Oliver P. Morton and the Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction

James Fuller A.

Description

Remembered as the "Great War Governor" who led the state of Indiana during the Civil War, Oliver P. Morton has always been a controversial figure. His supporters praised him as a statesman who helped Abraham Lincoln save the Union, while his critics blasted him as a ruthless tyrant who abused the power of his office. Many of his contemporaries and some historians saw him as a partisan politician and an opportunist who shifted his positions to maintain power. Later generations treated Governor Morton as either a hero or a villain and generally forgot about his postwar career as a Radical Republican leader in the U.S. Senate.In this first full biography of Morton to be published in over a century, A. James Fuller offers a groundbreaking new interpretation of Indiana's most significant political leader in the nineteenth century. Overturning traditional views, Fuller argues that Morton's nationalist ideology motivated him throughout his career and that the Hoosier leader held consistently to the ideas of freedom, Union, power, and party. Those core principles drove Morton's politics and actions, including his support for Indiana soldiers, his fight against the Democrats in the state legislature, and his twenty-two months of one-man rule, a period in which his opponents accused him of being a virtual dictator. His principles also framed his struggle against the disloyal Copperheads who tried to assassinate him and whose leaders he helped bring to justice in the Indianapolis Treason Trials.Fuller also restores the historical significance of Morton's long neglected career as a Reconstruction senator. Seeing Reconstruction as a continuation of the Civil War, Morton became a leading Radical Republican who championed racial equality. He continually waved the bloody shirt, reminding voters that the Democrats had caused the rebellion. Morton supported the civil rights of African Americans and fought against the Democrats and the Ku Klux Klan. He enjoyed widespread support for the presidency in 1876, but when his bid for the Republican nomination came up short, he helped decide the disputed election for Rutherford B. Hayes. When Morton died in 1877, Reconstruction died with him, symbolically marking the end of an era. In the decades after his death, Hoosiers built monuments to Morton, remembering him in ways that reflected their own times, keeping his controversial legacy alive in historical memory.

Sujets

• Politique
• Indiana
• Guerre de Sécession
• États-Unis
• American Civil War
• History of the Americas
• United States of America
• USA
• Histoire

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 20 décembre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631012709
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

O LIVER P. M ORTON AND THE P OLITICS OF THE C IVIL W AR AND R ECONSTRUCTION
 

Oliver P. Morton, undated carte de visite.
Oliver P. Morton
and the
Politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction

A. James Fuller
The Kent State
University Press
KENT, OHIO
© 2017 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242 All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2016054760 ISBN 978-1-60635-310-3 Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Fuller, A. James, author. Title: Oliver P. Morton and the politics of the Civil War and Reconstruction / A. James Fuller. Description: Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016054760 | ISBN 9781606353103 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781631012716 (epdf) Subjects: LCSH: Morton, Oliver P. (Oliver Perry), 1823-1877. | Governors--Indiana--Biography. | Indiana--Politics and government--1861-1865. | Indiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Biography. | United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Biography. | Legislators--United States--Biography. | Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877) Classification: LCC F526.M87 F85 2017 | DDC 328.73/092 [B]--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016054760
21  20  19  18  17        5  4  3  2  1
For my native Hoosiers, Krista and Carson
Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Interpreting the “Great War Governor” and “Reconstruction Senator”
1 A Native Son
2 A Rising Republican Star
3 The Election of 1860
4 The War Governor
5 One-Man Rule
6 Copperheads, Treason, and the Election of 1864
7 Peace and Paralysis
8 Waving the Bloody Shirt
9 A Radical Champion for African Americans
10 Stalwart Republican
11 The Election of 1876 and the End of an Era
12 Morton and the Politics of Memory
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations

Frontispiece. Oliver P. Morton, undated carte de visite
Fig. 1. Morton monument, Indiana State Capitol
Fig. 2. Centerville row houses
Fig. 3. Morton House in Centerville, ca. 1975
Fig. 4. Governor Ashbel P. Willard
Fig. 5. Congressman George W. Julian
Fig. 6. Senator Jesse D. Bright
Fig. 7. Governor Joseph A. Wright
Fig. 8. Senator Henry S. Lane
Fig. 9. Governor Oliver P. Morton, ca. 1863
Fig. 10. President Abraham Lincoln
Fig. 11. Robert Dale Owen
Fig. 12. Union general Lew Wallace
Fig. 13. Union general Solomon Meredith
Fig. 14. “Gov. Morton Leads His Gallant Lawrenceburg Brigade”
Fig. 15. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton
Fig. 16. Union general William “Bull” Nelson
Fig. 17. Union general Jefferson C. Davis
Fig. 18. Union general Don Carlos Buell
Fig. 19. Union general Ambrose Burnside
Fig. 20. Governor Oliver P. Morton
Fig. 21. Governor O. P. Morton, carte de visite
Fig. 22. Congressman and senator Joseph McDonald
Fig. 23. Union general Henry B. Carrington
Fig. 24. Congressman Daniel W. Voorhees
Fig. 25. “Copperhead Leaders Arraigned for the Indianapolis Treason Trials”
Fig. 26. Governor Oliver P. Morton, ca. 1865
Fig. 27. Senator Thomas A. Hendricks
Fig. 28. President Andrew Johnson
Fig. 29. Morton House, Indianapolis
Fig. 30. Senator Oliver P. Morton, ca. 1870
Fig. 31. “Senator Morton, of Indiana, Receiving the Congratulations …”
Fig. 32. “Too Thin Massa Grant”
Fig. 33. “Grant’s Strategy”
Fig. 34. Governor William Pitt Kellogg
Fig. 35. P. B. S. Pinchback
Fig. 36. “The Last Straw on the Camel’s Back”
Fig. 37. “The Late Terrible Democratic Storm”
Fig. 38. Senator Hiram R. Revels
Fig. 39. “Time Works Wonders”
Fig. 40. Senator Blanche K. Bruce
Fig. 41. President Ulysses S. Grant
Fig. 42. Senator Charles Sumner
Fig. 43. “The Currency Question in a Tumbler”
Fig. 44. “Comedy of Errors”
Fig. 45. “A Hopeless Case”
Fig. 46. “Behind the Scenes at Long Branch, July 12th, 1872”
Fig. 47. Senator Daniel D. Pratt
Fig. 48. Senator Oliver P. Morton, ca. 1875
Fig. 49. “The Great American Rifle Match”
Fig. 50. “Counting Each Other Out”
Fig. 51. “Republican Candidates in Training …”
Fig. 52. Senator Oliver P. Morton, ca. 1876
Fig. 53. “The Political Farce of 1876”
Fig. 54. “The Double-Faced Head of Republican Radicalism”
Fig. 55. Rutherford B. Hayes
Fig. 56. Morton funeral, November 5, 1877
Fig. 57. Morton statue, Statuary Hall, US Capitol, Washington, DC
Fig. 58. Morton monument, Indiana State Capitol
Fig. 59. Morton at Vicksburg
Acknowledgments

