"The Coming Tempest": More Thoughts on Abolition

Let me start with a little bit of self-congratulation that I hope readers will excuse and forgive, but this post will be number 400 since I started on blogger on June 19, 2009. I realize many of these entries have involved transcribing articles and stories, and perhaps not as much original writing as I had hoped,  and I certainly make no claim that all 400 are of the highest quality, but I do feel a bit of pride about having stuck with this for so long. Looking for items to write about has opened my eyes to quite a few new perspectives not only about the war, but how people thought about it at the time, how it is studied and remembered today and how many different perspectives -some ground in emotion, some in serious study, others in wishful thinking or daydreaming - there really are. I do not live in a hotbed of the war so my perspective is probably much more limited than others, but I do think my understanding of the war and the people who study it has grown, though with much more room to improve. Anyway, I just wanted to make a brief note of this little milestone and also note that I have come up with a new research project and idea that will combine a couple of my passions and hopefully uncover some interesting stories about the Civil War and its participants.
 
With no further ado, here is post # 400.
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 On April 26, 1862, theCovington Journal printed another story about abolitionism and what the future might hold. This editor seems to have picked up on the advancing momentum this idea had gathered in the north and was not afraid to comment about this movement.

THE ABOLITION ISSUE
"Either Slavery or the Republic Must Perish!"
On Thursday last, in the House, while the confiscation bill was under discussion, Mr. Lovejoy 
declared that: "Either slavery or the Republic must perish." 

He also said: 
 
"Those who defend slavery defend the rebellion, for slavery and rebellion are synonymous."

A few days ago, in the Senate, Mr. Wade said that

"Men who would talk of constitutional guarantees, of habeas corpus, the phrases 'that no man shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law,' &c., in this great crisis, is a traitor at heart." 

The Washington correspondent of the New York Tribune, in view of the Abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, thanked god "even for this war with its present and prospective horrors." 

These declarations are more than straws, in dictating the direction of the wind. Coupled with the formal action of the party controlling the Government, in nullifying the constitution in regard to the rendition of fugitive slaves, the abolition of slavery in the District, the freeing of slaves by military order, &c., they are signs of the coming tempest.

No man can shut his eyes to the tendency of events. As our arms advance the fanatics of the North become more insolent, more exacting,  more determined in their purpose to abolish slavery or break up the Union - "Either slavery or the republic must perish."
Listen to the words of Henry Clay in describing the Abolitionists: 

"They are resolved to persevere in the pursuit of their object at all hazards, however calamitous it may be. With them the rights of property are nothing; the acknowledged and incontestable powers of the States are nothing; civil war, a dissolution of the Union, and the overthrow of the government in which are concentrated the fondest hopes of the civilized world, are nothing, A single idea  has taken possession of their minds, and onward they pursue it, overlooking all barriers, reckless and regardless of all consequences."
 
Will these men succeed in their hellish scheme? The struggle will be a terrible one. We believe a very large majority of the people are opposed not only to breaking up the Union but to the alternative presented by the Abolitionists - the destruction of slavery; but the Abolitionists have possession of the government with ist countless offices, its vast moneyed power, and its immense army. The border slave States seem to be bound hand and foot. Our only hope is in the conservative men of the North - the hardy yeomanry, the honest mechanics and laborers who know perfectly well that every great interest of the country is opposed to the reckless schemes of the theoretical fanatics who control affairs at Washington. All things considered, the world has never witnessed a more gallant contest than those true-hearted men of the North are making for the constitution as it is and the Union as it was.  

Benjamin Wade, courtesy senate.gov

Owen Lovejoy, courtesy wikipedia

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers out there.

I think 2011 was a solid year for My Civil War Obsession. The discovery of the Covington Journal as an easily accessible and informative source was very helpful and I just recently found that I will be able to use the Cincinnati Enquirer from the war years more easily than before as well, so hopefully I will be able to take advantage of that and find more interesting articles, reports and war-time rumors to share.

I'll continue to publish book reviews when I can and hope to start exploring some questions and observations of my own. In 2011, I have learned of the concept of "civil war memory" (thanks to Kevin Levine and others) and hope I can start considering that perspective more often and maybe finding ways to include comments on that issue in more posts. It will not be a dominant theme here, but it is something I do believe I should consider more frequently and carefully.

