Upon the Altar of the Nation (80 page)
Read Upon the Altar of the Nation Online
Authors: Harry S. Stout
11
The figure of civilian casualties is taken from McPherson,
Battle Cry of Freedom,
619. The subject of civilian casualties is astoundingly understudied. Professor McPherson’s estimate is the only estimate I have been able to locate.
The figure of civilian casualties is taken from McPherson,
Battle Cry of Freedom,
619. The subject of civilian casualties is astoundingly understudied. Professor McPherson’s estimate is the only estimate I have been able to locate.
12
Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” 1—21, reprinted in Ritchey and Jones,
American Civil Religion.
For a sampling of recent scholarship on the subject of civil religion, see Cherry,
God’s New Israel;
Bellah and Hammond,
Varieties of Civil Religion;
John Wilson,
Public Religion in American Culture;
Linder, “Civil Religion in Historical Perspective,” 399-421; and Henry,
Intoxication of Power.
Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” 1—21, reprinted in Ritchey and Jones,
American Civil Religion.
For a sampling of recent scholarship on the subject of civil religion, see Cherry,
God’s New Israel;
Bellah and Hammond,
Varieties of Civil Religion;
John Wilson,
Public Religion in American Culture;
Linder, “Civil Religion in Historical Perspective,” 399-421; and Henry,
Intoxication of Power.
13
See, for example, Alley,
So Help Me God;
Hutcheson,
God in the White House;
or Pierarad and Linder,
Civil Religion and the Presidency.
See, for example, Alley,
So Help Me God;
Hutcheson,
God in the White House;
or Pierarad and Linder,
Civil Religion and the Presidency.
16
See, for example, Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” 33-35, or Mead, “Nation with the Soul of a Church,” 275-83.
See, for example, Bellah, “Civil Religion in America,” 33-35, or Mead, “Nation with the Soul of a Church,” 275-83.
18
Ronald Reagan employed this metaphor as the defining image of his presidency.
Ronald Reagan employed this metaphor as the defining image of his presidency.
19
The classic summary of the jeremiad appeared in Perry Miller’s
New England Mind.
See also Bercovitch,
American Jeremiad,
and Stout,
New England Soul.
The classic summary of the jeremiad appeared in Perry Miller’s
New England Mind.
See also Bercovitch,
American Jeremiad,
and Stout,
New England Soul.
20
I describe not one but two civil religions during the war, each identical in theological terminology and morally opposed. With Confederate surrender, vestiges of a Confederate civil religion would endure in the “Religion of the Lost Cause.” But this would fade and, in time, the white North and South would reunite under one comprehensive and compelling American civil religion.
PROLOGUEI describe not one but two civil religions during the war, each identical in theological terminology and morally opposed. With Confederate surrender, vestiges of a Confederate civil religion would endure in the “Religion of the Lost Cause.” But this would fade and, in time, the white North and South would reunite under one comprehensive and compelling American civil religion.
1
For a particularly trenchant examination of Lincoln’s moral vision, see Guelzo,
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President,
especially 185—227.
For a particularly trenchant examination of Lincoln’s moral vision, see Guelzo,
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President,
especially 185—227.
2
This theme is treated brilliantly in Eric Foner’s now classic
Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men.
See also Sewall,
Ballots for Freedom.
This theme is treated brilliantly in Eric Foner’s now classic
Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men.
See also Sewall,
Ballots for Freedom.
5
Basler,
Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings,
529, 531. For text and analysis, see Holzer,
Lincoln at Cooper Union.
1. “THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH IS RISING”Basler,
Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings,
529, 531. For text and analysis, see Holzer,
Lincoln at Cooper Union.
