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Home , Archbishop, Gaetano Bedini, John Baptist Purcell, Orestes Brownson, The Advocate (Newark), The Archbishop

Rectifying the Fatal Contrast: John Purcell and the Slavery Controversy among Catholics in Civil War

David J. Endres

Historians who have documented the American teenth century was in the midst of a great struggle, response to the Civil War and slavery have weakened by sectional conflict and torn over the largely focused on the thinking of a few prominent practical and moral repercussions of slavery. For northern ecclesiastical and intellectual leaders. Men many, slavery was not simply a question of human such as Archbishop John Joseph Hughes of New York, dignity or personal liberty, but rather fit within the theologian Francis Patrick Kenrick, and ongoing debate over the concept of states' rights and Catholic newspaper editor James McMaster dominate the appropriate relationship of labor and economic the landscape of historical inquiry.1 These northern gain. Americans of every locality and viewpoint Catholic intellectuals adopted a consistently conser- entered into the debate, which soon grew to encom- vative approach to the difficult questions of the day. pass the status of the country and its future. Many, They supported reconciliation between North and especially in the South, wished to preserve the nation South, criticized abolitionism, tired of emancipation as it was, with local and the ability to quickly, and supported the Constitution. Though maintain or even expand the institution of slavery. such sentiments dominated the thinking of the For abolitionists in the North, however, slavery sym- Catholic leadership of the time, other voices did bolized all that prevented the country from achieving emerge throughout the war that would challenge the political, social, and moral purity. approach of these leading thinkers. Religious belief was central to the debate and, Archbishop of Cincinnati with its language common to the North and South, was one of these minority voices, the first American often meshed with political and ethnic ideologies to Catholic bishop to offer public support for immediate lend strength to the slavery controversy. Religion emancipation of slaves. Through his teaching and the was used as a means of affirming the practices of both influence of his diocesan newspaper, the Catholic the slaveholder and the abolitionist. As President Telegraph, Purcell attempted to convince his readers stated of the North and South in his of the inconsistency of slavery's existence in a free second inaugural address, "Both read the same Bible, nation while striking at the racial, religious, and and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid political discord that shaped the loyalties of Catholics against the other."3 Consequently, religious in antebellum America. Historians have largely often preceded political separation as religious groups ignored Purcell's contribution to the intellectual and became polarized over slavery. The Presbyterians and moral conversation of the period, mentioning him Baptists attempted to preserve institutional unity only in passing as an example of a divergent opinion. until the outbreak of the war while the Methodist Yet his presence in Cincinnati was critical in shaping Church split into two factions in 1845, a separation the ideological climate of the Valley during the caused by some members' refusal to agree to a slave Civil War era.2 holder's becoming bishop. Even when attempts to The in the middle of the nine- preserve unity appeared successful, internal division

Fall 2002 Rectifying the Fatal Contrast often existed. In 1837 when the Presbyterian Church 1833 and appoint- had divided into New and Old Schools, the former ed leader of the became increasingly antislavery and found its great- est strength among New Englanders while the latter in the of was composed of conservative members, mainly Cincinnati, a posi- southerners.4 In the midst of this sectional conflict tion he held for and religious disunion, the Church fifty years.6 As the in America attempted to bridge these divisions in number of order to be true to its model as one, holy, catholic Catholics in Ohio Church. Unlike the religious denominations that increased, his role failed to preserve unity, the Catholic Church - as spokesman for ly identified with neither the abolitionists nor the the Church in the slave holders, both of whom it considered radicals. West intensified. Marked by its conservatism, the Catholic Church In 1837, as a Archbishop John Baptist Purcell during this period spoke in favor of moderation and young bishop, he compromise, not rash action. Most American took part in a Catholic rallied for unity and reconciliation, week-long public debate on the nature of the Catholic hoping to act as witnesses to peace and calm in a religion with Alexander Campbell, a Baptist revivalist troubled nation.5 and founder of the Disciples of Christ. In One episcopal voice that pierced the silence of reporting the debate, Cincinnati's secular press agreed the Catholic hierarchy was that of Archbishop John that Purcell had helped to encourage Catholic tolera- Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati. By publicly supporting tion and to correct various falsehoods held about the the immediate abolition of slavery, Purcell faced con- faith. Newspapers throughout the country closely siderable opposition from numerous fronts. and followed the debate and caused Purcell to become laymen throughout the country, his fellow American better known to the nation's Catholics and non- bishops, as well as religious and secular publications Catholics.7 discouraged his meddling in what many considered a Early in his episcopacy, Purcell pronounced his political matter, unrelated to religion. Even when own moral distaste for slavery yet seemed unwilling opposition was not overt, Purcell found it necessary to to assert these views to the Catholics of America or contend with an ambivalent immigrant Church, large- to become associated with the abolitionist move- ly disinterested in the slavery question from the stand- ment. At a speech given in 1838 in his hometown of point of morality yet aware of the potential for slav- Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, Purcell spoke of the ery's demise to affect the economic balance of com- inconsistency between the Declaration of munity life in both the North and South. Independence