The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

United States Government, 1862

UNITED STATES. 1862 The prosperity and growth of the United States during the ten years ending in June, 1860, exceeded in proportion that of any previous period of ten years since the organization of the Government. The labors of compiling the census returns have become so arduous that portions are published from time to time as the work progresses. The enumeration of the people and the collection of the other statistics required the services of sixty-four marshals, and 4,417 assistants. The compensation paid to them was $1,045,206, less $207,000 still due officers in the seceded States. In the compilation of the returns there are employed in the Census Bureau 168 clerks and 16 messengers, laborers, and watchmen.

Though the number of States has increased during the ten years ending in 1860, from thirty-one to thirty-four, and five new Territories were organized, the United States received no accessions of territory within that period except a narrow strip to the southward of the Colorado river, along the Mexican line, not yet inhabited. Good health generally prevailed, peace reigned, and there was no apparent interruption to the natural progress of the population. The increase was greater by more than one million of souls than the whole population in 1810, and nearly as great as the entire number of people in 1820. The gross returns of the population are to be found in this "Cyclopaedia" for 1861. The returns, by sexes, and other details, are as follows:

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POPULATION, DISTINGUISHED BY COLOE, CONDITION, AND SEX, 1850 AND 1860.

Maine New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland District of Columbia. Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas Arkansas Tennessee Kentucky Ohio Michigan Indiana Illinois Wisconsin Minnesota Iowa Missouri Kansas California Oregon Washington Nevada Utah New Mexico Colorado Nebraska Dakota Total.. •290.745 Maine New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New York New Jersey Pennsylvania Delaware Maryland District of Columbia. Virginia North Carina South Carolina Georgia Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas Arkansas Tennessee Kentucky Ohio Michigan Indiana * Including taxed Indians and Chinese as follows: Maine, 5; Vermont, 20; Massachusetts, 82; Rhode Island, 19; Connecticut, 16; New York, 140; Pennsylvania, 7; Virginia, 112; North Carolina, 1,158; South Carolina, 88; Georgia, 88; Florida, I; Alabama, 160; Mississippi, 2; Louisiana, 173; Texas, 403; Arkansas, 48; Tennessee, 60; Kentucky,83; Ohio, 80; Michigan, 2;515; Indiana, 290; Illinois, 82; Wisconsin, 1.017; Minnesota, 2,369; Iowa, 65; Missouri, 20; Kansas, 189; California, 87,908 (Including 28,140 Chinese); Oregon, 177; Washington, 426; Utah, 89; New Mexico, 10,507; Nebraska, 63: Dakota, 2.261: District of Columbia, 1: total, 60,469, of whom 87.829 were Indians and 23,140 Chinese, and 42,078 males and 18,391 (7,249 of both races in California) females.

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Such are the important facts furnished by the census of 1860, so far as they have been compiled. The political action of the United States in 1862 is the next topic to be considered.

Perhaps a brief summary of the opinions which had existed, the declarations which had been made, and the measures which had been adopted up to the close of 1861, will greatly assist in forming a correct view of the course of the Government in 1862, relative to the war, which was the great and absorbing subject of its action. The measures and disputes which resulted in war, all had reference to the existence of slavery in the Southern States. The Federal Government was conducted by those who were mixed up in these measures and disputes on the one side, and the Confederate Government by those involved in them on the other. The opinion entertained by Southern statesmen previous to the difficulties was that the Constitution of the United States protected the institution of slavery in the States, in so far as it withheld from the Government all power to interfere with the institutions of the States, as it required the Government to restore fugitives, as it gave a representation in Congress based upon their numbers, and as all direct taxes were to be estimated on a basis including this population.

Those known as radical abolitionists in the Northern States held the same opinion relative to the Constitution of the United States, and for this reason they denounced it as "a covenant with death and a league with hell." In their view disunion immediate and complete was the only feasible means by which to be released from its obligations. Those known as anti-slavery men had a distinct political organization, and took a position in the rear of the former. They held a similar opinion relative to the powers of the Federal Government over the institutions of the States, but devoted Page 787 their efforts to defeat the operations of the law for the recovery of fugitives, to aid the slave in escaping from his servitude, to thwart on every occasion, if possible, all measures tending to promote the interests of slaveholders, and to persuade persons tenderly conscientious, that slavery was a sin which it was their duty to exterminate, and that the black man was the equal of the white man. The remainder of the people held the same opinion on the powers of the Federal Government over the institutions of the States. Indeed, it may be said there was not a dissentient opinion on that subject. But while the great mass of the people in the Northern States held these views they also considered that slavery was an institution abolished as profitless at the North, and, therefore, one in which they had no concern.

The thoughtful reader will see that hero were the seeds of a dissolution of the Union of the States. So long as the persons of antislavery or abolition views were few and insignificant, they remained in obscurity, but if the hour should ever come in which they should hold the control of the Federal Government, it would involve a concession on their part, or on that of the slaveholders, or a rupture. There was nothing to encourage the patriotic citizen to hope that concessions would be made if this hour of fate should ever come. The antislavery men of the Northern States and the slaveholding citizens of the Southern States quickly grew to be antagonists, and their differences and disputes were conducted with the most bitter and vindictive denunciations to be found in human language. On the floor of Congress members from the Northern States, holding high positions for intelligence and piety, denounced the slaveholding citizens of the Southern States as "bartering their own children," as "dealing in the image of God," as "buying and selling the souls of men," as "making merchandise of the Holy Ghost."* The reply to such expressions was "contemptible fanatic," &c, &c.