2012 will mark the 150th anniversary of the "Siege of Cincinnati" and I will be busy with the Ramage Museum trying to plan events to commemorate those early weeks of September. Perhaps that will generate more thoughts and ideas for discussion and I hope I can apply thoughts of the way we choose to remember this period and maybe even consider this viewpoint when doing the planning.

Thank you again for taking the time to read and comment on My Civil War Obsession. I wish you all a healthy, happy New Year and hope that it will be even better for all of us than 2011 was.

Richard

Scott Sarich of TotalGettysburg.com Interviews Me

Yes, someone actually interviewed  me.

There are no earth-shattering revelations in the article, and much of that information can be found on various pages of this blog, though not so organized, but it was a pleasure and honor to have Scott Sarich give me this opportunity. I hope readers will check it out and enjoy it.

Once done with it, please explore his site, www.totalgettysburg.com and check it out. It has a lot of information, past and present, about Gettysburg, as well as several other interviews with bloggers and Civil War enthusiasts.

Thanks again to Scott for allowing me this enjoyable experience. I hope

Design Updates

UPDATE 9/29: As I mentioned in the comments sections, the resolution of your monitor will affect how the site looks. My home monitor has a very high resolution and that is what I use when I'm designing this. I may have to think about changing it to a lower resolution when designing this blog. I may experiment some more with this.

Please pardon the dust, as I'm making some design changes, which I'm wont to do from time-to-time -  it's the blessing and the curse of being able to make any changes I want, but the previous design, as much as I liked it, lasted for more than a year and I thought it could be tough at times to read the posts, with the way the background was, so perhaps this more colorful approach will make things better.

I'll try not to make too many changes over the next few days and settle on something I like quickly, but I may keep playing around at least a little bit.

Thanks for your patience with me.
Richard

2010: A Review

2010 was a good year for My Civil War Obsession. I made almost 100 posts, easily meeting my goal of one per week. In 2009, as I first entered the blogosphere,  I made a couple entries just to say I had posted something or to take up space, but that did not happen in  2010, which strikes me as a sign of progress.  I now have a much better idea of how I want to operate this blog and what I should publish.

With some of the additional tools Blogger provided, I redesigned the blog's look twice, and really do like how it appears now. I did just lighten up the background picture a couple of days ago, so the text should be easier to see and read, but I really like how the main page looks when I first arrive at it.

I finally got back into the research end of things, concentrating on local cemeteries and headstones of Civil War veterans. I even started a new blog on that subject. Not only has it lead me to walk through the various cemeteries, but I've also finally returned to the library, looking through rolls of microfilm, and have found new websites that help provide good information. It has been fun getting back to that activity and I hope I will continue to find interesting new material for both blogs.

One of the interesting side-effects of writing this blog has been my luck in finding some wonderful blogs to follow. There are some outstanding bloggers out there, and sometimes I wonder if I'm really qualified to try to follow in their footsteps. I've learned quite a bit from their blogs - some about the war itself, but perhaps even more about how to study the war, and how to take new perspectives about what I'm studying. I hope to apply some of these lessons and explore them going forward.


My book reading this year wasn't quite as extensive as I had hoped it would be, for a couple reasons that no longer matter. The books I did finish, however, were very interesting and informative, so I will re-list them here.  If you you use the search option, you can find my full reviews for each of these.

Dixie Betrayed: How the South Really Lost the Civil War by David Eicher. The "how the South Really Lost" part is not an accurate description of the book's results, but it was an enjoyable book and nicely illustrated some of the struggles the Confederacy and its leadership faced, especially among its own politicians and their hopes and plans.

Baseball's First Inning: A History of the National Pastime Through the Civil War by William Ryczek is not a Civil War book, but the book I'm reading now mentions base ball a few times as a popular camp activity. Base ball (two words at the time) was certainly a growing sport during this era of the nation's history and soldiers would have been very familiar with it, even with different versions or rules.

Andersonvilles of the North: The Myths and Realities of Northern Treatment of Civil War Confederate Prisoners by James Gillispie. I enjoyed this perspective and analysis of northern prisons and how the Union treated prisoners in its care. It makes a case that the stereotypical thoughts - i.e. the Union could have done more, but intentionally mistreated its prisoners as a way to get revenge for perceived mistreatment of Northern soldiers by Southern captors - may not be as true as often believed.

Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War by James Schmidt was a really different and informative look at the country during this era and some of the companies that actually benefited from the opportunities war provided. I really enjoyed it and found it to be very readable and well-written, with information about several companies that modern Americans recognize and know.

