Hans L. Trefousse - The Radical Republicans

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC .

FIRST EDITION

Copyright 1968 by Hans L. Trefousse. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Distributed by Random House, Inc., New York.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 68-23937

eBook ISBN: 978-0-8041-5392-8

v3.1

For Roger

I N the revolution which has overtaken the writing of American history since 1945, no reversal is more astonishing than the almost complete abandonment of revisionist views about the Civil War and Reconstruction. Once again we are told that slavery was a great evil, that the conflict had deep moral causes, and that the generation once called blundering was perhaps no more inept than any other. The villains of yesteryear are the heroes of today. Biographies of leading congressional figures have appeared in ever-increasing numbers, and long-dormant statutes are again being enforced by the federal government.

The radical Republicans have benefited greatly by this changed climate of opinion. Once held responsible for the failure of compromise before the war, military blunders during this conflict, and vindictive misrule afterward, they are emerging once more as the great innovators they were: friends of the Negro, protagonists of democracy, agents of reform not necessarily subservient to special interests. Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Edwin M. Stanton, Benjamin F. Wade, John P. Hale, George W. Julian, and Benjamin F. Butler have all found sympathetic or unbiased biographers, and doctoral dissertations have been prepared about Hannibal Hamlin, Zachariah Chandler, and many others. That this group of individuals had a great influence upon the history of the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century has never been doubted; exactly what this influence was and how it was applied, however, is still problematic, because no comprehensive study of it has appeared.

This book is designed to fill this void. Who the radicals were, what qualities they had in common, how they differed from one another, and what kind of motives impelled them are questions of importance. It must be determined whether the ultras were really responsible for the failure of compromise prior to the capture of Fort Sumter, whether they can justly be blamed for exacerbating the sectional quarrel, and whether they did in fact hamper the prosecution of the war. What were their strengths? Their weaknesses? Were their policies truly vindictive and were they impelled by mere selfishness and lust for power during the period of Reconstruction? In fact, did they possess any unity other than a common aversion to the slaveholders and their successors? Finally, it is important to ascertain whether they accomplished anything worthwhile, and, if they did, why they disappeared from the stage so quickly and completely after achieving seeming triumphs. The studies of T. Harry Williams, Howard K. Beale, David Donald, and Harold M. Hyman on this subject are indispensable; now it is time to draw together the findings of the last few decades.

I am most grateful to the colleagues and friends whose assistance has been of great value. Professors Robert A. East and William Gillette have read the entire manuscript and offered valuable suggestions; Professor Samuel J. Konefsky gave freely of his time and counsel, and Professors Harold M. Hyman, LaWanda Cox, Irwin Unger, and Leonard P. Curry all contributed their advice and gave me the benefit of their knowledge. My research assistant, Mr. Gerald Henig, deserves much credit for his contributions. The generous grants of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York enabled me to undertake a series of research trips, and support from Brooklyn College relieved me of teaching duties. The librarians of Brooklyn College, the Houghton Library at Harvard, the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, the manuscript division of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library of Congress, and the Burton Collection of the Detroit Public Library have been especially helpful. I should also like to express my indebtedness to Angus Cameron and Jane Garrett of Alfred A. Knopf, whose encouragement has been most welcome. That my wife, Rashelle F. Trefousse, has my gratitude for her patience and good advice, she knows.

H. L. T.

Early Eastern Radicals in the Senate

Charles Sumner

John P. Hale

William H. Seward

Early Western Radicals in the Senate

Salmon P. Chase

Benjamin F. Wade

Early Radicals in the House

Joshua R. Giddings

George W. Julian

Wartime Radical Leaders in the Senate

Henry Wilson

Lyman Trumbull

Zaccariah Chandler

Jacob M. Howard

Wartime Radical Leaders in the House

Schuyler Colfax

Henry Winter Davis

Owen Lovejoy

James M. Ashley

John Covode

William D. Kelley

Postwar Radical Leaders in Congress

Benjamin F. Butler

Oliver P. Morton

Timothy O. Howe

George H. Williams

Elihu B. Washburne

Charles D. Drake

Abraham Lincoln

Andrew Johnson

Prominent Republicans

Hannibal Hamlin

Edwin M. Stanton

George S. Boutwell

Horace Greeley