USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee, from its earliest discoveries and settlements to the end of the year 1894 > Part 8
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2. In 1849. William Trousdale. Democrat, was elected Governor over Neil S. Brown. William Trousdale was born in North Carolina. Septem- ber 23, 1790. In 1795, his family moved to Tennessee. He was in the Creek war at Tallashatchie and Talla- dega, and later with Jackson at Pen. sacola and New Orleans. In Isto, he was a Van Buren elector. He was in the Mexican war, in the battles of GOV. WM. TROUSDALE Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Key and Chapultepec. . In the last engagement he was twice wounded. For gallant conduct at Chapultepec, the President
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THE FEUD STRENGTHENS.
made him Brigadier-General by brevet in the United States Iriny. President Pierce, in 1852, appointed him Minister to
Brazil. He died March 27. 1872.
3. The Southern Convention, which met in May, Isso. at Nashville, was controlled by pro-slavery men, who opposed Congress taking measures to thwart slave owners in their rights. There were many strong Democrats in this convention, who were conspicuous in favoring the resolutions, which this con- vention adopted, denouncing Congress for its action. Ex-Gov- ernor Aaron V. Brown prepared the address, and A. O. P. Nicholson drew up the resolutions. That element in Ten- nessee that opposed secession knew not what to think of this action.
4. In 1851, William B. Camp- bell was elected Governor by the Whigs. He was born near Nash- ville. February 1. 1807. 1820, he was elected Attorney- General, and, in 1835. to the Legislature. In 1836, he was made Captain in Trousdale's regiment and fought through the Seminole war. He was a Member of Congress from 1837 to 1843. He was Colonel, in 1847, of the First Tennesse Reg- inent, that served in the Mexi- GOV. WILLIAM B. CAMPBELL. can war, fighting at Vera Cruz. Cerro Gordo and Monteres. Subsequently, he became Judge of the Fourth Circuit Court of Tennessee. He refused the command of the Tennessee troops in the late war, because he opposed secession. Lincoln commis- sioned him Brigadier-General in the Union army, but he soon resigned. In 1865, he was elected to Congress, and died August
THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
5. When California applied for admission into the Union. the spectre of coming strife and bloodshed was seen in the renewal of the struggle over the question of freedom or slavery in this new sister in the galaxy of States. Southern men like Clat thought that the whole subject had been settled in I$20, when. by the Missouri Compromise, it had been ordained that involun- tary servitude should not obtain north of the geographical line 36° 30' north latitude.
6. It was understood that the surrender of the right to own siaves north of this line was the consideration for the admission of the right to own them south of it, and that this was what the compromise meant. They were told that the inhibition alone was effective, and that no such converse right was intended to be conveyed as that contended for by the South. The most logi- cal of these men said Congress had exceeded its powers in the enactment mentioned, and that no power could settle the ques- tion but the people of the State.
7. It was seen that "Wilmot's Proviso, " which was an amend- inent continually offered by Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, excluding slavery from all future States, was the fixed determination of the North. After a bitter struggle, Henry Clay, as the last service of a long and illustrious life, procured the passage of the compro- mise of 1850, in which the only concession by the North was the "Fugitive Slave Law."
S. This provided that Federal courts and officers should arrest and return to their owners such slaves as should be found ab- sconding in the different States, whether free or slave-holding. This was greeted by a prodigious outery from the North. They determined that this national law should not be executed, and the different free States enacted personal liberty laws, which made it penal to aid Congress in executing its law.
9. The Southern people were both exasperated and disheart- ened at such manifestations. and in view of such palpable viola- tions of their plain Constitutional right, began seriously to con-
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sider whether in a union with the North the arbitrary will of the people of those States was to be the rule of government rather than the Constitution solemnly agreed upon between their fore- :athers. If this were to be so, the dream of liberty, regulated by law in the Federal Union, was at an end.
