THE GREAT REBELLION.

CHAPTER I.

PRIOR TO 1861.

CAUSES OF THE REBELLION-DANGER OF SECTIONAL PARTIES-HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE GOVERNMENT-CAUSES OF HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE NORTH AND SOUTH-MISSOURI COMPROMISE-HOSTILE LEGISLATION OF THE STATESCONGRESS-THE WHIG AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES-NECESSITY OF A NEW PARTY IN THE PLACE OF THE WHIG-THE REPUBLICAN PARTY-SOUTHERN CONSPIRATORS-THEIR PLAN-ELECTION OF LINCOLN-FIRST STEPS TOWARDS DISUNION.

HE Rebellion of 1861 stands out unique and extraordinary, in all the features that compose it. Whether viewed in its colossal proportions-suddenly summoning to the field nearly a million of men or the purely imaginary evils that produced it, or the benign and equitable form of government sought to be overthrown, or the state of civilization and Christianity in which it occurred, or the totally visionary good it proposed to obtain, or the frightful, appalling evils which were sure to follow,-it forms one of the most extraordinary chapters in human history that the pen of the historian was ever called upon to record. States having a common interest and origin, baptized in the same patriotic blood, were arrayed against each other in deadly strife—families divided, parents against children, and brothers against brothers-churches with a common faith and communion split asunder, and ministers and people who had wept at the same altar, suddenly began to pray each for the other's discomfiture; and the happiest land the sun ever

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CAUSES OF THE REBELLION.

shone upon became drenched in fraternal blood, and filled with sighs and lamentations; and posterity will ask for what? Volumes will unquestionably be written on the causes that led to these appalling evils, and the guilt be placed upon this or that class or section, according to the peculiar views or prejudices of the writer. The time has not yet come for the people to receive a just, dispassionate account of them. A generation, at least, must pass away, before this can be done. With the frightful catastrophe which has overtaken us, full in view, no section or party is willing to accept the responsibility of its existence. All know the immediate cause of it. The north and south were at length arrayed against each other in two great political parties on the question of slavery. The northern party triumphed, and though no illegal act was charged against it, and no pretense offered that it had not succeeded in a legitimate, constitutional way, the defeated southern party refused to accept the decision of the ballot box, and rushing into open revolt, proceeded to organize a government of its own. Unreasonable, unnatural, and criminal as this course appears, it was in perfect keeping with the history of former republics, and an event, which every one not blinded by fanaticism, or selfishness, or ignorance, or contempt of the past, could easily have foretold without any spirit of prophecy. It makes no difference what the cause may be, whether slavery, unequal legislation, or imaginary evils; whenever east and west, or north and south, shall now, or hereafter, stand arrayed against each other in hostile political parties, if the attitude is maintained, peaceful dissolution or civil war must follow. It was in view of this possible calamity, that Washington, in his farewell address, used the following language: "In contemplating the causes that may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground shall have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discrimi

DANGER OF SECTIONAL PARTIES.

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nations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western, whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views."

This advice, it is the historian's imperative duty to impress on the public mind, let whatever party or section of the country be guilty of political factions, based on geographical lines. How much it may be the duty of one portion to suffer from the aggressions of another, before it ought to stand up in its own defense, is strictly another question-the great truth which should be engraven as with the point of a diamond on the public heart, is this: whenever the position is taken, let it be assumed with the full understanding and consent, that it shall end in peaceful separation or open war. Let the people never again be deluded by ignorant, selfish leaders, into the belief that it can be done without danger. Whenever the first step is taken towards the arraying of one section of this country against the other, in a political contest, let every one who engages in it, make up his mind to go to the bitter end, and not delude himself and others, by the contemptuous cry of "no danger." Boastful and proud as we as a people undoubtedly are, we shall always find in the end, that we form no exception to the history of nations. What has wrecked other republics, if persisted in, will assuredly wreck us. Our advanced civilization and Christianity, cannot avail us to escape their doom, except as they enable us to avoid their errors and crimes.

But though the time has not yet come for a calm and dispassionate discussion of all the causes that brought about this rebellion, certain historical events may be given as the foundation for our own judgment. This, too, is necessary to any right understanding of it. When we had achieved our independence of Great Britain, and our patriotic sires assembled to lay the foundation of the new government, they found themselves confronted with a glaring inconsistency, which

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SLAVERY-EMANCIPATION-COTTON.

they could see no way to avoid incorporating into the very structure itself-viz., slavery. Right in the face of the declaration of independence, by which the rebellion had been justified, and on which the battle had been fought and won, they had to accept human slavery as one of the strange features of the new republic. To us it seems a singular providence that fastened this necessity upon them. They felt the embarrassment it produced, and feared the evils that would result from giving such an incongruous, demoralizing thing a place in the temple of liberty. They solaced themselves, however, with the hope that it would gradually disappear under the benign influence of free institutions, and the palpable advantages of free labor. Their anticipations were to a certain extent realized, and state after state released itself from the curse of slavery, until emancipation reached nearly to the parallel of thirty. Here its progress was arrested; though in Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky, influences were at work, which promised before long to place them beside the free states of the north. Bills were introduced into their legislatures, looking to gradual emancipation; and the subject was publicly and fully discussed within their borders till it looked, for a time, as though the problem of slavery was to have a peaceful and happy solution. Independent of moral considerations, on the score of economy alone, it was plain that these states should range themselves on the side of freedom. But just at this critical period, a few violent abolitionists commenced a fierce crusade against slavery and slaveholders. This alarmed the timid, lest emancipation should end in insurrection; and enraged others, who would not be driven by vituperation into any measure, until all thought of gradual emancipation was dropped. Added to this, the cultivation of cotton rapidly acquired prominence as a source of wealth, and the importation of slaves being prohibited, the value of those in the country