Meanwhile the anti-slavery sentiment grew apace, and there became enough who held those views to control State elections, by acting as a third party, and thus in one instance to control the vote of a great State at a Presidential election, which was thereby decided. The progress of these views now was more rapid; slavery was attacked in both Senate and House of Congress at every assailable point. To satisfy the scruples of the citizen who knew his duty of non-interference under the Constitution, and the stings of a conscience called to act under a belief that citizenship with a slaveholder was sin, the principle of a "higher law " was proclaimed which relieved the conscience from the obligations of the Federal Constitution. The progress of anti-slavery views now was rapid. One of the great political parties. See speeches of Horace Mann, successor to Ex-President John Quincy Adams, and others. of the country was demoralized and broken up, and an anti-slavery candidate for the Presidency brought forward who carried every free State but four, and thus was almost successful. Four years of bitter anti-slavery contests ensued in which the object was to defeat the extension of slavery to any Territory by preventing the creation of any authority for its existence there. This was to be done by a direct prohibition by Congress, as some urged, or by absolute non-interference by Congress, but by the decision of the settlers Meantime, the slaveholders were told that the contest was "irrepressible," that it would go on, from the very nature of the question, until nil the States became free, or all became slaveholding. At length, by the Presidential election of 1860, the administration of the Federal Government was put into the hands of the anti-slavery party. Such had been the bitterness of the contest that seven of the extreme Southern States took steps immediately to withdraw from the Union. The reason on which they attempted to justify their acts was that, in their opinion, it was the determined purpose of the Republican or anti-slavery party to so interfere with their domestic institutions as to render it unsafe for them longer to continue in the Union. (See Annual Cyclopaedia, 1861, Congress, U. S.) Such, however, was the attachment of the mass of the people in those seven states to the Union, and such their indifference to these movements—that if the Republican President and party had not entertained such designs of interference, and had boldly, promptly, and fully denied it, the people would have been satisfied and secession would have been a failure from the start. On the other hand, this great party after a struggle of years had won the rightful possession to the sceptre of the nation, and were indignant at these proceedings. They preserved a moody silence, and defied the consequences. But it was the design of a portion of them to interfere with the institution of slavery and destroy it if possible. The radical abolitionists of the party preferred disunion to a longer continuance under the Constitution as it was and the Union as it had been. The anti-slavery men of the party hoped for some way to be opened to remove this institution which they regarded as a national sin. Others were determined if possible to divorce the Government from all connection with the institution, and secure "its administration on the side of freedom." Notwithstanding these were the views of considerable portions of the friends of the incoming administration, yet the great mass of them had the highest attachment to the Constitution and the Union. President Lincoln, representing their views, in his inaugural said—"the property and peace of no section are to be in no wise endangered by the now incoming Administration." In all his messages of the year 1861—in the despatches of the State Department, and in the resolutions of Congress at the extra session, Page 788 the maintenance of the Constitution and the preservation of the Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired, was declared to be the only object of the Government. In addition a proclamation by General Fremont of emancipation to slaves in Missouri was countermanded by the President; and that portion of the report of the Secretary of War, Cameron, at the commencement of the session of Congress in December 1861, which contained the following among other remarks, was suppressed: "If it shall be found that the men who have been held by the rebels as slaves are capable of bearing arms, and performing efficient military service, it is the right and may become the duty of this Government to arm and equip them, and to employ their services against the rebels, under proper military regulation, discipline, and command."

Such was the declared position of the Government at the close of 1861, and it was understood to be its policy not to interfere with the institutions of the States, or their domestic and local policy. These views received the approval of the great mass of the people in the States remaining in the Union, and they were producing a paralyzing effect upon the hostile elements in the seceded States. No evidence to sustain the charges which had led to secession was to be found in the acts of the Government, nor were there any indications of a purpose to approve of or adopt any distinctive anti-slavery measures in the conduct of public affairs. It may have been true that the sudden and unusual state of affairs into which the Government was thrown, demanded all its energies for the emergency, and no opportunity was given to introduce or develop any particular policy beyond its reference to present events. In the single instance of fugitives or "contrabands " as they were called, the whole action of the Government, however, was in favor of the freedom of the slaves.

At this time the first regular session of the 87th Congress commenced, December 1861, and it soon appeared to differ widely from the Government. The position was assumed by the majority that slavery was the cause of the war with all its evils, and therefore it was the duty of the Government in all its branches to strive to remove this cause. Measures were at once introduced to emancipate the slaves in the district of Columbia, to prohibit the existence of slavery in all the Territories, and to abolish slavery in the seceded States by confiscation; also to remove every obstacle to the successful escape of the slave from his master in those States (see Congress, U. S.) The introduction and discussion of these measures indicated that the legislative branch of the Government was rapidly adopting anti-slavery views. The difficulties presented by the Constitution to some of the measures proposed were avoided on the ground that under the " war power," as it was called, Congress could adopt any measures necessary to sustain the existence of the Government. The way was thus cleared for the enforcement of the most thorough anti-slavery measures, if the administrative officers of the Government came up to the necessary point for their execution. Those who had struggled for so many years under obloquy and reproach, as the friends of the slave, to whom it was necessary to give freedom, whether in the Divine order of events or not, now conceived that the day of universal emancipation through their efforts would soon dawn.

On the 6th of March President Lincoln sent a message to Congress recommending an expression by that body, that the United States ought to cooperate with any State which might adopt gradual emancipation by giving them pecuniary aid. {See Public Documents, page 720). This was a great step. It was a direct and positive interference with the domestic institutions of the States. It was justified on the ground, that to deprive the leaders of secession of the hope that they would ultimately be joined by the border slave States would end the contest. It admitted the absolute right of the States to control their domestic institutions; it admitted the property of the master in the slave, but it was a preliminary step to get rid of the institution. In Congress even those who had heretofore denounced such suggestions on the ground that the "body and soul" of man could not be made the subject of pecuniary purchase or compensation, except at the sacrifice of admitting the rightfulness of the slaveowner's "claim," approved of the measure and suggested "the deportation of the institution over a bridge of gold." On the 10th of April the following resolution having passed Congress was approved:

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be vised by such Stale in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniencies, public and private, produced by such a change of system.