1
The number of fast-day sermons published is remarkable and itself an evidence of how strongly sentiments had moved in one short month. A brief sampling for the North would include Bellows,
Crisis of Our National Disease;
Beecher,
Peace Be Still;
Breckinridge,
Union to Be Preserved;
Francis Vinton,
Irreligion and Corruption and Fanaticism Rebuked;
Humphrey,
Our Nation
; Fisher,
Sermon Preached in the Chapel of Yale College;
Allen,
Constitution and the Union;
Abbott,
Address upon Our National Affairs;
and Roset,
Sermon on the Preservation of the Union.
For the South, see especially Cuthbert,
Scriptural Grounds for Secession from the Union,
and Dreher,
Sermon.
There were a handful of fast-day sermons calling for calm and moderation; see, for example, Guion,
Sermon Preached,
and William Adams,
Prayers for Rulers.
The number of fast-day sermons published is remarkable and itself an evidence of how strongly sentiments had moved in one short month. A brief sampling for the North would include Bellows,
Crisis of Our National Disease;
Beecher,
Peace Be Still;
Breckinridge,
Union to Be Preserved;
Francis Vinton,
Irreligion and Corruption and Fanaticism Rebuked;
Humphrey,
Our Nation
; Fisher,
Sermon Preached in the Chapel of Yale College;
Allen,
Constitution and the Union;
Abbott,
Address upon Our National Affairs;
and Roset,
Sermon on the Preservation of the Union.
For the South, see especially Cuthbert,
Scriptural Grounds for Secession from the Union,
and Dreher,
Sermon.
There were a handful of fast-day sermons calling for calm and moderation; see, for example, Guion,
Sermon Preached,
and William Adams,
Prayers for Rulers.
2
Quoted in Phillips, “Literary Movement for Secession,” in his
Studies in Southern History and Politics,
33.
Quoted in Phillips, “Literary Movement for Secession,” in his
Studies in Southern History and Politics,
33.
3
Despite the efforts of Confederates and present-day neo-Confederates to decouple states’ rights from slavery, the connection between the two was symbiotic and reflected in the efforts of South Carolina-dominated secession commissioners sent throughout the slaveholding states to trumpet their gospel of disunion. See Dew,
Apostles of Disunion.
Despite the efforts of Confederates and present-day neo-Confederates to decouple states’ rights from slavery, the connection between the two was symbiotic and reflected in the efforts of South Carolina-dominated secession commissioners sent throughout the slaveholding states to trumpet their gospel of disunion. See Dew,
Apostles of Disunion.
4
On the interconnections of states’ rights and race-based slavery, as well as the movement to reopen the African slave trade, see Sinha,
Counterrevolution of Slavery,
especially 125-52. See also Freehling,
Prelude to Civil War;
Channing,
Crisis of Fear;
and Barnwell,
Love of Order.
On the interconnections of states’ rights and race-based slavery, as well as the movement to reopen the African slave trade, see Sinha,
Counterrevolution of Slavery,
especially 125-52. See also Freehling,
Prelude to Civil War;
Channing,
Crisis of Fear;
and Barnwell,
Love of Order.
6
The Confederate constitution was formally ratified on March 11, 1861. It is reprinted in DeRosa,
Confederate Constitution of 1861,
135-51. On the election and inauguration of Jefferson Davis, see William C. Davis,
Jefferson Davis,
303-10.
The Confederate constitution was formally ratified on March 11, 1861. It is reprinted in DeRosa,
Confederate Constitution of 1861,
135-51. On the election and inauguration of Jefferson Davis, see William C. Davis,
Jefferson Davis,
303-10.
7
Eddy,
Secession
—
Shall It Be Peace or War?
17. In New York the Reverend Henry Bellows expressed similar sentiments in Crisis
of Our National Disease:
“Why not consent, then, to pacific and amicable and just terms of separation ... they ought to be permitted to go out of [the union] in peace.” Reprinted in
Fast Day Sermons,
303.
Eddy,
Secession
—
Shall It Be Peace or War?
17. In New York the Reverend Henry Bellows expressed similar sentiments in Crisis
of Our National Disease:
“Why not consent, then, to pacific and amicable and just terms of separation ... they ought to be permitted to go out of [the union] in peace.” Reprinted in
Fast Day Sermons,
303.
