S1E6 – The Island in the Harbor

Welcome to Breaking Nation, a Civil War podcast. I'm your host, Scott Holmgren. My goal is simple to bring the American Civil War to life by exploring and discovering the people, the places, and the events of this critical era, as if we didn't know how it would turn out. Socially, it rang an alarm bell that sections of the country were preparing to break apart due to fears for the future. And secession was the byproduct of these upheavals in the landscape of the lives of Americans. But there's another, less obvious gauge for change during this time that we would be well to not ignore. Like Bill Clinton's campaign repeated loudly and often in 1992 when he first ran for the White House, it's the economy stupid. A few years before the election of 1860, the United States experienced a financial crisis. Known as the Panic of 1857, the economy in the North suffered greatly, especially the growing railroad industry. Business failures coupled with bank failures shook investor confidence, and the effectiveness of new telegraph lines helped spread the panic even faster from city to city. Throughout 1858, prices dropped, land sales stopped, and the North struggled through the downturn. In contrast, the South, with far fewer railroads, experienced far less panic. Now, fast forward to 1859 and the run up to the election of 1860. The Congress under President Buchanan proposed to increase the U.S. import tariff, which had been one of the lowest in the world at that time, to prevent another crisis. Congressman Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont drafted the bill to increase the tariff that became part of the Republican platform in 1860. After Southern states began to follow South Carolina out of the Union and secede, opposition to the Morrill tariff dwindled with the exit of every Southern senator, and the bill eventually passed in February 1861. Northerners were pleased because goods made in the U.S. were now more affordable. Europe didn't like it, since now they had to pay more to sell their goods to Americans. And the South hated it because they were dependent on everywhere else for most of what they needed. I want to take a minute here and share one fact that we left out of episode three when we discussed American slavery. It's what became known as the statistic. The statistic was a statement from the Augusta Commercial Convention in eighteen thirty seven, a gathering of Southern political and business leaders who were tremendously concerned about a statistical fact of the Southern economy, namely that the present derangement of the currency and exchanges of the country, the staple growing states, while they produce two thirds of the domestic exports of the United States, import scarcely one tenth of the foreign merchandise which is received for it. The South produced two-thirds of U.S. exports and received only a tenth of all imports. And that statistic was repeated time and time again over the next 24 years, right up to 1861. The statistic was used to illustrate that the South paid what they called an annual bounty to the North via that difference in exports and imports. And the ports of New York and New Orleans were symbolic of the spigot and drain of wealth flowing through the antebellum U.S. Southern lawyer and author Albert Pike often used the thrust of the statistic at annual commercial conventions to air Southern grievances about the economic hostage situation that gripped the South. In 1854, he said that if economically the South, quote, were forced into an inferior status, she would be better out of the Union than in it. At the eighteen fifty five Commercial Convention in New Orleans, he illustrated the daily serfdom Southerners had to suffer, saying this From the rattle with which the nurse tickles the ear of the child born to the south, to the shroud that covers the cold form of the dead, everything comes from the north. We rise between sheets made in northern looms, and pillows of northern feathers, to wash in basins made in the north, dry our beards on northern towels, and dress ourselves in garments woven in northern looms, our gardens dug with northern spades and our bread kneaded in trays of dishes of northern wood or tin, and the very wood which feeds our fires is cut with northern axes held with hickory brought from Connecticut and New York. If the statistic was the grievance, the moral tariff was the last straw economically. Some historians today see this as the real reason for the Civil War. Many in 1861 did as well. Charles Dickens himself, known for his great novels, but also as a British magazine publisher and part of that country's press corps, stated the same in his own publication in December of that year. It said, quote, The quarrel between North and South is, as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel. Many British politicians and journalists camped out on this fact, and why wouldn't they, right? Who would also bear the brunt of the moral tariff? The British. It's easy to see why they'd emphasize an economic narrative for secession. But the solely a fiscal quarrel perspective appears somewhat myopic. John Stuart Mill, the great English political economist, replied in Fraser's magazine that same month that slavery was the greater context for the economic struggle of the tariff, saying The world knows what the question between the North and the South has been for many years and still is. Slavery alone was thought of, alone talked of. On slavery Lincoln was elected. The South separated on slavery, and proclaimed slavery as the one cause of separation. End quote. Even Karl Marx, the German philosopher, observed in October eighteen sixty one, that quote, secession, therefore, did not take place because the moral tariff had gone through Congress, but at most the moral tariff went through Congress because secession had taken place. End quote. Indeed, the tariff was passed because Southern Democrats had already left Washington by february twentieth, eighteen sixty one, and were no longer there to stop it. The economics were certainly a massive force in the secession of the Southern states from the Union. Southerners had been saying so for years, citing the statistic time and time again. It's the economy, stupid, no doubt. But as we've said before, it's simplistic to try and make just one thing be the cause for secession or for the war. It was a complex group of causes all with their own causes. Let's not forget why the economics of the South were the way they were. Its cash crop economy and its stratified society rested on the institution of slavery, the mudsill theory, as South Carolina Senator James Hammond called it. Slavery was woven throughout the full fabric of the South. If Northerners were going to be accused of being guilty of the love of money for high tariffs and financial oppression, could not the Southerners also be guilty of the love of money for high profits made by the oppression of enslaved blacks? Slavery fueled the Civil War, and the moral tariff in february eighteen sixty one was another spark that ignited secession and ultimately conflict. With Texas seceding on february first, seven states were now gone from the Union, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. And for thirty one more days, James Buchanan would be president, hoping to leave Washington before any more craziness could take place. While he, his cabinet, and General of the Army Winfield Scott, watched the slaveholding people of Maryland and Virginia states that surrounded the Federal District of Columbia, they wondered if any secessionist sympathizers would decide to march on the Capitol. They seemed to be alone on a metaphorical island. At the same time, Major Robert Anderson and his small garrison still held Fort Sumter on an actual island in the middle of Charleston Harbor. As the new Republic of South Carolina continued to fortify gun emplacements on the islands that surrounded the fort, both Governor Pickens and Major Anderson waited to hear from the second messenger mission that had left for Washington weeks before. Pickens' attorney general was to inform the Buchanan administration that South Carolina would take Fort Sumter and then pay for it at the valued amount of the property. It would be a bloodless surrender and a real estate transaction all in one. But the transaction never materialized. Recently appointed War Secretary Joseph Holt said that it would be impossible because only Congress had the ability to sell federal property. Holt also insisted that Sumter was no threat whatsoever. It was a defensive emplacement. Pickens' messenger was offended by these declarations. But when he asked for further instructions, Governor Pickens decided to put everything on hold for a week. Why? Because back in Charleston it was race week. The city and its famous Washington race course would host a week of festivities known as the Carnival of the State. Most businesses and schools closed, and no one talked of anything but horses and horse racing. Dances, parties, and banquets made it the highlight of Charleston's winter social season. It was a grand success for the city and the governor. And out in the harbor, Major Anderson watched and waited. The month of February would also see three momentous events take place in three separate locations, all beginning on the very same day, Monday, February 4th, 1861. In Virginia, the counties and cities of the state selected 152 delegates for a convention to consider secession the following week in Richmond. Virginia had just seen seven states of the Deep South leave the Union. What would her people do if the issue came to a head for them? About a third of the delegates were outright pro-secessionists, and the remaining two-thirds were unionists. When he heard about this breakdown of the delegates, Lincoln was actually encouraged. He strongly believed that if Virginia stayed in the Union, then so would the other border states. And if the upper South remained, then the likelihood of the Deep South eventually returning could only increase. As Virginia went, so could the entire South. However, the Virginia Unionists were finding their own point of disagreement. If Lincoln, upon taking office, took no coercive steps against the South, then the conditional Unionists would oppose secession. But if he acted coercively against the South, then they would insist on secession. The unconditional Unionists, many from Western Virginia, pledge their support to Washington regardless. Virginia would be watching Lincoln closely when the Richmond Convention gathered. What would the new president do and what would Virginia do? In Washington City on February 4th, 133 delegates gathered at the Willard Hotel in the Capitol for the Great Peace Conference, sponsored by Virginia and chaired by former President John Tyler. While all the states were invited to send representatives, only 21 actually sent participants. The seven seceded states weren't interested at all. Six others, Arkansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, and California, didn't send delegates either. For those paying attention, it seemed to be the same old compromise presentation that had been rehashed a hundred times before. And yet there had to be a measure of respect for the statesman who would never give up trying to preserve the peace. Could they bring a proposal to Congress that would reunite the country? And finally, in Montgomery, Alabama, the seceded states owned delegations gathered to assemble as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America. On February 4th, hundreds of people descended on Montgomery, itself with only 8,000 residents. The two main hotels in the town were swamped with delegates and accompanying dignitaries. Every state had sent a delegation except Texas, which had only voted to secede three days before. But as they gathered, it wasn't as if they were showing up without a plan. For nearly three months since Lincoln won the election in November, the Deep South states began appointing commissioners who were sent to visit their neighboring states' capitals. These commissioners brought messages of their own states' interests while at the same time consulting with governors and legislatures to consult on possible next steps for any other seceding states. Back on December 17, 1860, Commissioner William L. Harris of Mississippi spoke to the Georgia General Assembly. He sought, quote, to express the earnest hope of Mississippi that this state, Georgia, will cooperate with her in the adoption of efficient measures for their common defense and safety. Each state for itself and by itself, but with a view to the immediate formation of a Southern Confederacy by such of the slaveholding states as shall agree in their conventions to unite with us. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, Mississippi will never submit to the principles and policy of this black Republican administration. End quote. And now that a black Republican had been elected to the White House, the deep South would not stand for it. Secession was because they believed Lincoln and his party would end slavery and ruin the South forever. John A. Winston was an Alabama commissioner who traveled to Louisiana. On January 2nd, 1861, he reported back to the Alabama governor saying, quote, I was rejoiced to find that the time had come of forming such a government as a high sense of our rights, honor, and future peace and safety shall indicate, that the state of Louisiana would not hesitate to cooperate with those southern states who might prove equal to the emergency of decided action. As the delegates then gathered in Montgomery on February 4th, it was obvious that all the work that these state commissioners had done had been effective in getting everyone on the same page. The seceded states all shared similar interests for similar reasons and were intent on similar goals, the first being the establishment of a new nation, the Confederate States of America. But how long would it take? Think about all the things they had to do. Organize the Provisional Congress to do the work, and they had to select a leader. They had to prioritize which things came first. They had to draft and finalize a constitution. They had to figure out who would be the chief executive, and they had to organize a cabinet of advisors, and they had to do it all against a ticking clock, because they had to be set up and ready by the time Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office in Washington on March fourth, so that they could interact with the United States on day one of the new administration. They had one month to get it all done, which is crazy. Consider this. They were still a bunch of revolutionary leaders who now had to take on the duties and responsibilities of becoming a national Congress. The time for rhetoric was over. They had to be able to get down to business. Back during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress had years to exist and operate and learn from its mistakes before creating the Articles of Confederation, seeing that bottom out, and then reforming the government with the Constitution, that whole process took 15 years. And now the southern states were going to do it all in one month. And it wasn't just what they had to do, it also mattered how they did it. They had to act orderly, lawfully, and respectfully, or risk undercutting the legitimacy of their claims. There could be no walking out of the hall in protest, like the Democrats first did in Charleston the previous April. They had to somehow pull together the radical fire eaters, the moderate pro-slavery southerners, and then the leftover Southern Whigs who were still struggling with leaving the Union. How they proceeded would not only send a message to the upper South in the border states, all of whom they hoped would join their Confederacy, but also be a voice that the powers of Europe would listen to. The South had to appear strong and united in the eyes of Britain as they appealed their national rights, requested their foreign recognition, and most importantly, requisitioned British aid and supplies. And so the Provisional Congress got to work right away, and they chose a leader on the very first day. They quickly realized experience mattered. So they chose Buchanan's recent Treasury Secretary, Howell Cobb of Georgia, as president of the Provisional Congress. Cobb had also been Speaker of the House and the Governor of Georgia, and his skills and abilities to organize and complete legislation certainly aided the work of the new Congress. The next day, on February 5th, they dove into working. On the Constitution for the new nation. Rather than start from scratch, the committee assigned to drafting the document simply took the US Constitution and started with it, editing, cutting, and changing lines and sections as they saw fit. Several large sections were left totally unchanged, but others were different. Within three days, they had a final provisional document that was reviewed, approved, and signed into effect. Incredible. A permanent version would be ratified in March. So what about the Confederate Constitution? What have these men created? Well, the biggest five takeaways from the new Confederate Constitution were three changes and two omissions. Number one, the preamble of the Confederate Constitution took the familiar we the people line and modified it to read We the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sovereign and independent character. That edit completely makes sense in reinforcing the entire point of state sovereignty within the new nation and justifying each state exiting the old one. two Article one gave the president of the Confederacy a line item veto, an executive power not in the US version. And it also specified that the president would serve a single six year term. three, Article I also used the words slaves and slavery, specifically, instead of the U.S. Constitution's use of the phrase persons held to service or labor. This cannot be overlooked when understanding the importance of slavery as an institution for the existence of the Confederacy. Slavery was identified and recognized in a way it had never been in the United States. Number four, this was the first of the two omissions. There was no language for the reopening of the Atlantic slave trade, which had ended in 1808 through the U.S. Constitution. Remember back in the late 1850s when fire eaters like William Yancey were clamoring to turn back the clock and allow new slaves to be imported from Africa? If the Confederacy wanted to send a message that it was its own authority and could do whatever it wanted, this would have been the place to state that. But the new government could not risk alienating abolitionist Britain from their side. The British had abolished slavery across the Empire and would not reverse course on that issue. And the South absolutely needed help from Europe. Lord Lyons, Britain's minister in Washington, analyzed the new Confederate Constitution and wrote home to Foreign Secretary Lord Russell. Quote, The acts of the Southern Congress are now all directed toward producing immediate effects in the border states and in the countries of Europe. Thus it has prohibited the slave trade, partly in deference to public opinion in Europe, but still more in order to conciliate Virginia and other states interested in the domestic slave trade. It has reserved to itself the power to prohibit the trade in slaves with states not members of the new Confederacy, in order to alarm the breeders of slaves in the states which have not yet seceded. The lever with which it hopes to move Great Britain and other powers of Europe is, of course, cotton. End quote. He summarized all the political levers the new nation was attempting to pull. Unfortunately, for the South, Britain and Europe had plenty of cotton from two very profitable growing seasons in 1859 and 1860. Holding out on cotton would not be an effective diplomatic strategy for the new nation. Number five, this was the second omission from the Confederate Constitution. There was not a single word mentioned about secession itself. Not a one. This strikes me as very strange. I get why the slave trade got put aside. But secession? I don't know. This was the very core reason the Confederacy could exist. And here was the opportunity to spell out its legality. But there's nothing. This is like a giant flashing red light for me and my presentism. It makes no sense. But let me try and see this history through the lens of the history. Consider these three options for why secession has no mention in the Confederate Constitution. First, perhaps secession was simply assumed to be a right of each state. No need to state the obvious. Didn't the new preamble say, quote, each state acting in its own sovereign and independent character, quote? Maybe. Or how about this? On the other end of the spectrum, perhaps secession wasn't considered to be that important in the grand scheme of things. That's more doubtful. Or third, maybe no one wanted to plant the idea of further secession after the recent successful exit from the U.S. That could be embarrassing to have a state secede from the secessionists. Regardless of why it wasn't included, the absence of secession in the Confederacy's principal charter does weaken arguments that states rights and secession were the prime movers behind what happened next. But in light of these takeaways, the Confederacy now had a legal framework, and they had it in three days. On the next day, February 9th, the Provisional Congress chose a president and vice president. Talk about efficiency. Everything was done in executive sessions, so very little history is recorded as to how it all happened, but apparently there was no dissension. After initial conversations, the unanimous choice was Jefferson Davis of Mississippi for president, and Alexander Stevens of Georgia for vice president. Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky, just a hundred miles from where Lincoln was born a year later. Davis's family moved to Mississippi, where he received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. His fellow cadets would be generals he would eventually command, his roommate Leonidas Polk, Joseph E. Johnston, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Robert E. Lee. Davis graduated in 1828, 23rd out of a class of 34. He married the daughter of future President Zachary Taylor, but then she died after just three months of marriage. He turned to the family plantation and politics and was elected to Congress. When war broke out with Mexico, Davis served in the Army before being wounded. He became a senator from Mississippi until chosen by President Pierce to be his Secretary of War in 1853. After that, he resumed his spot in the Senate until Mississippi voted to secede. As the Provisional Congress was working diligently to set up the new Confederate government in February 1861, Davis and his second wife, Verena, were at home south of Vicksburg. He had been appointed Major General of Mississippi's eventual volunteer army. He was very pleased with this role, having always considered himself a soldier by profession. But one day, Davis received a telegram from Montgomery, Alabama. It read, quote, Sir, we are directed to inform you that you are this day unanimously elected president of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, and to request you to come to Montgomery immediately. It wasn't a total surprise to Davis. His friends in the Mississippi delegation had been sending him updates, but it is an interesting idea to imagine what if Davis had not been chosen president, and instead he had the chance to lead the armies of the Confederacy in the field. Imagine the professional soldier General Jefferson Davis confronting McClellan outside Richmond or facing down Grant at Shiloh. What kind of battlefield commander would he have been? Instead, Davis would have to modify his military training and talents to fit the role of commander in chief as the Confederate president. Hmm, I wonder if that will ever be an issue. We shall see. As a military man, Davis was not under any illusion that the Confederacy would be allowed to go peacefully out of the Union, as many of the delegates in Montgomery were hoping. Davis had told a friend who had assumed there would be peace that quote it was not my opinion that war should be occasioned by the exercise of that right, but that it would be. Within another week, the Confederacy was up and running with an operational government. It was a remarkable achievement of productivity, and it was also the work of a relatively small group of like minded men who had been preparing for it for months. They were setting the course for the new nation that would eventually have to go to war to fight for its existence. But was it a new nation? And was more secession to come? Union, allegiance, that idea of home, the freedom to join or leave it. Well, seven former states were on the same page, with what they were doing and why they were doing it. They were by no means the only people talking about secession. And it wasn't just the Upper South or the border states. On the Pacific coast, the states of California and Oregon were half a continent away from what was taking place in Montgomery. Some residents and leaders there spoke of the instability of the Union as reason enough to consider a separate Pacific Republic. Early 1861 seemed the perfect time to jump on the secessionist bandwagon. But there were many more who didn't agree, especially thirty-six year old Thomas Starr King. In the eighteen fifties, King had been one of the most celebrated Lyceum speakers who would travel on tours throughout the North, lecturing on political and social issues, philosophy and religion. After coming to California in 1860, King spoke passionately and influentially to Californians of the need to be Unionists. Along with other leaders like former Republican presidential candidate John C. Fremont, King played a major role in dissuading the West from seceding from the East. Over on the Atlantic coast, New Jersey, of all places, was also engaged in a shouting match over secession. It was the one eastern state where Stephen A. Douglas took electoral votes from Lincoln, and its newspapers and politicians watched what was happening in the South. The editors of the Toms River Ocean Emblem suggested New Jersey secede from the Union. Former Democratic Governor Rodman Price proposed that the state quote, join our destiny with the South, continue our trade and intercourse, and our prosperity, progress, and happiness uninterrupted. Action was never taken by the state, but Price was so committed to doing whatever it took to keep the peace, he represented New Jersey at the peace conference in Washington in February. Finally, the most strange debate to our modern ears came from the largest city in America. In January eighteen sixty one, the mayor of New York City suggested that the city secede from the United States. Democrat Mayor Fernando Wood proposed that New York become the free city of Triinsula, meaning three islands in Latin, four Manhattan, Long Island, and Staten Island. Wood was utterly sympathetic to the South and especially to the profitability of the cotton trade to the city's banks and businesses. As a sovereign city state, Triinsula could then manage its own tariffs in partnership with the South. And Wood was never a fan of state government in Albany meddling with the city's business. He also opposed the black Republicans. His first priority was the immigrant working class of the city who would only be threatened by freed blacks for both jobs and housing. But secession was too radical in the end, though it did hint at the riots and violence that New York City would experience two years later. As secession was being considered, debated, and rejected across the U.S., the president-elect was preparing to leave his home in Springfield, Illinois, and make the 12-day trip to Washington by train, stopping in cities along the way. It's fascinating to watch how Abraham Lincoln handled himself. He made a decidedly strategic decision to not talk about his intentions once he became president. We would almost expect the exact opposite. The time leading up to an inauguration is the perfect opportunity to restate campaign promises, test audience reactions, strengthen and develop messaging and communication strategies. Get your act together as best as possible before being sworn in because once that happens, there's no going back. But Lincoln played it very close to the vest. He would give speeches and meet his fellow Americans, but would say very little about his intentions during the months leading up to his inauguration. Instead, he directed people to his prior comments, as they were recorded in newspapers and previously published speeches. He would let the press speak for him. Abraham Lincoln had a long history with the media, and he knew the power of public opinion and the newspapers. Back in 1837, as an Illinois lawyer, Lincoln had tried to influence a decision in a case he was persecuting against a candidate for local judge. He wrote letters to a paper using a pseudonym and accused the candidate of misrepresentation and forgery. The ploy didn't work and the candidate won. But Lincoln realized the potential power of the press and kept that in the back of his mind. In 1840, Lincoln invested in a newspaper to promote Whig presidential candidate William Henry Harrison, and to criticize the Democrat Martin Van Buren. Harrison won. Then in 1842, Lincoln attacked Democrat James Shields, the auditor of Illinois, in the press over banknotes. Again, using a pseudonym, he insulted Shields personally and painted him as a womanizer. Mary Todd, Lincoln's eventual wife, followed up by submitting a scandalous poem about Shields. Shields confronted the paper's editor who revealed Lincoln as the original author and demanded a retraction. Lincoln refused and Shields challenged him to a duel. Choosing weapons, the long armed Lincoln chose cavalry broadswords. Conflicting accounts say that their seconds managed to persuade them to stop, that Lincoln either threatened or apologized to Shields, or that Lincoln blamed Mary Todd, which broke the tension. Regardless of what actually happened, Lincoln and Shields eventually became friends. In eighteen fifty nine, Lincoln was an anonymous contributing editor to a paper that endorsed him for president. He collaborated with a correspondent to cover his debates with Douglas to anonymously shape the narrative. Lincoln even purchased a new German language newspaper to influence Illinois' growing German American population. Though he took no money from the venture, he did require it only print positive things about the Republican Party. As these episodes show, Lincoln played the newspaper game just as everyone else did. As he prepared to leave Springfield in February 1861, he invited a pool of reporters to accompany him on the train to Washington, using his aide, John Hay, to manage them and eject his own prose into the dispatches. He knew he could say a lot without actually speaking by letting the press do the work. He had said of public opinion in eighteen fifty eight Public sentiment is everything. With it nothing can fail. Against it nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces judicial decisions. Through the power of the newspapers, Lincoln would arrive in the Capitol with a captive audience, waiting to hear what he would do about the country, the crisis, and the new Confederacy. In New York alone, hundreds of thousands of broadsheets circulated throughout the city, and the stories of the Associated Press were picked up by newspapers large and small all across the country. Matthew Hale Smith, a journalist of the era, wrote in his book Sunshine and Shadow in New York in 1868. It runs the guard. It breaks through the lines of police. It ascends platforms and scaffolds. It opens places of amusement and galleries of art. It commands a plate at a twenty dollar dinner. It brings obsequious authors and proud capitalists into its dingy sanctum. It invades the privacy of aristocratic life. To one fairly entitled to it, the New York Press will carry a man around the globe. Abraham Lincoln departed Springfield on february eleventh. In an early morning rain he spoke to his friends and neighbors, words that would be reprinted in papers everywhere. My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place and the kindness of these people I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that divine being, whoever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in him who can go with me and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To his care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell. Joseph Howard Jr. of the New York Times was invited to accompany Lincoln on his train ride for the inauguration. Howard described the six foot four inch Lincoln for his readers in the New York Times on february eighteenth. Lincoln had a quote large head, thick, bushy dark hair, a keen, bright, piercing, indeterminable colored eye, a prominent thin nostriled nose, a large, well bowed mouth, a first crop of darkish red. Whiskers, a clean, well built neck, a long, lank trunk, and extreme longitude. He wore a black silk hat, a dress coat, and pants of somber hue. The trip would take twelve days, probably longer than it needed to be, and wind its way through the north, allowing the president elect to appear before the people who had elected him, from Illinois to Indiana and Ohio, to Pittsburgh, then back up along the Great Lakes into New York, then south through New York City to New Jersey and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Then