Political genius and over-confidence: A review of Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis

Countless books have been written about the causes of the Civil War.  Historian David M. Potter analyzes Republican decisions that contributed to the conflagration.

Potter states:  “The supreme task of the historian [is] to see the past through the imperfect eyes of those who lived it and not with his own omniscient twenty-twenty vision.”  With this goal in mind, he examines President-elect Lincoln in his book, Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis.

Potter contends:

There is certainly a substantial amount of evidence … that Lincoln thought, until very late in the crisis, if not until the end, that he could achieve both peace and Union and would not have to choose between them.

In this connection, it is important to remember how consistently the Republicans had ridiculed all threats of secession, and how much they were the captives of their own mental set when secession came.

Follow the leader

Potter contends that party leaders took their cue from Lincoln.  He explains:

Though the Republicans were faced with this mass of evidence of impending catastrophe, they were able to ignore the whole thing.  The constantly reiterated threats of secession … had, to all intents and purposes, ceased to be audible to them … at least, their capacity for alarm was exhausted …

In short, the law of diminishing returns had set in on threats of secession.

The author supports his statement with a quote from the Republican paper, the New York Tribune.  On July 28, 1860, the Tribune stated, “The south could no more unite upon a scheme of secession than a company of lunatics could conspire to break out of bedlam.”

A look at Southerners

The author rounds out his book by offering insights into Southerners.  For example, he states (on pages 41-42):

The South collectively had lost its capacity to analyze the situation coolly and to perceive the potential advantages of a waiting game.  If Southern public men had retained enough detachment of mind to weigh the factors involved, they might well have chosen not to inaugurate the program of secession …

In the angry mood that followed years of sectional agitation, the South could not distinguish degrees of hostility to slavery, nor could it coolly play a cynical game of delay.  A wave of secession, consequently, swept across the lower South, and the possibility of the Republican party turning moderate was never fully tested.

David M. Potter (Emory University)

Sidebar:  Ratio of slaves freed to soldiers killed

Potter peppers his book with interesting statistics and questions.  For instance, he states:

For every six slaves who were freed, approximately one soldier was killed; for every 10 white Southerners who were held in the Union, one Yank or one Reb died.  A person is entitled to wonder whether the Southerners could not have been held and the slaves could not have been freed at a smaller per-capita cost.

My recommendation

David M. Potter gives lucid arguments, combined with examples, to support his points.  I highly recommend this book.

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 Thanks for reading my blog.  Please leave any questions and comments below.

David Connon

David Connon has spent nearly two decades researching dissenters in Iowa: Grinnell residents who helped on the Underground Railroad, and their polar opposites, Iowa Confederates. He shares some of these stories with audiences across the state through the Humanities Iowa Speakers Bureau. He worked as an interpreter at Living History Farms for eleven seasons. Connon is a member of Sons of Union Veterans, an associate member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a member of the Des Moines Civil War Round Table. His articles have appeared in Iowa Heritage Illustrated, Iowa History Journal, Illinois Magazine, and local newspapers in both states.

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, from Mississippi, believed the best route for the Transcontinental Railroad was through the South. His surveys were all in agreement: the 32nd parallel route was the least expensive path to the Pacific and seemingly the clear choice. However , unfortunately for thousands of young Americans sectional differences could not be put aside, it was to be Lincoln’s election of the primarily Northern Republican Party in 1860 which would change the trajectory of the Transcontinental Railroad project and, in doing so, irrevocably alter the course of history. But , after secession and without Southern taxes there would no money available for this multimillion dollar project. So let’s look at the real reason for Lincoln invading the South to unconstitutionally force them back into the Union.
    Everyone wanted it , but won this exclusive Presidential awarded once in a lifetime mega million dollar contract? None other than Dr. Thomas Durant Lincoln’s own legal/lobbying client for the Union Pacific Railroad. But , wait it gets better! Guess who owned the secret location for the property in Council Bluffs , Iowa to build the first terminal? Yes , none other than Honest Abe himself. Now you know the real color of the UnCivil War not black or white it was greedy green!

    A former officer of the Corps of Engineers, Isaac Stevens, had his mind set on convincing the government that Asa Whitney’s route between the 47th and 49th parallels was far superior to the others. Not long before the surveys were authorized, the politically inclined Stevens had given up his commission in the Engineers to become governor of Washington Territory. In this enormous, unexploited area he hoped to build his political and economic fortunes, and he needed the transcontinental railroad to make his dreams come true. Although he was now a civilian, Stevens persuaded Jefferson Davis to let him direct the military personnel of this Northern survey party.

    Stephen A. Douglas owned enough strategically located land in Chicago to become a millionaire if his preferred route westward through Council Bluffs and Omaha was chosen. But being a shrewd businessman, he bought up the site of a proposed terminus on Lake Superior after learning that Isaac Stevens’s survey might be shortened to that point. As for Douglas’s rival, Abraham Lincoln, the future President evidently agreed with his debating partner that the route through Council Bluffs-Omaha and South Pass was the most practical. Lincoln acquired land interests at Council Bluffs.

    1. Hi, Bernie.
      Thank you for weighing in. This is a very interesting contribution. I’m glad you mentioned Stephen A. Douglas. The national politics were complicated by state- and local-level political battles over railroad routes, not to mention fights over their construction. The financial Panic of 1857 further complicated things by making railroad construction in Iowa grind to a halt for a few years.

      All of these facts move me to be cautious about reading too much into your assertions about Abraham Lincoln and his clients and/or associates.

      1. thanks to you also…So you doubt his “associates” were not in on the deal? My College professor Stephen Ambrose said in his book “Lincoln told his friends not to be shy when asking for money” in Congress. Ambrose’s book about The Transcontinental Railroad. “Nothing Like it the World “. Lincoln’s wife and son collected the monies owed from Nelson Judd his law “associate” who borrowed the money from ” Honest Abe ” after his untimely death with major interest . I suggest you watch the AMC Movie “Hell of Wheels” which very accurately portrays Mr. Durant as a scheming and even murderous villain. Abe’s buddy!
        .

        1. Hi, Bernie.

          Thanks for weighing in. Best wishes, David

  2. Professor Potter” There is certainly a substantial amount of evidence … that Lincoln thought, until very late in the crisis, if not until the end, that he could achieve both peace and Union and would not have to choose between them.

    Well there empirical evidence in the official War Records which proves Lincoln from day one of the conflict that he wanted war!

    1. Hi, Mr. Cyrus. Thank you for weighing in. Please pardon my very tardy response.

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