Further Historical Data

In the setting of these historical statements we can see how wholly unwarranted is the attempt to dismiss Mrs. White’s statements on the Civil War as being merely a reflection of the general criticism by “the opponents of Lincoln and his management of the war.” At first the vicious attacks directed against Lincoln and his administration by his political opponents were not made because he failed to take a decided stand against slavery. As Monaghan observes: “Many in the Union Armies were not antislavery men.” And certainly many business men in the North were not antislavery men. They had satisfactory business dealings with the South, and had no desire to disturb such dealings. William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the abolitionist movement, was dragged through the streets with a halter around his neck—not in a Southern city but in Boston.EGWC 115.3

By no stretch of the imagination could it be said that the North, as such, entered the war in a spirit of holy crusade against the evil of slavery. The clearly avowed purpose, as stated by Lincoln, was to preserve the Union. Even on this point there was no agreement. No small number of prominent men in the North felt that although it was good to have a Union of all the States in America, the idea of union was not of sufficient value to warrant a war, and that it would be better to let the seceding States depart in peace if they were determined to go.EGWC 115.4

The pattern of general opposition to Lincoln’s administration turned upon whether the country should be plunged into war to maintain the idea of union, and second, whether the war was being fought on the most successful lines.EGWC 116.1