The Lost Gettysburg Address
Page 24
There is another point of this subject, which ought to be noticed in this connection. It is alledged, that these are great dangers to be apprehended by the Northern States, in case of a general emancipation, from an inundation by a tide of black barbarism. In consequence the white laboring population may be greatly injured by this new competition and in addition, to this special trouble, our whole property being made to bear the heavy burdens of a new pauper-tax. These cases seem to me very easy of solution. If the Southern Confederacy shall be established, then so long as Slavery exists, the Northern people and government will be actually infested and cursed by alien and heterogeneous multitudes of fugitives. The evils of this calamity to the Northern society and government it will be scarcely possible to exaggerate by language. If Slavery should be abolished, however, throughout the south, then there will be no slaves to fly nor any possible motive for the enfranchised individuals to migrate hither. On the contrary; every motive, as climate, custom, society, with their likes and equals etc. will conspire to withhold the absent and to withdraw from us even those who are now here. And so seriously do I estimate those evils—of such black immigrations and colonization amongst us, that if all or other causes of war against the establishment and recognition of the Southern Confederacy of Slave states, could be obviated and removed, I do really think that these dangers from having our land converted into a vast Cloaca Maxima for their overflowing filth, would constitute a just and sufficient cause of war, to the end of the century. But there is one middle course. It is in reunion, either with, or without Slavery.
We may be all willing, as the least of two evils or of two doubts,—I am willing—to tolerate this monster-disease and crime within the Union, until Providence may, in his own good time and way, mitigate or remove it. With the Union restored and its political powers retrenched in fact, as they already have been in the progress of this, its own war, it seems to me better for us to bear with slavery, in its unquestionable constitutional rights, than for us,—beyond the point of the Union restored,—to press this cruel War for other ends of doubtful, perhaps vain benevolence. But Slavery in an adjacent Foreign State, must be fought without respite or forbearance, so long as it is cruel, crafty, and despotic, or as this Free people have sense, or courage or virtue or love of Peace.
And lastly let it suffice on this head to say, as a perfect justification for our resolution to conquer peace, by restoring our Union, that we think it to be the only road to Peace. It is the generic law of separate and neighbor Republics that they cannot dwell together in amity. As the thoughts and passions of the people in a Representative Form of Government, are also represented in its legislation, all the feuds, forays, mobs, conflagrations, and murders of the respective populaces, necessarily and directly culminate into National public Wars. Then again; Wars breed Wars. And to all these certain and terrible causes of ferocious war, must be, once more, added those peculiar circumstances of these two particular Republics already indicated Oh! My friends, what infinite blessings of Peace did our glorious Union ensure us? Oh! What endless sufferings and crimes from War—Wars—Horrid Wars—must Disunion entail upon us thru all the coming years and ages? And to perpetuate those blessings of Peace, to avert those ruins and curses and woes of War, these heroes have died on this now glorious Battlefield.
Such then, my dear fellow Patriots (I am not ashamed here to call myself a patriot) are some of the grand issues of this War. And such were the rights and interests, for which these mute forms have poured out their life-blood. Our fathers of the first Revolution have alone shed blood in a cause so great and so good. They—the few and feeble colonists of 76, all naked and unarmed, first encountered the mailed and gauntleted legions of Despotic power and broke into slivers those shackles of steel, in which old Europe had enchained young America. They indeed, alone opened to the Human Race, a new career, not only in the enjoyments of public liberty, but in all the enterprises, arts and delights of private Life. They by their wisest words and bravest deeds, first aroused Mankind,—like another Sampson sleeping in the lap of Delilah,—to the highest visions, the high hopes and the earnest passions of the new Era. We may not compare ourselves, or these our dead, with our dead Fathers. Our wars cannot be claimed, to have initiated a new career for our Race. But, if their mission and want, were to create and to and inaugurate, It must be ours, to conserve and transmit. Accordingly, this War, will decide,—the one way or the other,—for our Country and our Kind, for the time present and the times to come;—whether, or not, this youthful Giant of American Liberty shall be re-enthralled by the Old World’s ideas, usages, and powers? Whether the risen dawn of this better Era shall at once be quenched in eternal gloom, or shall spread and shine and glow, within all the encircling Skies and around all the enclosed Earth, until the black night of all Barbarisms and Despotisms shall blanch and lighten into an unending Day of universal Liberty and of calmest Peace?
Let us, therefore, my friends, ever honor these our martyred fellow countrymen, above all the dead heroes of other lands and ages and next only to our Fathers of the Revolution, who lived and died to establish that general Liberty, which American Treason in rebellion now strives to slay and which these, their worthy sons here died in arms to defend.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Nearly ten years ago I came across a blog posting by a controversial antiracism activist. Tim Wise was infuriated at what he called the “men of their times” defense of slavery and other apologies for America’s legacy of racism. Wise cited Charles Anderson’s brave speech against a doctrine of white supremacy that was accepted as fact by nearly all white U.S. citizens in the nineteenth century. I had just published a study of free blacks in New Hampshire and was developing several other projects, so I dropped Anderson into my “ideas” file and forgot about him. A few years later I returned to Anderson as a potential story candidate. I was astonished at what I discovered.
