The Great Conspiracy, Complete

We have seen how Fort Sumter fell; how the patriotic North responded to President Lincoln's Call, for 75,000 three-months volunteers, with such enthusiasm that, had there been a...

In preceding Chapters of this work, it has been briefly shown, that from the very hour in which the Republic of the United States was born, there have not been wanting, among it...

But now occurred the great Presidential struggle of 1860--which involved not alone the principles of Protection, but those of human Freedom, and the preservation of the Union it...

While mentally revolving the question of Emancipation--now, evidently "coming to a head,"--no inconsiderable portion of Mr. Lincoln's thoughts centered upon, and his perplexitie...

While Congress was encouraging devotion to the Union, and its Committees striving for some mode by which the impending perils might be averted without a wholesale surrender of a...

On April 3, 1862, the United States Senate passed a Bill to liberate all Persons of African descent held to Service or Labor within the District of Columbia, and prohibiting Sla...

The Rebels themselves, as has already been noted, by the employment of their Slaves in the construction of earthworks and other fortifications, and even in battle, at Bull Run a...

While instructive, it will also not be devoid of interest, to pause here, and examine the nature of the Crittenden Resolutions, and also the Resolutions of the Peace Congress, w...

Scarcely one week had elapsed after the Administration of Mr. Lincoln began, when (March 11th) certain "Commissioners of the Southern Confederacy" (John Forsyth, of Alabama, and...

During the great debate, which now opened in the Senate, upon the Judiciary Committee's substitute resolution for the Amendment of the Constitution, so as forever to prohibit Sl...

When we remember that it was on the night of the 5th of January, 1861, that the Rebel Conspirators in the United States Senate met and plotted their confederated Treason, as sho...

On that long last night of the 36th Congress--and of the Democratic Administration--to the proceedings of which reference was made in the preceding Chapter, several notable spee...

We have seen that the first Federal Congress met at New York in March, 1789. It organized April 6th. None knew better than its members that the war of the Americana Revolution c...

Thus far the reader's eye has been able to review in their successive order some of the many difficulties and perplexities which beset the pathway of President Lincoln as he fel...

After President Lincoln had issued his Proclamation of Emancipation, the friends of Freedom clearly perceived--and none of them more clearly than himself that until the incorpor...

While the death of Slavery in America was decreed, as we have seen; yet, the sanguine anticipations of Mr. Lincoln, and other friends of Freedom, that such a decree, imperishabl...

It will be remembered that during the period of the Missouri Struggle, 1818-1820, the Territory of Arkansas was formed by an Act of Congress out of that part of the Missouri Ter...

On the day following Baker's great reply to Breckinridge, another notable speech was made, in the House of Representatives--notable, especially, in that it foreshadowed Emancipa...

The immediate outcome of the remarkable joint-debate between the two intellectual giants of Illinois was, that while the popular vote stood 124,698 for Lincoln, to 121,130 for D...

THE 6th of November, 1860, came and passed; on the 7th, the prevailing conviction that Lincoln would be elected had become a certainty, and before the close of that day, the fac...

When the first gun was fired at Fort Sumter, its sullen echoes sounded the funeral knell of Slavery. Years before, it had been foretold, and now it was to happen. Years before,...

And now commenced the beginning of the end-so far as the Military aspect of the Rebellion was concerned. Early in May, Sherman's Atlanta Campaign commenced, and, simultaneously,...

And now, the War having ended in the defeat, conquest, and capture, of those who, inspired by the false teachings of Southern leaders, had arrayed themselves in arms beneath the...

Little over five months had passed, since the occurrence of the great event in the history of the American Nation mentioned in the preceding Chapter, before the Freed Negro, now...

As to the Military situation, a few words are, at this time, necessary: Hood had now marched Northward, with some 50,000 men, toward Nashville, Tenn., while Sherman, leaving Tho...

But while some of the great Military events alluded to in the preceding Chapter, had been transpiring at the theatre of War, something else had happened at the National Capital,...

To properly understand the condition of things preceding the great war of the Rebellion, and the causes underlying that condition and the war itself, we must glance backward thr...

The treacherous purposes of professedly-loyal Copperheads being seen through, and promptly and emphatically denounced to the Country by Union statesmen, the Copperheads aforesai...

Let us now refresh recollection by glancing backward over the history of our Country, and we shall see, as recorded in these pages, that, from the first, there existed in this N...

And what next? Aye, what next? Do the patriotic, innocent-minded lovers of a Republican form of Government imagine, for an instant, that all danger to its continued existence an...

The record was indeed made up, and the issue thus made, between Slavery and Freedom, would be the chief one before the People. Already the Republican National Convention, which...

Meantime, Sherman's Armies were pressing along upward, toward Raleigh, from Columbia, marching through swamps and over quicksands and across swollen streams--cold, wet, hungry,...