10. The election of Pierce to the Presidency, in 1852, was considered by many as a rebuke to those who had been so clami- orous in the North against the compromise of 1550. He was a warm supporter of the rights of the individual States, and the knowledge of this fact brought repose to the minds of Southern nien. In 1853, John L. Marling went as Minister to Venezuela, and the Mississippi Central and Tennessee, Mississippi and Tennessee, and Nashville and Knoxville raffroads, were incor- porated. This year an act was passed to establish a State Agri- cultural Bureau. Tennessee was thus manfully meeting the . requirements of civilization, for the condition of the highways affords the truest test of a people's advancement in prosperity. About this year the Masonic Fraternity of Tennessee established an Institution at Clarksville known as the Masonic University of Tennessee. This school has changed several times, and is now known as the Southwestern Presbyterian University.
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II. Taylor's election to the Presidency did not strengthen the Whig cause. In June, 1852, at Baltimore, they nominated General Winfield Scott for President, and W. A. Graham for Vice- President, their best men. In the election they carried only four States, showing that the star of their political destiny had forever set. Tennessee was one of the four. Democratic opposition was weak, and at one stroke two hundred and forty- five electoral votes were given for Franklin Pierce, and again Democracy was enthroned at the helm of State.
QUESTIONS. - Who was elected Governor in 184 ;? Give a sketch of him. 2. Who was elected Governor in (849? Give a sketch of his life. 3. What of the Southern Convention? 4. Give a sketch of William B. Campbell. 5. What occurred now?
1. 1 in
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Why? 6. What was understood? 7. What was "Wilmot's Proviso?" 8. What did the "Fugitive Slave Law" provide? 9. How did the South feel now? Io. How was Pierce's election considered? What University was established at Clarksville in 1350. 11. Give the substance of this section.
CHAPTER XIX.
JUST BEFORE THE WAR.
1. In 1853. the candidates for Governor were Andrew Johnson. Democrat, and Gustavus A. Henry, Whig. They were both influential men, whom the people could trust. Johnson had risen from abject por- erty until he was now regarded as one of the State's best men. In this canvass he advocated changes in the United States Constitution. He was elected Governor in 1853 and again in 1855, defeating M. P. Gentry, Whig, in the second contest.
GOV. ANDREW JOHNSON.
2. Andrew Johnson was born at Raleigh, North Carolina. December 20, INGS. He moved to Greenville, Tennessee, in May, 1826, and was an alderman of that city from 1828 to ISSO, when he became its mayor. In 1835, he was elected to the Legislature, and again in 1839. In 1840, he was a Van Buren elector and, in 184t, was sent to the State Senate. In is43. he was elected to Congress, where he remained for ten successive years. In March, 1802, he was appointed Military Governor of Tennessee. He was nominated by the Republicans. in ts64, for
THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Vice-President, and was elected. When Lincoln died, April 15. 1865. Johnson became President. Because of disputes with Con- gress, he was impeached, but not convicted. After the expira- tion of his Presidential term, Tennessee elected him to the United States Senate, where he served one term. He died July 31. 1875.
3. In 1855, the national Whig party was hopelessly divided on slavery. About this time the American party began to organize. This party favored a change in the naturalization laws, making it more difficult for foreigners to become American citizens, and to oppose the election of foreign-born citizens to office. On account of the seeming ignorance of all issues by its leaders, it was stigmatized the "Know-Nothing" party, and it supported Gentry in his race for Governor. In the first cam- paign, Johnson's issue was that the basis of representation should be white votes, without regard to slavery. When war became inevitable, and all the Southern Senators were resigning. John- son held his position-the only Southern Senator who did not resign. At this time Johnson was a strong Union Democrat.
4. The Democrats, in 1856, carried Tennessee, the first time since Jackson's day. Slavery was now the great issue. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska act became a law, which asserted that Congress had no right to pass the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and that any State north of the line 3612 " had a right irrespective of the act, to determine whether it would permit the ownership of slaves. This excited great indignation in the North, from which events were precipitated that resulted in the war.
5. In 1856, the Whigs made no nomination and that party passed out of existence. The Know-Nothing party nominated Millard Filimore, of New York, for President, and A. J. Donei- son. of Tennessee, for Vice-President. The Democrats nominated Jamies Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, and J. C. Breckinridge. of Kentucky, who were elected.
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JUST BEFORE THE WAR.