11
Martha LeBaron Goddard to Mary W Johnson, February 11 and March 24, 1861, Civil War Papers, American Antiquarian Society (hereafter AAS). I am indebted to Joanne Chaison for calling these recently assembled letters to my attention.
Martha LeBaron Goddard to Mary W Johnson, February 11 and March 24, 1861, Civil War Papers, American Antiquarian Society (hereafter AAS). I am indebted to Joanne Chaison for calling these recently assembled letters to my attention.
12
The literature on abolitionism is vast and, since the 1960s, almost exclusively sympathetic. For representative studies, see Nye,
William Lloyd Garrison and the Humanitarian Reformers;
McPherson,
Struggle for Equality;
Sewart,
Holy Warriors;
Thomas,
The Liberator;
Wyatt-Brown,
Lewis Tappan;
Kraditor,
Means and Ends in American Abolitionism;
Perry,
Radical Abolitionism;
McInerney,
Fortunate Heirs of Freedom;
and Lerner,
The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina.
On black abolitionists, see Quarles,
Black Abolitionists;
Pease and Pease,
They Who Would be Free;
and Blight,
Frederick Douglass’ Civil War.
The literature on abolitionism is vast and, since the 1960s, almost exclusively sympathetic. For representative studies, see Nye,
William Lloyd Garrison and the Humanitarian Reformers;
McPherson,
Struggle for Equality;
Sewart,
Holy Warriors;
Thomas,
The Liberator;
Wyatt-Brown,
Lewis Tappan;
Kraditor,
Means and Ends in American Abolitionism;
Perry,
Radical Abolitionism;
McInerney,
Fortunate Heirs of Freedom;
and Lerner,
The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina.
On black abolitionists, see Quarles,
Black Abolitionists;
Pease and Pease,
They Who Would be Free;
and Blight,
Frederick Douglass’ Civil War.
13
This willingness would not account for the views of the vast majority of Northern blacks, who wished to fight a war for freedom. See Blight,
Frederick Douglass’ Civil War,
1—130.
This willingness would not account for the views of the vast majority of Northern blacks, who wished to fight a war for freedom. See Blight,
Frederick Douglass’ Civil War,
1—130.
14
Charles Regan Wilson, “Robert Lewis Dabney,” 79-89.
Charles Regan Wilson, “Robert Lewis Dabney,” 79-89.
15
Robert Dabney to William Hoge, December 5, 1860, Manuscript Archives, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond.
Robert Dabney to William Hoge, December 5, 1860, Manuscript Archives, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond.
16
Moses Hoge to T. V. Moore, December 22, 1860, in ibid.
Moses Hoge to T. V. Moore, December 22, 1860, in ibid.
17
Robert Dabney to Charles Hodge, January 23, 1861, in ibid.
Robert Dabney to Charles Hodge, January 23, 1861, in ibid.
22
Ibid. In his provocative work
On Hallowed Ground,
10, Diggins argues that with the advent of civil war, Lincoln “returned to the Declaration as the redeeming ethical ideal.” On Lincoln’s embrace of the Declaration of Independence as the foundational document for American identity and common meaning, and his intellectual affinity with Jefferson, see Wills,
Lincoln at Gettysburg,
84—89; Maier,
American Scripture,
196-208; and Farber,
Lincoln’s Constitution,
102—3.
Ibid. In his provocative work
On Hallowed Ground,
10, Diggins argues that with the advent of civil war, Lincoln “returned to the Declaration as the redeeming ethical ideal.” On Lincoln’s embrace of the Declaration of Independence as the foundational document for American identity and common meaning, and his intellectual affinity with Jefferson, see Wills,
Lincoln at Gettysburg,
84—89; Maier,
American Scripture,
196-208; and Farber,
Lincoln’s Constitution,
102—3.