and the existence of slavery. He later Beginning with mild protestations against slav- termed this inconsistency "the fatal contrast," ery, Purcell eventually became an outspoken propo- acknowledging his belief that America could not tol- nent of the war and emancipation. Purcell worked to erate the institution of slavery if it were to be faithful temper anti-war sentiment, to help purge Catholics of to its ideals. At the time of his 1838 speech, howev- their racist tendencies, and to convince his flock of the er, Purcell blamed the "virus" of slavery less on the moral and practical necessity of emancipation. Americans as much as the English, who had estab- Though largely unsuccessful, Purcell helped ease ten- lished it during the colonial period. Clearly, Purcell sions, curb discrimination, and bring attention to the found it safer to be anti-English than to level charges moral and social ramifications of the slavery question. against his fellow countrymen. The Catholic Acting as one of the few who bonded their Catholic Telegraph, the official newspaper of the diocese of faith with abolitionist views, Purcell heralded emanci- Cincinnati, reported Purcell's speech but quickly pation as a position consistent with the example of added that the Bishop understood that there were "a Christ and integral to the Church's mission of bringing great many political improvements, however desir- unity, hope, and to all people. able, that a government could not from prudential 8 Irish by birth, Purcell was ordained a bishop in motives, introduce as soon as it wished." During the

Ohio Valley History years leading up to the Civil War, the Catholic three to be detestable assaults upon their way of life.13 Telegraph remained silent on the subject except for an Abolitionists were often nativists and the union of occasional condemnation of abolitionism.9 Purcell, these ideals was not incidental. The Know-Nothing too, refrained from taking a vocal stand in the decades literature of the era asserted that the Roman Catholic before the war. Church and slavery were both "founded and support- The climate and makeup of his diocese and the ed on the basis of ignorance and tyranny" and that the position of Catholic bishops throughout the country two were natural co-workers in their opposition to contributed to PurcelPs lack of outspoken opposition "freedom and republican institutions."14 Following to slavery. The diocese of Cincinnati, which had the demise of the Know-Nothing party, the included only sixteen churches and fewer than seven Republican party received many former Know- thousand Catholics when Purcell arrived in 1833, Nothings into its ranks and this close association of swelled with German and Irish immigrants during abolitionism and nativism resulted in solid support the next three decades. In recognition of its increased for the Democratic party among the Catholic immi- population, Cincinnati became an archdiocese in grant population.15 1850 and Purcell was elevated to the role of archbish- Chief among the immigrants' fears was the abo- op. Ten years later, in i860, the archdiocese of litionist goal of emancipating the slaves. Cincinnati, spanning approximately the southern Emancipation, they believed, would result in the for- two-thirds of Ohio, claimed 150,000 Catholics. mer slaves' mass exodus from the South to claim Nearly 55,000 of the Catholics in the archdiocese immigrants' jobs in Cincinnati. As early as 1841, ten- lived in Cincinnati, accounting for thirty-five percent sion between immigrants and free persons of color of the city's population.10 resulted in three days of mob violence in which both In the decades leading up to the Civil War, Irishmen and African Americans were killed. During nativist sentiment was widespread in the Ohio Valley the summer of that year a multitude of rumors, region and especially in Cincinnati. Anglo-Protestant including the reported sexual advances of two black employers and leaders often denied employment and men toward a "very respectable lady," fueled the ten- participation in community affairs to Catholics and sion. blamed the nativist foreigners because they believed that these newcom- white population for the rioting and absolved the ers sought to undermine American ideals through city's African Americans, though it admitted that their allegiance to a foreign dictator, the . The there may have been "two or three Irishmen" among Rev. Lyman Beecher, president of the Lane the troublemakers.16 However sporadic, these inci- Theological in Cincinnati, warned fellow dents of violence were indicative of the overarching Protestants in 1834 of a "Popish plot" to take over the prejudice and fear on the part of the Irish that black region in his tract, A Plea for the West." Fears such migrants would surpass them economically. as this gave rise to the American Party, popularly The Germans in Cincinnati were in general less called the Know-Nothing party, which sought to bar prejudiced toward the city's African Americans. As Catholics from political involvement and delay natu- early as the 1830s, Cincinnati's German population ralization for immigrants. Anti-Catholic hysteria included some abolitionists and by the 1850s the reached its peak in Cincinnati in 1853 when a visit by majority of Germans opposed the westward expan- Archbishop resulted in rioting. Over sion of slavery. A number of German radicals in five hundred protesters attempted to march to the Cincinnati called for the repeal of the 1850 Fugitive episcopal residence behind the where Slave Law and an end to slavery throughout the Bedini was staying. Police, however, blocked the United States.17 Despite the presence of abolitionist route and arrested sixty-five individuals.12 Germans in Cincinnati, the city's Germans and Occupying the lower classes of society and sub- African Americans also clashed, though to a lesser ject to discrimination, the Irish and German extent than with the Irish, suggesting less direct Catholics in general identified with the Democratic occupational competition with the former.18 party, a natural affiliation, given many in the Generally, the Irish in Cincinnati lived in closer prox- Republican party's support for prohibition, abolition, imity to its black residents,- they were subject to and nativism. Catholic immigrants considered all lower literacy rates and property ownership than