6. In each campaign slavery was the leading issue. Johnson's term having expired. the Democrats nominated and elected Isham G. Harris, Governor, who served from 1857 to 1865. Isham G. Harris was born in Franklin county, Tennessee; was educated at the academy at Winchester: studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced to practice at Paris, Henry county, Tennessee, in IS41: was elected to the State Legislature as a Democrat from the counties of Henry, Weakley, and Obion, in [847; was a candidate for GOV. ISHAM G. HARRIS. Presidential Elector in the Ninth Congressional District of Ten- nessee on the Democratic ticket in 1848; was elected to Congress as a Democrat from the Ninth Congressional District in 1849; re- elected in 1851, and nominated as the candidate of the Demo- cratic party in 1853, but declined the nomination: removed to Memphis, and there resumed the practice of his profession; was a Presidential Elector for the State at large in 1856; was elected Governor of Tennessee as a Democrat in 1857, re-elected in 15). and again in 186t: was a Volunteer Aid upon the staff of the Commanding General of the Confederate Army of Tennessee for the last three years of the war: returned to the practice of law at Memphis in 1867, and was engaged in it when elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in 187; and was re-elected to the Senate in 1883. 1889, and again in 1895.
7. Under successful administrative Governors, Tennessee has grown rapidly in wealth and population. In 1850. the census was; seven hundred and fifty-six thousand eight hundred and thirty six whites, and two hundred and forty-five thousand eight hundred and eighty-one slaves: a decade later we had eight hundred and twenty-six thousand seven hundred and twenty-two whites and
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
two hundred and eighty-three thousand and nineteen slaves or colored. Robert L. Caruthers was elected Governor in 1863, but on account of Tennessee being in possession of Federal troops. was unable to qualify. President Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson, Military Governor, who served from 1862 to 1865.
S. In 1860, the situation was full of discouragement for those who loved the Union. The South now seemed determined to forin a separate government, in which the North would not be represented. The Southerners were sanguine that slavery as an institution was doomed by the North.
9. John Brown made a raid into Virginia, in 1859, to arm the slaves and incite them to insurrection. This embittered the South very much, notwithstanding he was hanged. It was the opinion of the people that he was a crank seeking notoriety, and who probably thought he would easily gain the friendship of an admiring North.
to. The greatest of all civil wars has been fought with decisive restilts, and now there is no North, no South, no East, no West. but one great country, with the grandest record of the greatest achievements found in the annals of the world's history. These will immortalize us. and posterity will turn with interest to the annals and say, "How could it be?" In the hospitals, the sani- tary and the Christian commissions were unwearied in their great work of love and mercy among the sick. Once in the hos- pital, no one asked on which side he had fought. but tender hands ministered to his needs and soothed his sufferings. whether he wore the "blue" or the "gray."
QUESTIONS. - U. Who were the candidates for Governor in 1853? 2. Give a sketch of Johnson's life. 3. What of parties now? Leading issue? 4. Give the substance of this section. 5. Name the several nominees. 6. Sketch the life of Isham G. Harris. 7. What of Tennessee's growth? Population? 8. What was the situation now ? 9. What of John Brown's raid? to. What is said of the Civil War?
III
THE CIVIL WAR.
CHAPTER XX.
THE CIVIL WAR.
!. Governor Harris, on January 7. 1861, convened the General Assembly at Nashville, in extra session, and in his message urgently placed before the Legislature the perilous condition of affairs them existing. Among the first acts was one to provide for an election of delegates to a convention, and to repeal the act alwashing military duty. Messis. L. P. Walker, of Ala- bama. and T. J. Wharton. of Mississippi, were invited to address the Legislature. Provisions were made for the election of dele- gates to the General Convention of the Southern States.
2. On April to. President Lincoln issued a proclamation call- ing for seventy-five thousand men to suppress the resistance to nath nai authority. The Secretary of War telegraphed Governor Harris for men to whom Harris replied: "Tennessee will not furnish a single man for evercion, but fifty thousand, if neces- ware, de the defence of our rights, or those of our Southern brothers." President Lincoln made requisition for men from Arkansas, Missouri. Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia. The Governors of these States replied in the negative, which demonstrated their positions in this impending catastrophe.
