"The Last and Most Speaking Characteristic of the Rebellion" and "The Policy of the New President" from the April 27, 1865 Door County Advocate
The Last and Most Speaking Characteristic of the Rebellion.
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At last Richmond is ours—and just as the shout waked the land to a jubilee of adoration, to a burst of gratitude, come to our ears the notes of mourning; the last sting of the copperhead is inflicted upon the Chief Executive of our nation, and President LINCOLN dies the murdered victim, of the same hatred of freedom and civilization, that inspired the leaders in this murderous rebellion. This fundamental principle was from the beginning "Death to freedom and the perpetuation of Slavery." In this they have failed, miserably failed.
Four years have seen the destruction of the political supermacy of slavery. — With its downfall the prestige of the rebellion is broken. The black men, are free men. Negro troops have trod the pavements of Richmond; that central orb around which the hellish ferocity, murders, rapine, starvation and all the horrid concomitants of this rebellion have revolved, as satelites.
On that 12th day of April 1838, LOVEJOY was murdered in Alton for writing and speaking that men should be free. Twenty seven years and two days from that day President LINCOLN suffered a like cruelty, for writing and speaking that men shall be free. The People sustained the President's Proclamation, and declared by solemn vote, and majestic majority, "Slavery shall no longer find shelter under the National Constitution. From LOVEJOY to LINCOLN, the blood of murdered advocates of freedom have been crying to heaven for revenge, vengence has been dealt out, terribly upon the South as a people; homeless widows and starving orphans; ruined cities, commerce destroyed, devastation sitting down upon her plantations; her laboring men consumed by war. The blackness of ashes marking the sites of most of her chief cuties—the suicidal results of her own throes of hellish agony, are all marks of that vengence.
Upon this last, great, murderous throe of treason, there is a loud, wailing cry for vengence, for vengence upon the abetters to the horrid deed, and no maudlin sympathy should withould that vengence, and also the blood of the thousands of murdered sons of freedom is crying loudly, from the sunny hillsides of the South for vengence; vengence upon the leaders in this unholy rebellion; and the lovers of freedom and justice in the North will have it.
We are willing to show mercy to the rank and file of the rebel army, to the bulk of the population, even to many members of Southern Legislatures, and second rate Congressmen. Let them live on, bearing in their own bosoms, the scorching, consuming memory of having done their impotent worst, to blot out the only strong hold freedom has upon the face of the earth. Give them that remorse, and let them live.
Thousands have been duped by crafty leaders, thousands had no hand directly or indirectly, is this, last most cowardly, brutal murder of the entire contest. To such we would give a wide amnesty. But for the leaders, the DAVISES, STEPHENSES, TOOMBS, HUNTERS, MEMMINGERS, BENJAMINS and others of the ably, knowing traitous men who kindled the fires of civil war, with whom was the inception of this murderous assault upon the heads of our national officers, who are before God and history responsible for the rivers of blood and hecatombs of slain, who have caused the land its array of widow-hood, orphanage heart-break and bankruptcy, there sho'd be another sentence.
Let no maudlin sympathy to persons now wrong the nation. Outraged freedom, mother's tears, widow's sighs and orphan's sobs demand vengence upon such. Our national dignity demands, that we write it as history, that he who rises up in armed opposition to the nation's sovereignty, who plots and executes the assassination of a nation's Chief Executive, must die without remedy.
Let those men, who assassinated freedom's most successful champion, and kindled the fires of our battle-hell, and kept themselves out of it, be judged and condemned by the law, Mercy and justice demand it.
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The Policy of the New President.