Fall 2002 Rectifying the Fatal Contrast other groups in the city,- and they competed for the were silent on the issue. Church historian same low-paying jobs.19 Guilday has written that the council helped solidify The fear that black migrants would take jobs the role of the Church in America: "Catholics real- typically held by European immigrants only increased ized more acutely than ever the real meaning of the in the years before the Civil War as African Church's place in American life, and non-Catholics Americans trickled north across the Ohio River. The appreciated the fact that there was a body of Cincinnati Enquirer warned its readers of the perils American spiritual leaders who meant to bring to the to come: disturbed condition of the one asset the Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of slaves country needed: peace and calm."25 . . . will come North and West and will either be Not only did the Church hierarchy, which feared competitors with our White mechanics and the ruin of its own ecclesiastical institution, express laborers, degrading them by their competition, the Church's conservative position but Catholics in or they will have to be supported as paupers and every locality echoed it, fearing that the slavery ques- criminals at the public expense.20 tion could rip apart their states, communities, and At the same time as Cincinnati Catholics feared families. The bishops of the Cincinnati Province, emancipation for economic reasons, the Catholic composed of neighboring in Michigan, Ohio, bishops in the United States feared that the issue of Kentucky, and Indiana, met in Cincinnati twice dur- slavery could destroy the unity of the Church. The ing the years preceding the war. At each meeting the Vatican in 1839, through Pope XVI's letter, In bishops issued a pastoral letter instructing the clergy Supremo Apostolatus, had asked Catholics through- and laity of their dioceses. When the local ordinaries out the world to refrain from engaging in the slave convened the First Provincial Council of Cincinnati trade. The letter stated: "We do admonish and adjure in 1855, the bishops followed the precedent set at the in the Lord all believers in Christ. . . that no one here- First Plenary Council of in 1852 and after may dare unjustly to molest Indians, Negroes, or refrained from taking up the slavery issue. Instead, other men ... or to exercise that inhuman trade by the bishops advised their people to "fervently pray to which Negroes, as if they were not men, but mere God that He would bless and preserve the Union."26 animals, are reduced into slavery."21 The Pope had At the Second Provincial Council of Cincinnati held clearly written against the trading of slaves, but three years later, the bishops made no mention of debate swirled about whether he disapproved of all slavery, seeking to distance the Church from what forms of slavery. they perceived to be a political discussion.27 Despite this admonishment from the Pope, In Cincinnati, the Catholic Telegraph mirrored American bishops in general supported the status quo the opinion of the church hierarchy and the local cit- in regard to slavery. A few bishops like John England izenry by maintaining its desire for peace and unity. of Charleston, South Carolina, wrote that Catholics In an editorial on the topic of "Union and should not interpret the papal letter as a condemna- ," the editor wrote that the Church was tion of slavery in the United States.22 For the most not to blame for America's disunion because "the part the bishops agreed that abolitionists were fanat- Catholic Church has never lent any strength to the ics, yet at the same time only a few southern prelates excitement. She has said both to North and South be overtly defended the "peculiar institution." Even the just, be moderate, patient, charitable. If the Union most committed southern bishop recognized the falls to pieces, now it will not be through her influ- abuses of slavery, believed that African Americans ence but through her want of influence."2" Though were human beings with souls, and advocated their committed to patience and peace, the Church's desire natural right to maintain their families.21 Bishop for calm could not quiet the impending storm that England, though a supporter of slavery, opened a southern secession and rebellion would bring. school for black children in his diocese although The storm of politics, religion, economics, and 14 intense local opposition later forced him to close it. race that swirled around Purcell forced him to recon- Most bishops occupied a middle ground that valued sider his response. Not deaf to the influence of the peace over justice as evidenced by the First Plenary people of his diocese and his fellow bishops, Purcell Council of Baltimore (1852) in which the ordinaries allowed those individuals who were closest to him to

26 Ohio Valley History shape his opinions on slavery and emancipation. His Purcell attacked rad- chief advisors were his , Edward Purcell, and icalism wherever he Sylvester Rosecrans, who became of believed it existed, Cincinnati in March 1862. Both men held positions both in the North of influence in the diocese. As editors of the Catholic and the South. Telegraph, the two were directly responsible for the As one of the expression of local Catholic opinion during the war few Catholic news- years. Purcell was editor of the official newspaper of papers published the diocese of Cincinnati for almost forty years, west of , beginning in 1840, and acted as the financial manag- the Catholic er of the archdiocese, and of the Cathedral.29 Telegraph's - Rosecrans, the younger brother of Union General ship extended William S. Rosecrans, was co-editor of the newspaper throughout the west- with Purcell until he was named auxiliary bishop.30 ern states. By 1850 Both favored the Union and emancipation and the the weekly paper opinions expressed in the Catholic Telegraph never had received the Sylvester S. Rosecrans strayed far from Purcell's sentiments. episcopal approval of At the time of Lincoln's election in i860 and the the dioceses of beginning of southern secession, Purcell, the Chicago, Cleveland, , Vincennes, and Catholic Telegraph, and the Catholics of Cincinnati Louisville, representing most of the dioceses in the were generally united in their belief that compromise Ohio Valley region and points northward. The dio- was necessary to preserve the Union. Politically, cese of Covington, Kentucky, later gave its approval Catholics were an important source of support for the to the paper but withdrew its support by