It’s hard to believe that it is the middle of February already. While thinking about the 3 day weekend for President’s Day, I had a great idea for this month’s blog: let’s talk about the Presidents that have visited Charleston.

The first President to visit our fair city was the very first President of our country, George Washington. After he became President, Washington decided he should visit the Southern States to learn more about this region’s political sentiments and their economy. His time spent in the South was called the “Southern Tour”. Washington arrived in Charleston in 1791 to great fanfare. His barge, which departed from Mount Pleasant, was manned by 12 local ships captains. The barge was accompanied by “a flotilla of boats of all sizes filled with ladies and gentlemen” including 2 boats that carried bands that were to play as the President crossed the harbor. During his weeklong stay, President Washington was wined and dined in traditional Charleston fashion. One of the many parties that the President attended was a formal ball that was held in the Old Exchange building. This was such a monumental occasion that the Ladies of Charleston wore pictures of George Washington with the wording ‘Long Live the President” in their hair. The President remarked that the women of Charleston were among the most elegant to be found anywhere. During his stay, he resided at the home of Thomas Heyward (Signer of the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina) which is located on Church St. The President had so many offers from prominent citizens of Charleston to stay with them, in an effort not to insult anyone so he had the city council rent him Heyward’s home. (The President used his own funds to pay for his lodging. Probably the one and only time in our history something like this would happen.) During that time, Heyward stayed at his plantation. Early morning risers were treated to the sight of the President racing his horse up and down Broad St. for exercise.

Old Exchange

President Taft and his wife Nellie were frequent weekend guests of Mayor Rhett at his home on Broad St. It is said that the Mayor was concerned that the crab soup which was to be served with dinner was too pale for the President. William Deas, who was the butler for Mayor Rhett, was given the task of livening up the soup. His creation of “She Crab Soup” which was based on Scottish seafood bisque brought here in the early 18th century. It is what we eat today: meat of the small female blue crab was added to bisque and then it was decorated with their orange hued eggs to add color and flavor. Of course presentation is everything here in Charleston as Mrs. Taft learned. She thought Southerners were “strange” for their irritating ritual of “always taking a half hour to get ready for everything.” (And that includes our food!J) Tradition has it that President Taft loved the soup so much that he added it to the White House menu.

The Home of Mayor Rhett

Beginning in December of 1901, Charleston was the hostess to the South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Exposition. The expo was designed to promote the resources and industry of South Carolina. April 9, 1902 was designated “President’s Day” at the Expo. President Theodore Roosevelt arrived outside the city by train and then took a ship into Charleston. A parade of 3000 people marched to the exposition as thousands lined the streets to view the procession. President Roosevelt visited the exhibits, especially the one that housed the City Hall Collection. He addressed distinctive guests and was invited to the Women’s building which was located at Lowndes Grove Plantation where he was treated to a Charleston lunch which included tea grown in Summerville. After his day in Charleston, the President was escorted to Summerville where he stayed at Pine Forest Inn. The Inn boasted its own power plant, telegraph office, long distance telephone service and steam heat. To entertain yourself while visiting the resort, a guest could partake in three bowling alleys, shuffle board, billiards, pool tables, 130 golf links, a stable of 50 horses or listening to the in-house orchestra.

The Cotton Palace at the Exposition

The next two gentlemen were not Presidents during their time here in Charleston but became President soon after.

So a sister decides to set her brother up with one of her co-workers. Sounds pretty harmless unless the brother is John F. Kennedy and the lady is Inga Marie Arvad who was thought to be a Nazi spy. Before coming to the States, Inga covered the Berlin Olympics for a Danish newspaper. There she met and interviewed several men from Hitler’s inner circle. She even interviewed Hitler himself. Hitler invited Inga to sit in his private box which is where a picture of herself and Hitler together was taken. Later Hitler would give her a silver and red frame which held a signed photo of himself. (Hitler rarely gave out personal photos.)

Once Inga reached the States, her political views were not well received. The FBI was contacted by one of her classmates and then again by one of JFK’s jilted girlfriends that she had Nazi loyalties. (This led to a full scale investigation which included surveillance and wiretaps.) The findings were delivered to J. Edgar Hoover. Once Hoover realized who Inga was dating the information was shared with the Navy Intelligence Division. A gossip columnist got wind of it and leaked that an ex-ambassador’s son was the “romantic target of a suspected Nazi spy, and Pa no like.” The next thing JKF knows is that he is being transferred to Charleston, SC. “They shagged my ass down to South Carolina because I was going around with a Scandinavian blonde, and they thought she was a spy!” JKF was not happy to be here! He thought Charleston a provincial backwater and that the Union should have let us go during the Civil War.