        Approved, April 10,1862.

Among the people, those classed as extreme conservatives said, with regard to the proposition, "the intervention which it calls for is a violation of all the pledges of the previous year, and its influence must be to undo the good effected by the few conservative measures of that year." On the other hand, those of extreme anti-slavery views objected to the measure, as it offered a bounty to all the States that wore in Confederate secession as much as to any so called loyal slave States, which could not be done with any sort of propriety, justice, or consistency. It held out no inducement for immediate emancipation, whereas slavery ought not to exist for one moment, and special inducements ought to be held out for its instant abolition, as against a lingering process. Ethically and pecuniarily immediate emancipation was better for all parties; and the President was culpable for keeping up the old disunion Page 789 of "gradualism." Their views of the position of affairs were thus emphatically expressed:

The President, as well as Congress, in consequence of this slaveholding rebellion, and the dire extremity to which it has brought the nation, has now the constitutional right, power, and opportunity to " proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof" and neither the President nor Congress must be allowed to evade this solemn duty by any dodge of this kind. "Now is the accepted time; and now let it be " the day of salvation." Multitudes of petitions from all the free States, signed by tens of thousands of estimable citizens, are before Congress, asking for the immediate abolition of slavery under the war power; and are these to be satisfied by proposing such a will-o'-the wisp as a substitute? Why wait for the dealers in human flesh to determine when they will deem it advisable to cease from their villainy as a matter of pecuniary advantage and cunning speculation with the Government, when the Government is clothed with the constitutional power to dispose of the whole matter at once, without any huckstering or delay? "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall." President Lincoln, delay not at your peril I "Execute judgment in the morning—break every yoke—let the oppressed go free."

In a word, the proclamation was regarded by them as a "dodge" which must not be allowed to succeed.

The views of the President respecting the importance of emancipation with compensation are stated more fully and earnestly in a proclamation issued on the 19th of May, countermanding an emancipation order of General Hunter. (See PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.) He said:

"The resolution was adopted by large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands an authentic, definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and people most interested in the subject matter. To the people of these States now I mostly appeal. I do not argue—I beseech you to make the arguments for yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to the signs of the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if it may be, far above partisan and personal politics.

"This proposal makes common cause for a common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of Heaven, not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not been done by one effort in all past time as, in the Providence of God, it is now your high privilege to do. May the vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it."

The measure had frequently been suggested by public men before, but not in an official form.

On the 16th of April the President approved of the bill for the emancipation of the slaves in the District of Columbia, with compensation to the owners. At the same time he sent a message to Congress stating the fact, and adding:

"I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress to abolish slavery in the District, and I have ever desired to see the national capital freed from the institution in some satisfactory way. Hence there has never been, in my mind, any question upon the subject, except those of expediency, arising in view of all the circumstances. If there be matters within and about this act which might have taken the course or shape more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify them. I am gratified that the two principles of compensation and colonization are both recognized and practically applied in the act,"

On the 9th of May General Hunter, in the department of South Carolina, issued an order, stating that the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida were declared, on the 25th of April preceding, to be under martial law. He then added: "Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible. The persons in these States heretofore held as slaves are, therefore, declared forever free." The President immediately afterward issued his proclamation, as above stated, disavowing, on the part of the Government, any previous knowledge of this proceeding, and denying the authority of any general to take such a step, also stating that it was a question reserved to himself for decision.

This measure of General Hunter served as a new occasion to call forth the sentiments of the people relative to the policy of the Government. In the course which it had thus far pursued, especially in countermanding this act, it was regarded as proceeding in the manner prescribed by the Constitution and the law. The act itself was almost universally regretted or condemned. It was apprehended that it would tend to alienate the sympathies of Unionists residing in those States, and in the other slaveholding States, and that it would be used by the Confederates to add fresh fuel to the flames by which the hearts of the Southern people had been fired, and to extinguish which more blood must necessarily flow. By some it was condemned on the great principle that each State had exclusive jurisdiction of the subject, as it had of all its internal or domestic affairs; some opposed it because of its manifest injustice in punishing, without discrimination, those who were Unionists as well as those who were disunionists; others were against it because of its direct and violent antagonism to the often declared policy of the Administration, viz., so to conduct the war as not to render the reconstruction of the Union impossible.

Emancipation with compensation still continued to be the favorite measure of the President, and, in pursuance of that object, he specially invited the Representatives and Senators from the border slaveholding States to meet him in conference on the 12th of July. On that occasion he urged, as motives for the States which they represented to resolve upon such a measure, that it would divest the Confederate States of all hope that they would ultimately join the Confederacy; the incidents of the war might extinguish the institution in their States without compensation; such a step would also shorten the war and save the money otherwise expended. He said: "How much better for you, as seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without which the war could never have been, than to sink both the thing to be sold and the price of it in cutting one another's throats!" Mr. Lincoln then appealed to them with personal considerations, representing himself under a Page 790 constraint, from which he could escape by their approval of emancipation in this form. He thus stated it:

"I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned— one which threatens division among those who, united, are none too strong. An instance of it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I hope still is, my friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with me in the general wish that all men everywhere could be free. He proclaimed all men free within certain States, and I repudiated the proclamation. He expected more good and less harm from the measure than I could believe would follow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to many whoso support the country cannot afford to lose. And this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direction is still upon me, and is increasing. By conceding what I now ask you can relieve me, and, much more, can relieve the country in this important point."