West Pointers and the Civil War: The Old Army in War and Peace by Wayne Wei-Siang Hsieh was very informative and a good analysis of how the old army's culture influenced both sides in the Civil War, particularly with is conservative nature and desire to avoid politics as much as possible. 

Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America by Evan Carton was a good narrative and interesting look at Brown's life, combining information from sources along with Carton's own interprtations of how Brown may have reacted and spoke in various situations.

General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse by Joseph Glatthaar - I enjoyed this book, which is basically a biography of the Army of Northern Virginia, with an impressive amount of demographic data Glatthaar compiled. It is a very readable book, with a lot of information in it.

The Men Stood Like Iron: How the Iron Brigade Won its Name by Lance J Herdegen did a good job describing the formative years of this famed Union unit, especially battles at Brawner Farm, 2nd Bull Run and South Mountain. I wish it had extended a bit further time-wise, perhaps through Gettysburg, but it was still an enjoyable read.

Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers, another work by Joseph Glatthaar is an excellent book and does a great job of describing the formation of African-American units in the Union Army, including the recruitment of the men and the processes of finding and appointing officers for these units.

Firebrand of Liberty: The Story of Two Black Regiments that Changed the Course of the Civil War by Stephen Ash tells the story of two units of African Americans formed in the Sea Islands off South Carolina. With much of the account taken from the writing of their colonel, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, this book describes their voyage to the mainland and their capture of Jacksonville, Florida, in what Higginson and his superior had hoped would start a war on slavery in the region. It's very well-written and pleasant to read.

Like Men of War: Black Troops in the Civil War 1862-1865 by Noah Andre Trudeau does a fine job of describing the combat experiences of African American soldiers in the Union army in both theaters of the war. It relies on accounts written by many of these soldiers to show how they proved their military worth over and over.

Overall, I am happy with how this blog developed in my first full year of trying this experiment and look forward to another fine year. I have purchased my own domain name, in the hopes that it helps make this blog easier to find, and I hope I can continue to find new and interesting stories, thoughts, and questions to ponder and discuss.

Happy New Year to all!

Can you judge a blog by its cover?

I know I just changed the look of my blog a couple of months ago, but as I was working on it this weekend, I found a couple new formatting ideas I had not seen before and decided to experiment with them a bit.

I think I found one I like and that should stick around a while. I really like the transparency of the form, allowing the background photograph to be visible. I think the text color makes it still readable without too much effort.

Hopefully I'm done tinkering with it for now, but if I find something else that looks neat, I may try it.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

99th Post here at the Obsession

Well, after about 13 months in the blogosphere, I've reached my "post before my 100th post," and though 100 seems like the bigger milestone, I thought now would be a good time to do a "state of the Obsession" entry.

When I started this little experiment, I had no idea  how it would go or what I would get out of it, but I must admit I've really enjoyed it. It is difficult at times to find material to post, and the time to post it, and I have not quite posted the kind of opinions and thoughts that I originally believed I might, but it has been a good learning experience.

When I started this, I thought I would enter all kinds of original opinions, observations and thoughts about the war and, at the start, I did. Since then, I've started adding a lot more reprints of various pieces I've found in old books, newspapers or ephemera, and have added a few book reviews as well, but not as much original opinion, analysis or insight.

The time I started blogging was also about the same time I started reading various Civil War blogs, and that has been quite an eye-opener. I see some very well-written, thoroughly-researched articles and entries, and several bloggers I have found offer really detailed and informative analysis of various subjects related to the Civil War. There really is quite a lot to learn just from the blogs.

I'm not convinced I can offer the type of insight that many other fellow bloggers do, but I plan to keep trying to find something new or interesting to post. I hope I can average at least one entry per week, though more would be ideal, but I think the direction my blog has headed in recent months is one I like and will try to continue to follow, with a mixture of book reviews, discussions of recent articles, re-printing older articles, poems or stories, and I'd like to add some more original type of material as well.

I will see where this continuing experiment takes me, but I've really enjoyed it so far. By starting this blog, I have found some very enjoyable blogs to follow and discovered new ways to learn about this fascinating period of time. I hope that in some small way I can contribute something unique to the world of Civil War study, as I continue to explore my Civil War Obsession.

Thanks for indulging me in this perhaps self-congratulatory post.