November, Democratic party and opponents accused them of 1861, as a result of what it perceived as the paper's tainting the electoral process by voting consistently failure to maintain political neutrality.36 Though with those who shared their religious and ethnic affil- published in Cincinnati, the Catholic Telegraph iations. Many believed that Democratic party bosses clearly depended on both southern and northern sub- or, even worse, their religious leaders, controlled their scribers before the war and up to its onset, a fact that votes.31 Most of the Catholic community in may explain the paper's equal treatment of both Cincinnati supported the Democratic candidate, northern and southern abuses to the rebellion. Stephen Douglas, for the presidency in i860, even as As Purcell's opinion on the topic evolved, he Purcell himself publicly supported the Republican became increasingly critical of the South as it became party and Lincoln. Despite their political leanings, apparent to him that the states in rebellion sought to the immigrant populace remained supportive of the destroy the Union. Little more than a week after Union and optimistic that the nation's leaders could mentioning the possibility of compromising with the 32 achieve a peaceful compromise. "At least, let us beg rebellious southern states, Purcell addressed the offi- if we cannot have Union, we may have peace," cers of the Catholic Institute, a short-lived local edu- Purcell wrote on January 4, 1861, "and that if these cational institution, and condemned the "rattlesnake 33 States cannot be sisters, they may be allies." of secession." The Cincinnati Commercial quoted The Catholic Telegraph itself employed its edi- him: "When you look around this hall, and see the torial column to denounce both northern abolition- beautiful stars and stripes which adorn it, pray, oh ists and southern extremists. An editorial on pray! that the hideous rattlesnake may never sting December 1, 1860/4 which quoted a sermon that them, but that the rattlesnake of secession may be Purcell offered while preaching at the Cathedral, con- crushed to death, even as the Ever Blessed Mother 37 demned Harriet Beecher Stowe's distortions in her crushed the serpent that caused our fall." At the controversial novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, as well as same time, the Catholic Telegraph issued a more con- Preston Brooks' brutal attack on Charles Sumner in servative response in favor of peace, cautioning, "It is the chambers of the Senate and the violat ion of hoped that in these times of excitement no Catholic the Constitution by the secessionist states.35 will so far lose his reasoning powers as to suppose

Fall 2002 Rectifying the Fatal Contrast that our glorious institutions can be preserved and might be construed as political activism. Throughout transmitted to posterity by fighting among our- the conflict, the army was in dire need of priests to selves."38 Cincinnati Catholics remained hopeful serve as army and Purcell helped fill the that peace would prevail and that the dark clouds of ranks of the Union chaplaincy by encouraging priests secession would eventually dissipate. to volunteer. Some bishops refused to send chaplains After the attack on Fort Sumter, the hope for and consequently only forty priests, often called peaceful compromise vanished. The Catholic "Holy Joes" by the soldiers, were available to minis- Telegraph came out in complete support of the Union ter to the Union's two hundred thousand Catholic and President Lincoln. The paper publicized a "Union soldiers.45 Meeting" at Cincinnati's Catholic Institute to be held In late April 1861, the Third Provincial Council on April 20, 1861. An estimated four thousand "Irish of Cincinnati held a meeting of the bishops from patriots" attended and pledged their "lives, fortunes, eight neighboring dioceses. Among the items dis- and sacred honor" to the maintenance of the cussed was the political situation of the country. The Constitution.19 Many of these Cincinnatians would be pastoral letter drafted at the council spoke of the need among the two hundred thousand Catholic Americans for unity and peace. "While many of the sects have who served in the war.40 Purcell also wrote in support divided into hostile parties on an exciting political of the Union cause. He was no doubt aware that per- issue," the letter stated, "the Catholic Church has ceived disloyalty on the part of Catholics, especially carefully preserved her unity of spirit in the bond of immigrants, would only increase nativist fervor. Rising peace, knowing no North, no South, no East, and no to the challenge, Purcell proclaimed to his flock that West."46 The letter specifically advised priests not to the "President has spoken and it is our duty to obey become involved in the political debate. "The spirit him as of the nation.... It is then our solemn duty of the Catholic Church is eminently conservative," as good and loyal citizens to walk shoulder to shoulder the bishops wrote, "and while her ministers rightful- with all our fellow citizens in support of ly feel a deep and abiding interest in all that concerns honor."41 To display public support for the cause, the the welfare of the country, they do not think it their priests of St. Peter in Cathedral in downtown province to enter into the political arena."47 The pas- Cincinnati hung a large "Star-spangled banner," ninety toral letter did not assign blame for the political crisis feet in length, from its spire on April 23.42 but highlighted wrongs by both the North and South. Though the ecclesiastic hierarchy in America Bishop Martin Spalding of Louisville, Kentucky, had among its ranks a number of strong Union men rather than Purcell, was the primary author of the like Purcell, Rosecrans, and Hughes, their collective pastoral, which explains its failure to support the effort to boost Catholic enlistment achieved minimal President and the Union cause as well as its uncriti- 48 results. Irish Catholics were the most under-repre- cal stance on secession. sented ethnic group in the Union army in proportion After the conclusion of the council in June 1861, to population, with German Catholics ranking just Purcell left Cincinnati for Rome and did not return behind. As non-citizens, many Catholics were until September of that year. During his visit Purcell exempt from the draft, some opposed the war aim of requested permission to retire, a request possibly emancipating the slaves, while