The immortal Charter of Freedom had, as we have seen, with comparative ease, after a ten days' debate, by the power of numbers, run the gauntlet of the Senate; but now it was to...

At a later hour--while remaining victorious at their well defended position, with the Enemy at their front, dispersed and silenced,--these two brigades of the Left Wing, receive...

REBEL COMMISSIONERS AT WASHINGTON ON A "MISSION"--SEWARD "SITS DOWN" ON THEM--HE REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE "CONFEDERATE STATES"--THE REBEL COMMISSIONERS "ACCEPT THE GAGE OF BATTLE TH...

CHIEF CAUSE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION--OUR INDEPENDENCE, INDUSTRIAL AS WELL AS POLITICAL--FAILURE OF THE CONFEDERATION DUE TO LACK OF INDUSTRIAL PROTECTION--MADISON'S TARIFF AC...

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S PERSONAL APPEAL TO COLORED FREEMEN--HE BEGS THEM TO HELP IN THE COLONIZATION OF THEIR RACE--PROPOSED AFRICAN COLONY IN CENTRAL AMERICA--EXECUTIVE ORDER OF JU...

NORTHERN COMPLICITY WITH TREASON--MAYOR FERNANDO WOOD RECOMMENDS SECESSION OF NEW YORK CITY--THE REBEL JUNTA AT WASHINGTON INSPIRES HIM --HE OBEYS ORDERS, BUT SHAKES AT THE KNEE...

DOUGLAS'S THEORY OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY--ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE ENDORSEMENT OF IT, 1851--DOUGLAS'S POSITION ON KANSAS--NEBRASKA BILL, 1854--DRED SCOTT DECISION--SPRINGFIELD, ILLIN...

ABOUNDING EVIDENCES OF CONSPIRACY--MACLAY'S UNPUBLISHED DIARY 1787-1791--PIERCE BUTLER'S FIERCE DENUNCIATION OF THE TARIFF--SOUTH CAROLINA WILL "LIVE FREE OR DIE GLORIOUS"--JACK...

LINCOLN'S ELECTION ASSURED--SOUTHERN EXULTATION--NORTHERN GLOOM--"FIRING THE SOUTHERN HEART"--RESIGNATIONS OF FEDERAL OFFICERS AND SENATORS OF SOUTH CAROLINA--GOVERNOR BROWN, OF...

"EMANCIPATION" IN NORTHERN AND MIDDLE STATES--VIRGINIA'S UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORT--CESSION OF THE FLORIDAS, 1819--BALANCE OF POWER--ADMISSION OF ARKANSAS,1836--SOUTHERN SLAVE HOLDERS...

HOW THE GREAT JOINT DEBATE OF 1858 RESULTED--THE "LITTLE GIANT" CAPTURES THE SENATORSHIP--THE "BIG GIANT" CAPTURES THE PEOPLE--THE RISING DEMOCRATIC STAR OF 1860--DOUGLAS'S GRAN...

THE SOUTH CAROLINA SECESSION CONVENTION MEETS--SPEECHES AT "SECESSION HALL" OF PARKER, KEITT, INGLIS, BARNWELL, RHETT, AND GREGG, THE FIRST ORDINANCE OF SECESSION--ITS JUBILANT...

THE VARIOUS COMPROMISES OFFERED BY THE NORTH--"THE CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE"--THE PEACE CONFERENCE--COMPROMISE PROPOSITIONS OF THE SOUTHERN CONSPIRATORS--IRRECONCILABLE ATTITUDE OF...

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK--COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS, BRIGHT--WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN STATES SEE--WHAT IS A "REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT?"--WHAT DID THE FATHERS MEAN...

THE LAST NIGHT OF THE 36TH CONGRESS--MR. CRITTENDEN'S PATRIOTIC APPEAL --"THE SADDEST SPECTACLE EVER SEEN"--IMPOTENCY OF THE BETRAYED AND FALLING STATE--DOUGLAS'S POWERFUL PLEA-...

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ATTITUDE--SACRIFICES OF PATRIOTISM--ASSERTION BY CONGRESS OF ITS EMANCIPATING WAR-POWERS--THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM SLOWLY "MARCHING ON"--ABANDONED SLAVES OF BEAU...

THADDEUS STEVENS'S STARTLING UTTERANCES--CAPTURED SLAVES MUST BE FREE FOREVER--"NO TRUCES WITH THE REBELS"--HIS PROPHECY AS TO ARMING SLAVES TO FIGHT REBELLION--SECRETARY CAMERO...

AFRICAN SLAVERY IN AMERICA IN 1620--CONTROVERSY BETWEEN THE COLONIES AND ENGLAND IN 1699--GEORGIAN ABHORRENCE OF SLAVERY IN 1775--JEFFERSON AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE--...

