Ohio History Journal

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A Northern Businessman

A Northern Businessman

Opposes the Civil War

EXCERPTS FROM

THE LETTERS OF R. G. DUN

edited by JAMES D. NORRIS

A number of rather prominent northern businessmen opposed the Civil

War and the Lincoln administration for both sound business reasons and

personal political commitments. Robert Graham Dun's letters to his family

and friends in Ohio during the Civil War present an excellent portrait of one

such businessman.

Imbued with a deep-seated hostility toward both Lincoln and the war,

Dun saw the conflict through the eyes of a businessman who was also a

conservative Democrat. In his view, the war disturbed business, endangered

the nation's solvency, and eventually would cost billions of dollars. More-

over, it was an assault upon the rights of the states. Not only did Dun

believe the South had a right to secede, but he was convinced she would be

independent sooner or later regardless of the outcome of the war. In discuss-

ing the condition of the country, bitterness frequently overcame him. How-

ever, near the end of the war, during the election campaign of 1864, his

feeling moderated, to the point where he considered voting for Lincoln; but

only, it would seem, because he feared McClellan would be the greater

threat to the South. Even after the war was over Dun could not bring himself

to be hopeful of a quick return to good business relations.

NOTES ARE ON PAGE 200