Inga did come to Charleston to visit JFK on 3 different occasions and while she was here, their hotel rooms were wired and the couple was followed. For awhile there was even talks of marriage (that is a whole another story) but JKF was shipped off to the Pacific and as time passed the romance slowly fizzled. “There seemed no way in which her old intimacy with Jack could be reestablished without the same difficulties they had encountered in Washington three years before, and Inga wisely refused to try, particularly with Jack having made up his mind to run for a congressional seat.”

JKF at The Battery    Inga

On a spring afternoon presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke to Charlestonians from the front porch (or piazza as we call them in Charleston) of 21 King St. He did not forget that memorable day because during his victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park he told the crowd of 1 million and those watching at home “Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and on the front porches of Charleston.” Michelle also spoke from the piazza and was very impressed, “”Talk about the White House, I think this house is pretty terrific. I’d like to come back and spend the night!” On that day, the piazza of 21 King St was a symbol of American’s political process. You had whites, blacks, Democrats,Republicans,  and “undecided’s” all listening to a candidate for the President of the United States of America.

The piazza of 21 King St.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about some of the Presidents who spent time in our fair city.

Thanks for reading!

Lee Ann

Hope your 2013 is off to a good start.  I thought I would post a little something different this month. I’ll be back next month with an entertaining history blog. Promise.

I heard this funny joke about Charleston during the holidays that I thought I would share:

Question: How many Charlestonians does it take to change a light blub?

Answer: 4: 1 to change the light bulb, 1 to mix the drinks and 2 to discuss how wonderful the old light bulb was.

I also wanted to share a fantastic experience we had at Hall’s Chop House.  We were there for a special occasion and my son ordered a Root Beer. The waiter said they did not have any but would go and get him one. And that was what he did. He sent someone down the street to buy a root beer at a store. Now that is going the extra mile for your customer.  I was so impressed!

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

As I sit and watch the Democratic and Republican conventions and think what a folly they have become. Neither side can agree with each other even on minuscule ideas. I wonder how they got like this and then I start to laugh. This is nothing new. This has been happening in our government for a lengthy period of time. I think one of the funniest instances took place here in Charleston. It’s December 1860 and South Carolina has just seceded from the Union. We are our own country right now. No other states have left the Union so there is no Confederacy yet. So here we sit an independent nation without a flag to represent us. The legislature, who was housed in Columbia, chose to leave the city when the Secession Convention decided to come to Charleston for the all important vote. (Of course, the reason given was that there was an outbreak of smallpox in Columbia (only 1 case) and the delegation must leave to be safe.) It was well known that the delegates wanted to be in Charleston for the big moment since it was her vocal citizens that had been pushing for secession since 1832.

Both houses reconvene to Hibernian Hall on Meeting St. in Charleston and one of the first orders of business is a resolution that calls for a joint committee to conceive a “National Flag or Ensign of South Carolina.” Both houses submit representatives to the committee and so that they are not left out, the Secession Convention decides it will appoint a committee too. (Their group never met but at least could say that they had a “committee” that worked on this important issue)

The joint committee presents their resolution “the national flag or ensign of South Carolina shall be white, with a green palmetto tree upright thereon: and the union blue, with a white increscent.” Within minutes of reading and discussing the logic of this choice, a movement to amend the resolution is voiced and so the craziness begins. They argued about the color of the palmetto tree and the color of the flag itself and then the Senate wanted to change the look of it by adding a coat of arms. This went of for 6 days. (Scary to think that South Carolina just left the Union and this is what they focused on) Eventually they agreed on the initial amended resolution which was proposed by Robert Barnwell Rhett Jr. on the 1^st day. (Yes, his father was Robert Barnwell Rhett, “the fire-eater”.) “The National Flag or Ensign of South Carolina shall be blue, with a white palmetto tree upright thereon, and a white crescent in the upper corner.” Rhett’s reasoning was that “the Colonial flag was blue, with a white crescent, and it seemed to him the addition of a white Palmetto tree made a very simple and beautiful flag.” The palmetto tree represents the Battle of Fort Sullivan during the American Revolution. (See July’s Blog for the story on that)

*(This state flag was captured by Iowa troops on February 17, 1865. Photograph was taken by the State Historical Society of Iowa. The flag is on loan today from them and can be seen at South Carolina State Museum.)

There is one little difference in our flag today compared to the one in 1861; the placement of the crescent moon. In 1861, “the white crescent in the upper flag staff remains as before, the horns pointing upward.” (as seen in the above picture) The crescent moon was the symbol that appeared on the caps of Colonial Moultrie’s men during the battle of Fort Sullivan.

It was in 1910 when the crescent moon changed positions. An act was introduced that would provide for the display of the state flag over public buildings. Clemson College was to manufacture the flags “as prescribed in the Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, January 28, 1861.” Clemson’s rough draft had the crescent the way it was in 1861 but the Secretary of the Historical Commission told them “your crescent is wrong”. The act noted, “to be approved by the Secretary of the Historical Commission” who was incorrect in his comments to Clemson so today we have a crescent moon with its horns pointing to the flag pole instead of upright.

