The Rebellion: Its Authors and Causes-- Part 2: A Peace Conference Before the War

Joshua Giddings met Abraham Lincoln in 1847 when he was a Congressman from Ohio.  During the Lincoln administration, Giddings was the spy chief and was killed in Montreal in 1864.

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When the Whig Party split up, the northern ones became moderate Republicans which were offset by the Radical republicans.  In the South, those Whigs became Moderate Democrats.

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British players in the American Civil War were Lord Richard Lyons and Queen Victoria.

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There was a little-known Peace Conference from January to early March 1861, but on January 12 Seward shot it down.  Six states left the Union the same day he gave his speech and now there were , with the original one, South Carolina, seven seceded states.

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On February 26, 1861, it was proposed that owners would be compensated for runaway slaves.

--Old Secesh

Nebraska in the Civil War-- Part 1: Anti-Slavery

From Wikipedia.

Nebraska was a territory during the Civil War and did not achieve statehood until March 1, 1867 (157 years ago this month).  Even so, Nebraska did contribute to the war.

Nebraska Territory was largely rural and unsettled, at the edge of the American Frontier.  The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 has established the 40th parallel as the dividing line between Kansas and Nebraska.  It had also repealed the Missouri Compromise which had allowed  settlers in those territories to determine if they wanted slavery or not.

Anti-Secession feelings  ran high in the Nebraska Territory.  Seward County was originally named Greene County, but after Colton Greene pitched his lot in with the Confederacy, the county was renamed after Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward.

--Old Secesh

John Yates Beall-- Part 6: Did Beall's Execution Lead to the Lincoln Assassination?

There is a legend discussed by Lloyd Lewis that Lincoln was approached by John Wilkes Booth, who was a friend of Beall's, to save his life.

The president agreed to save Beall, but changed his mind when he was approached by Secretary of State William H. Seward who insisted that Beall's activities had been dangerous to citizens of the New York  (Seward's home state).

Supposedly, as the legend goes, an enraged John Wilkes Booth then determined to kill Lincoln and Seward for this betrayal after Beall was executed.

An Interesting Story, But Doubtful.  --Old Secesh

Emancipation Proclamation Copy Signed By Lincoln At Auction-- Part 2

Continued from April 23, 2018.

This is one of the copies sold at the Great Central Fair in 1864 in Philadelphia.  The original Emancipation Proclamation is in the National Archives.  Several other of the Great Central Fair copies exist.

These copies are known as the "Authorized Edition" of the Emancipation Proclamation and are signed by Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward.  The authorized edition was as close to the original as it could get and made for use as a fundraising item.

Entrepreneurs Charles Leland and George Boker came up with the idea.  They had 498copies made for the Great Central Fair in Philadelphia in 1864.

--Old Secesh

Emancipation Proclamation Signed By Lincoln At Auction-- Part 3

Abraham Lincoln was a big supporter of the United States Sanitary Commission for whom the Great Central Fair was raising money and had previously donated a n autographed item.  Leland and Boker had corresponded with Lincoln's private secretary John Nicolay for an authorized version of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Both were fervent abolitionists.

The "Authorized Edition" of 48 copies also had Nicolay's signature.  The original only had Lincoln and Seward sign it.

Imagine Making $2 Million for a $10 Investment?  --Old Secesh

Lincoln and Seward-- Part 6: Dealing With France and Mexico and Accomplishments After Lincoln's Death.

From the  McHenry County Civil War Round Table.

The British, for their part, would stop construction of any "suspicious ship."  It slowed up construction on the ram "Stonewall" to the point that it arrived into Confederate service too late.  The other Laird ram was sold to Egypt.

Then there was the diplomatic problem of the French, with Emperor Maximillian in Mexico.  This was clearly a flouting of the Monroe Doctrine figuring the United States would be too busy with the Civil War to do much about it.

Lincoln and Seward determined that it would fall apart of its own accord and determined to just sit it out and not send troops or put pressure on it.

Their efforts in foreign policy paid off.  No foreign country intervened or ever recognized the Confederacy.