The remarks of the President were brought to a close with appeals, extremely urgent and almost pathetic, to the border State members, to induce them to act upon the measure. Thus:

"Before leaving the capitol, consider and discuss it among yourselves. You are patriots and statesmen, and as such I pray you consider this proposition, and, at the least, commend it to the consideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular government for the best people in the world, 1 beseech you that you do in no wise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief. Once relieved, its form of Government is saved to the world; its beloved history and cherished memories are vindicated, and its happy future fully assured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more than to any others, the privilege is given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and to link your own names therewith forever."

The delegation, which consisted of Senators and Representatives from Maryland, Western Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, retired to consult upon the proposition and prepare their answer to the President. Two replies, a majority and a minority, were made. The majority stated their reasons for declining to support the measure. The minority promised to recommend the measure to the consideration of the people. (See Public Documents.) Replies were also made by individuals.

The answer of the majority contains also a statement of the posture of public affairs at the time and of the conduct of the war, which expressed the views of a large mass of the citizens of the Northern States. It was in these words:

The rebellion derives its strength from the union of all classes in the insurgent States ; and while that union lasts the war will never end until they are utterly exhausted. We know that at the inception of these troubles Southern society was divided, and that a large portion, perhaps a majority, were opposed to secession. Now the great mass of Southern people are united. To discover why they are so we must glance at Southern society, and notice the classes into which it has been divided, and which still distinguish it. They are in arms, but not for the same objects; they are moved to a common end, but by different and even inconsistent reasons. The lenders, which word comprehends those who were previously known as the State Rights party, and which party is much the lesser class, seek to break down national independence and set up State domination. With them it is a war against nationality. The other class is fighting, as it supposes, to maintain and preserve its rights of property and domestic safety, which it has been made to believe are assailed by this Government. This latter class are not disunionists per se they are so only because they have been made to believe that this Administration is inimical to their rights, and is making war on their domestic institutions. As long as these two classes act together they will never assent to a peace. The policy, then, to be pursued is obvious. The former class will never be reconciled, but the latter may be. Remove their apprehensions: satisfy them that no harm is intended to them and their institutions; that this Government is not making war on their rights of property, but is simply defending its legitimate authority, and they will gladly return to their allegiance as soon as the pressure of military dominion imposed by the Confederate authority is removed from them.

Twelve months ago both Houses of Congress, adopting the spirit of your Message, then but recently sent in, declared with singular unanimity the objects of the war, and the country instantly bounded to your side to assist you in carrying it on. If the spirit bf that resolution had been adhered to, we are confident that we should before now have seen the end of this deplorable conflict. But what have we seen in both Houses of Congress we have heard doctrines subversive of the principles of the Constitution, and seen measure after measure founded in substance on those doctrines proposed and carried through, which can have no other effect than to distract and divide loyal men, and exasperate and drive still further from us and their duty the people of the rebellious States. Military officers, following these bad examples, have stepped beyond the just limits of their authority in the same direction, until in several instances yon "have felt the necessity of interfering to arrest them. And even the passage of the resolution to which you refer has been ostentatiously proclaimed as the triumph of a principle which the people of the Southern States regard as ruinous to them. The effect of these measures was foretold, and may now be seen in the indurated state of Southern feeling.

To these causes, Mr. President, and not to our omission to vote for the resolution recommended by you, we solemnly believe we are to attribute the terrible earnestness of those in arms against the Government, and the continuance of the war. Nor do we (permit us to say, Mr. President, with all respect for you) agree that the institution of slavery is " the" lever of their power," but we are of the opinion that " the lever of their power" is the apprehension that the powers of a common Government, created for common and equal protection to the interests of all, will be wielded against the institutions of the Southern States.

It will be seen by this statement that in the opinion of its authors the anti-slavery character of the Government was the cause of the bitterness of the war, and that the indications of an extreme anti-slavery policy served to divide the Northern people and exasperate the Southern. This, therefore, was the charge made against the Government at the time: that by an extreme anti-slavery course it would violate the Constitution and ultimately destroy, instead of restoring, the Union, which was the desire of all. There was truth in this charge. The expression of Congress at the session of July, 1861, had passed away, and the Government was advancing step by step to a proclamation of emancipation. Still an apparent or real reluctance thus to advance was manifest on the part of the President. His own declarations show that a most extreme pressure was put upon him to cause the use of his power for the destruction of slavery. The extreme anti-slavery Page 791 slavery men wore resolved to control the Government and wield it to their purposes, and by them the pressure was made to achieve their object. The answer of the delegates presents the various views relative to this point. They say:

How can we, by conceding what yon now ask, relieve you and the country from the increasing pressure to which you refer? We will not allow ourselves to think that the proposition is, that we consent to give up slavery, to the end that the Hunter proclamation may be let loose on the Southern people, for it is too well known that we would not be parties to any such measure, and we have too much respect for you to imagine you would propose it. Can it mean that by sacrificing our interest in slavery we appease the spirit that controls that pressure, cause it to be withdrawn, and rid the country of the pestilent agitation of the slavery question? We are forbidden so to think, for that spirit would not be satisfied with the liberation of seven hundred thousand slaves, and cease its agitation, while three millions remain in bondage. Can it mean that by abandoning slavery in our States, we are removing the pressure from you and the country, by preparing for a separation on the line of the cotton States? We are forbidden so to think, because it is known that we are, and we believe that you are, unalterably opposed to any division at all. We would prefer to think that you desire this concession as a pledge of our support, and thus enable you to withstand a pressure which weighs heavily on you and the country. Mr. President, no such sacrifice is necessary to secure our support. Confine yourself to your constitutional authority; confine your subordinates within the same limits; conduct this war solely for the purpose of restoring the Constitution to its legitimate authority; concede to each State and its loyal citizens their just rights, and we are wedded to you by indissoluble ties.

Such were the views entertained of the policy of the Government by those who sustained it in the conduct of the war, but who wore opposed to its political and anti-slavery principles. (See Public Documents.)