APPOINTMENT OF A SELECT COMMITTEE, IN HOUSE, ON GRADUAL EMANCIPATION --DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EMANCIPATION ACT--THE PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL MESSAGE OF APPROVAL--GEN. HUNTER'S EMANCIPA...

"RECONSTRUCTION" OF THE SOUTH--MEMORIES OF THE WAR, DYING OUT--THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH AMENDMENTS--THE SOUTHERN STATES REHABILITATED BY ACCEPTANCE OF AMENDMENTS, ETC.--REMO...

PROGRESS OF THE WAR--CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS, 1865--MEETING, AT CITY POINT, OF LINCOLN, GRANT, AND SHERMAN--SHERMAN'S ACCOUNT OF WHAT PASSED --GRANT NOW FEELS "LIKE ENDING THE...

THE KNELL OF SLAVERY--THE "IMPLIED POWERS" OF CONGRESS IN THE CONSTITUTION--PATRICK HENRY'S PREDICTION--JOHN QUINCY ADAMS'S PROPHECY --JOHN SHERMAN'S NON-INTERFERENCE--WITH-SLAV...

GREAT DEBATE IN THE U. S. SENATE, ON EMANCIPATION--THE WHOLE VILLANOUS HISTORY OF SLAVERY, LAID BARE--SPEECHES OF TRUMBULL, HENRY WILSON, HARLAN, SHERMAN, CLARK, HALL, HENDERSON...

THE MILITARY SITUATION--THE GREAT UPRISING--POSITIONS AND NUMBERS OF THE UNION AND REBEL ARMIES--JOHNSTON EVACUATES HARPER'S FERRY, AND RETREATS UPON WINCHESTER--PATTERSON'S EXT...

INTERFERENCE WITH SLAVERY FORCED BY THE WAR--EDWARD EVERETT'S OPINION --BORDER-STATES DISTRUST OF LINCOLN--IMPOSSIBILITY OF SATISFYING THEIR REPRESENTATIVES--THEIR JEALOUS SUSPI...

"WHO WOULD BE FREE, HIMSELF MUST STRIKE THE BLOW!"--THE COLORED TROOPS AT PORT HUDSON--THEIR HEROISM--STIRRING INCIDENTS--AT MILLIKEN'S BEND --AT FORT WAGNER--AT PETERSBURG AND...

GLANCE AT THE MILITARY SITUATION--"BEGINNING OF THE END"--THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT--HOLMAN "OBJECTS" TO "SECOND READING"--KELLOGG SCORES THE COPPERHEAD-DEMOCRACY--CONTINUOUS...

THE WINTER OF 1864--THE MILITARY SITUATION--THE "MARCH TO THE SEA" --THOMAS AND HOOD--LOGAN'S INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESIDENT--VICTORIES OF NASHVILLE AND SAVANNAH--MR. LINCOLN'S ME...

THE REBEL MANDATE--"AGITATE THE NORTH!"--OBEDIENT COPPERHEADS--THEIR DENUNCIATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT--BROOKS, FERNANDO WOOD, AND WHITE, ON THE "FOLLY" OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION--...

PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT RICHMOND--HIS RECEPTIONS AT JEFFERSON DAVIS'S MANSION--RETURN TO WASHINGTON--THE NEWS OF LEE'S SURRENDER--LINCOLN'S LAST PUBLIC SPEECH--HIS THEME, "RECONSTR...

EMANCIPATION TEST--VOTES IN THE HOUSE--ARNOLD'S RESOLUTION--BLUE PROSPECTS FOR THE THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT--LINCOLN'S ANXIETY--CONGRESSIONAL COPPERHEADS--THINLY-DISGUISED TREASON--...

THE ISSUE BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY--MR. LINCOLN'S RENOMINATION --ENDORSED, AT ALL POINTS, BY HIS PARTY--HIS FAITH IN THE PEOPLE--HORATIO SEYMOUR'S COPPERHEAD DECLARATIONS--TH...

COURSE OF SOUTHERN OLIGARCHS THROUGHOUT--THEIR EVERLASTING GREED AND RAPACITY--BROKEN COVENANTS AND AGGRESSIVE METHODS--THEIR UNIFORM GAINS UNTIL 1861--UPS AND DOWNS OF THE TARI...

REBELLION ON ITS "LAST LEGS"--PEACE COMMISSIONS AND PROPOSITIONS --EFFORTS OF GREELEY, JACQUES, GILMORE, AND BLAIR--LINCOLN'S ADVANCES --JEFFERSON DAVIS'S DEFIANT MESSAGE TO HIM...

DEFINITE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION, ON EMANCIPATION, GERMINATING--GLORIOUS NEWS FROM THE WEST AND EAST--FALL OF VICKSBURG--GETTYSBURG--LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ORATION--THE DRAFT--THE RE...