The symbols of this flag can be seen in the many different eras of South Carolina’s history; from the American Revolution to the time that the flag made a trip to the moon. Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr. was part of the Apollo 16 mission to the moon and he took several miniature state flags with him.

We are proud of our flag no matter how silly our legislature in 1861 looked for spending 6 days on it.

They got it right!

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

Hi All,

I was asked to be a guest contributor on an American History blog so this month’s article; “The Battle of Fort Sullivan” can be found there. http://www.americanhistoryusa.com/the-battle-of-fort-sullivan/ Hope you enjoy the blog. There are some very interesting articles.

Thanks for reading.

Lee Ann

Wow, it’s hard to believe that this weekend is the official start of summer. Not only is it that but more importantly is a time to honor all those that have died serving our Country. The tradition of remembering those who lost their lives while defending their country and its beliefs began here in Charleston. It is estimated that 752,000 men perished in the Civil War. During the war, women would bury the dead and decorate their graves but it was not until May 1, 1865 when a group of freed slaves got together to honor a large group of Union Soldiers. The Hampton Race Track had been used as a Confederate Prison Camp and a mass grave was dug on-site for the Union Soldiers that died within the camp. After the war was over, freed slaves exhumed the bodies and reinterred them in individual graves. A crowd of up to ten thousand (mainly blacks) came together to honor those soldiers. A day of sermons, singing and picnicking ensued. This day was given the name of “Decoration Day”. Officially in 1966 Waterloo, a town in New York was given credit for the start of this holiday because on May 5, 1866 all businesses closed for the day and the community held a city-wide event in which residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. (I personally think the federal government needs to revisit this decree.)

In 1868, General John Logan officially proclaimed that Decoration Day should be observed nationwide. The day was carefully chosen to be May 30, a date that was not an anniversary of any battle. Flowers were placed on graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

This day of remembrance which was declared by a “Yankee” did not sit well with the South. They refused to acknowledge this day and would honor their dead on Confederate Memorial Day. Southern states would choose their own day but usually the dates ranged from April 26 to mid June. In South Carolina, May 10^th was selected. This was the date that Stonewall Jackson died in 1863 and the date of the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1865.

For both sides this day originally started out as a way for veterans and families to remember those that had been lost privately. As time went along it was a way for veterans, ministers and politicians to commemorate the War but also to rehash the atrocities of the enemy. By the end of the 1870’s much of the malice had subsided and soldiers from both sides were praised. Though in the South, the Confederate dead were still honored on a separate day until after World War I when the holiday was changed from honoring those who died in the Civil War to those who died in all American wars. At that time, the day came to represent the American ideals and the duty to uphold freedom in the world.

Today 9 Southern states still officially observe Confederate Memorial Day: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

The name “Decoration Day” stayed until the early 1880’s and then it slowly changed to “Memorial Day”. It was not until after WWII that it become common to call the holiday “Memorial Day” and it was not officially declared that until 1967.

I want to Thank all of those who have served and lost their lives. Especially, I want to thank their families. Your loved ones have given us the greatest thing of all, freedom and we will never forget their sacrifices.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day.

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

Where did it come from?

Coinage was the backbone of monetary systems around the world. But here on U.S. soil, we did not have the precious metals that were used for coinage so the colonies turned to paper. Massachusetts was the first to use paper money in 1690 and the colony of South Carolina was second in 1703. This money was printed on behalf of the colonial governments. The money was circulated and guaranteed by the government. This was fine until after the American Revolution when the new country was left with a hefty monetary depreciation because Britain did not back the paper money with coinage as before. (A British pound was a legal tender whose value floated relative to the value of gold.) Our founding fathers hoped to take care of this situation for future generations by addressing the coinage issue in the Constitution. Guidelines in the Constitution stated that States could not be involved with coinage; only the national government. The interesting thing is that the Constitution mentioned nothing about paper money. So who would be able to handle the demand for paper currency? (The U.S. was still lacking the precious metal needed for coinage) The banks! South Carolina had 20 banks printing paper money. The paper money was a walking advertisement for the bank. So the money reflected the environment it was created in. Fancy scenes, portraits of influential people and picturesque designs were the rage. Money also reflected the current events of time. This was especially true of the time between the Compromise of 1850 and the beginning of the Civil War. Images of slavery were printed on paper money. Southern Banks thought that positive images of slavery such as a field hand smiling as he worked would help to show the North that slavery was good for both sides (the economy and the slave themselves). It was also used to help boast Southern morale and conviction.