others had little con- born of the tension that accompanied his support of cern for what they perceived as a contest for econom- the Union. The Pope, however, did not accept the ic power by the nation's affluent. Most Catholics sixty-one-year-old archbishop's request.49 Upon his who served in the Union forces either did so unwill- return, Purcell again spoke in favor of the Union ingly or enlisted to obtain high enlistment bounties.41 cause, a position consistent with the general senti- During the war Purcell proved his loyalty to the ments of the people of Cincinnati, though some had Union not only in word but also in deed. Purcell and already sided with the "Copperheads," the wing of Rosecrans willingly visited Union army encamp- the Democratic party that opposed the Republican ments where they preached, administered the sacra- war effort and supported peace with the ments, and met with army chaplains.44 Purcell's jour- Confederacy.so The early months of the war brought neys to the field set him apart from other bishops with it a surge of patriotism, but the fervor began to who were often unwilling to act in a manner that die out as Cincinnati plunged into an economic reces-

28 Ohio Valley History sion that resulted from the cessation of trade with the widespread and emancipation was an inconceivable southern states, the city's traditional market.51 war aim among the immigrant population. On July Cincinnati's economic growth having been stunted, 10, 1862, violence erupted in Cincinnati after German the recession put financial pressure on business own- and Irish riverhands decided to strike for higher wages ers and laborers who hoped for a quick end to the and employers hired black laborers in their place.56 war. As the prospects for a quick northern victory Irish-Americans set homes on fire and assaulted diminished, Union support often turned to cries for inhabitants of "Bucktown," the black section of the peace, even if that meant Confederate independence. city located just east of downtown. African Americans Anti-war sentiment, especially prevalent in the Ohio retaliated in the section of Cincinnati known as Valley, certainly weighed on Purcell but did not cause "Dublin," enacting similar violence.57 Sympathizing him to waver in his support of the Union. with the rioters, the Catholic Telegraph wrote that The Catholic Telegraph supported the war effort black labor was "fast undermining white labor along throughout the conflict, failing to ally with the the Ohio. It is a question of bread and butter or star- "Peace Democrats" and the local anti-war movement vation to thousands and nothing is more easily under- that gained in popularity and influence under the stood than jealousy in such a vital manner."58 The leadership of James Faran, the Irish-American editor newspaper clearly supported the interests of immi- of .52 As a staunch Democrat, grant laborers, a position that it would try to maintain Faran opposed Lincoln from the start, but gave quali- even while supporting emancipation. fied support to the northern cause at the beginning of Almost as reprehensible as emancipation to the the war. Later he criticized the manner in which the immigrant population was the suggestion of con- Republican administration and Congress were con- scription. The Catholic Telegraph wrote in favor of ducting the war and finally denounced the war effort the draft months before the government instituted it, completely in 1863." The other Catholic newspaper though nearly every Catholic newspaper in the coun- in Cincinnati, the German-language weekly try denounced the plan for conscription.59 "If you are Wahrheits-Freund, exhibited an editorial position dis- drafted," the paper proclaimed, "go you must. When tinct from both the official diocesan newspaper and you talk of resisting the draft . . . you make yourself the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Wahrheits-Freund not only ridiculous but criminal."60 Fortunately, riots stressed neutrality, maintaining itself as a religious did not erupt in Cincinnati as they had in New York and not political newspaper.54 City and elsewhere in response to the Conscription Though the Catholic Telegraph supported the Act of March 3, 1863.61 Though not responsible for a war, it con- complete change in opinion, Purcell's leadership and demned emanci- ___. the attitudes voiced in the diocesan newspaper pation of the slaves helped Cincinnati's immigrant population accept this as an aim for the prerogative of the government. war. "The Upon returning from a second trip to Europe on proposition to September 1, 1862, three weeks before Lincoln issued emancipate the the Emancipation Proclamation, Purcell delivered slaves as a war one of his most important speeches of the war. measure," the paper Reiterating the content of his 1838 speech delivered declared, "seems to in Ireland, Purcell said that he believed "a people us incendiary and could not long survive the fatal contrast between the stupid. . . . Do the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of American people the United States, the one asserting that all men are believe that we born free, sovereign and independent, that the other could be a nation millions may be slaves." Purcell further proclaimed with 4,000,000 free that war could have been avoided if only the South negroes in our had compromised, abolishing slavery "after a given midst?"55 period, say fifty, seventy, or a hundred years . . . and Negrophobia was James Faran in the meantime, as the Northern States had done, fit

