Ohio History Journal

BEVERLY WILSON PALMER

 

From Small Minority to Great

Cause: Letters of Charles

Sumner to Salmon P. Chase

 

Fifteen hitherto unpublished letters from Charles Sumner to Salm-

on P. Chase trace the spread and politicization of the antislavery

movement and document the close ties between Massachusetts and

Ohio as that movement grew. Strongly committed in the 1840s and

1850s to limiting the extension of slavery, Chase and Sumner by 1861

hoped to preside over its extinction. Sharing a New England back-

ground (New Hampshire and Massachusetts) and education

(Dartmouth and Harvard), as well as the same profession, law, both

leaders were convinced their cause was a righteous one. Earnest, hu-

morless men, both also had a proclivity for scholarly, high-sounding

rhetoric. In each, combined with a sincere desire to prevent the ex-

tension of slavery was a strong ego, reflected in Chase's political am-

bitions and Sumner's oratory.

The two men exchanged approximately 115 letters from 1845 to

1861.1 At the beginning of the correspondence, Chase, settled in

Cincinnati, had already begun organizing antislavery conventions

and drawing up resolutions condemning slavery. He left the Demo-

crats to help form the Free Soil Party in 1848. After a term in the Sen-

ate, 1849-1855, he served as Republican Governor of Ohio from 1856

to 1860. Sumner, less well-known in the 1840s than Chase, had en-

 

 

Beverly Wilson Palmer is Assistant Professor of Writing and Project Director, Charles

Sumner Correspondence, at Pitzer College, Claremont, California.

 

1. These Sumner letters are selected from the 57 letters from Sumner to Chase,

1846-1865, in the Chase Papers at the Library of Congress; most of Chase's letters to

Sumner, located at the Houghton Library, Harvard, and the Pennsylvania Historical

Society, were printed in the "Diary and Correspondence of Salmon P. Chase," here-

after referred to as "Correspondence," Albert B. Hart (ed), Annual Report of the

American Historical Association for 1902, II (Washington, D.C., 1903), 111-288. Words

or phrases cancelled in the manuscript are included only if they appear to have psy-

chological or historical significance; otherwise they are silently omitted. Unless other-

wise specified, sources of information in the notes are standard references such as the

Dictionary of American Biography, and Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.

• 1
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                            165

 

gaged in disarmament and penal reform movements before becoming

involved with other Massachusetts "Conscience Whigs" in the anti-

slavery cause. Through his steady correspondence with other such

activists in the Midwest, men like Joshua Giddings of Ohio and

George Julian of Indiana, Sumner kept track of, and helped extend,

the network of slavery opposition. Yet in 1851, only Chase, Sumner,

and John P. Hale represented the Free Soil Party in the Senate. Sum-

ner continued as the leading slavery protestor there throughout the

decade, while Chase maintained his political base in Columbus.

Their letters differ in that Sumner wrote chiefly about the antislavery

cause while Chase frequently alluded to his own political aspirations.

Yet rarely (until Sumner's invalidism in 1856) did either discuss his

personal life, despite several illnesses, disappointments, and bereave-

ments.

The correspondence illustrates how antislavery issues overrode

earlier Whig and Democratic alliances in these men and, ultimately,

in the nation. It concludes on the brink of the Civil War, with both

men arguing against any compromise with the slave-holding states,

and castigating those northern leaders who favored keeping the Un-

ion together by concession to those states. By 1861 the crisis con-

cerned not only slavery's extension, but its existence. Thus, although

Chase had been thwarted in his Presidential ambitions, both men

sensed a grim, partially personal triumph; from a remote and irrele-

vant activity of a few thousand scattered followers, the antislavery

cause had become a national, and paramount, movement. As Sumner

wrote Chase in 1861, "We are on the eve of great events."

 

Private                                   Boston Dec. ₁₂th '46

My dear Sir I am obliged by yr letter announcing Mr. Vaughan's

mission.² He is now here. What can be done to promote his views is

still uncertain. Those, who are engaged most warmly in this cause of

Anti-Slavery, have had, & still have, at home, ample occas[ion] for

all the funds which they are to devote to that purpose. This you

readily understand. Small minorities [rarely?] command superfluous

wealth.

But the regular Whigs in Boston have always professed a strong in-

terest in the cause of Emancipation, while they objected to our move-

ment, as impracticable & impertinent. Nothing can be done here,

 

2. Chase had written Sumner that John C. Vaughn would come east seeking funds

in order to continue the True American, a Lexington, Kentucky, anti-slavery newspaper.