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President Johnson starts out well. His enunciation, to Governor Stone, of Iowa, of the policy he intended to adopt in his dealing with the rebels, is just what loyal men hoped for—what the country desires and will firmly support. He declared it as his intention:
"To deal kindly and leniently with the mass of the people of the South who have been in rebellion, and with the rank and file of their armies, regarding them as he did, merely as the victims and sufferers of the rebellion. Nevertheless he would be careful not to pursue any policy which would prevent the Government from visiting punishment on the guilty leaders who caused the rebellion. The President regarded it as due to the loyal people of the country, and to the sacred memory of the tens of thousands of brave men who had fallen in defense of the Union, during this struggle, and to the claims of justice and freedom throughout the world, that treason should still be regarded as the highest crime under our Constitution and flag, and that traitors should be rendered infamous for all time to come. While he entertained these views, he should endeavor to gain the confidence of the deserving and betrayed masses of the Southern people, regarding them as the proper material for reconstructing the insurgent States, and to restore them to their proper relations to the Government. He would neither recognize nor hold official communication with those who had occupied official station, or acknowledged the sovereignty of the rebel Government. For four years he had fought the rebel Government with all the energy of his soul. He well knew the horrid outrages to which loyal citizens in the South had been subjected, and it was his determination to act in such a manner as would best protect individual rights, and vindicate the character of the Government. He expressed deep sympathy with the betrayed and deceived masses of the South, earnestly desiring them to return to their allegiance to the Government, and the restoration of former peace and prosperity."
That's the talk. It is an echo of the sentiments and feelings of every true Union man North or South. The lamented Lincoln, whose heart was so tender and merciful, was going to pardon the guilty leaden and restore them to their property and citizenship. He intended to draw a thick veil over their past offenses and forgive all the crimes they had committed. He sought to conquer them by kindness and clemency, and to effect peace and reconcilement at the expense of justice and retribution. But they would not be reconciled, and treacherously and foully slew him. They murdered their friend and intercessor who stood between them and the just wrath of the people pleading for clemency and amnesty. Johnson's little finger will prove thicker than were Abraham Lincoln's loins. While he whipped them gently with cords, his successor will scourge them with a whip of scorpions. He knows who they are and what they are. He hates slavery and has little affection for its high priests. There will be thorough work made of those who hatched and led the rebellion. They will cry out for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the American people.
Twp hundred and sixty thousand of the nation's bravest defenders have lain down their lives combating treason. Their blood must not be spilled in vain. The new President says it is due to their sacred memory that traitors to the Constitution and flag should be rendered infamous for all time to come.
Lincoln was the Moses of the age, who emancipated the American people from dominion and thraldom of the slave power, and led them out of Egypt and across the red sea of civil war. But he was not permitted ot enter with them the promised land of universal freedom. He lived, however, long enough to get a good sight of its fruitful vinyards and glorious landscapes. Andy Johnson is the Joshua who will lead the people into Canaan and drive out the Hittites and Amorites. Nothing will be done vindictively, nor from a spirit of revenge: but justice must be meeted out, and justice demands that treason shall be treated as a crime and the leaders of the rebellion punished. When Congress next meets, it may enact some modification of the confiscation law; but so far as regards the property of the ringleaders, it will be made more stringent and stringent as searching. Instead of limiting the confiscation of the life estate, it will probably be enlarged to include the fee simple, as it certainly ought to be. Property thus taken will sell for what it is worth, and the proceeds will lighten the burden of public debt and taxation.
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Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
[ https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/local/door-co/opinion/2015/04/14/historical-advocate-joseph-harris-sr-lincolns-assassination/25785681/ attributes the first of the two articles to Joseph Harris, Sr.; they were both written by him.
The words supermacy, satelites, vengence, withould, thraldom, and vinyards were acceptable spellings when this was written.
Names referenced by the pluralized surnames of Confederate officials:
DAVISES, Jefferson Davis, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jefferson-Davis
STEPHENSES, Alexander H. Stephens, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-H-Stephens
TOOMBS [spelled as TOMBS in the original], Robert A. Toombs, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-A-Toombs
HUNTERS, Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000988
MEMMINGERS, Christopher Memminger, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-G-Memminger
BENJAMINS, Judah P. Benjamin, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Judah-P-Benjamin ]
Articles relating to the Civil War
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/civil-war