present candidates for the Pres- idency, the roll of States was called. Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, was nominated by R. W. Thompson, of that State, and seconded by P. B. S. Pinch- back, of Louisiana. Benjamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, was presented by John M. Harlan, of that State, and seconded by Luke P. Poland, of Vermont, Geo. Wm. Curtis, of New York and Richard H. Dana, of Massachusetts. James G. Blaine, of Maine, was nominated by Robert G. Ingersoll, of Illinois, and seconded by Henry M. Turner (colored) of Georgia, and Wm. P. Frye, of Maine. HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 323 Roscoe Conkling, of New York, was brought forward by- Stewart L. Woodford, of that State. Kutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, was nominated by Ed. F. Noyes, and seconded by B. F. Wade, of the same State, Au- gustus St. Gem, of Missouri, and J. W. Davis, of West Vir- ginia. John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, was presented by Linn Bartholomew, of that State. The three remarkable speeches were those in favor of Mr. Blaine. That of Ingersoll is still famous; 1 that of Turner (colored) was conspicuous for its rhetorical finish and that of Frye for startling force. The condition of the Republican party was more factional than it had ever been. Disappointed politicians, from which no party is ever free, wanted one candidate, the "Reformers" another, and the anti-Grant men another; while the masses were largely for Blaine. Under such circumstances, the bal- loting for a candidate began on Friday morning June, 16, and resulted : 1 Mr. Ingersoll closed thus : Our country, crowned by the vast and marvelous achievements of its first century, asks for a man worthy of her past and prophetic of her future ; asks for a man who has the audacity of genius ; asks for a man who has the grandest combination of heart, conscience and brain the world ever saw. That man is James G. Blaine. For the Republican hosts, led by this intrepid man there can be no such thing as defeat. This is a grand year,— a year filled with the recollections of the Revolution; filled with proud and tender memories of the sacred past: filled with the legends of liberty; a year in which the sons of freedom will drink from the fountain of enthusi- asm; a year in which the people call for the man who has preserved in Con- gress what their soldiers won upon the field; a year in Avhich they call for the man who has torn from the throat of treason the tongue of slander; the man who has snatched the mask of Democracy from the hideous face of the Rebel- lion ; the man who, like the intellectual arthlete, hath stood in the arena of debate challenging all comers, and who up to the present moment is a total stranger to defeat. Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen forehead of every traitor to his country and every maligner of his fair reputation. For the Republican party to desert that gallant man now is as though an army should desert their general upon the field of battle. James G. Blaine is now and has been for years the bearer of the sacred standard of the Republican party. I call it sacred, because no human being can stand beneath its folds without be- coming and without remaining free. Gentlemen of the Convention : In the name of the great Republic, the only Republic that ever existed upon the face of the earth ; in the name of all her defenders and of all her supporters ; in the name of all her soldiers living ; in the name of aU. her soldiers that died upon the field of battle ; and in the name of those that perished in the skeleton clutch of famine at Andersonville and Libby, whose sufferings he so vividly remembers, —Illi- nois— Illinois nominates for the next President of this country that prince of parliamentarians, that leader of leaders, James G.Blaine. -20 324 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 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