William Seward continued to serve the country after Lincoln's death.  He bought Alaska from the Russians, negotiated a treaty with Nicaragua to build the canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.  He also established an Open Door policy with China and worked on making Midway Island and Hawaii U.S. territories in the Pacific.

Our speaker had mentioned that Seward was wealthy and even had three slaves before he went to Washington.  I asked what became of the slaves and found out that after New York freed slaves they became house servants.

--Old Secesh

Lincoln and Seward-- Part 5: Foreign Involvement

From the March8, 2016, McHenry County Civil War Round Table.

Seward wanted Lincoln to only make his Emancipation Proclamation after a major Union victory.  There was big fear as to its impact on the border states which still had slaves..  Plus, most Northerners did nor like slaves  There was also a fear of a possible and bloody slave insurrection.

The Russian fleet visiting New York in 1863, was also a political move.  Britain and France were calling for mediation between the Confederacy and the Union.  Mediation might be construed as recognition of the Confederacy.  The Russian fleet signaled their support of the Union.

Another issue between the United States and England were the British-built Confederate commerce raiders of which there were six, the most famous being the CSS Alabama, Florida and Shenandoah.

Seward got a bill to authorize U.S. privateers to stop Confederate ships and even British and French commerce.

--Old Secesh

Lincoln and Seward-- Part 4: A Question of Aristocracy, Cotton and Slavery

Mason Slidell was a strong advocate of slavery and an author of the Fugitive Slave Law.  England was anti-slavery at the time.

However, England viewed the Confederacy as an aristocracy since the rich plantation owners ran most of it.  Pl;us, the U.S. was fast becoming a serious threat to British power and a challenge in democracy.  British commoners generally, however, supported the North.

The Confederacy considered cotton as a vital aspect of getting England's recognition and even put an embargo on it to force its hand.  However, cotton was found from other sources and England textile mills continued operating.

Slavery was the main reason England never recognized the Confederacy.  It had been abolished in the country in 1772 and in the Empire it became illegal in 1833.

--Old Secesh

Death of Lincoln This Date, 1865-- Part 2: Where Was George Parker, Lincoln's Bodyguard?

4.  WHY WASN'T VICE PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON ATTACKED?

George Atzerodt was to go to the Kirkwood House hotel where the vice president lived and kill him.  But he lost his nerve.  he had even rented the room above Johnson's and had a loaded pistol.

5.  HOW DID SECRETARY OF STATE SEWARD SURVIVE DESPITE HAVING HIS THROAT STABBED 2 OR 3 TIMES?

Assassin Lewis Powell gained entry to Seward's house, where the Secretary of State was recuperating from a carriage accident.  Seward's son, Frederick was seriously wounded defending his father.  William Seward's metal surgical collar protected him.

6.  WHERE WAS LINCOLN'S BODYGUARD?

Hard to imagine just one bodyguard protecting a president in this day and age.  But, Lincoln did have one, John Parker, who initially left his post at the box door to watch the play and then went to the saloon next door for intermission.  This was the same saloon in which John Wilkes Booth was drinking.  No one knows where Parker was during the actual assassination, but he sure wasn't at the door to the box.

7.  WHERE WAS THE SECRET SERVICE?

It didn't exist then.  However, Lincoln had just signed a bill creating it the night before he was assassinated.

--Old Secesh

Lincoln and Seward-- Part 3: Foreign Relations and a Blockade

Talk given to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table on March 8, 2016.

In his new job as Secretary of State, the early days were intense.  There was the definite chance there might come wars with Spain, France or England, either individually or all together.  Seward went so far as to envision a war against one of these countries being good as it might very well unite the country against a common foe.

At home, Seward wanted Fort Sumter abandoned and Fort Pickens reinforced.  He feared that the undecided Southern states of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia might secede and join the Confederacy if Lincoln reinforced Fort Sumter.

Then there came the question of declaring a blockade on the Confederacy.  A blockade involves international law and implies an act between two belligerents and not an internal insurrection as the Lincoln government deemed it.  The wording of the declaration had to be changed to become a proclamation in the nature of a blockade.  This was one reason that England and France declared their neutrality.