Fall 2002 Rectifying the Fatal Contrast 29 her slaves, by education, to be men."62 Since compro- wrote, "[W]e do not shape our cause to please any par- mise was then out of the question, Purcell went so far ticular class of men, but we endeavor to follow the as to advocate emancipation of the slaves as a means dictates of truth and justice as they present them- of ending the war within three months' time. While selves to our minds."68 not demanding immediate emancipation, Purcell's Though no Catholic newspaper other than the address stood in stark contrast to the beliefs and Quarterly Review, published by Catholic convert and actions of his fellow Irish Catholics, some of whom abolitionist Orestes Brownson, supported the had participated in racial rioting just months earlier.63 Telegraph's advocacy of immediate emancipation, the These statements in favor of even gradual eman- reaction toward the Catholic Telegraph was not com- cipation drew criticism from both Catholic and secu- pletely negative. Edward Purcell claimed that he had lar newspapers and helped to shape the opinions received letters from every part of the country expressed in the Catholic Telegraph. At the time of expressing satisfaction with a Catholic newspaper Purcell's September i address, the diocesan newspa- that was unafraid to support "the most oppressed per was not seen as friendly to abolitionism. people on earth."69 In writing to Archbishop Purcell However, it began to change its policy shortly there- on May 28, 1863, Father William O'Higgins, after, fiercely debating the journalists who were to the Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry stationed in attacking the archbishop. Baltimore's Catholic Murfreesboro, Tennessee, voiced his agreement. Mirror reprimanded Purcell for his demands for "God bless Father Edward for the triumphant vindi- emancipation and the Freeman's Journal dubbed him cation of our dear old Mother Church from the a "political abolitionist."64 The Cincinnati Enquirer, advancing blotch of slavery," Father O'Higgins trumpeting the slogan, "The Constitution as it is, the exclaimed. "Yes, she always hated it. She hates it Union as it was, and the Negroes where they are,"6s now, and would give the world's treasures to see such also accused General Rosecrans of being an abolition- a rank smelling sin blotted from the face of the ist. Ironically, the Catholic Telegraph became more earth."70 outspoken against slavery as it attempted to defend The Catholic Telegraph, though abolitionist, the archbishop and General Rosecrans by qualifying attempted to maintain the precarious balance of sup- 66 the position of each in regard to emancipation. porting both the interests of Cincinnati's immigrant Not until April 1863 did the diocesan paper offi- population and the rights of slaves to be free. It cially join with Purcell in support of emancipation, argued that emancipation would be beneficial to though it had slowly been moving in that direction slaves as well as laborers, reversing the position it had since September 1862. The editor, presumed to be taken as late as 1862.7' The paper favored limitations Father Edward Purcell, wrote on April 8 that "slavery on African American migration to northern states in every shape is condemned and reprobated by the and assured its readers that countless immigrant fam- Church." "What the Church would not or could not ilies would be able to make claims on southern lands do," he continued, "the politicians have done. The after the fall of slavery and the plantation system.72 It door is now made open . . . and those who wish to wrote in support of white laborers and the free labor despise Pontiffs and be the jailors of ideal. The restoration of peace would bring about "a their fellow men, may endeavor to close and lock and peace profitable to the white man who earns his bread bolt it. We take no part in any such proceeding." by the sweat of his brow. We wish to see him not so With this proclamation the Catholic Telegraph low, but that he may have one foot on the ladder by became the first diocesan newspaper to support which he can ascend to fortune."71 emancipation. The newspaper, in effect, wished to The paper also affirmed the dignity of African wash its hands of the peculiar institution that it had Americans. "Those colored men," it proclaimed, previously supported. Having asserted its abolitionist "have a right to life and liberty as much as the white views, the paper boasted, "If for telling these plain men, and they who oppress them without reason, and truths any subscriber wishes to withdraw his patron- only to gratify an insatiable and disgraceful prejudice, 67 age, we hope he will do so at once." In the face of are the enemies of order and religion."74 The newspa- sharp criticism from the New York Freeman's Journal per proclaimed its unique new identity as "the largest and the Metropolitan Record, the Catholic Telegraph Catholic journal in the United States; opposed to

Ohio Valley History slavery and disunion; of justice and free- and his flock during the years of the Civil War? dom."75 Its abolitionist views, it maintained, were for Clearly, only a minority of his fellow bishops and the the greater good of all peoples, black and white. Catholic press embraced his opinions. Similarly, the In a pastoral letter written to the people of his vast majority of Cincinnati's Irish and German resi- diocese on January 27, 1864, Purcell stated his posi- dents were unreceptive, remaining committed to the tion in the clearest of terms: "We go with our whole Democratic party, opposed to abolitionism, and fear- heart and soul for the maintenance of the Union and ful of an African American exodus into Ohio.82 the abolition of slavery — against neither of which The experience of Cincinnati's Catholics does the Supreme Pontiff of Christendom utter a sin- throughout the Civil War years indicated that local gle word."76 Bishop Spalding of Louisville, in particu- ethnic loyalties and economic realities probably lar, condemned the letter, saying that if Purcell could influenced them more than the moral and rational not produce a non-partisan pastoral letter, it would be persuasion undertaken by their bishop and the best not to issue one. In fact, the opposition to Catholic Telegraph. Purcell was so great that the bishops of the surround- Though Purcell may have been unsuccessful in ing dioceses refused to attend the Provincial Council garnering widespread support for his ideals among the that Purcell had planned to take place in Cincinnati Catholic population of his diocese, he was successful the fourth Sunday after Easter, 1864.77 in bringing attention to the moral and social ramifi- Later that year Purcell issued a Thanksgiving cations of the slavery question. In emancipating the pastoral message in which he prayed for the abolition slaves, America resolved its "fatal contrast" and of slavery, voiced support for the draft, and specifical- diminished Cincinnati's own conflict between race ly condemned two Catholic New York newspapers, and religion. Purcell's leadership strengthened loyal- the Freeman's Journal and Metropolitan Record, for ty to the Union in the city, especially among its opposing the war and emancipation.78 He blamed Catholics, and draft riots that other cities with large these newspapers for instigating their readers "to evil immigrant populations experienced did not occur in words and