would come Maryland, and there Lincoln would get his first taste of the slave holding border states. And in Maryland, there were rumors of danger lurking. As we saw last episode, the Pinkerton Detective Agency had already been looped in by the railroad to investigate rumors of a plot to assassinate Lincoln on his way east. As a simple precaution on board the train was a contingent of U.S. Army officers, including Colonel Edwin Sumner and Lincoln's personal bodyguard, Ward Laman. Security was definitely a concern, especially as crowds pressed in to see the rail splitter from Illinois. In Xenia, Ohio, the townspeople excitedly surrounded Lincoln's train car and, while cheering, climbed on the roof, were hoisted up through windows, and forced their way through the doors to see the president elect with their own eyes. They then devoured the prepared lunch before the trains party could even be seated. But it was in Maryland that the gravest dangers presented themselves. Alan Pinkerton himself took eight other operatives with him to Baltimore, including a young woman, twenty-seven-year-old Kate Warne, who was the first female detective in the U.S. Assuming aliases, they arrived in the city and infiltrated social circles and gatherings of many prominent secessionist citizens. There they learned of varying details of schemes to kill Lincoln. A Baltimore plot was something that couldn't be taken lightly. Pinkerton would have to get word to the president elect. Conspiracy theories also abounded of secessionists surrounding the Capitol, cutting railroads and telegraph lines and taking control of Washington. This all coincided with the upcoming certification of the Electoral College votes. If you remember, though Lincoln was elected in November, it wouldn't be until february thirteenth that certification would take place, and he'd officially be declared winner of the election. And many believe that it would never happen. The New York Herald had written on january twenty eighth that quote, the most intense excitement exists in certain congressional circles of the positive evidence before them of a conspiracy existing in this city and vicinity to overthrow the government, in which certain prominent officials and citizens of Washington and elsewhere figure. General Scott was adamant that nothing would happen. Federal troops were present in the city and would ensure the process of law would be followed. Scott said that anyone, quote, who attempted by force or unparliamentary disorder to obstruct or interfere with the lawful count would be lashed to the muzzle of a twelve pounder and fired out a window of the Capitol. I'll plant cannon at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and if any of them, secessionists, show their heads or raise a finger, I'll blow them to hell. The country held its collective breath. The election had been so contentious and so unique, four candidates, none getting more than forty percent of the total popular vote. Recent voter fraud in Kansas, sectional divisions being so strong, nothing could be assumed to go without a hitch. On February thirteenth, the House chamber was filled with newspaper men and citizens. Outside, extra police from New York and Philadelphia had been brought in to bolster the city's ranks of law enforcement. Soldiers guarded the entrances to the Capitol, and troops in plainclothes patrolled the area around Capitol Hill. Inside the gallery above was packed, and all eyes were on Vice President John C. Breckinridge. A defeated Southerner, a loser of the very election he was about to certify, Breckenridge waited for the paper certificates to be brought from the Senate to the House. Congressman Charles Francis Adams, son and grandson of presidents, wrote of the certification process. Quote, I had never seen the ceremony before. The proceeding occupied two hours, but it was conducted in profound tranquility, which relieves us all of a great weight. Breckinridge conducted the procedure in a straightforward manner. He certified the count and then declared, quote, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, having received a majority of the whole number of the electoral votes, is elected president of the United States for four years commencing on the fourth of March. As angry shouts and interjections made it clear that not everyone was in favor of the certification, the session closed without incident, and the gears of the constitutional transfer of power from one administration to the next began to turn. At the exact same time as Lincoln journeyed toward Washington and as the election was certified, the other American president-elect was also traveling east from Mississippi to Montgomery, Alabama. The selection of Jefferson Davis as the new president of the Confederacy reflected a great deal about the South and what its leaders hoped to establish at the outset of their government. He was not a fire eater. While Robert Rhett and William Lowndes Yancey were the individuals who incited secession in South Carolina and the Deep South, they would not appeal to the broad support necessary for the Confederacy to build a strong foundation. The choice of Davis reflected the provisional Congress's understanding that a moderate as executive rather than a fire eater would be politically more favorable to the Upper South and border states, who had yet to decide on secession. The Upper South had fewer slaves, and the border states had more unionists. A moderate would better appeal to those states. It's interesting that it was the very same reason why Lincoln was chosen by Republicans in the North. His moderation. The only other high-ranking politicians that might have been considered were Howell Cobb of Georgia or John C. Breckinridge, who'd certified the election results. Cobb was not as moderate as Davis, and Breckinridge wasn't a viable option for the Confederacy, since at the time of the first session of the Provisional Congress, he was still the sitting vice president of the United States. Likewise, his home state of Kentucky was still part of the Union, so he wasn't a politician from any of the seven seceded states represented, whereas Davis from Mississippi was. As Davis traveled to Montgomery, the New York Herald wrote of his journey. The unstudied spontaneous hearty enthusiasm with which he has been everywhere greeted, and the unanimous determination to stand by the new government. For whatever division there may have been before secession, there is now but one mind. He arrived in the city on the sixteenth, and that evening at a reception in the Capitol, Yancey stood to affirm the delegate's choice of Jefferson Davis, saying, The statesman, the soldier, and the patriot, the man and the hour have met. Two days later on february eighteenth, eighteen sixty one, Jefferson Davis, standing in front of the Capitol building, took the oath of office as the first president of the Confederate States of America. In his inaugural address, he spoke of their unified purpose as a people. It is joyous in the midst of perilous times to look around upon a people united in heart, where one purpose of high resolve animates and actuates the whole, where the sacrifices to be made are not weighed in the balance against honor and right and liberty and equality. Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice and sustained by a virtuous people. Reverently let us invoke the God of our fathers to guide and protect us in our efforts to perpetuate the principles by which his blessing they were able to vindicate, establish, and transmit to their posterity. With continuance of his favor, ever gratefully acknowledged, we may hopefully look forward to success, to peace, and to prosperity. The New York Times made sure to include in their coverage of the event the notice that Davis gave to the North. He said that they should also prepare to quote, smell Southern gunpowder and feel Southern steel. Three days later, on the twenty first, Abraham Lincoln's train arrived at Philadelphia's Kensington station. Riding through the city in an open carriage, nearly a hundred thousand people waited to catch a glimpse of the president to be. That evening, Lincoln first got wind of the Baltimore plot via the Pinkerton investigation. Upon hearing of the threat, his entourage warned him that he would be murdered that Saturday if he traveled through Baltimore as originally planned. Lincoln was appreciative of their concern, but said he wouldn't change his plans. It was essential that he go to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania first, then keep his schedule to return through Philadelphia and Baltimore to arrive in Washington on schedule. The next morning, Washington's birthday, Lincoln raised an American flag at Independence Hall before his train left for the short trip to Harrisburg, where Lincoln would speak again. But that night he received a second warning. This time it was carried by William Seward's son, Frederick. Seward and General Scott in Washington had gathered their evidence of an assassination plot and forwarded it to Harrisburg. Lincoln should avoid Baltimore. The second report was from altogether different sources, but it corroborated the suspicions and concerns of the Pinkerton warning. Lincoln now had to take the news seriously. His train was scheduled to arrive at Baltimore's Calvert Street station in the afternoon daylight of the twenty third. From there, Lincoln would have to transfer from his first train and travel a mile to the Camden Street station, either on foot, by carriage, or have the train car towed. Either way, the reports indicated that during that transit, a fight or a riot would be staged that would draw off police, which would leave Lincoln completely unprotected and vulnerable to attack and murder on the streets of Baltimore. A small steamboat would be waiting nearby for the plotters to escape via transport to Virginia. Both reports, Pinkerton's and Seward's, shared many of the same details. Pinkerton suggested a change in plans. The new plan would allow Lincoln to make his Harrisburg stops and then take an unscheduled night train to Philadelphia before catching an express to Baltimore. He would change into a dark suit and a felt cap and would carry a shawl over his arm, playing the part of an invalid. Pinkerton would have the telegraph lines interrupted to make sure there was no transmission of the change in schedule. Kate Warne would play the role of the invalid's female relative and travel with the disguised Lincoln. Pinkerton and Ward Lamond would accompany them at a short distance. But Lincoln refused Lamond's suggestion that he carry a buoy knife and a revolver. The scheme was put into action. The role play, the unscheduled train, and the express all went according to plan. That train pulled into Baltimore at 330 in the morning, where it was towed to Camden Yards and another train. It then arrived in Washington at 6 AM. The president elect arrived safe and sound. However, somehow, that New York Times journalist Joseph Howard heard a rumor that Lincoln had been stolen away by his bodyguard in an unmarked train. With the thinnest of details, Howard and another journalist had to write stories to satisfy their readers' curiosities. In doing so, they had to make up some details