In Charleston, 3 Broad Street was the home of Walkers, Evans & Cogswell. They were a firm of printers and book publishers who were retained as the printers for the Secession Convention and were responsible for the lithograph copies of the Articles of Secession. They also imprinted Confederate money which was authorized by the Confederate government in 1861 and government bonds during the Civil War. Below is a picture of money produced by Evans and Cogswell. The money was printed for the Bank of South Carolina. The bank failed after the war and was closed. The Reconstruction Government did honor notes issued before December 20, 1860 but any notes that were issued during the war were worthless. This changed after Reconstruction when the control of the government was shifted back to the State of South Carolina. In 1879, a law was passed that stated that money from the years of the Civil War would be redeemed for 50% of face value which would be payable in bonds. The money was turned in and then was either ink-cancelled or cut- cancelled, bundled, sealed and set aside for destruction which did not happen. For decades, the bundles sat in the Statehouse and were eventually transferred to the State Archives in 1961. No one knows for sure why the notes were not destroyed but it is thought that the task was put off for later and then forgotten.

During the Civil War coinage became scarce. Citizens began to hoard gold, silver and copper coins. This made it very difficult for businesses to do transactions. Merchants turned to private minters to fill the void. The result was Civil War tokens. “It is estimated that by 1864, there were 25,000 tokens (nearly all redeemable for one cent) in circulation and approximately 7000-8000 varieties.” There were 3 main types of tokens:

1. Patriotic: A patriotic slogan or image. This was mainly found up North and was usually pro Union.

2. Store cards: Businesses would design their own token. It would display their name and/or location.

3. Sutler: This would contain the name of a particular army unit and the name of the sutler who conducted transactions with the regiment. A sutler is a merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field. The wares were sold from the back of a wagon or tent which would allow the sutler to travel along with the army.

By 1864, Congress had passed regulations outlawing the usage of Civil War tokens.

Another attempt at coinage was the Confederate Cent. This was die cast by a gentleman from Philadelphia named Robert Lovett. He made 12 coins out of copper-nickel but then afraid of being arrested for helping the South, he buried the die and the Confederate Cents in his basement. After the war, he would carry one of them in his pocket and in 1873 by accident; he spent one of the Confederate Cents in a bar in Philadelphia. His secret was out. A local coin collector purchased the die cast and made 54 copper strikes but on the 55th the die broke. None of the re-strikes were made in the original copper nickel material. Today the die can be seen in the Smithsonian.

Who knew that money could be so interesting?

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

Last month, I wrote about my opinion as to why the Northern states initially fought in the Civil War. This month I will discuss my opinion as to why the Southern states decided that Secession was the right thing for them to do. Southerners did not arrive at this decision overnight. Lincoln’s election for President was a symptom of a bigger problem that had been festering for years.

The Southern states originally went from a “society with slaves” which also included indentured servants to a “slave society” where slavery was the basis of the economy. This created a foundation where a minority of men formed a powerful ruling class. When we think of slave owners in the South, we think of the large plantations with hundreds of slaves. In reality, approximately 25% of Southerners had slaves and if they did it was usually 1 or 2 slaves to help the family in the fields. It was expensive to own a slave. In today’s currency a slave could cost up to $36,000. So a minority of men with large slave holdings ran the Southern governments. In fact, “no other state has such a large contingent of slave owners in its legislature” as South Carolina did. The Planter class supported the idea of secession in hopes that it would protect their property and their investments. Soon to be President, Abraham Lincoln in an 1860 speech stated that “The value of the slave population is not less than $2,000,000,000. This amount of property has a vast influence upon the minds of those who own it…Slaveholders battle any policy which depreciates their slaves as property. What increases the value of this property, they favor.”

In fact, the South Carolina delegation of 169 representatives that voted to secede on December 20, 1860 was comprised of nearly all men that were slave owners. Almost most half of them owned at least 50 slaves and 27 of them owned more than 100 slaves each. It was these men that decided an additional document was needed that would Justify the secession of South Carolina. This document was the “Declaration of Immediate Causes.” It was stated in this document, not in the “Ordinance of Secession” that the Northern States had “deliberately broken the federal compact by repudiating their responsibility under the fourth article of the United States Constitution to return runaway slaves.”

Many delegates felt it was not an accurate representation of what they voted for. “The report was so heavily laced with slavery rhetoric that another delegate, Maxcy Gregg, stood up and complained that “not one word is said about the tariff, which for so many years caused a contest in this State against the Federal Government.” They also wanted the document to include the issue about the federal expenditures for internal improvements. There was a motion to table the Memminger’ report, as it was called before it got its official title of “Declaration of Immediate Causes.” Gregg had at least 2 dozen delegates on his side. A voice vote was done on Christmas Eve and it passed by a margin of 4 to 1. The influential planters’ delegates such as Williams Middleton had the power in that room. Because it was done as a voice vote, even today it is not know how many really voted for slavery to be the main reason to secede. As delegate Lawrence M. Keitt stated this declaration “rest disunion upon the question of slavery.”  An interesting fact in the days leading up to December 20, there were other drafts presented to a committee for the wording of the “Ordinance of Secession”. One that survived is dated December 11, 1860 and it cites tariffs in addition to the issue of fugitive slave laws as a reason that South Carolina was seceding. Somehow along the way the perception of states’ rights changed from a tariff issue to the runaway slave laws.