deeds" through deliberate duplicity and Cincinnati. Purcell also increased the visibility of the deception.79 In Purcell's correspondence can be found Catholic Church throughout the country, demon- two letters of support for his Thanksgiving message strating that some Catholics were willing to stand in from clergy outside the Cincinnati diocese, which the support of emancipation and the honor of the nation. very newspapers that he had denounced printed. Rev. The climate of extreme Negrophobia began to William Everett thanked the Cincinnati ordinary "for change in Cincinnati under the archbishop's guid- the noble expression of patriotic sentiment" in ance. Near the end of the war, Purcell assisted in the denouncing "those impudent and wicked newspapers formation of a Catholic church and school for African published in this city." Everett further argued that Americans known as St. Ann's Colored Church and "[o]ur people have been put in a false, disloyal, and School. Founded in 1866 under the leadership of a essentially uncatholic position by the politicians Jesuit priest, Weninger, the was whose lead they have followed like sheep — aided by one of only several Catholic parishes for African 80 such 'religious' papers as those you have named." Americans in the United States. In September 1868, Similarly, Rev. W. B. Sprague of Albany, New York, the Catholic Telegraph announced the formation of wrote to Purcell that he "was previously aware of the the Blessed Peter Claver Society, an organization honorable position you had taken on this subject, and founded for the support of St. Ann's School.8' Purcell was the more deeply impugned by it from the fact wrote that the students of St. Ann bore the fruits of that nearly all our Roman Catholic population in this their training and "prove this every year by public part of the country have gone in the opposite direc- examinations and exhibitions to the astonishment tion. Your proclamation, my dear sir, will, of itself, I and delight of the citizens of Cincinnati."84 81 am sure, render your name imperishable in history." The words of Orestes Brownson might best sug- The prediction of Father Sprague begs the ques- gest the legacy of Purcell and his contribution to the tion of Archbishop Purcell's legacy to America, the debate over slavery. "Peace is a good thing," Catholic Church, and the archdiocese of Brownson wrote, "but justice is better . . . Give us the Cincinnati: what was Purcell's impact on the Church noise and contention of life, rather than the peace and

Fall 2002 Rectifying the Fatal Contrast silence of the charnel-house."85 Purcell preferred live- Publication, 1837); Alfred Stritch, "Political Nativism in ly democratic debate to peaceful injustice, seeing it as Cincinnati, 1830-1860," Records of the American Catholic the best hope for both America and the Church. Historical Society of 48 (September 1937), 239- 40; John Nerone, The Culture of in the Early Republic Moreover, as evidenced by his words and actions, — Cincinnati, 1793-1848 (New York: Garland Publishing, Purcell preferred justice to peace and noise to silence 1989), 189-91. if it could stir men and women to examine the most 8 Catholic Telegraph, October 11, 1838. perplexing questions of the age. In the face of opposi- 9 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," tion, Purcell added his own voice to the rhetorical 62. cacophony of the Civil War era and committed him- 10 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," self to following the dictates of truth and justice 4-5- 11 See Tyler Anbinder's Nativism and Slavery: The Northern wherever they led him. As the lone episcopal voice Know Nothings and the Politics of the 1850s (Oxford: Oxford supporting emancipation, Purcell represents an University Press, 1992) for information on the rise and fall of important minority within the Church in America the party and its connection to slavery. that deepens our understanding of the contributions 12 See James Connelly, The Visit of Archbishop Gaetano of Catholics to the national political dialogue of the Bedini to the United States of America, 1853-1854 (Rome: Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana, i960) for a descrip- Civil War era. tion of Bedini's reception in various localities. 13 Frank L. Klement, "Catholics as Copperheads during the David J. Endres is a graduate student in church Civil War," Catholic Historical Review 80 (1994), 36. history at Catholic University of America in 14 Quoted in James Hennesey, S.J., American Catholics (New Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Xavier York: , 1981), 145. University. 15 See Eric Foner, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 226-60 for a discussion of the link between the Republican party and nativism. Foner 1 Two studies that focus on Northern Catholic opinion argues that Republicans viewed nativism as a political liability include Walter G. Sharrow's "Northern Catholic Intellectuals and tried to dissociate the party from anti-immigrant policies and the Coming of the Civil War," New York Historical Society while courting the vote of former Know-Nothings. Catholics Quarterly 58 (1974), 34-56, and Charles P. Connor's "The recognized that cultural nativism lingered in the Republican Northern Catholic Position on Slavery and the Civil War: party even after political nativism had been disavowed. Archbishop Hughes as a Test Case," Records of the American 16 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati, pre- Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia 96 (1986), 35-48. Civil War Years" 255,- Catholic Telegraph, September 11, 1841. 2 The only prior attempts to elucidate Purcell's contribution 17 Bruce Levine, "Community Divided: German Immigrants, to the period are Anthony H. Deye's "Archbishop John Baptist Social Class, and Political Conflict in Antebellum Cincinnati," Purcell and the Civil War" (M.A. thesis, University of in Ethnic Diversity and Civic Identity: Patterns of Conflict Cincinnati, 1944) and Anthony H. Deye's "Archbishop John and Cohesion in Cincinnati Since 1820, eds., Henry Shapiro Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati, pre-Civil War Years" (Ph.D. dis- and Jonathan Sarna (Urbana: University of Press, 1992), sertation, University of Notre Dame, 1949). 70, 76-81. 3 Ray P. Basler, ed.,The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 18 Wendell P. Dabney, Cincinnati's Colored Citizens: vol. 8 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1959), Historical, Sociological and Biographical (Cincinnati: Dabney 333- Publishing Co., 1926), 40, 49. 