to fill in the gaps. So in that way, the shawl that Lincoln had carried was fabricated into an actual disguise or even a dressing gown. The felt cap he wore low turned into a scotch cap, which was then either tilted at an angle or jauntily placed upon his dear old head, as the article states. Perhaps it was even a nightcap. These descriptions of Lincoln made their way to editors across the country and inspired newspaper cartoonists to visualize Lincoln sneaking into the Capitol, peeking out of a boxcar as if he was dressed for bed. He was drawn as a coward, even startled by a black cat in the trainyard. The newspapers told a story that was complete fiction, but turned into an embarrassing legend. This was so unfortunate, as all the work Lincoln had done to let the newspapers usher him into the Capitol was undone by the unflattering lampooning of a populist press. He was now a costumed object of ridicule and mockery, reduced to cloak and dagger antics. The following day, the New York Times stated, quote, The whole city has been agreeably surprised by the coup d'etat of the president-elect, who transported himself as if by the wand of an enchanter from Philadelphia to Washington without having been seen or even dreamed of. The Charleston Mercury reporter in the Capitol proclaimed, quote, everybody here is disgusted at his cowardly and undignified entry, end quote. Some papers compared his fly by night passage to a fugitive slave running scared on the Underground Railroad. In the end, while the rumors may have been real, no one was ever indicted. No arrests were made, and there was never a trial. Pinkerton defended his agency's work, but when the originally scheduled train arrived in Baltimore on the afternoon of the twenty third, there was not a single issue or threat that took place. There were now nine days until Lincoln's inauguration, and the peace conference in Washington continued to discuss and debate ways to legislatively end the crisis of disunion and bring the Deep South back into the United States. Late on February twenty third, after his first full day in Washington, Lincoln invited all the members of the Peace Commission to come visit with him at the Willard Hotel at 9 PM. About a hundred delegates showed up. The president elect met, spoke, and listened. It must have been a lot to take in, but it also must have sounded very similar. Reruns of the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, positions and arguments he was very familiar with. In the coming days, the conference produced a proposal for a thirteenth amendment to the Constitution. It contained seven points, each one dealing with slavery. Again, it's significant that the solution proposed by the conference, which included North Carolinians, Tennesseans, and Virginians, included no measures to address tariff problems specifically. If fiscal issues were contributing to the quarrel and crisis, they were issues that ultimately rested within the issue of slavery. In the end, the proposed Thirteenth Amendment was pretty much a Crittenden Compromise version 2.0. It went to the Senate with just a few days remaining for Congress to be in session. On february twenty sixth, Congress itself was also working on a legislative plan introduced by Thomas Corwin of Ohio. It too was a similar proposal to pieces of the previous year's Crittenden compromise and the new thirteenth Amendment, but it chiefly protected slavery from federal power by any future amendments. In this last mad scramble to get something, anything resolved, the Senate and the House worked through the end of the session right up until the inauguration. On February 27th, a preliminary version of Corwin's amendment failed to achieve a two-thirds majority in the House. But the next day on February 28th, a revised Corwin amendment passed in the House 133 to 65. On March 2nd, the Senate began debating the Corwin Amendment. On March fourth, the proposed thirteenth Amendment was shot down in the Senate 28 to 7. The House would never see it. Later on the fourth, the Corwin Amendment was passed in the Senate with exactly the two-thirds vote it needed 24 to 12. Though the Peace Conference didn't produce any lasting results, perhaps its spirit of legislation helped spur on Congress to do something itself. The Corwin Amendment would now be in the hands of the new president as he took office that very day. The outgoing president, James Buchanan, had made it to the finish line. His carriage arrived at the Willard Hotel the morning of March fourth, eighteen sixty one to pick up Lincoln, and together they rode through the city to Capitol Hill. Federal infantry and cavalry patrolled the streets, sharpshooters were positioned on rooftops, artillery pieces were nearby if needed, and undercover detectives dotted the gathering crowds. General Scott was not taking any chances. The city was in a sort of lockdown. Inside the Senate chamber, Vice President Breckinridge administered the oath to his successor, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. Then they proceeded outside to the east portico of the Capitol where Lincoln was sworn in by Chief Justice Tawney. Photographs from that day show thousands gathered outside as the Capitol Dome under construction rises above surrounded by scaffolding and cranes. As the new president prepared to speak, he removed his top hat. With nowhere to put it, his fellow Illinois and presidential opponent, Stephen Douglas, was pleased to hold it for Lincoln. He opened, quote, Fellow citizens of the United States, in compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution. His first salient point of his inaugural address was to the South, saying, quote, 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. End quote. From there, Lincoln stated in turn, a reaffirmation of his oath for the Union, which included all the states, that he would not use force to unless compelled to by the South taking up arms in insurrection, that secession was unlawful, that he had no objection to the Corwin Amendment, and that he would remain moderate on several other national issues. Lincoln ended with this 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 battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone 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. In time the speech has become famous, but then reviews were mixed. People heard what they wanted within its words. Lincoln was simultaneously too lenient and too extreme, inspiring and absolutely malicious. The Charleston Courier described the speech as quote, little short of a declaration of war against the South, end quote. Frederick Douglass was disappointed, saying, Some thought we had in Mr Lincoln the nerve and decision of an Oliver Cromwell, but the result shows that we have merely a continuation of the Pierce's and Buchanan's and that the Republican president bends his knee to slavery as readily as any of his infamous predecessors. In the end it was most significant that Lincoln said he was not going to touch slavery. In obedience to the constitutionality of it, of the Fugitive Slave Act, and even in support of the proposed Corwin Amendment, the president indicated that he would uphold the law. This disappointed Frederick Douglass it should have reassured the South, but it did not. Because he did not take as kindly to secession, which he deemed illegal and potentially an insurrection, and which he would not acknowledge as reason enough to recognize the South as an independent country. Was he passing the buck of responsibility when he had said, quote, in your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen and not in mine is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. End quote Maybe it was a strategic move to put the onus of responsibility on the seceded states. But he was also doing something Buchanan did not. He was taking a serious stand to fulfill his job description as president. And most importantly he also stated the parameters moving forward. If the South shot first they would be the aggressors. As Lincoln set up his office in the White House, he was beset by an onslaught of office seekers and the need to manage patronage in maintaining his party. Visitors and requesters besieged the White House and his secretaries John Nicolay and John Hay worked tirelessly to keep the president's daily schedule from grinding to a halt from interruptions and intrusions. Lincoln also had his new cabinet to onboard, which reflected an unusual but bold strategic choice to pull together all his Republican rivals onto one team. Seward, who everyone assumed would be the Republican to run for the White House, became his right hand man at the State Department. Chase headed up the Treasury, Simon Cameron was Secretary of War, and Edward Bates became Attorney General. Montgomery Blair was made Postmaster General, Gideon Wells headed up the Navy, and Caleb Smith was Secretary of the Interior. Seward, Chase, Bates and Smith had all been Whigs like Lincoln. Cameron, Blair, and Wells had been Democrats. Bates and Cameron had been no nothings, and Chase and Wells had been free soilers. They were all now Republicans. While it would certainly be a challenge to manage the spectrum of personalities and perspectives, the cabinet's diversity would also prove to be an entirely beneficial thing. He had not chosen a bunch of yes men. Lincoln chose men for their candor and directness and he would desperately need them all to face the onslaught of decisions that he would soon face. Several of these men even styled themselves as becoming the actual power brokers in Washington, believing themselves to be superior to the new president in elect and ability. In the coming month, Seward would be the first to act on this belief. For several weeks as February turned to March, the situation in Charleston had been in limbo. First Race Week had captured the city's attention. Then Lincoln and Davis traveled to their respective capitals for each one's inauguration. And then each new president and new government had to take stock of the situation and figure out what was the next step. Jefferson Davis readily surmised both the political and military situation in Charleston and stepped in with the precise type of action one would expect of a general and former Secretary of War. The matter at Fort Sumter was no longer the Republic of South Carolina's concern. It was now an issue that the Confederate States of America would need to address. Davis appointed a new Confederate Brigadier general to take command of all the troops in and around Charleston. For the task he chose Pierre Gustave Tutante Beauregard, a Creole officer from outside New Orleans, who graduated from West Point second in his class in 1838. He had fought in Mexico and was an advisor to General Scott. Sporting a natty mustache and a tuft of hair below his lower lip, Beauregard modeled a very European military appearance, one that arrived at his alma mater in January. He had been appointed superintendent of the US Military Academy for five days when Louisiana seceded from the Union. He was immediately removed. He traveled back to New Orleans and reached out to the new government saying he was at their service. When he arrived in Charleston on March 3rd he realized the militia and artillery