I N WRITING THE LIFE OF O LIVER M ORTON , I have accumulated many debts to individuals who have helped me throughout the process. Knowing that I cannot thank all of them, and at the risk of failing to acknowledge significant contributions, I humbly hope to express my gratitude to those who guided and encouraged me, corrected some of my errors, and inspired me.
The good people of Centerville, Indiana, have extended their Hoosier hospitality to me on several occasions over the years. I especially thank Ron Morris for his walking tour of the town on a rainy summer day. And I am grateful that he welcomed me into his historic properties—including the Morton House. Jim Resh and Beth Treaster were two among many others who made me feel welcome in Morton’s hometown. Centerville has preserved so many historic buildings along Main Street that it allows one to imagine life there during Morton’s lifetime.
It is customary and correct that historians and biographers thank librarians and archivists for the help that they provide us. Such professionals have done much to help me with my work on Morton. At the Indiana State Archives, Michael Vetman was always ready to help a scholar working for days on end. Elizabeth Hague and Stephanie Gowler showed me how to use an ultraviolet light to examine what looked like blank pages in a volume of Morton’s letter books faded by too many years of storage in a Chicago attic. At the Indiana Historical Society, Paul Brockman, Suzanne Hahn, and Nicole Poletika all greeted me with friendly smiles and happily guided me to the materials I needed. Several dedicated professionals treated me well at the Indiana State Library, and I especially thank Marcia Caudell, Bethany Fiechter, and Brent Abercrombie for assisting me during my many long days spent in the reading room there. Marcia also offered valuable insights into Morton’s life, and Brent provided useful information about Daniel D. Pratt as well as his knowledge of many other collections. Among the public historians who have supported me in this project, Pamela Bennett of the Indiana Historical Bureau often encouraged my work along the way.
Editors make the publication of our work possible, and as with archivists, they usually receive a much-deserved expression of gratitude in a book’s acknowledgments. Joyce Harrison patiently waited for this biography of Morton through many delays caused by personal circumstances. I thank her and the other professionals at the Kent State University Press for accepting my excuses and making this publication possible.
Several people who should have seen this completed book have passed away since I began to work on it in 2008. Three of my graduate school mentors are now gone, and I regret that I did not finish this biography in time to send them a copy. Jack Temple Kirby, Michael O’Brien, and Andrew R. L. Cayton all shaped my thinking and my work, both during graduate school and in the years after. I can never hope to live up to the examples set by these three men, but I hope that, somehow, my own efforts as a scholar serve as some small part of their legacies.
Friends and colleagues help make writing a less lonely process. At the University of Indianapolis, two of my departmental colleagues, in particular, have always provided a sympathetic ear and sage advice. Larry Sondhaus is a trusted friend with whom I can share the frustrations and joys of research and writing. Ted Frantz helped me with clarifications and suggested useful titles as I tried to comprehend the complexities of Morton’s role in the politics of the 1870s.
A number of historians in Indiana and elsewhere have been collegial and supportive of my work. Jenny Weber, Anita Morgan, Doug Gardner, Richard Nation, Thomas Mackey, Glenn Crothers, Chris Phillips, and Anne Marshall all provided comments and criticisms that helped me along the way. Jim Madison encouraged me at several points along the way, and I am grateful for his kind remarks. Eric Sandweiss gave me constructive criticism and useful advice. Mark Summers generously shared sources, and I am indebted to him for his many books that guided me through the twists and turns of the Reconstruction era. Tom Rodgers has shared his research and interpretations with me, sending me copies of conference papers even as his published articles helped me to better understand Indiana politics in the mid-nineteenth century. Nicole Etcheson has become a good friend as well as a clear-eyed critic, and I appreciate that she always employed humor as she prodded me to finish this book. Daniel Stowell shares my interests in Southern history and Southern Baptists as well as a passion for Abraham Lincoln, and he has supported and critiqued my study of Morton from the beginning.
I acknowledge Mike Green’s work on Republican ideology during the war in the introduction to this volume, but I must thank him for it here as well. Mike is a longtime friend, but I appreciate his critical eye, and his insightful suggestions forced me to make this a better book. Steve Towne inspired this biography before I knew him, but he has become a good friend as well. His sharp mind and incredible memory embarrass those around him, as we marvel at how he can remember primary sources in many different archives, often citing box and folder numbers as well as specific dates and authors. His criticisms of my rough draft corrected many of my errors and required me to make s