See Chase to Sumner, Cincinnati, 26 November 1846, "Correspondence," 111-12.

• 2
 

166                                                     OHIO HISTORY

 

they say. Mr N. Appleton said to me at the Whig Convention, as I

came down from the stand, after speaking; "Yours would have been

a good speech in Virginia."³ He did not recognize, that we were in

Virginia, so far as to the Slave-Power. It has occurred to us, that an

opportunity should be given them of shewing the sincerity of their

professions; & we hope to enable Mr Vaughan to lay his case before

them. If they are so disposed, they can easily place his paper on per-

manent footing. I am curious to know what they will say.

I hope the time will come.-(I wish that it had come)-when the

Friends of Freedom may stand together. There must be very soon a

new chrystallization of parties, in which there shall be one grand

Northern party of Freedom. In such a party I shall hope to serve by

yr side. Meanwhile, the opponents of Slavery should aim at Union to-

gether. They should look upon each other with good will, & gener-

osity, & direct their powers,-never against each other-but always

against the common enemy.

The feud between the Garrison party, & the Liberty Party,⁴ seems

to me (pardon my candor) discreditable to our cause. Powers of ar-

gument & eloquence, which should be pointed at Slavery, are em-

ployed by earnest assailers of that Institution, upon their brethren,

who are equally earnest with themselves. Must this be so always?

Then again, (pardon my freedom) the Liberty party seems to depart

from their principles when they oppose such men as Giddings, J.Q.

Adams, & Palfrey,⁵ all three staunch & uncompromising friends of

the Slaves. It is important that these men should be sustained by

large votes; their usefulness will be increased thereby. But some of

my friends of the Liberty Party here-though not all of them-have

prevented the return of Palfrey, & swelled the triumph of the Pro-

 

 

3. Nathan Appleton, wealthy Whig, increasingly sided with the conservative fac-

tion of the party. At the Whig state convention 23 September 1846, Sumner had spoken

on "The Antislavery Duties of the Whig Party." See David Donald, Charles Sumner

and the Coming of the Civil War (New York, 1960), 137, 142, 147. Hereafter cited as

Donald, Sumner and Civil War.

4. In the Liberator and in speeches William Lloyd Garrison attacked the Liberty

Party, a party in which Chase was then active, for its moderation, asserting that slav-

ery could not be abolished through political action. In return, the Liberty Party de-

nounced Garrison's pleas for dissolution of the United States. See Walter M. Merrill,

Against Wind and Tide (Cambridge, 1963), 202-05, 212.

5. Joshua Giddings was active in antislavery activities in the House of Representa-

tives (1838-58) as a Whig, Free-Soiler, and finally Republican Congressman from Ohio.

John G. Palfrey, a Conscience Whig, had been intitially prevented by Liberty Party

votes from being elected to Congress. However, in a run-off election, he achieved the

necessary majority. See F. O. Gatell, John Gorham Palfrey and the New England Con-

science (Cambridge, 1963), 136-37. Hereafter cited as Gatell, John Gorham Palfrey.

• 3
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                    167

 

Slavery Whigs, who secretly exalt over his defeat, though they do

not venture to oppose him openly, because he is the regular candi-

date of the party. Anxious for the platform of Liberty, on which we

can all stand together, it seems to me we can reach it only by cultivat-

ing a kindly spirit among one another. There is no real question now

before the country, except as to the Slave-Power. John Quincy

Adams said to me a week ago, as he lay on his sick-bed, "the Tariff

is an obsolete idea." What other questions could seem to separate

us? I know nothing of the currency, or Sub-Treasury. Opposition to

Slavery is the idea which I wish to carry practically into politics, re-

garding it as paramount, to all others; & I believe that I have yr sym-

pathy in this. Grateful for yr kind appreciation of what I have done,

& happy in this opportunity of communicating with you, believe me,

dear sir, very faithfully yrs, Charles Sumner⁶

 

Boston Oct. ₁st '47

My dear Sir, I found yr letter of Sept. 22nd on my return-yesterday

from our Whig Convention. I am gratified by yr kind & partial esti-

mate of the little I have been able to do against Slavery.⁷

I cannot disguise that I have looked to Mr Corwin⁸ as a-possible;

I might say, probable leader in the approaching contest. Yr commu-

nication, & the article in the National Era,⁹ just received, make me

fearful that he is not an Anti-Slavery man. But the sentiments of his

speech against the war are so magnanimous & just, that I felt that

their author must be with us. The causes which look to the welfare

of man, through practice & benevolence, are kindred; so that it is

difficult to perceive how a person like Mr Corwin can earnestly em-

brace one without adopting another.

