FLOOD, CHRISTINE ROWSE, Ph.D. the Arbiters of Compromise: Sectionalism, Unionism, and Secessionism in Maryland and North Carolina
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FLOOD, CHRISTINE ROWSE, Ph.D. The Arbiters of Compromise: Sectionalism, Unionism, and Secessionism in Maryland and North Carolina. (2015) Directed by Dr. Mark Elliott, 268 pp. The upper south was a region that was in the literal and figurative middle during the secession crisis of 1860-1861. In the late antebellum period, the upper south had diverse populations, burgeoning economic growth and still-vibrant two-party politics, even after the collapse of the Whig party. As the north and the cotton states descended into more radicalized political positions, the upper south maintained a strong sectional identity that positioned the region as the only sane and rational part of the deteriorating nation. Upper south sectional identity was rooted in general distaste for extremism of any sort, a political culture that could allow negotiation on the question of slavery in the territories, a willingness to give the Lincoln administration a chance, and the belief that the upper south states would provide the political and social leadership to forestall secession and war. Though seemingly dissimilar at first glance, Maryland and North Carolina were two states which approached the matter of union of disunion with similar caution, and were the home of strong examples of upper south sectional identity. Through a study of both the unionist and secessionist leadership in each state, this dissertation reveals the development of the upper south sectional identity and the significant attempts at compromise that were being present in Maryland and North Carolina during the secession winter. These two states provide two excellent case studies of upper south sectional identity, as each state had populations and political leadership that was not tied to perpetual and unrestricted slavery, as well as leadership drawn from the slaveholding and non-slaveholding population. These two states also shared competing political parties that each drove state and national elections, and large populations of non-slaveholding whites. Compromise failed in 1861, although Maryland and North Carolina political leaders worked extraordinarily hard to achieve it. With the coming of the war, Maryland’s unlikely Union affiliation and North Carolina’s reluctant participation in the Confederacy would end upper south sectional identity, which was split apart by secession. Even in its failure, upper south sectional identity as represented by Maryland and North Carolina provides an instructive perspective on the coming of the Civil War and the dissolution of the Union. This dissertation examines the unique political culture of upper south sectionalism during the secession crisis winter of 1860-1861. Reflecting a sectional identity that traditionally arbitrated compromise between sectional interests, leaders from Maryland and North Carolina offered the best hope for political compromise. These two states are clear examples that illustrate the force of this identity as the home of political, social, and cultural leaders who worked to shape the important role the upper south played as arbiter between the more radical factions of the Union. This work traces the collapse of upper south sectionalism, particularly in these two states that did not act together and ended up taking different sides over secession. This dissertation examines two states—one that remained with the Union and one that joined the Confederacy—together in an analysis of sectionalism, unionism and secessionism. THE ARBITERS OF COMPROMISE: SECTIONALISM, UNIONISM AND SECESSIONISM IN MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA by Christine Rowse Flood A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2015 Approved by ________________________ Committee Chair To Tim, Fitzpatrick and Spencer for the love and inspiration they provide every day and in every way. ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation written by CHRISTINE ROWSE FLOOD has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair _______________________________ Dr. Mark E. Elliott Committee Members _______________________________ Dr. Charles A. Bolton _______________________________ Dr. William A. Link _______________________________ Dr. Paul Mazgaj ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee _________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been said that writing a dissertation is lonely work, a singular task of being shut up in archives and libraries typing away. I want to refute this notion, for I am happy to say this dissertation is truly the work of a village of historians, archivists and family members who shepherded me along the way with kindness, straight forward critiques, and the support of their own research and teaching excellence. The professors and mentors that I have encountered at the University of North Carolina Greensboro have been nothing short of miraculous role models and unparalleled instructors and scholars. To Dr. William A. Blair, Dr. Peter Carmichael, Dr. Robert Calhoon, Dr. Phyllis Hunter, Dr. Paul Mazgaj, Dr. Karl Schleunes, Dr. Charles A. Bolton and Dr. Loren Schweninger my enduring thanks for the education I have received. I would have never started down this path without the encouragement and friendship of Dr. William A. Link, who started me looking at secession with a critical eye and as a true mentor, included me in the editing processes of his multitude of monographs. I cannot begin to thank these exceptional educators enough. Dr. Mark Elliott arrived at UNCG and inherited me as graduate student already on this path, and he has been nothing but supportive, generous with ideas, and infinitely patient. I could not have asked for a better dissertation director, and my thanks are unending. The students, faculty and staff of the Ashby Residential College at UNCG have also been an enormous font of support, tolerating my status as a less then exceptional iv employee as I worked through the research and writing of this dissertation. Dr. Fran Arndt, Dr. Bennett Ramsey and Dr. Sara Littlejohn have all been such understanding bosses, and Dr. Will Dodson, Dr. David Rogers and Jeanne Aaroe were kind coworkers willing to pick up my slack more than once. My extended family and friends may not have always understood why I was doing this, but my entire extended Rowse and Flood families provided kind support and often a place to stay. Jennifer Smulson was a constant cheerleader for the cause, as was Paige Swiney, Rosanna Fahey, Anne Starr Denny and Barbara Murphy Conzone. And Kristina Riley Wright, you know how much you helped with that comfy chair in your office. To my patient yet long-suffering husband, Dr. Tim Flood, an avalanche of thanks and love for his support and English professor assistance. I will never understand some of the finer points of his grammar ministrations, but sweetheart, I appreciate every minute that you spent helping me. I would have never finished without your kindness and support. I am a lucky wife. And finally, to my two wonderful and darling boys, Fitzpatrick Raymond and Spencer Mark, who for most of their short lives endured sharing their mother with the demands of graduate school but were always understanding and generous, and even given to counseling me to finish up what I had started. I hope someday they will enjoy reading this, and know that I did it for them as much as I did for me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. PROLOGUE: THE DICHOTOMIES OF THE UPPER SOUTH .........................1 II. TWO BORDERLANDS: SECTIONAL IDENTITY AND POLITICS IN MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA TO 1860 .............................24 III. “I CANNOT BRING MYSELF TO LOOK UPON THE POSSIBILITY OF ITS DESTRUCTION WITHOUT THE EXTREMIST SORROW”: THE UNIONISTS IN MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA ..............72 IV. “SUCH AN OFFENSIVE TRIUMPH AS THIS”: THE SECESSIONISTS IN MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA ............120 V. “HAVE WE OF THE MIDDLE STATES NO SELF-RESPECT?” MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA IN THE FLEDGLING LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION ................................................................165 VI. “THE MOST DEPLORABLE MISFORTUNE OF OUR UNHAPPY COUNTRY”: THE SECESSION CONVENTIONS IN MARYLAND AND NORTH CAROLINA ................................................201 VII. EPILOGUE: “THE PRESENT DISORDERED CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY” .......................................................................................238 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................260 vi 1 CHAPTER I PROLOGUE: THE DICHOTOMIES OF THE UPPER SOUTH John Pendleton Kennedy was a troubled man. Kennedy, a prominent Maryland politician and acclaimed novelist, wrote to a friend in 1860 describing his disgust with the political antagonisms unleashed by Lincoln’s election. As sectionalism threatened the future of the Union, Kennedy expressed disappointment that the North was increasingly “full of violence and wrath,” and the South was childishly “wild with joy” over the prospect of war and secession. Kennedy believed that between these two extremes was the “calm and earnest wisdom of the border states, which should act as arbiters for a compromise.”1 While Kennedy worried in Baltimore, in Raleigh powerful editor and politician William Holden fretted as well about the increasingly hostile debate over secession. In his influential