Indiana University’s Rob Tolley had stumbled upon the original manuscript of Anderson’s oration that concluded the Gettysburg cemetery dedication events. As I pieced together Anderson’s remarkable life story, Rob was always on call, introducing me to local contacts and directing me to archives where he had donated the remainder of Anderson’s personal papers. Without Rob’s passion and dedication, this small piece of Gettysburg lore might have remained lost forever. Anderson is certainly one of many “B-list” characters in U.S. history who merits more attention.
Many people deserve special mention for their cheerful assistance and patience as I slogged through innumerable letters, diaries, photographs, and other treasures. Olga Tsapina and the efficient staff at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, did an incredible job cataloguing and preserving the largest collection of Anderson papers and ephemera. Archivists at the Ohio Historical Society, Cincinnati Historical Society, Cincinnati Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and especially Robert Schmidt and his staff at the Miami University Archives helped make my research trips to the Buckeye State worthwhile and productive. Sally Whittington of the Lyon County (Kentucky) Historical Society offered me gracious Southern hospitality in abundance. James Holmberg’s archivists at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville were friendly and helpful. The fine folks at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin assisted me in every way imaginable, as did the staff at the Texas State Library and Archives and the Institute for Texan Cultures in San Antonio. Finally, James B. Lewis and his exceptional cadre of park rangers at the Stones River National Battlefield took great pains to help me understand the challenges and horrors inherent in the duties of Civil War soldiers. All of these people and many others are the true unsung heroes of the history profession.
I am heavily indebted to friends and colleagues who helped me during the course of this project. Dan Roper, editor of Georgia Backroads, published six of my articles while providing substantive advice and encouragement in my transition to a full-time writing career. Dan read the entire manuscript and offered co
untless suggestions that improved the work measurably. Holly Farmer also gave the drafts plenty of red ink, combing through the paragraphs line by line and challenging me to think more clearly about my protagonist, his unique talents and character traits. Dr. Julie Winch, eminent professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, sparked my interest in both African American history and biography with her incisive intellect, keen sense of humor, and unwavering mentorship. Dave McGuire read early drafts of the manuscript, contributed important insights, and asked excellent questions. Dr. Alan Ebenstein of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Andrea Hartman were notable among my readers for their comments and suggestions on the book and its marketing. Kate McMillan, my web guru, and Peter O’Connor, who designed the book cover, are young entrepreneurs who are already masters of their respective crafts. Copyeditor Amy Smith Bell’s attention to detail helped me find the hidden little mistakes that too often embarrass independent authors. The terrific tag team of book designer David Peattie and proofreader Tanya Grove gave the book visual elegance while eliminating distracting errors of grammar and format. Finally, my wife, Jeanne, lived with the ghost of Charles Anderson for several years, displaying patience with my history obsession. She is also a knowledgeable and helpful reader when the spirit moves her.
Notes
ONE: PATRIOT LEGACY
1. Chief manuscript sources for Richard C. Anderson (1750–1826) are found in the Richard Clough Anderson Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, and in the Anderson-Latham Papers, Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky. Most of Anderson’s papers relating to his position as surveyor (and those of his son-in-law and successor, Allen Latham) are found in the Anderson-Latham Collection, 1777–1881, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia and the Richard Clough Anderson Papers, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.
2. George Washington to John A. Washington, December 18, 1776, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
3. Edward L. Anderson, Soldier and Pioneer: A Biographical Sketch of Lt.-Col. Richard C. Anderson of the Continental Army (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1879), 20.
4. Charles Anderson, “Ye Andersons of Virginia and Some of Their Descendants bye One of Ye Familie,” The “Old Northwest” Genealogical Quarterly 11 (October 1908): 231–288.
5. Marquis de Lafayette, Memories, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette (New York: Saunders and Otley, 1837) vol. 1, 264.
6. Anderson, Soldier and Pioneer, 39–60.
TWO: BEAR GRASS LESSONS
1. For an interesting perspective on the migration of settlers from Virginia to Kentucky, and eventually to Ohio, see John V. H. Dippel, Race to the Frontier: “White Flight” and Westward Expansion (New York: Algora Publishing, 2005).
2. Edward L. Anderson, Soldier and Pioneer: A Biographical Sketch of Lt.-Col. Richard C. Anderson of the Continental Army (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1879). Charles Anderson, “Ye Andersons of Virginia and Some of Their Descendants bye One of Ye Familie,” The “Old Northwest” Genealogical Quarterly 11 (October 1908): 231–288. Thomas McArthur Anderson, A Monograph of the Anderson, Clark, Marshall, and McArthur Connection (printed by author, 1900). Edward L. Anderson, The Andersons of Gold Mine, Hanover County, Virginia (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1913). William Pope Anderson, Anderson Family Records (Cincinnati, Ohio: Press of W. F. Schaefer & Company, 1936).