You will perceive by the enclosed paper what some of us have

 

 

 

6. ALS, Salmon P. Chase Papers, Library of Congress. All letters printed are ALS

from this collection, also available on microfilm reels 5-12 of the Salmon P. Chase Pa-

pers.

7. At the Massachusetts Whig Convention in September 1847, Conscience Whigs

had tried both to prevent an endorsement of U.S. Senator Daniel Webster as Massa-

chusetts' favorite son in the 1848 Presidential campaign and to ensure that any nominee

declared himself against slavery. See Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 158-59.

8. In a February 1847 Senate speech, Thomas Corwin, U.S. Senator, 1844-50

(Whig, Ohio), and later Republican Congressman, 1858-60, had vigorously denounced

the Mexican War. However, in his letter of 22 September 1847 from Cincinnati, Chase

criticized Corwin's "attack upon the abolitionists" delivered in his recent speech at

Carthage, Ohio. "Correspondence," 122-23.

9. The national organ of the Liberty Party, the newspaper was established in

Washington 7 January 1847.

• 4
 

168                                           OHIO HISTORY

tried to do in our Whig Convention. Our effort has been defeated. I think it doubtful whether we shall ever enter another Convention of the party. It was, however, only the peculiar influence, caused by Mr Webster's presence (he was not, however, in the hall when our de- bate occurred) at the Convention; & Mr Winthrop's earnest exer- tions10 that defeated us. I think the heart of the Convention was with us. I hope yr nominations11 will be postponed till next spring. In the course of the winter unexpected combinations may occur. At all     10. Robert C. Winthrop, Congressman (Whig, Massachusetts) 1840-42, 1844, 1850, U.S. Senator, 1850-51, engaged in a sharp debate with Sumner about whether a Whig Presidential nominee should declare himself against the extension of slavery. Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 143-46, 159. 11. In his 22 September letter, Chase stated that postponement until spring of the Liberty Party nominations for President would result in a stronger third party. Al- though his name "had been connected with the Liberty nominations," Chase self- effacingly told Sumner he was sure that by spring "a more available man will then be found." "Correspondence," 123. In October 1847 John P. Hale, U.S. Senator (New Hampshire, Independent, 1846-53, Republican, 1855-64) was nominated as the Liberty Party's Presidential candidate, but most Liberty Party members were absorbed into

• 5
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                             169

events, all of us, who are in earnest in our opposition to Slavery, should cultivate kindly relations with each other in view of some fu- ture association. You will perceive that Mr Webster has adopted at last our view with regard to witholding supplies.12 I was happy to become acquainted with Mr Ball, & hope you will remember me to him. I should be pleased to know how much Anti-Slavery there is in Judge McLean.13 I have strong personal predilections in his favor. I honor his character. Believe me, dear Sir, sincerely yrs, Charles Sumner     the Free Soil Party by 1848. See Frederick J. Blue, The Free Soilers (Urbana, 1973), 13-14. Hereafter cited as Blue, Free Soilers. 12. Presumably a reference to Webster's vote against the Three Million Bill authoriz- ing financial support of the Mexican War. See Irving Bartlett, Daniel Webster (New York, 1978), 231. 13. John McLean, Congressman (Democrat, Ohio), 1813-16, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1829-61. McLean was an uncle of Mrs. Salmon P. Chase. Albert B.

• 6
 

170                                                 OHIO HISTORY

 

Boston Feb ₇th 1848

Mr dear Sir, As I look at yr favor of Dec. ₂nd, now open before me,

& think how long it has been unanswered, I cry peccavi.1⁴ It was so

important & instructive, that I ought long ago to have expressed my

gratitude for it. Yr vivid sketch of the position of the opposing camps

of party, disturbed by the cry of Freedom, awakened hopes that

something true & earnest might be done in the approaching canvass.

I do trust that we may yet be able to arrange our lives so that all the

friends of Liberty may act together. I am tired of the anomalous posi-

tion which is forced upon dissenting Whigs here in Massachusetts.

Let us have an open field, & direct battle, instead of private assassi-

nation & assault, which is our lot here-suspected, slandered, tra-

duced by those who profess & call themselves Whigs.

Of course, we cannot & will not under any circumstances support

General Taylor. It would be impossible for us to support Mr. Clay, un-

less he takes the ground distinctly, that Slavery which he regards as

a "wrong" shall not be extended. We cannot support any body who

is not known to be against the extension of Slavery. We are disposed

to select this single point, because if has a peculiar practical interest at

the present moment, while its discussion would, of course, raise the

whole question of Slavery.