positions were rudimentary at best and set about drilling and improving immediately. That very same day Virginian fire eater Edmund Ruffin arrived just to be near the thick of things. He made it clear to friends that he would never reside in a country governed by Lincoln and for now Virginia was still in the Union. The sixty seven year old volunteered to serve with the Palmetto Guards. With his long flowing gray hair he was a striking figure amongst the younger men who filled the ranks of the militia. As Beauregard looked out over the harbor toward Fort Sumter he must have grasped two important facts. First, he would need to remind his officers and battery commanders that not only should they sight their guns toward the fort, but they should also drill and be prepared for stopping any vessels that would make an attempt to reach the fort. And second he must have smiled at the irony of facing off against Major Robert Anderson, whom he considered a friend from the army. Anderson had been Beauregard's artillery instructor at West Point decades before. With Beauregard overseeing the military situation, Davis now turned to diplomatic matters. Whomever Governor Pickens had sent to Washington needed to be immediately recalled, and a new trio of commissioners were to be sent to represent the Confederate states. Starting out on March 3rd, Martin Crawford, Andre Roman and John Forsythe journeyed to Washington with the intent to meet with new U.S. Secretary of State Seward and President Lincoln, offering to pay for federal properties and negotiate friendly relations with the Confederate States of America Davis was hoping direct conflict could be delayed for as long as possible, but he had to make sure his forces in Charleston were prepared. He would push the diplomatic option for as long as he could. He would also keep a close eye on Anderson to make sure no coercive actions were being taken by Lincoln or General Scott. He needed to be ready for both peace and war whichever may come. Major Anderson had polled his officers for their estimates on what it would take to hold, reinforce or resupply Fort Sumter. The prognosis didn't look good. With what they could observe happening all around them they projected it would require dozens of transports and warships carrying tens of thousands of troops to maintain the position of the fort. They also assumed that the new Confederacy would start sending forces from the other states, especially Georgia to concentrate in Charleston. Either way the numbers they were calculating were more than what made up the entire United States Army at that time. Lincoln received Anderson's report an estimate after assuming office. While he was still able to purchase some fresh fruit from Charleston merchants, the bulk of Anderson's rations and supplies would last the garrison perhaps six weeks until mid April. Lincoln felt concerned he wrote General Scott a note I see no alternative but a surrender end quote General Scott quickly drafted an order to carry a surrender out but he did not send it. There was now a clock ticking. Lincoln would need to test the wisdom of putting together the cabinet he had chosen he needed his advisors to advise and his general on March ninth Lincoln asked General Scott for his assessment of the situation in Charleston. Scott estimated Anderson had twenty plus days of bread, flour and rice and forty plus days of salt meat. To stage an actual resupply and reinforce mission Scott would need six to eight months time, upwards of twenty five thousand men and a naval fleet. This was clearly not an option for the president. Word spread throughout the cabinet that Lincoln was looking for ideas. Meanwhile the three Confederate commissioners had arrived in Washington and tried to schedule a meeting with Seward and Lincoln. They were to conduct quote the speedy adjustment of all questions growing out of separation, as the respective interests, geographical contiguity and future welfare of the two nations may render necessary end quote. During the week of march eleventh, a comic game of cat and mouse formality took place as the commissioners tried to pin Seward down on a date to meet. Seward delayed. He would then respond and the Southerners would accommodate only to be put off again. They were eager to have the Lincoln administration actually recognize them as representatives of a sovereign nation. That act alone would legitimize what had taken place in Montgomery and put the Confederacy on the world map as a country in its own right. But Seward artfully dodged any sort of official recognition. The Commission, however, drew an inference from the delaying tactics. Perhaps the slow moving exchange was indicative of a peace movement within the Lincoln administration. The more time taken the more opportunity the Confederacy had to build its government. They optimistically took this as a positive sign that perhaps war could be avoided. Other rumors began suggesting that Seward was ready to evacuate Sumter altogether, which would also lead to a cooling of tensions. This was all Seward's doing he had taken upon himself as someone who figured he knew how to do the job necessary to maneuver his way through the traps of war and peace. Back on December second, Seward had written his friend Thurlow Weed the sort of note that suggested that the Secretary of State had had a strategy up his sleeve all along. He wrote, quote, If Southern members will be for once cautious and forbearing, if we can keep peace and quiet for a time, the temper will be favorable on both sides to consultation, end quote. On March 14th, Postmaster General Blair brought President Lincoln a new idea that might address the problem at Fort Sumter. Blair's brother-in-law was a former naval captain and now managed ocean going shipping. His name was Gustavus Fox and he suggested he could get supplies to Anderson by utilizing a combined fleet of heavily armed warships, large transports, and a flotilla of fast and maneuverable tugboats. The plan had been shared with Buchanan before at General Scott's urging, but Buchanan dismissed it, fearing another disaster like the Star of the West Fiasco. Fox's plan required only ships that were already at hand, and leaned heavily on speed and surprise to get supplies and troops to the fort at dusk and in the deepening darkness. Tugs could hurry smaller boats to the fort's wharf for unloading and if an enemy vessel approached then the warships could quickly hurry it away. Lincoln polled his cabinet. They voted against the plan five to two Seward spoke clearly for the dissenters quote If it were possible to peacefully provision Fort Sumter, of course I should answer that it would be both unwise and inhuman not to attempt it. But the attempt must be made with the employment of military and marine force which would provoke combat and probably initiate a civil war. End quote The president was not satisfied. He wanted more information about the plan. So General Scott turned to Fox and sent him on a mission to Charleston. If all this wasn't enough two U.S. Supreme Court justices decided to get involved in the whole affair as well. Samuel Nelson and John Campbell had served together on the highest court in the land for eight years when Lincoln took office in March. When they heard that Davis's three commissioners were in Washington to meet with the new administration they paid a visit to Secretary of State Seward on March 15th to urge him to meet with the Southerners. Seward said he couldn't recognize them by meeting but he did suggest that Lincoln was going to evacuate Fort Sumter very soon. Judge Campbell volunteered to be an intermediary between the two parties and then sent a message to the commissioners that Sumter would be abandoned soon. This piece of news made it back to the Confederate government which told the commissioners to wait patiently for several days then Seward played the same delaying game with Campbell and Nelson that he had been playing with the Commissioners. Seward met Campbell on March 22nd and then put him off until April first the desperation for peace is amazing that both sides were willing to play this waiting game hoping for the other side to back down. But it really demonstrates how powerful peace is when two parties are seeking it, albeit from different angles. What the delaying did for Davis was to give Beauregard all the time he could to gather and train sufficient forces to station Charleston. What it did for Lincoln was to give Scott and Anderson every opportunity to figure out how to hold Sumter as long as possible. Both governments were groping in the dark for a solution to a problem neither wanted. In that moment Americans both North and South had no idea what would happen. Preparations were being made simultaneously for peace and for war. Charleston would seemingly play out like the flip of a coin but was it so unknowable? Was it really such a great question that no one knew the answer? Two events in March provided some clarity. The first occurred on march sixteenth, when Lincoln sent the Corwin Amendment to all the states and their legislatures for ratification. Yes, he sent it to all thirty four states, including the seven that had seceded Lincoln's cover letter did not endorse or oppose ratification. It simply did its job of conveying information. The proposed amendment read quote No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere within any state with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said state. It was the closest any piece of legislation had gotten to solving part of the slavery problem. And for several weeks nothing came of it. It was a flat out rejection of anything a Lincoln administration would do by the cotton states. In fact only one state Kentucky actually ratified it. With everything that would ultimately happen in April the states pretty much forgot about it. And strictly speaking the Corwin Amendment is still sitting on the table of Congress to this day. It was never ratified and it was never withdrawn. Either way it's irrelevant now once the actual thirteenth fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were passed. The second event occurred on march twenty first, when Confederate Provisional Vice President Alexander Stevens gave a speech in Savannah, Georgia. It would become known as the Cornerstone speech, and it articulated clearly what ultimately mattered to the South Quote The prevailing ideas entertained by most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution was that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature, that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with but the general opinion of the men of that day was that somehow or the other in the order of providence the institution would be evanescent and pass away. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea. Its foundations are laid its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man, that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. If questions remained as to what would happen in Charleston, the rejection of the Corwin Amendment and Stevens proclamation of slavery as the cornerstone of his new government made it crystal clear that there are no questions remaining as to what hill Southerners would choose to die on. Gustavus Fox arrived in Charleston that same day, the twenty first, and got permission from Governor Pickens to visit Fort Sumter. He met with Anderson, surveyed the harbor, confirmed that the fort could hold until the fifteenth, shared the generalities of his plan, and then left the same night to return to Washington. He was sure his plan would work. Fox returned and assured Lincoln that his resupply mission would be effective. At this point Lincoln got a case of cold feet. Perhaps it was because he was keenly aware that the Virginia Secession Convention was meeting and nearing the time to vote. For a while he contemplated the idea of giving up Fort Sumter if Virginia would remain in the Union. He once reportedly said that a state for a fort is no bad business.

