New Perspectives on Antiwar Dissent in the American Civil War
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations December 2020 Houses Divided: New Perspectives on Antiwar Dissent in the American Civil War Mark Ciccone University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Ciccone, Mark, "Houses Divided: New Perspectives on Antiwar Dissent in the American Civil War" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 2481. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2481 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HOUSES DIVIDED: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON ANTIWAR DISSENT IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR by Mark Ciccone A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee December 2020 ABSTRACT HOUSES DIVIDED: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON ANTIWAR DISSENT IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR by Mark Ciccone The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2020 Under the Supervision of Professor Lex Renda Since the conclusion of the American Civil War, antiwar dissent in the Union and the Confederacy has predominantly been viewed through the lens of political treason alone, with limited exploration of other factors—judicial, social, economic, personal—which motivated its expression. Both explicitly and implicitly, the individuals and movements that advocated peaceful negotiations to end the conflict, or protested what they viewed as illegitimate or unjust war policies enacted by Washington, D.C. or Richmond, or demonstrated their opposition through riots, flight or armed rebellion have been cast as traitors, conspirators and otherwise denigrated or discounted by Northern triumphalist-tinged narratives, and the “Lost Cause” school of history. Furthermore, acts of dissent in both North and South which are not traditionally viewed as antiwar, or as having any noteworthy impact upon either region’s war effort or domestic policy, have also been marginalized, adding to the monolithic perception of Civil War dissent as ineffectual, limited to certain parties and societal elements, and being motivated by political ideologies alone. In order to comprehend better the scope and nature of antiwar dissent in the American Civil War, and its true effect on the military and legislative efforts of the Union and Confederacy, it is necessary to extend the definition of dissent to new events, personalities and ii factions including those previously examined as isolated elements in broader Civil War histories, or as targets of analytically limited case studies. This extension must also include actions and rhetoric not intended as antiwar dissent, yet had similar indirect effects, and which provoked similar repression or reforms from the Lincoln and Davis administrations aimed towards nullifying perceived threats to their war efforts or domestic popular strength. This dissertation makes such an extension, concentrated in the judicial, political and grassroots areas of Civil War studies. Through this new analysis, the varied forms and wider prevalence of antiwar dissent, explicit and implicit, becomes clear, as does its influence on Northern and Southern war policies and on modern debates concerning personal liberties, the legality of dissent in wartime, and the powers of the state in war and peace. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................3 Thesis .......................................................................................................................3 Literature Review.....................................................................................................5 Loyalist, Opponent, Zealot: Marcus Pomeroy ...................................................................35 Constitutional Traitor: Clement Vallandigham .................................................................56 Leader & Dissenter: Alexander Stephens ..........................................................................90 Radicals & Conservatives: Appalachian Unionism .........................................................130 Dissenting Opinions: Judicial Opposition to Union War Policy .....................................172 Supreme State Court: Richmond M. Pearson ..................................................................204 Union Grassroots Antiwar Resistance .............................................................................224 Patriots & Traitors: “Dark Lanterns Societies” ...................................................224 Fight & Flight ......................................................................................................239 Confederate Grassroots Antiwar Resistance ....................................................................251 Not In Our County: The “Republic of Winston” .................................................251 Aliens Within: Texas German Unionists .............................................................256 Freedom Through Flight: “Contrabands” ............................................................259 “Bread or Blood”: Confederate Bread Riots of 1863 ..........................................264 Rebels for Peace: The Red Strings .......................................................................272 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................276 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................295 Curriculum Vitae .............................................................................................................307 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without help from numerous people and opportunities over the previous four years. Special thanks must go to my advisor, Dr. Lex Renda at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and to committee members Dr. Aims McGuinness of the University of California-Santa Cruz, Dr. Margo Anderson, Distinguished Professor Emerita of History, UW-Milwaukee, and Dr. Robert Smith of Marquette University, for their invaluable insights and advice that helped guide this dissertation to its final form, and for their patience and flexibility in adapting to the long-distance aspects of the dissertation defense due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. I am also immensely grateful to Drs. Joe Austin and Joe Rodriguez for their guidance throughout the doctoral process, to Anita Cathey, Barbara Letterman, and Ashia Gripentrog of the History Department staff for their vital assistance with the administrative aspects of this process, and to the History Department and UW-Milwaukee Graduate School as a whole for its generous academic and financial support through the graduate teaching assistantships, the Ellen Healy Award for Graduate Studies and the Frederick I. Olson Award that enabled me to pursue my research. Additional thanks are due to the following institutions for their aid in unearthing and researching crucial source materials, both hard copy and digital: the UW-Milwaukee Golda Meir Library, the Wisconsin Historical Society, the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library of Duke University, North Carolina, the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Georgia Libraries, and the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. I would also like to acknowledge those scholars and historians who have been vital influences in both my dissertation research and what has come to be a passion for Civil War history and academia in general: Eric Foner, James McPherson, William A Blair, v Victoria Bynum, Stephanie Camp, Mark Neely, Stephanie McCurry, Robert Sandow, Jesus F. de la Teja, Robert Tracy McKenzie, and Frank L. Klement. Lastly, I want to extend deepest possible thanks to my father, Anthony A. Ciccone, my mother, Susan B. Knox, and my fellow Graduate History students, Masters and Ph.D. Thank you, Dad, for all your editing and argument advice throughout this dissertation, and for the many hours we spent together rereading, debating and shaping it into its final form. Thank you, Mom, for your critical emotional and mental support that sustained me through this work and helped me soar high enough to reach its summit. And thank you, fellow Grads, for being much-needed moral support—even when it was just commiseration and idle chats—over the past four years. This work would not have come so far without help from all of you, and I will be forever grateful. vi Introduction From the start of the American Civil War with the firing on Fort Sumter, a wide range of individuals, groups and regions in both the Union and the Confederacy opposed the conflict. Prewar conceptions of civil rights and federal and state powers, socioeconomic relations and personal concerns for freedom, safety and survival in wartime conditions all shaped the aims and rhetoric of this dissent. Faced with what they viewed as unjust, unconstitutional, or immoral