But, Britain declared a process of belligerency in effect, the first step in recognition.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table-- Part 2: Lincoln and Seward, Seward Becomes Secretary of State

William Seward's wife, Frances refused to leave home in Albany, New York, so they spent most years corresponding.  William was almost always away from home in his career.

At the 1860 Republican Convention, Seward was considered a shoo-in for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party.  He was definitely very presidential material.  The Republican party was a fusion of Whigs, Western Democrats, Abolitionists, Free Soil and Know-Nothings.  And Seward had made plenty of enemies.

To most, he was too strong in his anti-slavery stand.  The Abolitionist considered him too moderate.  On the third ballot, Ohio's Salmon Chase was offered a position in a Lincoln administration and Lincoln won.

Lincoln was somewhat of a dark horse, but ended up with the nomination.  Seward, not happy, but he manned up and campaigned heavily for Lincoln.  He spoke on Lincoln's behalf in 15 states and territories and Lincoln carried everyone of those except Missouri.

Abraham Lincoln offered William Seward the job of Secretary of State in his new government.  Seward accepted.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Presentation-- Part 1: Lincoln and Seward, Far From Compatible

Presentation given March 8, 2016, to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table.

Tom Gavigam used to teach at Roosevelt University and is former president of the Northern Illinois Civil War Round Table and presented a look at Lincoln and Seward.

He described them as quite the Odd Couple in foreign affairs.  They were far from compatible with each other., but eventually became good friends as Seward was Lincoln's Secretary of State.

Seward recommended the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Maryland secession crisis and ran it until Stanton took over in 1862. Many Marylanders suspected of being Southern sympathizers were arrested.

Seward was instrumental in raising the 300,000 troops after McClellan's failed Peninsular Campaign and did so on the sly.

Lincoln's Secretary of State was eight years older than Lincoln and from a prosperous family and even owned three slaves in New York until abolition occurred there.  Seward was college educated (Union College) and had formal law studies as well as considerable political experience, serving as a New York state senator, governor and U.S. senator.

Both Lincoln and Seward loved to tell stories and jokes and both had unusual wits.

--Old Secesh

Lincoln's Blood Relics-- Part 11: Booth's Arsenal

Booth's Deringer used that night is just one of several arms he purchased for his March 1865 plot to kidnap the president and soon deployed in his plot to kill Lincoln.  He also had two Colt revolvers and a Spencer repeating carbine with him when he was killed.

he had issued a  revolver and knife to George Atzerodt who was supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson.  (Atzerodt got drunk and ran away, throwing the blade into the street and selling the pistol at a Georgetown shop.)

Booth lent a knife and Whitney revolver to Lewis Powell who made a bloody but failed attempt to kill Secretary of State William Seward.  (Powell broke the pistol on the skull of one of Seward's sons and used the knife to stab Seward nearly to death, along with several other members of the household.)

Along with his Deringer, Booth also carried into Ford's Theatre a Rio Grande camp knife which he used to stab Lincoln's guest, Major Henry Rathbone, in the theater box, and which, after he leapt onto the, he thrust above his head for all the audience to see as he shouted, "Sic Semper Tyrannis" (Thus always to tyrants").

The audience was too far away to read the mottoes acid etched onto the blood-smeared blade: "Land of the Free/Home of the Brave"; "Liberty/Independence."

--Old Secesh

Seward's Plan to Avoid Civil War

From the March 8, 2014, Listverse "10 Totally Bizarre Plans to Win Wars" by Marc V.

In short, Secretary of War William Seward's plan was to start a forign war to short-circuit the American Civil War. During the Southern State Secession crisis of 1861, Seward wrote Lincoln and urged him to get the Union into a war with a foreign country, especially France and Spain, who had surely done things that could provoke a war between them and the United States.

This would cause the Southern states to rejoin the fold to fight them.

It never came to pass.

I Wonder If That Would Have Kept the Southern States in the Union.  --Old Secesh