December 7, 1860
A false dichotomy, or false dilemma, is a situation where a person is choosing from two options and believes that there are no other options available. The worst kind of false dichotomy occurs where there are not only other options but false information matriculating into the public discourse and creeping into the minds of people—particularly those people who are easily influenced; the kind of people who can come to believe anything, no matter how outlandish.
(more…)Springfield, Illinois
December 15, 1860
The outgoing president, James Buchanan, had delivered his lukewarm message of unity to the country. South Carolina wasn’t swayed; she continued her efforts to secede. The incoming president, Abraham Lincoln, had the opportunity to send to the country his own statement. Perhaps he still could save the Union without a war.
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December 3, 1860
Washington City
James Buchanan was never going to avert the Civil War. But in his annual message to Congress, after the election of 1860, he scarcely even tried. Whereas most outgoing presidents use their last days in power to begin shaping their legacy, reflect on their time at the helm, and share their unique perspective on the country—and on the world—Buchanan was not like most outgoing presidents.
(more…)November 29, 1860
Knoxville, Tennessee
When the United States faced the prospect of disunion, in the fall of 1860, there was virtually no precedent to which Americans could look. This wasn’t a matter of policy differences: states were debating whether to leave the Union. And many felt that it was inherently wrong and tried to articulate why this situation was different from the American Revolution—why the North was not tyrannical toward the South in the same way that England had been tyrannical toward the colonies—and thus why secession was not warranted. William G. Brownlow, of eastern Tennessee, was one who was against secession and sent a letter to R.H. Appleton, a friend and former subscriber of Brownlow’s newspaper, unpacking the ways in which those states were wrong to secede.
(more…)November 16, 1860
With the idea of secession permeating the public discourse, there were questions of whether states even had the right to secede. These questions were not confined to academics and lawyers; even the newspapers of New York City explored these questions—one of which, the New York Daily News, was a conservative newspaper that had supported John C. Breckinridge in the election of 1860.
(more…)November 15, 1860
There is an assumption that people throughout the South were the only ones calling for a dissolution of the Union. This is a faulty assumption; there were people in the North who saw no potential for reconciliation and called for dissolution. Some people even argued that the Constitution’s acknowledgement of slavery was a basis to set it aside and to replace it with a document that reestablished the republic without the institution of slavery—albeit a republic comprised of only those states that would not tolerate slavery.
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November 9, 1860
One of the most famous newspapermen of his time, Horace Greeley, almost always had a sharp opinion, and with his newspaper, the New-York Daily Tribune, he had an audience. With the ubiquitous talk of secession during and after the election of 1860, Greeley had an opportunity to bring a more sober, well-reasoned approach to the issue.With that, perhaps he could resolve some of the tension that had developed between the North and South and assist in averting what seemed then to be an inevitable crisis.
Horace Greeley (1811-1872) was a prominent American newspaper editor and publisher during the 19th century.
Greeley was a strong opponent of slavery and was a vocal supporter of the Union cause during the Civil War.
Independent Journal (New York)
January 23, 1788
An effective government is supposed to take care of its people’s problems. To even pretend to take care of people’s problems, a government must learn of the problems. When problems arise in smaller countries, those governments are likelier than those in large countries to have their governments learn of the problems: the proximity between the government and its people is closer. But in large countries, with their expanded geography and higher populations, arguably more problems arise, and problems can be confined to certain regions. This raises tensions between those regions—which can be far from the capital and have little chance to even voice the problems—, and it invariably leads to calls for a more responsive government. Sometimes, it even leads to calls for secession—for the region to break away and to have its own government that is tuned into the local issues. A system that has a federal government and local governments, in theory, should account for such regional issues. But there are some issues that add layers of complexity: if the local problem is one that can fester into violence, or insurrection, this raises questions about how a federal government should handle the situation. In a country with a federal government and state governments, with overlapping spheres of power between them, questions arise: what if a state begins to move away from a republican form of government or there is an outbreak of political violence or insurrection? What might the federal government do, based on the Constitution, to intervene and control the situation? There is a section of the Constitution—rarely discussed—that addresses these issues, and in The Federalist XLIII, James Madison deeply analyzed that portion of the Constitution.
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Although the Confederacy had awakened the North’s spirit by initiating hostilities at Fort Sumter, both sides could have still hoped for reconciliation. While some advocated for immediate peace, others wished for a full prosecution of war against the South, viewing its expanding secession as nothing short of treason. By the end of spring 1861, there was a decisive answer to the question of whether there would soon be peace. (more…)
The Deep South’s animating of a Second American Revolution, by seceding from the Union and laying the foundation for an operational Confederate government, forced the North to either suppress the South’s uprising or craft a resolution. The likelihood of war would deter any widespread northern suppression, leaving the question: What compromise could the North propose that appeased the South and put both sections of the country on a path of coexistence? While variations of this question had been posed in the years leading up to 1860, at no prior point were states seceding from the Union en masse to form a rival government. (more…)
Last Best Hope of Earth 