3. Primary source for scenes and quotations in this chapter are from Charles Anderson, “The Story of Soldier’s Retreat: A Memoir,” unpublished manuscript, Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky.
4. Anderson, Soldier and Pioneer, 56–60.
5. Anderson, “Ye Andersons of Virginia,” 251–288.
THREE: BORN TO LEAD
1. Larz Anderson to William Marshall Anderson, April 18, 1825; and Larz Anderson to Maria Latham, July 26, 1826, Anderson Family Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
2. Larz Anderson to Maria Latham, August 27, 1827; September 4, 1827; November 18, 1828, Anderson Family Papers, Huntington Library.
3. Larz Anderson to Maria Latham, November 7, 1829, Anderson Family Papers, Huntington Library.
4. Walter Havighurst, Men of Old Miami 1809–1873: A Book of Portraits (New York: Putnam, 1974), 49–63. Walter Havighurst, The Miami Years 1809–1984 (New York: Putnam, 1984). Miami University, Recensio (Oxford, Ohio: Miami University, 1905), 120–124.
5. Charles Anderson, “An Oration on the Influence of Monumental Records upon National Morals,” speech delivered at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, September 25, 1833, Walter Havighurst Special Collections, Miami University Library, Oxford, Ohio.
6. Charles Anderson to Allen Latham Anderson, February 17, 1893, Charles Anderson Family Papers, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus.
7. Charles Anderson as quoted in Hudson Strode, Jefferson Davis: American Patriot 1808–1861 (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1955), 78–99, 222–223.
8. William Marshall Anderson, The Rocky Mountain Journals of William Marshall Anderson: The West in 1834 (San Marino, California: Huntington Library Publications, 1967).
FOUR: DEVILISH WHISPERS
1. Quotations in this section from letter of Larz Anderson to Charles Anderson, December 30, 1840, Richard Clough Anderson Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
2. Charles Anderson to Maria Latham, September 8, 1841, Anderson-Latham Papers, Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky.
3. Lewis B. Gunkel, The Bench and Bar of Dayton (Dayton, Ohio: Dayton Historical Society, 1900).
4. J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin, and G. C. Kifflin, Kentucky: A History of the State, third edition (Louisville, Kentucky: F. A. Battey & Co., 1886).
5. David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, Henry Clay: The Essential American (New York: Random House, 2010).
6. Eliza Anderson to Sarah Marshall Anderson, January 20, 1844, Richard Clough Anderson Papers, Huntington Library.
7. Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio, 43rd General Assembly, Vol. 43 (Columbus, Ohio: Scott & Co., 1845). Western Empire (Dayton, Ohio), February 13 and 20, 1845.
8. Salmon P. Chase to Charles Anderson, March 1, 1845, Richard Clough Anderson Papers, Huntington Library. Weekly Ohio State Journal, March 12, 1845.
9. Larz Anderson to William Marshall Anderson, October 11, 1845, Anderson Family Papers, Huntington Library.
10. Journal of the Senate of the State of Ohio, 44th General Assembly, Vol. 44 (Columbus, Ohio: Scott & Co., 1846). Ohio State Journal, February 28, 1846.
11. George F. Drake to Charles Anderson, June 14, 1877, Richard Clough Anderson Papers, Huntington Library.
12. Joseph S. Stern, Cincinnati’s Little Known Renaissance Man (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Literary Club, 1999). Jacob D. Cox, “Rufus King,” reprinted from The Green Bag (March 1891).
13. Charles Anderson to William Marshall Anderson, June 19, 1849, Anderson Family Papers, Huntington Library.
14. Robert Anderson, An Artillery Officer in The Mexican War 1846–7: Letters of Robert Anderson, Captain 3rd Artillery, U.S.A. (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1911). To understand the rarity of Anderson’s public stance on Anglo-Saxon political ideology, see Reginald Horsman, Race and Manifest Destiny: The Origins of American Racial Anglo-Saxonism (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981), 260–271.
15. Larz Anderson to Orlando Brown, February 5, 1850, Orlando Brown Papers, Filson Historical Society.
16. Charles Anderson, An Address on Anglo Saxon Destiny; Delivered before the Philomathesian Society, of Kenyon College, Ohio, August 8th, 1849, and Repeated before the New England Society of Cincinnati; December 20th, 1849 (Cincinnati, Ohio: John B. Thorpe, 1850). The speech was published under a different title by the same publisher in the same year as Anglo Saxons: Their Origin, Character, Identity, and Connection with the English and American People and Their Destiny.