As I mentioned in my December blog: 151 Years Ago Secession, it was the tariff issues of 1828 & 1832 and Calhoun’s Nullification Paper that started the push for secession. In a speech by John C. Calhoun in 1850, (10 years before the war)he discusses the main reasons why the state of the Union had gotten to point of an exploding conflict.

1. “The equilibrium between the two sections in the government as it stood when the constitution was ratified and the government put in action has been destroyed. At that time there was nearly a perfect equilibrium between the two, which afforded ample means to act to protect itself against the aggression of the other; but as it now stands, one section has the exclusive power of controlling the government, which leaves the other without any adequate means of protecting itself against its encroachment of and oppression.” This can be seen in the election of Lincoln. Lincoln had the Electoral College vote even if the Democratic Party had not split its unity between candidates. The interesting thing is that Lincoln was not on any ballots in the South. How scary is that for a Southern to think that a man can be elected President by only Northern voters. This uneven power was not going to change as new states were added to the Union unless they were allowed to be “slave states”. As stated by Mary A. DeCredico in her book “Mary Boykin Chestnut” “The plank that enraged them most was one that called for the prohibition of slavery in the territories. The prospect that a sectional party would drive them out of an equal share in western territories was a threat that could not be tolerated.”
2. “.. System of revenue and disbursements which has been adopted by the government. It is well known that the government has derived its revenue mainly from duties on imports…..duties must necessarily fall mainly on the exporting states, and that the South, as the great exporting portion of the Union, has in reality paid vastly more than her due proportion of the revenue;… if to this be added that many of the duties were imposed, not for revenue but for protection—that is, intended to put money, not in the Treasury, but directly into the pockets of manufacturers.” This relates the issue of the Tariffs of 1828 & 1832 and other economic measures that were in place to assist Northern businesses.
3. Slavery: “On the contrary, the Southern section regards the relation as one which cannot be destroyed without subjecting the two races to the greatest calamity and the section to poverty, desolation, and wretchedness; and accordingly they feel bound by every consideration of interest and safety to defend it.” This in my opinion is the real reason that Slavery was such a big issue. It was the economics of it. William Lowndes Yancey (1860): “Look at the value of that property. These slaves are worth $2800,000,000…Twenty-eight hundred millions of dollars are to be affected by the decision of this question [Presidential election of 1860]” And as stated by H.S. Foote : “If the price of slaves comes down, then the permanence of the institution comes down…the permanence of the system depends on keeping the prices high.” The South was commitment to agriculture for their economy.

The Northern businessman’s perception was that if slavery continued to exist it would affect the system of “free labor”. They were also afraid that decreasing land values would threaten the value of stocks in the railroads. (Land value was higher in the North and the value of personal property was higher in the South. Slaves were considered personal property). Each side felt that if their way of doing business was not expanded that it would die.

To read Calhoun’s speech in its entirety: http://www.nationalcenter.org/CalhounClayCompromise.html

Let’s put all of this in perspective, in the ten years before the war began, Southerners were subject to the following:

• The Republican platform that endorsed a National Bank with no support from the Southern states
• Federal aid for internal improvements for roads with most funding funneled to Northern states
• Federal involvement and policies in regards to slavery and expansionism in the West, again with no regard (say) of the Southern states
• Minority representation in both houses of Congress, thus no influence towards the 3^rdbranch of government the Supreme Court
• Attacks by Northerners on Southerners for defending their right to own slaves. (Slavery was a right in the Constitution at this time.)
• The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 even though he did not even APPEAR on any ballots in the South.

At this moment in time (December 1860), the election of Abraham Lincoln represented the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” and was the boiling point for Southerners. It would be logical to say that the Southern states had no say, influence or vote in all three branches of the federal government.

Therefore it can be reasoned that the Southern states lived in a reality of “taxation without representation” and thought it their right (as did the founding fathers in 1776) to “dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another”. It is also no surprise that many of the Southern leaders “wrapped themselves” in the cloak of the founding fathers and the spirit of ’76 at the beginning of the war.

But as the war proceeded the majority of Southerner’s perspective became that the Civil War was a “rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.” Most confederate soldiers were notslaveholders but believed in the right of each state to define its slave law, not the Federal government. Most Southern politicians wove the above points and portrayed the plight of the Southern man with no say in the Federal government as such that war was inevitable.

