THE GREAT SANITARY CHEESE HOW SACRAMENTANS SUPPORTED THE UNION DURING THE CIVIL WAR A Project Presented to the faculty of the Department of History California State University, Sacramento Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in History by Karen A. Richey SPRING 2012 THE GREAT SANITARY CHEESE HOW SACRAMENTANS SUPPORTED THE UNION DURING THE CIVIL WAR A Project by Karen A. Richey Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Chloe S. Burke __________________________________, Second Reader Donald J. Azevada, Jr. ____________________________ Date ii Student: Karen A. Richey I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the project. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator ___________________ Mona Siegel Date Department of History iii Abstract of THE GREAT SANITARY CHEESE HOW SACRAMENTANS SUPPORTED THE UNION DURING THE CIVIL WAR by Karen A. Richey Statement of Problem The history of the Union states during the Civil War has typically been told with an eastern emphasis. Historians have frequently dismissed or neglected California’s role in the Civil War due to the state’s great distance from the theaters of war. The Common Core State Standards challenges history teachers to develop primary-source based curriculum that allows students to explore historical questions in-depth. Sources of Data Research was conducted primarily at the Center for Sacramento History (CSH), the repository for records from the city and county of Sacramento. A close analysis of Sacramento’s Civil War-era newspapers, the Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento Union was augmented by memoirs and items of personal correspondence from the collections of CSH and the California State Library. Conclusions Reached Sacramento’s support of the Union during the Civil War indicated the community’s deep engagement with the progress and outcome of the war. Given the state’s relatively small population and distance from the east, California provided abundant aid to the Union cause supplying both men and money in support of the war. California teachers can teach the Civil War as local history and in the process engage student interest, help students understand essential historical questions, and develop valuable historical-thinking skills. _______________________, Committee Chair Chloe S. Burke _______________________ Date iv DEDICATION For Craig, you were worth the wait my love. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Dedication ......................................................................................................................v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………...………… 1 2. WHO REMEMBERS MEMORIAL DAY? ............................................................6 3. THE GREAT SANITARY CHEESE: HOW SACRAMENTO SUPPORTED THE UNION DURING THE CIVIL WAR…………………………………….. 34 Sectional Tensions & Union Resolutions ....................................................... 36 War Comes! .................................................................................................... 43 Home Front Patriotism .....................................................................................47 Military Service .............................................................................................. 54 Emancipation ...................................................................................................61 Conclusion .......................................................................................................66 4. TEACHING CALIFORNIA AND THE CIVIL WAR ........................................ 71 Appendix A. Primary Source Tools for Teachers .....................................................83 Primary Sources Help Teach Historical Thinking Skills ................................ 83 Guidelines for Using Primary Sources ........................................................... 84 Methods for Integrating Primary Sources ...................................................... 85 Process of Historical Investigation ................................................................. 87 Historical Investigation Template ................................................................... 89 Written Document Analysis Sheet .................................................................. 90 Poster Analysis Worksheet ............................................................................ 91 Photo Analysis Worksheet .............................................................................. 92 Cartoon Analysis Worksheet .......................................................................... 93 Barriers to Historical Reading, Possible Interventions ................................... 94 Appendix B. Model Lessons .................................................................................... 95 Lesson One: The Winter & Spring of Discontent ...........................................95 vi Lesson Two: How Opinions about Emancipation Changed from 1861 to 1863..…………………………………………………………107 Lesson Three: Comparing Multiple Accounts of Emancipation Celebrations .................................................................................................. 123 Lesson Four: Why did Sacramento Need a City Guard? ..............................135 Lesson Five: The Great Sanitary Cheese………………..………………… 145 Lesson Six: Union Now and Forever! What did ‘Union’ Mean? ................157 Lesson Seven: Rally ‘Round the Flag Boys: The California Hundred and Battalion .........................................................................................................170 Lesson 8: O Captain! My Captain! The Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. ..........................................................................................197 Bibliography ..............................................................................................................218 vii 1 Chapter One Introduction The Civil War inhabits a distinctive position in America’s historical consciousness. As soon as the war ended, historians began to wrestle with interpretations of the war’s causes and consequences. The debate was not confined to historians; both Union and Confederate proponents fought to shape the nation’s historical memory of the conflict. Chapter two discusses how Civil War memory studies have explored connections between the war and American history post-Reconstruction. As Americans grappled with the implications of the war; they solidified their commitment to the nation-state, while pushing racial equality into the background. The war’s causes and consequences remain controversial even now. Ongoing debates about the rights of the states versus the powers of the federal government and the sensitive nature of race relations in America reflect the continuing legacy of the Civil War in American life. Over the past thirty years, historians of the Civil War have moved beyond the generals on the battlefields and the politicians in the capitals and sought to tell the stories of people who had previously been ignored as historical subjects. Social historians have combed through the archives searching for sources that recover the “voices” of these individuals. According to Gary W. Gallagher, “One explores what it [the Civil War] meant to Americans who lived through it. This avenue of inquiry requires seeking letters, diaries, newspapers, books, broadsides, illustrative materials, and other evidence 2 produced at the time.”1 Recently historians have paid closer attention to the role of civilians on the home front. Morale on the battlefront and home front were directly connected. Civilians relied on newspapers to keep them apprised of victories and losses on the field of battle. Likewise, generals and political leaders relied on newspapers to keep them updated on the mood of the civilian populations. Despite efforts to write a more inclusive history, the stories of the Union states have typically been told with an eastern emphasis. Historians have often dismissed or neglected California’s role in the war due to the state’s great distance from the theaters of war. The scholarship that does exist regarding California and the Civil War tends to concentrate on the state’s military involvement. The focus on military contributions has obscured the complexity of California’s involvement in the Civil War. Chapter three tells the story of Sacramento’s support of the Union during the Civil War; a narrative of a vibrant community, deeply engaged in the progress and outcome of the war and focused on claiming their place in the union of states by sharing in their nation’s necessary sacrifices. The research component of this project relies on a close analysis of Sacramento’s two daily newspapers, the Bee and the Union, to argue that Sacramentans demonstrated their deep commitment to the Union when they pledged their lives, time, and money to sustain the Union war effort. 1 Gary W. Gallagher, The Union War. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2011), 41. 3 The Civil War represents both a “symbolic and actual dividing line in American history.”2 Educators usually organize American history courses with the Civil War as a seminal event. Universities often arrange their survey-level history courses with one semester encompassing the colonial period through Reconstruction and the second semester continuing from Reconstruction through the present. California’s