CIVIL WAR “PEACE MOVEMENT” DIPLOMAT CLERGYMAN SENATOR AMHERST CT LETTER SIGNED

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CIVIL WAR “PEACE MOVEMENT” DIPLOMAT CLERGYMAN SENATOR AMHERST CT LETTER SIGNED :
$38.77

WILLIAM CHAUNCEY FOWLER(1793-1881)

CIVIL WAR “PEACEMOVEMENT” DIPLOMAT Professor, Educator, Clergyman, Author and ConnecticutState Senator

Fowler was an active member of the Peace Movement - strongly opposed tothe Civil War, he attempted to make agreements with both the Confederacy andthe Union to end the war. Fowler was also Noah Webster’s Son-In-Law &Edited Webster’s Dictionary!

HERE’S A RARE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS) BY FOWLERON THE INTEGRAL LEAF OF A STAMPLESS FOLDED LETTER COVER, 1p., datelined at Amherst,April 15, 1852 to Jacob Haper, Esq. of Boston regarding a financialmatter. The integral address leaf bearsan Amherst circular date stamp postmark, rare circular 3 Cts PAID handstamp,and red wax seal.

Thedocument measures 7¾” x 9 ¼” and is in VERY FINE CONDITION.

Biography of WilliamChauncey Fowler

The Peace Movement

The beginnings of opposition to the American Civil War were stirred in atthe beginning of the war. In states such as New Jersey, New York, and the restof New England, smatterings of people who did not favor the war arose. This wasespecially evident in the state of Connecticut. When President Abraham Lincolnwas elected as President-elect, he left several democratic Congressmen splitfrom their party. These congressmen were William W. Eaton of Hartford, E. B.Godsell of Bridgeport, James Gallagher of New Haven, Ralph I. Ingersoll, andThomas H. Seymour of Hartford. In addition to these Congressmen, peaceadvocates such as democratic Ohio Congressmen Clement L. Vallandigham and SamuelS. Cox, Wisconsin newspaper publisher Stephen D. Carpenter, and ConnecticutSenator William C. Fowler. However, Vallandigham, Cox, Carpenter, and Fowler’sgrounds for opposing the war were against Lincoln’s desire to abolish slavery.Cox voiced his opinion on the matter by saying at a meeting in the House ofRepresentatives, “this Government is a Government of white men; that the menwho made it never intended by anything they did, to place the black race on anequality with the white.” Furthermore, this group of men strived for waragainst the South, deeming it constitutional, but criticized Lincoln of “waginga battle for the conquest and subjugation of the South” in a cruel way bychallenging the constitutional rights of individuals and states. They alsocriticized the emancipation proclamation, saying that it unconstitutionally changedthe intentions of the North against the South from preservation of the Union toabolition of slavery. The opinions of Vallandigham, Cox, Carpenter, and Fowlerfurther attack Lincoln’s premise of war by saying Lincoln secretly went to warover slavery, and that abolitionists working with Lincoln started the war. In alast resort, Vallandigham proposed that the war stop by simply having both theUnion and Confederacy withdraw their troops, have peace talks amongstofficials, and restore social and economic order. He did not explain how thiswould be executed, and no agreement was reached. Interestingly, Vallandighamseemed to take sides with the South. He attempted to work with Confederateagents in Canada to start a revolution in the northwestern states, which wouldestablish a Confederacy and ally with the South to crush the Union and end thewar. This attempt by Vallandigham was desperate and was not successful increating such a revolution. In that, it was not a major opposition movement.Southern peace men were also prominent war opposition figures during the war.H.S. Foote of Tennessee was a strong supporter of the peace movement. In 1864,Foote resigned from the Confederate Congress and tried to make peace withLincoln. C.C.S. Farrar, a wealthy Southern planter, was also a supporter of thepeace movement. Farrar and Foote shared Vallandigham’s views on the cause ofthe war, basing it on the actions of radicals in the north and south. Farrar,Foote, Fowler, Cox, Carpenter, and Vallandigham concluded that the Union couldhave been preserved and the war ended if extremists in the north and south hadnot spurred a controversy. However, other forms of opposition to the war tookplace in a not so peaceful fashion. Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation createdprotest in the Union. General McClellan felt that the emancipation wouldrapidly “disintegrate” the Union army, since the goal of what the soldiersstrived for and even died for would drastically change. Others felt theemancipation was unconstitutional. A Pennsylvania corporal said he feared thatif the Constitution was stretched with the emancipation, it could be used toadvance politicians’ own desires. The corporal was, in a way, correct. Thedifference was Lincoln was not a man who had such characteristics to propel hisown motives by abuse of the Constitution. The emancipation also createdproblems for slave states that were in the Union, since they had to choosebetween the Union or slavery. Union soldiers who were for slavery and againstthe confederacy had to also choose between slavery or the Union. This causedsome troops to blame slaves for the existence of the war, and resent the ideaof rewarding the culprits with emancipation. On the other hand, the ConnecticutDemocrats took a slightly different approach to opposing the war. Thomas H.Seymour and the other peace Democrats for the 1860 election attacked the war bygetting elected into the legislature. These candidates dealt with a mighty blowto the peace movement because the attack on Fort Sumter required men at armsand money to aid the Union. Openly opposing the war at this time was dangerous,for it was a time of patriotism and loyalty. Seymour and other peace Democratscould show their opposition to the war by merely being silent while otherlegislators openly conveyed their loyalty to the Union. Seymour also expressedhis opposition by declining an offer to serve on the Committee upon MilitaryAffairs in Congress. At the beginning of the war, the state of Connecticut wasready to fight more than ever as huge numbers of enlistees proudly marched tofight. However, opposition still existed under the radar of most people. Duringthis time, “the Times failed to hang out the Stars and Stripes, but apologizedlater for the ‘oversight’.” Unfortunately, not all opposition was undetected,and Seymour’s absence in serving the military was noted. As a Mexican War hero,a four-time governor of Connecticut, and previous ambassador to Russia for fouryears, Seymour could have served as a high commander. The press reviledSeymour’s refusal to serve and some called it “treasonable.” Other oppositionbegan to arise in various towns such as Ridgefield, Windsor, West Hartford, Goshen,and Avon, where peace Flags were being flown. Sharing views from Vallandigham,Cox, and Fowler, Seymour openly expressed his view on the war as being an“invasion” of the south. Seymour also supported the Crittenden Compromise,which proposed a “measure of its own for stopping unnatural hostilities.” Thisattempt was a strong one, in that Seymour tried to end the war by using thelegislature. Unfortunately, the compromise was not passed and Seymour’s strongattempt at making peace failed. This was a hard blow to Seymour, for it gavemore ammunition to label him as disloyal to the Union. Subsequently, Republicannewspapers condemned Seymour as a man whose career ended in a “blaze ofinfamy.” The peace movement began to take a strong position during the Battleof Bull Run. On July 24, thirty Danbury women marched with peace banners to abrass band that played “The Hickory Tree.” The women took down the Stars andStripes and replaced them with peace Flags, saying “a war like the present one”could never restore the Union. Newspapers such as the Farmer reported the eventand tried to encourage other papers to do the same, in hopes of spreading thepeace movement. Rallies sprung up in Bloomfield, Kent, Stonington, Middletown,and Cornwall Bridge around the peace Flag. Democrats such as Gallagher andGodsell would make guest appearances at the rallies. The peace Flags were whiteand bore an emblem that represented “peace and union,” or “peace and ourcountry.” These events were held to not only create a resistance, but to raiseawareness to Lincoln. The peace movement was not met without violence andresistance. Peace meetings were disrupted by Unionists who opposed anti-warsentiment. Peace Flags were torn down and replaced by the Stars and Stripes. Inthe case of newspapers, Unionist papers attempted to quell peace papers bysaying rebel papers were going to die out. In other states such as NewHampshire and Massachusetts, newspapers were harassed and threatened. “OnAugust 20th, the Unionists of Haverhill tarred and feathered the editor of theEssex County Democrat.” In 1861, a mob attacked the Farmer, which producedheavy anti-war articles and stories in newspapers. The Democratic Party waslabeled as disloyal, treacherous, and rebellious to the Union as well as pro-Southern.Seymour was ridiculed in the Republican editorial, the Hartford Courant, as “aman who defies the Government.” In addition, the Republican party strived tocounter Seymour by further calling him a Copperhead, a Southern sympathizer,and a traitor to the Union. The term “copperhead” refers to the Democrats whoopposed the policies of the Lincoln administration. A Republican newspaperreported that Seymour, if elected governor, would use the Connecticut militiato repel recruiting officers. The attacks on the peace movement struck both thepress and figures that upheld the opposition to Lincoln’s policies. Thishostility to the peace movement is evidence of how strong the anti-war campaignbecame.

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