Over these last 2 blogs I hope that I have given you a new perspective on why the Civil War was fought and how the “Peculiar Institution”: Slavery was part of the reason for the war but not in the way that you may have thought.

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

Last month, I talked about the start of the Civil War; “The Ordinance of Secession” and the events surround the signing of this life changing document. This month, I want to talk about what the document meant and my belief on why the Civil War was fought. Most people feel that the main reason the South seceded was to preserve their “Peculiar Institution: Slavery.” Slavery is definitely part of the reason the war was fought but not in the way that you may think.

In my opinion, for the South: it was all about economics and the power of the federal government to dictate the lives of the Southerners. (The Northern States at that time held a majority in BOTH Houses of Congress). For the North at the beginning the war, first and foremost their priority was to save the Union, not for their moral concerns about Slavery.

Lincoln believed that “a house divided against itself cannot stand”. He felt that the Southern states’ seceding was akin to a child throwing a tantrum and they would eventually come around as soon as the “fit” was done. Lincoln thoughts were that he needed to disperse the bands of rebels and establish loyal Southern governments. In the final passage of his inaugural address in March of 1861, Lincoln spoke of his willingness to rewrite parts of the constitution to accommodate the South. Just hours before his address, the Senate passed a constitutional amendment, that read “No Amendment, shall ever be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of person held to labor or service by the laws of said State.” This was passed by both houses and only had to be ratified by the states. Of course the problem was to get the two-thirds of the states to ratify this amendment. (I will discuss this on the Southern side.) He also stated in that speech that “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the State where it exists.” “I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” He was against the spread of slavery because he felt that it was affecting the “free labor economy”. It was not for the plight of the black man. In 1858, Lincoln stated “I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races…… and I as much as any other man I am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.” He did believe though that Negros did have rights even if the races were unequal. “In the right to into his mouth the bread that his own hands have earned… (The Negro) is the equal of every other man white or black.” Much of the North had the same feelings; they were opposed to the expansion of slavery because of a dislike of the Negro as well as the dislike of slavery. Slavery was affecting Northern economic prosperity. In his Hartford Speech of 1860, Lincoln talks about slavery and how it was affecting the economy and the Union: “Slavery comes in, and white free labor that can strike will give way to slave labor that cannot!” Slavery is wrong in its effect upon white people and free labor; it is the only thing that threatens the Union.” As Gene Leach discussed in “Glimpses of Lincoln‘s Brilliance”, “Lincoln argued, it was not the product of a wickedness unique to slaveholders. Nor was slavery a bizarre anachronism standing in the way of the nation’s economic growth. To the contrary, Lincoln identified slavery with the driving engines of that growth. That was exactly the problem: In their zeal for material progress, all Americans, North and South, were losing their moral bearings. Southerners held slaves, and many Northerners tolerated the practice, because “pecuniary value” had become their ruling value.”

Lincoln’s main goal was to preserve the union. He said if he could accomplish this without freeing any slaves he would: if he could save the union by freeing all the slaves he would. In fact in 1861, The US House of Rep. passed a resolution declaring the Civil War was being waged to preserve the Union rather than to end slavery.

It was not until 1863 when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation did the moral concern of slavery become a rally point for the North. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” He felt at this point in time it was “a military necessity… We must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued”.

This proclamation was done to bring more support for the Union from Britain and France. If Britain and France continued to give support to the Confederacy it would look like would look like support for slavery, which both of these nations had abolished. It also increased the number of soldiers for the Union while helping to eliminate the Confederacy’s workhorse, the slaves. Every battle was expanding the domain of freedom and the black man was able to help liberate himself. Slaves quickly began to escape to the Union lines. The Proclamation did not free all the slaves, only those in states that seceded from the Union. Slavery was still legal in the Border States and parts of the Confederacy that were under Northern control. Thus, freedom from slavery was dependent on a Union military victory.

Lincoln had always been in favor of emancipation for the Negroes but he envisioned a gradual process in which there would be financial compensation to the owner. He understood the financial hardship that the immediate lost of property would do the Southern states and how it would ruin the Southern economy. In an 1858 speech, Lincoln stated that the “regions 4 million slaves were valued at no less than 2 billion dollars.” That sum was greater than the value of all the nation’s factories and railroads in both the North and South. He also believed in the colonization of the Negroes outside of the United States. In 1862, Lincoln states to Congress that “I cannot make it better know that it already is, that I strongly favor colonization.” He spoke with a group of Negroes in 1862 and said that a “physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think your race suffers very greatly… by living among us, while ours suffers from your presence.”