23
Lincoln to Henry L. Pierce, in Basler,
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
3:376; hereafter cited as CW.
2. “LET THE STRIFE BEGIN”Lincoln to Henry L. Pierce, in Basler,
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
3:376; hereafter cited as CW.
1
See Donald,
Lincoln,
288-92. For a good account of how the Union retained the use of Fort Pickens even as Sumter fell, see Pearce,
Pensacola during the Civil War,
48-69.
See Donald,
Lincoln,
288-92. For a good account of how the Union retained the use of Fort Pickens even as Sumter fell, see Pearce,
Pensacola during the Civil War,
48-69.
2
The best account of the fall of Fort Sumter, on which these paragraphs depend significantly, is Current’s
Lincoln and the First Shot.
Also useful is Potter’s
Lincoln and His Party.
The best account of the fall of Fort Sumter, on which these paragraphs depend significantly, is Current’s
Lincoln and the First Shot.
Also useful is Potter’s
Lincoln and His Party.
3
The issue of Lincoln’s motives in moving to supply Sumter has been hotly debated. From a Northern perspective, it was an innocent attempt to save a Federal property. From a Southern perspective, it was a ruse to force the South to act and, in so doing, cement Northern support for the looming war. A middle path that I find especially persuasive is discussed in Stampp,
And the War Came,
280-86.
The issue of Lincoln’s motives in moving to supply Sumter has been hotly debated. From a Northern perspective, it was an innocent attempt to save a Federal property. From a Southern perspective, it was a ruse to force the South to act and, in so doing, cement Northern support for the looming war. A middle path that I find especially persuasive is discussed in Stampp,
And the War Came,
280-86.
6
For a thorough description of the Confederate government in the days immediately prior to the attack on Sumter, see Current,
Lincoln and the First Shot,
126-53.
For a thorough description of the Confederate government in the days immediately prior to the attack on Sumter, see Current,
Lincoln and the First Shot,
126-53.
10
Alexander H. Stephens,
A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States,
2 vols. (Chicago, 1868-70), II, 35.
Alexander H. Stephens,
A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States,
2 vols. (Chicago, 1868-70), II, 35.
13
Too often in the past accusations about who “started” the war merely reinforced sectional prejudices, with Lincoln or Davis entirely innocent and the other entirely guilty. Current offers a more balanced perspective
Lincoln and the First Shot,
206—8: “In those early April days both Lincoln and Davis took chances which, in retrospect, seem awesome. The chances they took eventuated in the most terrible of all wars for the American people. Lincoln and Davis, as each made his irrevocable decision, could see clearly enough the cost of holding back. Neither could see so clearly the cost of going ahead. Both expected, or at least hoped, that the hostilities would be limited in space and time.... Viewed impartially, both sides were guilty of aggression, and neither was.”
Too often in the past accusations about who “started” the war merely reinforced sectional prejudices, with Lincoln or Davis entirely innocent and the other entirely guilty. Current offers a more balanced perspective
Lincoln and the First Shot,
206—8: “In those early April days both Lincoln and Davis took chances which, in retrospect, seem awesome. The chances they took eventuated in the most terrible of all wars for the American people. Lincoln and Davis, as each made his irrevocable decision, could see clearly enough the cost of holding back. Neither could see so clearly the cost of going ahead. Both expected, or at least hoped, that the hostilities would be limited in space and time.... Viewed impartially, both sides were guilty of aggression, and neither was.”
15
Given the engineering focus of antebellum West Point, formal instruction in tactics was minimal.
Given the engineering focus of antebellum West Point, formal instruction in tactics was minimal.
16
Janda, “Shutting the Gates of Mercy,” 9-10.
Janda, “Shutting the Gates of Mercy,” 9-10.
25
Burlingame,
With Lincoln in the White House,
35. See also Guelzo,
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President,
279-81.