3. The Secession Convention was voted for as follows: For · convention. fifty-seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight: 110 Convention, sixty-nine thousand six hundred and seventy-five. Vous dor deversion delegate, twenty -four thousand seven hundred an 1 : rty-nine: for Union delegates, eighty eight thousand eight hundred and three. The business and interests of the State Were so implanted that Governor Harris called the Legislature to meet again in extra session on April 25. He recommended the per- fecting of an ordinance declaring the independence of Tennessee of the Felleral Chion, and the admission of this State into the Cortelerary. An ordinance recession was passed May 6, and
I12
THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
June 8, the State voted one hundred and four thousand nine hundred and thirteen for secession, and forty seven thousand two hundred and thirty-eight against it. The Legislature, on May I, authorized the Governor to enter into a military league with the Confederacy.
4. Three Commissioners, Gustavus A. Henry, A. O. W. Totten, and Washington Barrow, were appointed for that pur- pose. The people overwhelmingly opposed secession. bu: Governor Harris was an outspoken secessionist. When the Secession Convention was defeated, it was hoped that Tennessee would remain loyal to the Union. At Fort Sumter, South Caro- lina, on April 12, the first gun of one of the greatest of civil wars was fired. When Lincoln was inaugurated, the Confederates held all the forts in their territory but Sumter and Pickens. When the people from Middle and West Tennessee heard of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the secession inclination became irresistible, and they enthusiastically demanded immediate ad- mission into the Confederacy.
5 On May 7. these Commissioners met H. W. Hilliard. the accredited representative of the Confederacy, and perfected this league, and the Legislature on the same day ratified it. The following acts were passed: To raise .and equip a provisional force of fifty-five thousand volunteers and appropriated five mi !- lion dollars to equip them: to submit to a popular vote an ord :- nance to adopt the Constitution of the Confederate States: to regulate the pay of officers and men: and one to authorize the banks of Tennessee to receive and pay out Confederate treasury notes.
6. May 21, 1850, the Confe lerate Capitol was transferred to Richmond, Virginia. At its first session. after its removal, the Confederate Congress asked for volunteers and passed an ac: . enlisting soldiers for the army. The South made an enthusiastic response to this call. Tennessee contributing the flower of her youth and manhood to swell the Southern army. Gladly did
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THE CIVIL WAR.
they enlist and nobly did they fight for a cause which they had learned to love and willingly to espouse.
7. How could the war have been avoided? Its seeds were planted in conditions that existed before the Revolutionary war. They were recognized and pointed out by the framers of the Constitution, but even their wisdom could only postpone the. evil, but could not find a remedy. These elements of discord cropped out in every stage of our growth, and gave birth to parties and sectional divisions. They arraved State and National governments against each other, and ripened into open warfare free and slave institutions. It was beyond the power of poor. frail human wisdom and forbearance to peacefully reconcile these opposing elements into a harmonious union. A peaceful volun- tary separation would have been a hollow truce and only an in- citement to a greater war. It would have sanctioned the doctrine of despotism, that republics were only born to die. If war was to come it was better that it came when it did. when the recol- lections of a common but glorious history and the ties of a com- mon origin, language, and religion. and the wonderful growth and development of a great country by the common efforts of both North and South were the mystic cords that still held us together and pleaded for union in spite of slavery and opposing views of State and National authority.
S. The war came, in which both sides proved their courage and endurance. In spite of the fearful loss of life and property. of the great pension rolls, of the wounded and disabled, and of widows and orphans, we can all agree, without passion or irrita- tion, that the civil war has secured to the innumerable throng that will follow us the blessings of a stronger government than was possible before, freed from the grave contentions of the past. The people of every State and section and class will in due time have their full share of these benefits. We may now all hope for a perpetual union of indestructible States, in which the people. all free, are the source of all power, whether exercised in the
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
smallest school district or municipality, or in the numerous States, old and new, or in a Federal government of limited int ample powers over the better part of a continent. Let us hope also that this kindly appreciation of the merits of the great actor- in our Civil War, whether on the Union or Confederate side may be continued and expressed until the last one has met the common foe, when a new generation may impartially cherish a just pride in the courage and heroism of their ancestors, and expend their energy in the peaceful development of a free and great Republic committed to their care.