Lincoln did what he felt that would help to end this war; to stop the wounded and the dying on both sides of the battle field. He took a great risk because many in the North still believed the war was about preserving the Union, not about freeing the slaves. This proclamation lead to the thirteenth amendment to our Constitution. The Republican Senate passed the amendment in April of 1864 but it was not until January of 1865 that the Democratic House barely vetoed for the amendment. It was ratified by two thirds of the states on December 6, 1865 when Georgia gave its consent.

Unfortunately this did not immediately end the discrimination to the Negroes. It would be another 100 years until there would be balance between the races. It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if Lincoln had lived?

Next month, I will talk about the Southern perspective.

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

151 years ago on December 20, 1860, the Civil War started in Charleston, South Carolina. What you are probably thinking is “no April 12, 1861 was the start of the Civil War” and yes that is correct too.  April 12, 1861 was the 1^st actual shots of the war. The “War” really began with a piece of paper; “The Ordinance of Secession”.

Secession was not entirely a new concept for Americans and especially Southerners’ at this time. In 1812, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut almost secede over the war with Britain. By 1832, it was a hot topic for Southerners. The federal government had passed a tariff that favored Northern industry. Southerners called the tariff “The Tariff of Abominations”. At one time, the tariff was at 47% which almost doubled the cost of foreign goods purchased by Southerners. Northern merchants used the situation to raise their prices. It also caused a decline in Britain’s orders for Southern cotton. This tariff lead to John C. Calhoun writing the “Nullification Papers” (He wrote this manuscript at a house on 94 Church Street.) Calhoun at this time was the Vice President under Andrew Jackson. This document declared that a “state could refuse to obey federal laws if a state deemed them unconstitutional. “

Things quieted down for a bit and then started to heat up again in 1851. Every year on “Carolina Day”, Charleston citizens would celebrate at Fort Moultrie the Battle of Fort Sullivan. This battle during the American Revolution was where Colonial William Moultrie was able to beat the British and save Charleston from being captured. It was one of the 1^st major battles that the Patriots won against Mother England. In 1851, the Federal government would not let the citizens of Charleston into the fort for the annual celebration. Soon after that episode, the Palmetto Guard was established and in April of 1852 South Carolina moved to secede.

By the time 1860 rolled around things were at a boiling point. The South Carolina Assembly delegates were meeting in Columbia, South Carolina to decide if secession was going to happen. Originally Georgia then Alabama was to secede first but they did not do so. It was left up to the South Carolinians. It was whispered among the men that this time it was really going to happen. But wait, the delegates did not want to be Columbia, they wanted to be in Charleston where they could get more bang for their buck. Charleston was the hot seat for secession and had been pushing for it for years. Suddenly there was an “outbreak of small pox” (at that time there was 1 reported case of small pox in Columbia). Off went the delegates to Charleston were they reconvened at St. Andrew’s Society Hall and here a roll call vote was taken in 8 minutes.

Unanimous vote, South Carolina had seceded from the Union.

Shouts of celebration erupted through the city as it was announced. To make this even a bigger deal, it was decided that the document would be signed at the South Carolina Institute Hall. The hall could hold 3,000 people and it was the place to be that night. A standing room only crowd waited for the delegates as they marched down Broad Street to Meeting. As they walked, they grabbed one of the many banners that were flying for the buildings. This was to be their symbol. The banner shows a mighty arch with 15 squares that represented the New Confederacy. John C. Calhoun stands at the top holding the constitution and below are words “Built from the Ruins”. The banner was hung across the stage behind the table when the gentlemen were signing the Ordinance. During the war, the banner made its way to New England where it was safely kept until 1963 when it made its way home again. Unfortunately it laid discarded for many in years in a bottom of a drawer.

Now it can be seen at the South Carolina Historical Society.

After the delegates made their way to South Carolina Institute, the document was read to the audience: “An Ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and the other States untied with her under the compact entitled “The Constitution of the United States of America”…..

Per the Charleston Mercury Newspaper during the reading of it “the men could contain themselves no longer, and a shout that shook the very building, reverberated, long-continued, rose to Heaven, and ceased only with the loss of breath.” It took 2 hours for the Ordinance to be signed. The signers of the Ordinance were the “who’s who” of South Carolina politics before and during the War. These men were so proud: “the greatest honor of my life” and “the proudest day of my life”. Cannons were fired, bands played and rockets exploded. The celebration continued around the South for several days. Several cities had 100 gun salutes. In Charleston, the newspaper headlines were “The Union is dissolved”.

Not all thought this was a wise idea. A Charlestonian, James Louis Petigru remarked that “South Carolina was too small to be an independent nation but too large to be an insane asylum.” The last surviving signer passed away in 1914.

Immediately following the signing, delegates were sent to all the Southern states with the news and the task of urging the other states to follow suit. 4 months later by the time the 1^st shots of the Civil War, 6 other states had joined the Confederacy. Not all of the Southern States secede (Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and Missouri did not) Tennessee only seceded after the Governor made the decision. The populace vote had defeated the proposal.

