With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union

Rating:
Summary: Great Book On A Neglected Bit Of History
Review: [e-mail]



This book is a must for all those interested in Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War and the Reconstruction period which followed it.

Its theme is the "pre-history" of Reconstruction, dealing with the attempts by Lincoln, whilst the war was still in progress, to re-establish loyal governments in various southern states. Some of this, notably the well-known Louisiana experiment, has been written about before, but much is included which will be new to the general reader. For instance, Tennessee and Arkansas, both of which have been rather neglected in comparison to Louisiana, get a fairer share of attention in this work. The Tennessee chapter is particularly interesting as it includes some of the prehistory of Andrew Johnson, and perhaps illuminates some of the personality traits which helped to land him in trouble as President. Better still, there are whole chapters devoted to the more obscure Reconstruction projects in Florida and North Carolina, of which I had vaguely heard but about which I knew virtually nothing. All in all, a valuable addition to my education on a subject which has always interested me.

Also, this book registers a firm, and (in my opinion at any rate) long overdue, note of scepticism about the picture, grown fashionable in recent years, of Lincoln as a sort of "closet" Radical Reconstructionist, who by the end of his life was all set to move away from his former policies, and adopt much if not all of the Radical Republican programme. Professor Harris demonstrates, to my satisfaction at any rate, that the evidence for this is somewhere between slim and none, and that whilst Lincoln's approach to Reconstruction, had he lived, would not have been identical with that of Andrew Johnson, it would have been a good deal closer to that of Johnson than of, say, Thaddeus Stevens.

As always, there is room for the odd gripe. In particular, I wonder whether the epilogue, at times, is perhaps a shade overoptimistic about Lincoln's ability to get what he wanted. Harris expresses confidence that had Lincoln been in charge, the Southern Senators and Representatives would have been admitted in 1865. I wonder if this doesn't underestimate Congressional stubbornness. However, this is quibbling. If the Civil War and related matters appeal to you, then you need to read this book, sooner rather than later. Enjoy.


Rating:
Summary: keen analysis, well-defined argument
Review: Who would have thought that at such a late date, a historian could produce a work that so brilliantly and sharply alters our perceptions of the thinking and policies of Abraham Lincoln, one of the most written-about figures in history? Harris makes the reader realize that previous scholars have not been methodical or rigorous enough in examining Lincon's reconstuction policy. Given Lincon's immense prestige, contemporaries and historians have struggled to make his opinions match theirs. After Lincoln's death, Radical Republicans who bitterly opposed his reconstruction policy keenly felt the need to convince the public (and perhaps themselves) that Lincoln, before his death, had begun to come around to their way of thinking. Too many historians have mistakenly accepted this deceptive assertion. As Harris powerfully demonstrates, Lincoln's reconstruction policies were extremely consistent, and one must also say, very conservative. Due to his desire to prevent anarchy and restore order and stable, "republican" (with a lowercase r) government, Lincoln was willing to allow "loyal" Southern whites an almost free hand in reestablishing state governments, as long as they abolished slavery and granted African Americans minimal legal rights. Contrary to the later assertions of the Radicals, Lincoln evidently never determined to insist on voting rights, or perhaps even full legal equality, for African Americans. (He may have been willing to accept discriminatory "Black codes" or even a slavery-like apprentice system). Given Lincoln's immense prestige, it is more than a little disturbing to consider what the results of his policies would have been if implemented. As Professor Harris points out in his well-reasoned conclusion, however, one should not assume that Lincoln would have stood idly by and let white Southerners brutally and lawlessly reimpose white supremacy, as actually happened. Faced with such a situation, given his undoubted humanitarian instincts, he may well have concluded that only full, federally supported legal equality could salvage the situation in the South, and if he had decided this, he alone had the ability and influence to impose such a policy.