There's no

No consensus on whether he was serious or sarcastic, but it illustrates the stakes at the time. Lincoln decided to send two more envoys to Charleston to gauge whether South Carolina had any ounce of pro union sentiment in it. While they weren't technically spies, they were essentially gathering intelligence on the hearts and minds of the city's residents. With each passing day, a peaceful outcome to the situation seemed less and less likely. One envoy reported, quote, I have no hesitation in reporting as unquestionable that separate nationality is a fixed fact, that there is an unanimity of sentiment, which is to my mind astonishing, that there is no attachment to the Union. This is a time to expect and be prepared for the worst. Lincoln reconvened his cabinet on march twenty ninth and asked if they thought Fox's plan should go to Sumter. With War Secretary Cameron absent this time, they split evenly, three for the plan and three against it. For several days the president deliberated. By April first, Judge Campbell had just about had it with Seward. The commissioner's patience was exhausted. It had been nearly a month since the three had begun their mission. Would the Secretary or President meet with them or not? Campbell shared the rumor that the fort was about to be evacuated. Seward then let slip that perhaps Fort Sumter would be resupplied. The Supreme Court justice was stunned. He had been preaching patience because of an evacuation for weeks, and now he had been played. Six days later the commissioner said they'd had enough and would return south with the news that the chance of evacuation was slim and that the possibility of resupply was now on the table. By the end of the month, a discouraged Campbell would resign from the Supreme Court. That same day the first, Seward played his final card with the president when it came to who was really running the country. He wrote one of the strangest intra administrative memos ever penned by a secretary to his chief. He basically said, Mr President, it's been a month, and so far our domestic and foreign policies have been a dumpster fire. Someone needs to direct the country. It might as well be me. Lincoln had more than twenty items on his daily calendar for that day, and they would all wait. The president penned a three hundred and fifty word reply that he either handed directly to Seward or verbally relayed it. In effect he said he would be the one doing what needed to be done. Policy would be what he said it would be, his cabinet was there for advice. The president made his point. Know your role. And from then on, Seward operated as the president prescribed. With that problem dealt with, Lincoln made his decision about Sumter. Fox's mission was good to go. He would not leave Major Anderson to suffer or surrender. Lincoln gave the approval to resupply not only Fort Sumter, but another federal position as well, Fort Pickens outside of Pensacola, Florida. Unfortunately, in the issuing of orders, there was a mix-up and one of Fox's ships steamed to Florida without him ever knowing it. Just as all this was happening, the Virginia Secession Convention voted on an ordinance of secession on April fourth. Here was the test. Here would be a clear verdict on if anything Lincoln and his administration had been doing for the past month had produced an effect. So much maneuvering and debating had been undertaken to prevent war and to keep any more states from leaving the Union. What would Virginia do? When the roll had been taken, the vote was eighty eight to forty five rejecting secession. The job was being done. Now it remained to be seen what President Davis would do about Fox's little fleet sailing south toward Charleston. On april eighth, eighteen sixty one, a clerk of Lincoln's War Department arrived in Charleston to request an interview with Governor Pickens. That evening the clerk read Pickens his message. I am directed by the President of the United States to notify you to expect an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms or ammunition will be made without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the fort. The governor immediately sent the note to Montgomery, for Davis and his cabinet to consider. They knew full well that Lincoln, Seward, and the administration had been less than forthcoming with them and their commissioners. While it would be humanitarian and gallant to allow supplies for the isolated men at Sumter, they were completely suspicious that the mission would also include men in arms. Wasn't it a fact that the supply vessels were accompanied by ships of war? The discussion went on for two days. Robert Toomes, a fire eater from Georgia, surprisingly advised against attacking. The firing on that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than any the world has yet seen. At this time it is suicide, murder. You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest, which extends from mountains to ocean. Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It puts us in the wrong. It is fatal. There are echoes here of the sleeping giant quote attributed to Admiral Yamamoto after the Pearl Harbor attack, though there's much doubt that he actually ever said that. Still, military principle is clear. Be careful when striking a dangerous enemy, it could come back to bite you. But Jefferson Davis thought otherwise. He saw Lincoln as the one forcing the issue and that posterity would see it that way as well. He would be in the right. On april ninth, General Beauregard was told that under no circumstances was he to allow provisions to be sent to the fort. Then on the tenth, Davis issued a clear directive to his commander of the Charleston defenses. If you have no doubt as to the authorized character of the agent who communicated to you the intention of the Washington government to supply Fort Sumter by force, you will at once demand its evacuation, and if this is refused, proceed in such a manner as you may determine to reduce it. Reduce it. That was military speak for fire on the fortifications until they were reduced to rubble. Within the fort, Major Anderson and Captain Doubleday inventoried what food and supplies remained. They put their men on half rations. That would last them until noon on april twelfth. Bedding was removed from the wooden barracks and situated in the ground level casemates, well protected and out of harm's way. The morning of the eleventh, a rowboat carried three officers out to Fort Sumter, bearing a formal written request of surrender from Beauregard to Anderson. With dignified politeness, Anderson wrote back that he could not. He then said that he could evacuate by the 15th, since they would be out of food and supplies by then. Beauregard's messengers returned and relayed that piece of information, which again was transmitted to Davis and Montgomery. By this time the Confederate leaders were done with it. They knew Union ships were en route with supplies and most likely troops and weapons. They knew Seward had been lying to them. They knew Anderson was low on provisions, but how many days could he drag this on? Anything could happen over four more days. Perhaps it was sufficient time to be resupplied, and then what? No, enough was enough. After midnight in the dark hours of april twelfth, the three officers returned to the fort and delivered their last message. By authority of Brigadier General Beauregard, commanding the provisional forces of the Confederate States, we have the honor to notify you that he will open the fire of his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour from this time. It was three hundred twenty AM ten miles off the coast, Captain Fox and two of his ships had arrived from their journey south. Heavy seas had broken up his flotilla, and he was unsure where each vessel was. He peered into the darkness, hoping to see the arriving silhouettes of his missing ships. The dark lines of land were distant on the horizon. As soon as all his boats arrived he would form up and steam toward the Charleston Bar and Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, the Confederate officers rode back to Old Fort Johnson, where the mortar that would fire the signal to commence the bombardment was positioned. Orders were given to fire it at four hundred twenty. All around the harbor, gun crews had been standing by for hours, knowing that surrender messages and ultimatums were coming and going from the commanding general to the solitary fort. The three officers then got in their boat again and began rowing back to Charleston to report to Beauregard. At precisely four hundred twenty they stopped, and sat there bobbing in the water in the dark, waiting. Five, six, seven minutes passed. A tense and utter silence held the world in its grip. And then at four hundred thirty, a flash and a dull thud announced a shell tracing an arc high over the water, its red fuse glowing like a falling star. The signal was given. At Cummings Point on Morris Island, grey haired Edmund Ruffin pulled the lanyard. He had been given the honor of firing the first shot, the cannon blast that sounded the start of the war. For two hours the shells flew in from all directions. Once gunners got their range fixed, shells began tearing into the granite island and the brick walls of the fort. The high arcing mortar rounds were the most dangerous, ploughing into the parade grounds. Earth, brick, and mortar billowed up into the wind and rain that fell. As the Confederate artillery howled, the Yankee guns remained silent. Inside the fort, the garrison ate what little there was left for breakfast, beginning at 6 AM. With only eighty soldiers or so, only a fraction of Sumter's guns could be fired, and these in shifts, so as to give crews time for rest. Gunnery squads were formed and at six thirty AM Anderson gave the order to open fire. Doubleday discharged the first shot toward Cummings Point. Throughout the day shells could be seen hurtling through the air from both sides. When a muzzle flash appeared, it would take four to six seconds for the black dots to traverse the sky so soldiers could duck behind walls or berms. When the fort fired, the Southerners cheered in gentlemanly respect. Anderson's shots were mostly ineffective. The fixed positions on Morris and Sullivan's islands had been built up with earth, cotton bales, and sandbags, so shells thudded into them with deadening results. But the fort was shaking from hit after hit from the Confederate guns. Doubleday