The Original “Ordinance of Secession” did survive the war and is kept in the South Carolina archives in Columbia, SC. The document has been in the hands of a South Carolina official ever since that fateful night in 1860. Many times during the war, Union soldiers thought they had found the original but what they came across was one of the 200 lithographs made of the document. These were such excellent copies that in 1966 the Mayor of Keokuk, Iowa offered to return “the Articles of Secession from the Union by your State in the year 1860”. Even having one of the lithograph copies was a prized possession. In 1865, as Yankees were approaching Governor John L. Manning’s home, he stuffed his copy behind an “immense Empire bookcase”; it was discovered nearly 100 years later.

Today the document looks very little like the lithograph copies. The original was very badly faded; even the ink blots from the day of the signing had disappeared, so somewhere between 1890-1894, the original was re-inked by a German scribe. (On the lithograph copies you are able to see those ink blots.) All that is left of the St. Andrews Society Hall and the South Carolina Institute is the ironworks in front of a parking lot which use to be the home of the St. Andrews Society. A great fire burned through the city in 1861 and destroyed both of those buildings. (We will save that story for another time)

So began the events that would change the course of our history. Next month, I will talk more about what “Ordinance of Secession” meant.

May you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Thanks for reading

Lee Ann

Welcome,

It’s hard to believe that it’s November already. When I was thinking about writing this month’s blog, I knew I wanted to write something about Thanksgiving and its history. We all know about the “First Thanksgiving Feast” so I will not bore you with that. There are so many other fun pieces of trivia and tradition that are associated with this holiday so that is what I am going to share. It’s not all related to Charleston so please forgive me if I stray a bit this month.

Before 1789, Thanksgiving was a day that was regionally observed. That year, President George Washington declared the first nationwide Thanksgiving for the New United States. This tradition continued until 1815 when it was phased out of fashion. It was not until 1863, when a “Mrs. Hale” convinced President Lincoln that a national Thanksgiving might help to unite a war-torn county. She had been writing letters to previous Presidents, all state governors and each member of Congress since 1847. President Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November to be the national holiday. Of course you can imagine how well this went over in the South. The Texas Governor, Oran Milo Roberts chose not to decree the holiday saying “it was a damned Yankee Institution.” By the late 1800’s Thanksgiving became popular in the South. Of course, we could notallow the Yankees to dictate the menu so we added our own touches: corn bread stuffing, sweet potatoes casserole, ham and pecan pie.

Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday of the month until 1939 when President Franklin Roosevelt moved the date to the 3^rd Thursday because retailers persuaded him that having it that late would dampen their holiday sales. Announcements were placed in newspapers across the country with the date change. The new holiday was given the nickname “Franksgiving”. For 3 years people celebrated one or the other or both dates. Finally in 1941, President Roosevelt realized his mistake and signed a Congressional bill that stated that the 4^thThursday would be the official holiday.

Thanksgiving Traditions:

Sports and Games: Have been enjoyed since the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Back then there would have been activities such “pitching the bar” which was tossing logs, wrestling matches and musket target shooting. It was not until 1876 when the first football game on Thanksgiving Day was played (Yale beat Princeton 2 goals to nil). In the 1890’s, the Collegiate League’s Championship game was held on Thanksgiving Day. It was a premier event in the New York social season and churches started making sure that their services were done in time so that their members could make it to kickoff. Professional football did not get into the action until 1934. The owner of the Detroit Lions (George Richards) arranged the game between the Lions and the Chicago Bears to be broadcasted on the radio across the country. Football was here to stay as a Thanksgiving tradition.

Parades:Began back in the 1780’s, Fantastical Companies which were lively groups of young working-class men from different New York neighborhoods would dress in flamboyant costumes and celebrate their day off from work. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade started in 1924 as the “Macy’s Christmas Parade.” Macy’s employees, many who were immigrants, created the parade in a European style which included costumes, animals, bands and floats. The first balloon was Felix the Cat and it made its début in 1927. The parade was first broadcast locally in the New York area in 1939 as an experiment and then on national television in 1948.

Pardoning the Turkey: President Harry Truman was the first to receive a live turkey and 2 dressed turkeys from the Turkey Federation. Too bad for the live turkey that year though because he did not get pardoned. It was not until 1989 when George H. W. Bush was President, that the live turkey was pardoned. The turkey to be pardoned goes through an extensive interview process. He is evaluated on size, plumage and poise. Starting in August, the turkey also undergoes 6 months of training. The bird is exposed to men in dark business suits so that when the big day arrives there will not be any mishaps.

That’s all for this month. I hope you have wonderful Thanksgiving.

Enjoy

Lee Ann