4 Philip Paludan, A People's Contest (Lawrence, Ks.: 19 Nancy Bertaux, "Economic Change and Occupational University Press of Kansas, 1988), 343-45. See also Decline," in Race and the City: Work, Community, and Genovese, "Religion in the Collapse of the American Union" Protest in Cincinnati, 1820-1970, ed. Henry Louis Taylor, Jr. in Religion and the , eds., Randall Miller, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 140. Harry Stout, and Charles Wilson, (New York: Oxford 20 Quoted in Lyle Koehler, Cincinnati's Black Peoples: A University Press, 1998), 78-79. Genovese argues that the Chronology and Bibliography, 1787-1982 (Cincinnati: Presbyterian split was not primarily over slavery but was in University of Cincinnati, 1986), 56-57. response to theological disputes and questions of ecclesiastical 21 Quoted in Davis, The History of Black Catholics, 39. governance. 22 Kenneth J. Zanca, American Catholics and Slavery, 1789- 5 Davis, The History of Black Catholics in the United 1866: An Anthology of Primary Documents (Lanham, Md.: States (New York: Crossroad, 1990), 117. University Press of America, 1994), 128-29. 6 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 3. 23 Zanca, American Catholics and Slavery, 110-11. 7 Alexander Campbell and John B. Purcell, A Debate on the 24 Hennesey, American Catholics, 146. Roman Catholic Religion (St. Louis, Mo.: Christian Board of

Ohio Valley History 25 Peter Guilday, A History of the Councils of Baltimore, University of Chicago Libraries, 1934), 4, 8. 1791-1884 (New York: Arno Press, 1969), 169-70. 54 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 26 Pastoral Letter of the First Provincial Council of Cincinnati 88. to the Clergy and Laity (Cincinnati: John P. Walsh, 1855), 12. 5 5 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 27 Pastoral Letter of the Second Provincial Council of 65-66. Cincinnati to the Clergy and Laity (Cincinnati: John P. Walsh, 56 Koehler, Cincinnati's Black Peoples, 57. 1858). 57 Klement, "Sound and Fury: Civil War Dissent in the 28 Catholic Telegraph, December 1, 1860. Cincinnati Area," 100. 2,9 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 58 Catholic Telegraph, July 23, 1862. 57, 82. 59 Klement, "Catholics as Copperheads," 48. 30 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 60 Catholic Telegraph, August 20, 1862. 60. 61 Klement, "Catholics as Copperheads," 50-51. 31 Michael Holt, "The Politics of Impatience: The Origins of 62 Quoted in Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Know Nothingism," Journal of American History 60 (1973), Civil War," 32-33. 323. 63 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 32 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 35. 11. 64 Madeleine Hooke Rice, American Catholic Opinion in the 33 Catholic Telegraph, January 5, 1861. Slavery Controversy (Gloucester, Mass.: , 1964), 34 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati, pre- 127. Civil War years," 434. 65 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 3 5 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati, pre- 34-35. Civil War years," 438. 66 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 36 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 68. 57; Hennesey, American Catholics, 153 asserts that 67 Catholic Telegraph, April 8, 1863. Covington's Bishop Carrell, S.J., withdrew his support 68 Catholic Telegraph, January 13, 1864. of the Catholic Telegraph as a result of the paper's political 69 Catholic Telegraph, June 10, 1863. activism. 70 William O'Higgins to Archbishop John Purcell, May 28, 37 Cincinnati , January 16, 1861. 1863, Historical Archives of the Chancery, Archdiocese of 38 Catholic Telegraph, January 19, 1861. Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio (hereinafter cited as HACAC). 39 Catholic Telegraph, April 20, 1861; April 27, 1861. 71 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 40 Klement, "Catholics as Copperheads," 57. 73. 41 Quoted in Sr. Mary Agnes McCann, Archbishop Purcell 72 Rice, American Catholic Opinion in the Slavery and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati: A Study Based on Original Controversy, 129. Sources (Washington, D. C, 1918), 78. 73 Catholic Telegraph, January 20, 1864. 42 Catholic Telegraph, April 27, 1861. 74 Catholic Telegraph, May 25, 1864. 43 James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War 75 Catholic Telegraph, January 11, 1865. Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 606-607. 76 Catholic Telegraph, January 27, 1864. 44 Roger Fortin, Faith and Action: A History of the Catholic 77 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 41. Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 1821-1996 (Columbus: The Ohio 78 Catholic Telegraph, November 16, 1864. State University Press, 2002), 143-44. 79 Quoted in Rice, American Catholic Opinion in the Slavery 45 Miller, "Catholic Religion, Irish Ethnicity, and the Civil Controversy, 127. War," in Religion and the American Civil War, 265-66. 80 William Everett to Archbishop John Purcell, November 21, 46 Catholic Telegraph, May 11, 1861. 1864, HACAC. 47 Pastoral Letter of the Third Provincial Council of 81 W.B. Sprague to Archbishop John Purcell, November 21, Cincinnati to the Clergy and Laity (Cincinnati: John P. Walsh, 1864, HACAC. 1861), 6. 82 Klement, "Catholics as Copperheads," 40. 48 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," 83 Joseph Lackner, S.M., "St. Ann's Colored Church and 29-30. School, Cincinnati, the Indian and Negro Collection for the 49 Fortin, Faith and Action, 143. United States, and Reverend Francis Xavier Weninger, S.J.," 50 Deye, "Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and the Civil War," U.S. Catholic Historian 7 (1988), 145-47. 31. 84 Archbishop John Purcell, Circular Letter to 51 Frank L. Klement, "Sound and Fury: Civil War Dissent in Clergy and the Faithful People of the Diocese of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Area," Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin 1877, HACAC. 35 (1977), 101. 85 Quoted in , The True and Only Heaven 52 Klement, "Catholics as Copperheads," 37. (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1991), 189. 53 Charles Wilson, The Cincinnati Daily Enquirer and Civil War Politics: A Study in "Copperhead" Opinion (Chicago:

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