Burlingame,
With Lincoln in the White House,
35. See also Guelzo,
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President,
279-81.
26
J. Stewart Brown to Alonzo Hill, May 1, 1861, Civil War Papers, AAS.
3. “OUR FLAG CARRIES ... AMERICAN HISTORY”J. Stewart Brown to Alonzo Hill, May 1, 1861, Civil War Papers, AAS.
1
J. B. Jones,
Rebel War Clerk’s Diary,
19, 22-23. See also Emory Thomas,
Confederate State of Richmond,
6.
J. B. Jones,
Rebel War Clerk’s Diary,
19, 22-23. See also Emory Thomas,
Confederate State of Richmond,
6.
2
Andrews, “The Confederate Press and Public Morale,” 447.
Andrews, “The Confederate Press and Public Morale,” 447.
3
Other notable newspapers and periodicals include the
Southern Literary Messenger, the Magnolia Weekly,
the
Record of News, History and Literature
(first published June 18, 1863), and a humorous magazine, the
Southern Punch
(first published August 29, 1863). The
Southern Illustrated News
(fall 1862) became the most popular periodical in the wartime South.
Other notable newspapers and periodicals include the
Southern Literary Messenger, the Magnolia Weekly,
the
Record of News, History and Literature
(first published June 18, 1863), and a humorous magazine, the
Southern Punch
(first published August 29, 1863). The
Southern Illustrated News
(fall 1862) became the most popular periodical in the wartime South.
7
Beecher,
National Flag,
in his Patriotic
Addresses,
291. Beecher’s address was originally delivered in May 1861. The flag over Fort Sumter was the Palmetto state flag of South Carolina. The Confederate flag, sometimes called the “Stars and Bars,” went through two iterations and was not formally settled until the Confederate Congress passed an act in 1863. Even in the border state of Kentucky, strong Unionist sentiment was expressed by flag-waving. In Louisville: “The city was ablaze with Union sentiment. Public meetings were held and the most emphatic expressions in favor of the Union were applauded. ‘Flag raisings’ became popular. Every day’s issue of the papers contained notices of these ‘flag raisings.’ So common did they become that the
Louisville Democrat
said that the city had become known as ‘the city of flags.’” Quoted in McDowell,
City of Conflict,
2-3. On flag culture in the South and in the nation, see Bonner, “Flag Culture and the Consolidation of Confederate Nationalism,” 293-332, and Bonner,
Colors and Blood.
Beecher,
National Flag,
in his Patriotic
Addresses,
291. Beecher’s address was originally delivered in May 1861. The flag over Fort Sumter was the Palmetto state flag of South Carolina. The Confederate flag, sometimes called the “Stars and Bars,” went through two iterations and was not formally settled until the Confederate Congress passed an act in 1863. Even in the border state of Kentucky, strong Unionist sentiment was expressed by flag-waving. In Louisville: “The city was ablaze with Union sentiment. Public meetings were held and the most emphatic expressions in favor of the Union were applauded. ‘Flag raisings’ became popular. Every day’s issue of the papers contained notices of these ‘flag raisings.’ So common did they become that the
Louisville Democrat
said that the city had become known as ‘the city of flags.’” Quoted in McDowell,
City of Conflict,
2-3. On flag culture in the South and in the nation, see Bonner, “Flag Culture and the Consolidation of Confederate Nationalism,” 293-332, and Bonner,
Colors and Blood.
Other books
Dante's Wedding Deception by Day Leclaire, Day Leclaire
The Ghost of Cutler Creek by Cynthia DeFelice
The Prophet by Amanda Stevens
Sisters of the Heart - 03 - Forgiven by Shelley Shepard Gray
The Delta by Tony Park
Patience County War (Madeleine Toche Series) by Soren Petrek
Hard Candy by Amaleka McCall
Beauty and the Dark by Georgia Le Carre
Double Jeopardy by Martin M. Goldsmith
Afterlife by Isabella Kruger