9. The people in South Carolina, as in other Southern States. believed the North was determined to liberate their slaves. This necessarily created much uneasiness and discontent. On De- cember 20, a convention met in Charleston, in "Secession Hall." and unanimously voted "that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved." Its citizens believed that the Union was broken up and that South Carolina had now. as its Governor said, become a "free and independent State." Two governments in peace were better than one in discord. This ordinance abolished the ordinance of May 23, 1788, which ratified the Constitution.
10. In the meantime, the Thirty- Ninth Congress convened, and Buchanan said in his message: (1) that no State could with- draw from the Union, and (2) that there was no power to coerce or force a State. He suggested concession and conciliation. Northern sentiment assumed two courses: one for Union and coercion, and one demanded. no coercion. The South had two ideas also. One was that South Carolina was too hasty, the other was "no coercion." Upon the latter idea the South was almost unanimous.
Ir. The secession of other States followed rapidly, and ere the Ist of February. 1861, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama. Louisiana, and Texas, had withdrawn from the Union, which
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THE CIVIL WAR.
created the most intense excitement. The Southern States were sanguine of their rights and hoped to keep them incontes :- able.
12. A compromise was offered by J. J. Crittenden, of Ken- tucky, as follows: that a Constitutional amendment be drawn. making the parallel 36° 30' the line between the free and slave States. From all parts of the nation petitions were sent to Coz- gress pleading for the adoption of this compromise, but as the Republicans refused to stand by this sentiment. the last hope vanished. Strong efforts were made in the South to have seces- sion deferred, but they were futile.
13. On February 4, 1861, delegates from all these States but Texas, and they arrived later, met at Montgomery, Alabame, framed a government and adopted the appellation, "Confederate States of America," with Montgomery as the Capitol. They elected Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. In March, this gov- ernment was made permanent. Its Constitution was modeled after the Constitution of the United States.
QUESTIONS .- 1. What did the Charleston Convention create ? Why? 2. What was the object of the "Constitutional Union" party? Did it do it? Of whom composed? 3. Where did the conventions meet and whom did they nominate? What divis- ions? Feeling? 4. Give the substance of this section. 5. What did the Commissioners do? What acts were passed? 6. Where was the Confederate Capitol located? What did the Confederate Congress ask for? ". What did the South think? Could the war have been avoided? 8. Give reasons for thus thinking. 9
What occurred in "Secession Hall?" When? May 23? IO. What did President Buchanan suggest? Why? Southern ideas? II. What other States seceded? When? r2. Who offered 2 compromise? What was it? Did it pass? Why? IS. What occurred February 4, 186t ? Who were elected officers? What of the Constitution ?
THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CIVIL WAR-CONTINUED.
1. The action of the Charleston Convention created intense excitement in the South, and the feeling became very genera: that a dissolution of the Union was impending. To prevent this if possible, the "Constitutional Union" party was organized! This party nominated, in convention in Baltimore, John Bell. of Tennessee, for President, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts. for Vice-President.
2. This party adopted no platform, its mission being concilia- tory, hoping to unite both sections of the country, and thus aver the threatened dissolution. This new but vigorous party obtained many recruits from the ranks of the older organizations, espe- cially in the South. The Whig party being almost extinct. many of its members joined the Union party and earnestly pleaded for a preservation of the Union.
3. The Richmond Convention met only to adjourn till after the Baltimore Convention, which split into two distinct bodies. each nominating a Presidential ticket, a disastrous mistake and one fatal to the South. One faction of the party nominated John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, for President, and Joseph Lane. of Oregon, for Vice-President: the other nominated Stephen A. Douglass, of Illinois, for President, and Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice-President.
+. The Republicans met at Chicago, and nominate ! Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, for President, and Hannibal Hamlin. of Maine, for Vice-President. The campaign this year was in- tensely interesting. Long processions of enthusiastic party admirers paraded frequently, and each party made a vigorous effort for victory. Tennessee gave the following vote: For John Bell, sixty-nine thousand two hundred and seventy-four: John C. Breckenridge, sixty-four thousand seven hundred and nine.
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