Rating:
Summary: With Cahrity for All
Review: With the secession of the Southern States after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and the subsequent secession of the upper South after firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, reconstruction, or restoration as William Harris claims, was underway. Lincoln upon his inauguration extended an olive branch to his "dissatisfied fellow countrymen" promising them that the Federal Government, nor he, would assail them or their institutions if they agreed to return to the Union. Lincoln did everything in his power as president of the United States to keep the Southern states intact and a part of the United States of America. It was the decision of the Southern states to pursue war and not that of Lincoln.
William C. Harris, a professor of history at North Carolina State University, chronicles Lincoln's many attempts at restoring the nation to avoid war, and eventually to try and shorten the war in his fine work With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union. (1997) Harris starts out analyzing Lincoln's first inaugural address and points out Lincoln's belief that the Southern states could not secede from the Union. Lincoln believed that the Union was inseparable and thus there was no legitimacy to the Confederate States of America, and their illegal government. Lincoln felt that individuals and not states had rebelled against the United States Government. Thus, Lincoln's task was clear, he had to suppress the rebellion and restore loyal governments in the South. Harris shows how Lincoln never wavered from this theory throughout his work. The states were indestructible and it was his job as president to return them to there "proper practical relationship with the Union." Everything that Lincoln did during his administration focused on this premise according to Harris.
Harris breaks down Lincoln's actions, from appointing military governors, proclamations, and other means that Lincoln employed trying to entice Southerners into rejoining the Union. As stated earlier the first attempt at restoration was during the inaugural address, in which Lincoln made it evident that Southerners had nothing to fear from him as president. Lincoln had no desire to ban slavery in the South, although personally he was opposed to it based on human dignity.
The second thing that Lincoln tried was the appointment of military governors in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Louisiana. In this attempt, Lincoln was hoping that the loyal Union men in these states would reestablish governments that were loyal to the Federal government and the Union. For the most part this proved to be somewhat unsuccessful because these states were partially occupied by Confederate forces. Men such as Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, Francis H. Pierpont of Virginia and Edward Stanly of North Carolina served as military governors at one point or another in their respective states. Pierpont is responsible for the addition of the new state of West Virginia, because most men living in this part of Virginia were staunch Union men and did not own slaves nor support the slaveholding elite. Andrew Johnson served as military governor in Tennessee and later became Lincoln's second vice-president in 1864, eventually replacing Lincoln after his assassination.
Harris goes into great detail about the Emancipation Proclamation in which Lincoln declared that all slaves would be forever free on January 1, 1863 if the states that they lived in were still in rebellion on such date. Harris points out that Lincoln would have left slavery intact if the states had agreed to rejoining the Union before this date. The Emancipation Proclamation was another carrot offered in an attempt to end the war.
Harris continues detailing Lincoln's ten-percent plan in which he stated that if ten percent of the voters from the last Federal election took an oath of loyalty to the Union cause that they would be allowed to hold elections and restore state governments. The politics involved in this process are well explained and comprehensive. Not everyone was in total agreement over the restoration of states that had rebelled. Charles Sumner wanted the states punished for their insurrection, by relegating them back to territorial status. This flew in the face of Lincoln's premise that the states could not secede and therefore were never out of the Union. Harris makes this fact clear, and that Lincoln vigorously objected to this train of thought.
Harris also defends Lincoln's pocket veto of the Wade-Davis bill that would further erode Lincoln's policy towards restoration of the Union by taking power out of his hands, and placing it in the hands of the Congress, this too was totally unacceptable to Lincoln.
There is little doubt that Lincoln's plans for the restoration of the Union was a well thought out policy, however with Lincoln's untimely death and no one sure just what he would have done had he lived, Reconstruction turned into one of the most controversial periods in our history. If the Civil War was the defining point of who we were as a people, than Reconstruction in the hands of Johnson and later the Congress was the wedge that nearly split us apart again.
With Charity for All is a tremendous look at Lincoln's efforts to bind the nation back together in the face of trying circumstances to say the least. Harris has created a magnificent book that is current, comprehensive and thought provoking. His straightforward approach to a sometimes-controversial topic is refreshing and greatly appreciated. Many times historians try to waffle around subjects that are controversial in subject, but Harris is clear in his thesis and never veers from his point of view. The materials that he uses fully support his premise that Lincoln pursued his policy based on the fact that he felt that the Southern states had never really left the Union nor could they do so. With Charity for All is a welcome edition to the ongoing scholarship on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.