remembered, quote, the firing burst forth in one continuous roar and large patches of both the exterior and interior masonry began to crumble and fall in all directions. Another of Fox's ships arrived and he decided to move in closer. Perhaps he could try a peaceful resupply with a steam tug running provisions in quickly. But as they got closer, Fox saw smoke, and then dull punches from cannon fire reached his ears. Peace was no longer the context. His orders were to force his way onward, but his warship wasn't there, so he continued to wait, as a handful of wandering merchant ships gathered alongside him. The attack on the fort continued throughout the day and on into the night, slowing to intermittent shots at fixed intervals. Anderson's guns fell silent, as his command had pork and water while a rainstorm swept across the region. He and Doubleday watched into the darkness for any signs of resupply boats. Fox had given Anderson a general plan of action for his mission when he visited three weeks before. The rhythm of splashing oars in the water would be a welcome sound, but no boats materialized. As the skies brightened on april thirteenth, Beauregard had his gunners resume a hot fire at 8 AM. Soon the weary Federals replied again with fewer guns and at a slower rate. Amazingly, there had been no casualties on either side. The rebel cannoneers soon targeted the wooden officers building. Shell after shell hit the structure until exploding mortar rounds ignited the timbers and lit it up with flames. As the fire grew, Anderson ordered his men to leave the guns and move dozens and dozens of powder barrels from the fort's powder magazine. One spark there would be catastrophic. By eleven AM a change in the wind kept the fire at bay. But the fort had been pummeled now for thirty hours. Doubleday recounted, quote, the roaring and crackling of the flames, the dense masses of whirling smoke, the bursting of the enemy's shells and our own which were exploding in the burning rooms, the crashing of the shot and the sound of masonry falling in every direction made the fort a pandemonium. By one PM, Sumter's flagpole had been blown away. Brave soldiers improvised another means of raising the stars and stripes until it too was hit. The fort's guns were silent and smoke billowed aloft. It was time. A rowboat slipped out to Sumter with an envoy bearing a white handkerchief tied to the end of a sword. Anderson met the messenger and suggested that he surrender, according to Beauregard's original terms. Good enough. As the Confederates left, Anderson raised a white flag over the fort. The battle was over. Mary Chestnut was the thirty-seven year old wife of former South Carolina Senator and then Confederate officer James Chestnut. For the entirety of the war she kept a diary that is considered a vital piece of history, a long form commentary on the upheaval the coming war would have on the upper slave owning class. Ken Burns quoted from it extensively throughout his documentary on the Civil War. On april thirteenth, as the battle drew to a close, she wrote Nobody hurt, after all. Reaction after the dread of all the slaughter we thought those dreadful cannons were making such a noise in doing, not even a battery the worse for wear. Fort Sumter has been on fire. He has not yet silenced any of our guns. So the aides, still with swords and red sashes by way of uniform, tell us. But the sound of those guns makes regular meals impossible. None of us go to table. But tea trays pervade the corridors going everywhere. Some of the anxious hearts lie on their beds and moan in solitary misery. Ultimately, Fort Sumter meant that the tea trays in service of the months leading up to that singular day would no longer be given and taken in peace. Across the country the normalcy of life would be impossible, and hearts by the millions would be infected by anxiety and misery. War was upon America, and it would stretch across five Aprils. We know what happened. But what did the people living through it think at that moment? Perhaps their outlook was not quite as bleak. Consider these facts. As we said, there were no casualties during the battle. Other than the story of Private Daniel Howe and the others wounded during the military salute that we heard about back in Episode one, all the destruction caused by the shelling of Fort Sumter took not one life. Or consider Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy threw down a gauntlet and they won. They took a gamble to seize an installation which South Carolina might have taken peaceably back in January. Beauregard demanded Anderson's surrender, and eventually he did. Or consider this that Lincoln and his administration had the harder pill to swallow. But Anderson did his duty to the fullest. He had defended his fort, and Lincoln had defended his constitution. Despite the second failure of a rescue mission, Anderson's garrison saluted the American flag as it was lowered and honorably returned north. Historians still debate Lincoln's motives, intentions, and actions for the way he handled the situation and Fox's mission. James McPherson in his book Battle Cry of Freedom outlines three general interpretations of Lincoln's inaugural pledge to hold, occupy, and possess federal positions. First, some say that Lincoln intentionally maneuvered the Confederates into firing the first shot. By leveraging the current political situation, he would get a majority of popular support for the war. He knew war would save the Republicans and his administration. Again, this approach has World War II overtones to it, much in the same way some believe Roosevelt provoked the Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbor. A second theory sees Lincoln wanting to stand pat as much as possible, to allow time for pro-union sentiment to materialize. He couldn't surrender Sumter or he'd look weak. He hoped to preserve peace at the risk of starting a war. The Confederacy would choose whether there would be a war. The third position is nearly the same as the second, but Lincoln was expecting or even counting on the South to fire first. McPherson leans toward this final interpretation. I tend to think that because Lincoln's intentions are unknowable, only his life and actions up to that point are helpful to understand his actions. And if he was the consummate lawyer that he seemed to be, then he was trained and skilled at working within a system rather than preoccupied with creating one of his own. This would lend itself to Lincoln trying to pull every lever possible to hold Fort Sumter without firing first. He had already won the election, so his need to appear strong or popular at that moment wasn't a priority. His due diligence by gathering information, seeking different perspectives, and taking moderate risks all would undercut the picture of him as a manipulative warmonger. In fact, many elite Southerners saw the resolution in Charleston Harbor as indicative of how bloodless the struggle would wind up being. Mary Chestnut's husband James reportedly said, quote, a lady's thimble will hold all the blood that will be shed. Would there be a war? Would diplomacy resume between the North and the South? What would the Upper South like Virginia do? And what about the border states? Would the community Would Confederacy be recognized as a country by Lincoln now? Would the countries of Europe do the same now that the South proved itself in battle? No one knew for sure exactly what Fort Sumter meant. No one knew what tomorrow would hold. A great lesson from this episode is the power of selflessness. Each of us, by the fact of our humanness, is bent toward self-preservation and self-advancement. We all want what we desire for ourselves and will do what it takes to get what we want. And yet when we commit to acting on or advancing a greater cause, something more than ourselves, those actions grow beyond the scope of just the individual. They can impact a community and beyond. Consider the selflessness of many of the people who for two and a half months in 1861 did all they could in service to others. Robert Anderson did his duty to lead and care for his tiny command with greater forces arrayed against him. He led them to survive and defend with an imprecise picture of what was fully going on outside the walls of his fort. He could have easily surrendered at the outset when the future looked bleak. He did not. How about the hundred thirty three members of the Peace Conference who never gave up on pursuing peace? They weren't pretending to be great innovators to solve a problem that had been festering in North America for more than two hundred years, but they were representing their constituents back home in the laborious work of consensus building and communication about a path the country might take forward. Talk about a thankless process. In a certain way, look at Jefferson Davis, being willing to set aside what he really wanted, a military command, and take on the chief executive role of a new government. In our presentism, it's close to impossible to forgive someone who defended slavery. Through the lens of the past, though, one far more pragmatic than moral, perhaps we can see how he did display a resignation toward serving the people of the Deep South. And finally, look at Lincoln, taking a giant risk by inviting the men he did into the close circle of his cabinet. He could have chosen his own yes men or those Republican backers who rode his horse to electoral victory, but he didn't. He needed to be sharpened, and he was willing to surrender his own self righteousness in order to learn what he didn't know. To be selfless requires a streak of humility, to be confessional in a way, admitting that I'm not the center of my own universe, or that I need help and am not too proud to recognize it or ask for it. May we be encouraged to ask who is it we can serve besides ourselves? This closes the book on season one of Breaking Nation. It's brought us to the opening guns of conflict, with decades of backstory layering on top of one another in a compelling drama of failures and achievements. I hope you found yourself immersed in the people, the places, and the events of this era. I trust you've met some new individuals along the way and felt the burdens and joys of their lives in unexpected situations and points of decision. And I hope that you've forgotten what you thought you knew about the Civil War. I hope that it doesn't look like history anymore, but rather the reality of life, as if we didn't know how it would turn out. I hope you join me for season two as together we wonder what happens next. Please like and subscribe on whatever platform you listen, and be sure to leave a review. That helps others hear about the podcast. You can also go to breakingnation.com and sign up to receive email updates. And please forward links to others who you think would enjoy this story and the way it's presented. I'm thinking of ways to further develop our content, build a community of story-driven history enthusiasts, and inspire others to discover wisdom for the present. Thank you for your support and encouragement. Check out our website at BreakingNation.com. I'm Scott Holmgren, your host. Thank you for listening. And if you're not learning, you're not living.