This measure of emancipation with compensation soon proved a failure. Kentucky refined to act upon it. Maryland gave it no heed. Missouri was disposed to adopt it, but Congress expired without making any appropriation for the purpose. The next Congress will be less disposed to approve it than the last, as many of the States have protested against being taxed for any such purpose.

Bills were passed by Congress and approved by the Executive to open diplomatic relations with Hayti and Liberia. All the other measures of the same character at this session were likewise approved. At the same time military governors had been appointed in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana, on the principle that the State still lived and was a part of the Union, while some of its citizens were in a condition of hostility to the Federal Government. It was the duty of the governors to protect those loyal to the Constitution, who were considered as composing the State.

Near the 1st of July the following singular method was adopted to furnish the Government with new levies of troops. A letter was drawn up by the Governor of New York, with the concurrence of one or two others, and copies sent to all the governors of the Federal States for their signatures. It was addressed to the President, and suggested that he had better call more troops into the field. The President replied, saying that he thought so too. The correspondence was as follows:

To the President: The undersigned, governors of States of the Union, impressed with the belief that the citizens of the States which they respectively represent are of one accord in the hearty desire that the recent successes of the Federal arms may be followed up by measures which must ensure the speedy restoration of the Union, and believing that in view "of the important military movements now in progress, and the reduced condition of our effective forces in the field, resulting from the usual and unavoidable casualties of the service, that the time has arrived for prompt and vigorous measures to be adopted by the people in support of the great interests committed to your charge, we respectfully request, if it meets with your entire approval, that you at once call upon the several States for such number of men as may be required to fill up all the military organizations now in the field, and add to the armies heretofore organized such additional number of men as may, in your judgment, be necessary to garrison and bold all" the numerous cities and military positions that have been captured by our armies, and to speedily crush the rebellion that still exists in several of the Southern States, thus practically restoring to the civilized world our great and good Government. All believe that the decisive moment is near at hand, and to that end the people of the United States are desirous to aid promptly in furnishing all reinforcements that you may deem needful to sustain our Government.

Israel Washburne, Jr., Governor of Maine.

N. S. Berry, Governor of New Hampshire.

Frederick Holbrook, Governor of Vermont.

Wm. A. Buckingham, Governor of Connecticut.

E. D. Morgan, Governor of New York.

Chas. S. Olden, Governor of New Jersey.

A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania.

A. W. Bradford, Governor of Maryland.

F. H. Pierpont, Governor of Virginia.

Austin Blair, Governor of Michigan.

J. B. Temple, Pres. Mil. Board of Kentucky.

Andrew Johnson, Governor of Tennessee.

H. K. Gamble, Governor of Missouri.

C. P. Morton, Governor of Indiana.

David Tod, Governor of Ohio.

Alexander Ramsey, Governor of Minnesota.

Richard Yates, Governor of Illinois.

Edward Salomon, Governor of Wisconsin.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

              EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 1.—

GENTLEMEN: Fully concurring in the wisdom of the views expressed to me in so patriotic a manner by you in the communication of the 28th day of June, I have decided to call into the service an additional force of three hundred thousand men. I suggest and recommend that the troops should be chiefly of infantry. The quota of your State would be . I trust that they may be enrolled without delay, so as to bring this unnecessary and injurious civil war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion. An order fixing the quota of the respective States will be issued by the War Department to-morrow.

                                    (Signed)         ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

This was the first call for three hundred thousand men.

In August charges were made against the President in the name of "twenty millions of people," in the most radical anti-slavery press, stating "that a great proportion of those who triumphed in his election are sorely disappointed and deeply pained by the policy he seems Page 792 to be pursuing with regard to the slaves of the rebels." "You are strangely and disastrously remiss in the discharge of your official and imperative duty with regard to the emancipation provisions of the new confiscation act." It was further added:

We complain that the Union cause has suffered, and is now suffering immensely, from mistaken deference to rebel slavery. Had you, sir, in your inaugural address, unmistakably given notice that, in case the rebellion already commenced were persisted in, and your efforts to preserve the Union and enforce the laws should be resisted by armed force, you would recognize no loyal person as rightfully held in slavery by a traitor, we believe the rebellion would therein have received a staggering if not fatal blow.

President Lincoln took notice of these charges, and replied by explaining the policy he was pursuing in these words:

As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing," as you sav, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. 1 would save the Union.

I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.

Yours, A. LINCOLN.

This letter of the President, expressing a purpose to effect the restoration of the Union without regard to incidental consequences to the slaves, was in accordance with the sentiments of the great mass of the people in the Federal States, including a large portion of his own political party. It had the effect for the moment of reviving the confidence of that portion of the people not adherents to abolitionism as such, that in spite of the "pressure" the war would yet be conducted for the sole purpose of restoring the Union of the States. The antislavery men were hushed. Their bitter and unsparing denunciation of all Northern citizens who stood aloof, through patriotic or conscientious motives, from the strictly anti-slavery views and measures of the Government, as "secessionists" and "traitors," was silenced— only, however, to break out again with the renewed effort to give another turn to the screws under which the President was writhing. Nevertheless the education of the people up to emancipation was becoming more complete every day. A second call for three hundred thousand men was made, but the enlistments were slow. Threats of draft and most liberal bounties were required. This reluctance among the people to enter the ranks of the army was ascribed to the policy of the Government in not adopting bold emancipation measures. It was declared by the advocates of such measures that the streets and byways would be crowded with volunteers to fight for the freedom of the "loyal blacks," and thrice three hundred thousand could be obtained easily for that object. Still the Federal Government kept aloof. It was now urged by the advocates of emancipation that slavery in the seceded States should be treated by the Government as a military question. It was contributing nearly all the subsistence by which the enemy in arms was supported; it built the greater part of their fortifications; it dug the greater number of trenches; it alone enabled nearly all the able-bodied whites to join the Confederate army, &c. The watchword now was "tho abolition of slavery by the force of arms for the sake of the Union." Those who .objected to such a measure as at least futile, if not likely to be disastrous to the cause of the country, were put to silence by epithets of " disunionists," "traitors," "Southern sympathizers," and threats of imprisonment by their fellow citizens as enemies in disguise. But the Government made no proclamation. As late as the 13th of September the President was visited by a deputation representing the Christians in the city of Chicago, Illinois, with a memorial requesting him to issue a proclamation of emancipation. The deputation presented the memorial with such reasons in its favor as occurred to their minds, to which Mr. Lincoln replied as follows:

The subject presented in the memorial is one upon which I have thought much for weeks past, and I may even say for months. I am approached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religious men, who are equally certain that they represent the Divine will. I am sure that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that belief, and perhaps in some respect both. I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others, on n point so connected with my duty, it might be supposed he would reveal it directly to me; for, unless I am more deceived in myself than l often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I can learn what it is I will do it! These are not, however, the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible and learn what appears to be wise and right. The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. But we will talk over the merits of the case.

What good would a proclamation of emancipation from me do, especially as we are now situated? I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet! Would my word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce "the Constitution in the rebel States? Is there a single court, or magistrate, or individual that would be influenced by it there? And what reason is there to think it would have any greater effect upon the slaves than the late law of Congress, which I approved, and which offers Page 793 protection and freedom to the slaves of rebel masters who come within our lines? Yet I cannot learn that that law has caused a single slave to come over to us. And suppose they could be induced by a proclamation of freedom from me to throw themselves upon us, what should we do with them? How can we feed and care for such a multitude? General Butler wrote me a few days since that he was issuing more rations to the slaves who have rushed to him than to all the white troops under his command. They eat, and that is all; though it is true General Butler is feeding the whites also by the thousand; for it nearly amounts to a famine there. If, now, the pressure of the war should call off our forces from New Orleans to defend some other point, what is to prevent the masters from reducing the blacks to slavery again; for I am told that whenever the rebels take any black prisoners, free or slave, they immediately auction them off! They did so with those they took from a boat that was aground in the Tennessee river a few days ago. And then I am very ungenerously attacked for it! For instance, when, after the late battles at and near Bull Run, an expedition went out from Washington under a flag of truce to bury the dead and bring in the wounded, and the rebels seized the blacks who went along to help and sent them into slavery, Horace Greeley said in his paper that the Government would probably do nothing about it. What could I do!

Now, then, tell me, if you please, what possible rebuilt of good would follow the issuing of such a proclamation as you desire?

The conference continued for an hour and then closed with the following remarks by the President:

Do not misunderstand me, because I have mentioned these objections. They indicate the difficulties that have thus far prevented my action in some such way as you desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement. And I can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day and night, more than any other. Whatever shall appear to be God's will I will do.

On the 22d of September, nine days after the preceding conference, the President issued his proclamation, declaring "that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the  object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States and the people thereof in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed ;" that at the next session of Congress the proposition of emancipation with compensation in the Union slaveholding States would be again recommended; and that on January 1st, 1863, "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom." (See Public Documents).

This declaration was received with great joy by the anti-slavery portion of the people. Those of different views took decided grounds against the measure. Their views were expressed at the State conventions held in the different States preparatory to an approaching election. (See the States respectively.) In the Confederate States attempts were made by some to use this act for the purpose of exasperating the spirit of the Southern people, but there were others who declared it a brutum fulmen, which had been exacted of the Federal Government, and powerless to injure them. The Administration was now completely on an anti-slavery platform. The extreme abolitionists had grown from a small handful to a mighty host, and held the sword and the purse of the nation in their hands. The republican party, as such, could only follow the footsteps of their leader, and give to his measures their hearty support. Or, rather, the fact was that the President followed the footsteps of the party. As is usual, in all parties the men of extreme views finally rule, unless they are seasonably sloughed off. So the republican party furnished no exception. They wore in advance of the President in adopting extreme antislavery views. On the 13th of March, Congress passed an act making an additional "article of war," which practically made all the camps of the army " cities of refuge" to the flying slave. On the 17th of July it passed another act, declaring forever free the slaves of all disloyal persons who escaped or came under the control of the Federal Government, &c. These acts were expressive of the views of the citizens by whom the members of Congress were elected. They show the change of views which had taken place in the minds of a majority of the members, when it is remembered that the same body of men in July, 1861, adopted are solution, a part of which was as follows: "That this war is not prosecuted upon our part in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and all laws made in pursuance thereof, and to preserve Union, with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired," &c. The vote in favor of the resolution, in the Senate, was, ayes 80, noes 4; in the House, ayes 117, noes 2. On the same day on which the proclamation was issued a convention of governors from most of the free States assembled in Altoona, in Pennsylvania. The sessions of this extraordinary assemblage were held in secret, and its designs and proceedings were never directly known. It was charged that their purpose was to press the Administration to place in the hands of persons of strict antislavery views the execution of military affairs. However this may have been, an address was prepared and presented in person to the President, which thus spoke of the emancipation proclamation:

We hail with heartfelt gratitude and encouraged hope the proclamation of the President, issued on the 22d instant, declaring emancipated from their bondage all persons held to service or labor as slaves in the rebel Page 794 States, whose rebellion shall last until tb& first day of January now next ensuing. The right of any persons to retain authority to compel any portion 01 the subjects of the national Government to rebel against it, or to maintain its enemies, implies in those who are allowed possession of such authority the right to rebel themselves; and, therefore, the right to establish martial law or military government in a State or Territory in rebellion, implies the right and duty of the Government to liberate the minds of all men living therein by appropriate proclamations and assurances of protection, in order that all who are capable, intellectually and morally, of loyalty and obedience, may not be forced into treason "as the unwilling tools of rebellious traitors. To have continued indefinitely the most efficient cause, support, and stay of the rebellion, would have been, in our judgment, unjust to the loyal people whose treasures and lives are made a willing sacrifice on the altar of patriotism—would have discriminated against the wife who is compelled to surrender her husband, against the parent who is to surrender his child to the hardships of the camp and the perils of battle, in favor of rebel masters permitted to retain their slaves. It would have been a final decision alike against humanity, justice, the rights and dignity of the Government, and against sound and wise national policy. The decision of the President to strike at the root of the rebellion will lend now vigor to the efforts and new life and hope to the hearts of the people. Cordially tendering to the President our respectful assurances of personal and official confidence, we trust and believe that the policy now inaugurated will be crowned with success, will give speedy and triumphant victories over our enemies, and secure to this nation and this people the blessing and favor of Almighty God, we believe that the blood of the heroes who have already fallen, and those who may yet give their lives to their country, will not have been shed in vain.

This address was signed by the following governors of States: A. G. Curtin, Penn.; John A. Andrew, Mass.; Richard Yates, 111.; Israel "Washburne, jr., Me.; Edward Salomon, "Wis.; Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa; O. P. Morton, Ind., by D. G. Rose, his representative; "Win. Sprague, R. I.; F. H. Pierpont, Western Virginia; David Tod, Ohio; N. S. Berry, N. H.; and Austin Blair, Mich.

The only ground upon which the Government could rest for authority to adopt this measure was, that it was a military necessity. "Whether it was so or not, this is not the place to argue. In estimating public measures, however, in the light of history, facts should be considered. The white male population of the Federal States was 13,690,864. The white male population of the Confederate States was 5,449,463. The number of troops which the Federal Government had called into the field was upward of 1,000,000. (See Army, United States.) The number of troops which the Confederate Government had in the field was 400,000. (See Army, Confederate.) The Federal Government had a navy which was only third in rank in the world, and more ironclads than any other nation. (See Navy, United States.) The Confederate Government had a navy, which at that time consisted of a single ship on the ocean. (See Navy, Confederate.) The people of the Federal States had a commerce afloat all over the world. The people of the Confederate States had not a single commercial vessel that dared to venture freely upon the ocean. The people of the Federal States were the rivals of the greatest nations in manufactures of every kind. The people of the Confederate States had few manufactures, and those of inferior articles. The Government of the Federal States possessed the Treasury of the United States, a nation of eighty years, with its vast resources. The Confederate States had no treasury nor financial resources. The ambassadors and representatives of the former were welcomed at every court in the world. The representatives of the latter were not recognized anywhere. Five days before the proclamation was issued, the battle of Antietam was fought, which was the turning point of the war, and decided it in favor of the Federal States. The Secretary of "War, in his report at the commencement of the session of Congress, December, 1862, thus describes the military necessity which rendered emancipation necessary: It is seen that a force has been placed by the people of the United States at the command of the Government to maintain its authority more mighty in all the elements of warlike power than was ever before arrayed under one banner. How shall that force be employed? To smite the enemy on every hand, to attack his armies and strongholds, to occupy bis ports, clear the great rivers of the West of his obstructions, and pause not until he is subdued, is our plain duty. Above all, it is our duty to disdain no legitimate aid that may save the lives of our gallant soldiers, diminish their labors, provide for their wants, and lessen the burdens of our people. No aphorism is more universally received than that "the sole object of a just war is to make the enemy feel the evils of his injustice, and by his sufferings amend his ways; he must, therefore, be attacked in his most accessible quarter."

The power of the rebels rests upon their peculiar system of labor, which keeps laborers on their plantations to support owners who are devoting their time and strength to destroy our armies and destroy our Government. Whenever that system is in hostility to the Government, it is, in my opinion, the duty of those conducting the war to strike down the system, and turn against the rebels the productive power that upholds the insurrection. Rightly organized in the recovered territory, the laborers of the rebel States will not only aid in holding fortified positions, but their labor will, as in India, free the white soldier from the most unwholesome exposure of the South. They will cultivate the corn and forage which will feed our cavalry and artillery horses, and save the country a portion of the enormous burden now attending their purchase and transport from the North. A population of four millions true to the interests of the Union, with slight assistance from the army, will, under proper regulation and government, be of the greatest assistance in holding the territory once recovered. The principal staples of the South are the product exclusively of their labor. If protected upon the lands they have heretofore cultivated, with some organization, and with support from small detachments of loyal troops, they would not only produce much of what is needed to feed our armies and their trains, but they would forever cut off from the rebellion the resources of a country thus occupied.

On the 1st of January, 1863, the emancipation was made absolute in the Confederate States, with the exception of a few districts, by the proclamation of President Lincoln.

The proclamation closes with these words:

Page 795

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose under appropriate titles. So likewise the com aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held iuerce 0f the country and the developments of as slaves within said designated States and parts of K Statnq The legislation of finn. Slates are and henceforward shall be free; and that tue respective States, ine legislation 01 Uonthe Executive Government of the United States, ingress will be found elsewhere, eluding the military and naval authorities thereof, will The appropriations made by Congress at the recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. session closing in the summer of 1862, were And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to summarily ^ follows: be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary j «*= self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all Legislative, executive, and miscellaneous., $13,997,594 cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonaSupport of army for 1862 23«,548,488 ble wages. Support of navy for 1862 80,4S6,291 And I further declare and make known that such Diplomatic and consular 1,235,839 persons of suitable condition will be received into the Army for 1862 and 1803 542,340,840 armed service of the United States to garrison forts, Navy for 1862 and 1863 42,741,338 positions, stations, and other places, and to man veaIndian Department 2,117,902 sels of all sorts in said service. I'ost Office Department 14,744,800 And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of Military Academy l.r)0,211 justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military Fortifications 7,036,000 necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of manInvalid and other pensions 1,450,600 kind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. Treaty with Uanover 44,497 , Thus the consummation of the original antiTotal $894,905,906 slavery views was verbally reached. But it The act passed at the same session for the was attended with disunion, war, and blood. collection of taxes in the seceded States, was The consequences of such a measure on the expected to give the United States the compart of the Government depend to a certain plete title to all property of its enemies in those extent upon its future action. It satisfied for States which could be seized and held. It prothe moment the extreme anti-slavery friends of vided that in all States where obstruction was the Administration. They, however, insisted made to the collection of the taxes by reason of that the military action of the Government the war, they become chargeable upon all should be made strictly to conform to this lands within the same, which may thereby be proclamation. How far they were successful forfeited to the United States, and a summary the events of the year 1863 will demonstrate, sale of the same "in fee simple, free and diaIt is natural to suppose that the military opcharged from all prior liens, incumbrances, erations of the Government could not escape right, title, and claim whatsoever." the effects of this gradual change of policy, Another act was passed, bestowing pensions which was taking place in the Administration upon invalid soldiers and the relatives of those during 1862, especially as the Cabinet conwho died: tained members who were desirous of seeing Every soldier discharged for wounds received this change made. The singular inconsistenin service, or sickness contracted after the day cy was presented of removing a commanding of his enlistment, is entitled to an Invalid Pengeneral of the army for certain consequences sion. alleged to flow from his actions, while those A full pension for a soldier is $8 per month consequences were declared in a degree to from the day of his discharge, if he applies for have created the "military necessity" which it within one year from the date of his disjustified the Government in adopting the facharge. If he is not fully disabled, he is not vorite measure of its political friends. For entitled to a full pension, but to that portion the military campaigns of 1862, see Army Opof a pension corresponding with his disability. erations. The effort, however, was made by If he is but one fourth disabled, he is entitled the Government to secure an approval of its to that portion of a pension. Pensions are measures not only from the officers of the arbased on the soldier's degree of disability at my and navy, hut from all the people, by desthe time he makes his application, ignating dissentients as "disloyal " and subjectPensions are payable each year, on the fourth ing the boldest to a sudden and secret arrest of March and the fourth of September, and imprisonment. (See Habeas Ooepcs.) The "Widows of officers, soldiers, or seamen, dydissentients were thereby cut off from exerting of wounds received or of disease contracting any influence whatever in favor of their ed in the military or naval service, are entitled peculiar views except by that last implement to pensions, to date from the day of the solof constitutional liberty,—the secret ballot, dier's death; also children, under 16 years of The year closed with the friends of the Adage, of such deceased person, if there is no ministration worsted at the polls at almost widow surviving, or from the time of the widevery election. ow's re-marriage. It is designed in this article to notice only Mothers of officers, soldiers, or seamen, dethe political action of the Government during ceased as aforesaid, providing the latter have the year. Whatever relates to its finances or left neither widow nor children under 16 years foreign relations, which were conducted with of age, and providing, also, that the mother much success, or to its immense army and was dependent, wholly or in part, on the degreat navy, or to its conduct of the war with ceased for support. The mother's dependence the seceded States, will he found elsewhere must be clearly established. Page 796

Sisters under 16 years of age of such deceased persons dependent on the latter, wholly or in port, for support, provided there are no rightful claimants of either of the three last preceding classes.

No class of persons is provided for by the pension law except the abovenamed five.

The soldier disabled by sickness is as much entitled to a pension as though he were wounded. Pensions will be granted as soon after they are applied for as the necessary proof can be made, and the necessary examination gone through with, if the claim is properly prepared. For other important acts see Congress, U. S.

A treaty was negotiated with Great Britain and ratified unanimously by the Senate for the suppression of the slave trade. It defined and settled within specified limits the right of search, which had been a fruitful source of vexation between the two countries for many years. A similar treaty for the same object was once negotiated with Great Britain by Mr. John Q. Adams, and confirmed by the American Senate with a single amendment, striking out the privilege of search in American waters. This was not acceded to by England, and that treaty failed. Since that time various efforts to adjust the question have been made, but it has remained open—one party frequently exercising the right of visit, if not of search, the other resisting and complaining of it as an insult and aggression, often threatening serious misunderstanding between the two nations. In the present instance Great Britain accedes to the exception, and also confines the exercise of the search to particular vessels, stated in the treaty. See Public Documents.

On the 21st of February the first execution under the Federal laws for the suppression of the slave trade took place in New York. The victim was Nathaniel Gordon, captain of the slaver Erie. He was a native of the State of Maine.

During the year diplomatic relations were opened with Hayti and St. Domingo, in compliance with an act of Congress.

At the close of the year but one sentiment animated the people of the Federal States— that was the restoration of the Union and the preservation of the integrity of the country. However much some portions of the citizens might differ from the Administration on minor questions growing out of the existing circumstances, yet such was the patriotism and the devotion of all to these leading objects, that the treasure expended and the lives sacrificed would be regarded as a drop compared with what would be expended if required to suceed.

Nothing had, however, taken place up to that time of the year which indicated any such change of views as would allow of an amicable agreement between the people and Government of the Confederate States and the people and Government of the Federal States on the great question at issue between them—that of negro slavery. To the North no prospect was presented of a close of the war and permanent peace, except by so far destroying the Southern people as to make further resistance an impossibility; to the South there was no prospect of achieving their independence through the weariness or exhaustion of the North, nor any inducement voluntarily to return to the Union, arising out of a change of views or a disposition to concession on the part of the Federal Government. The year 1863 began with fiery Mars in the ascendant.


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.