There are omens, I regret to see, that it will be abandoned by the

two great parties. I should not be surprized if it was left in the hands

of the few, who are known for their opposition to Slavery under all

circumstances. If Judge McLean could be induced to take any practi-

cal ground against the extension of Slavery, he would be a popular

candidate in that part of the country. I have heard him often men-

tioned for Presdt. & J.P. Hale for Vice-P.-That would be a strong

ticket.

It is a source of great satisfaction, that we have such representa-

tives in Congress as Hale & Palfrey. I think you will enjoy the keen di-

alectics of Palfrey's speech, as well as its courageous & high-toned

vindication of the political movement against Slavery. He seems to

have despoiled poor Clingman15 of his honors.

 

Hart, Salmon Portland Chase (Boston, 1899), 98. Hereafter cited as Hart, Salmon

Portland Chase.

14. I have sinned. In his letter of 2 December 1847, Cincinnati, Chase had proposed

that antislavery forces meet the following spring in "a great convention" to nominate a

candidate in the forthcoming Presidential election. "Correspondence," 124-26.

15. Palfrey had countered Congressman Thomas Clingman's (Democrat, North Car-

olina) charges in a speech in the House of Representatives, January 1848, maintaining

that the South, not the North (as Clingman had claimed), had made slavery a national

issue. See Gatell, John Gorham Palfrey, 112.

• 7
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                         171

 

I ought to add that there is a strong sentiment among our friends

here towards Corwin. I suppose, however, that his strong Whiggish-

ness would prevent the Barnburners1⁶ of N.Y. from supporting him.

But can we hope much from the latter?

I read yr argt. in the VanZandt case,¹⁷ as I have already assured

you, with delight, & shall be happy in an opportunity of circulating a

few copies in Westminster Hall.

Sometime ago I sent you, I believe, my Amherst Address.¹⁸ I hope

that I may soon hear from you, with glad tidings promising united ac-

tion.

Faithfully yours, Charles Sumner

 

Boston Nov. ₁₆th 1848

My dear Sir, Our contest is at last closed for the present. I have

been so deeply engaged in it, that I have had no time for correspond-

ence. You also have been constantly occupied.

Looking over the field now, I feel that we have cause for high satis-

faction. We have found a large number of men through all the Free

States, who are willing to leave the old parties & join in a new alliance

of principle.¹⁹ The public mind has been stirred on the subject of

slavery, to depths never before reached, & much information with

regard to the Slave-Power has been diffused in quarters heretofore

ignorant of this enormous tyranny.

What shall we do in the future? Here in Mass. the old Democratic

party is not merely defeated-but, as it seems to me, irretrievably

broken. Is it not in the same state throughout the country? In Ohio &

 

 

 

16. The New York Democrats had split in 1847 into the antislavery faction called the

"Barnburners" and the conservative wing or 'Hunkers." John Niven, Martin Van

Buren (New York, 1983), 543, 574-76.

17. Chase unsuccessfully defended John VanZandt in both the Ohio and U.S. Su-

preme Courts against the charge that VanZandt had illegally aided an escaped slave

from Kentucky.

18. Sumner's "Fame and Glory," delivered at Amherst College, 11 August 1847,

warned against seeking either of these qualities through military actions. See Charles

Sumner: His Complete Works (New York, 1900), II, 153-206.

19. The results of the 1848 Presidential election gave the Whig nominee Zachary

Taylor 163 electoral votes, the Democrat Lewis Cass 127, and the Free-Soiler Martin

Van Buren none. Van Buren ran second to Taylor and ahead of Cass in Massachusetts,

New York, and Vermont, and was instrumental in giving New York to Taylor and Ohio

to Cass. In Massachusetts the Presidential vote was Whig 45 percent, Free Soil 28 per-

cent, and Democrat 27 percent; in Ohio, Democrat 47 percent, Whig 42 percent, and

Free Soil 11 percent. Chase and twelve Representatives including Giddings and Jo-

seph Root from Ohio were elected to Congress as Free-Soilers. See Blue, Free Soilers,

141-48, 302.

• 8
 

172                                               OHIO HISTORY

 

the Western States, it has a numerical superiority,-but it has no prin-

ciples on which it can rally. It must seek safety upon our Buffalo plat-

form. The only opposition that can be formed to Taylor's Administra-

tion will be upon our platform.

It seems to me that an Address to the People of the U.S. should be

issued as soon as possible summing up the results of this contest, &

rallying our friends to continue firm in their new organization. Unfor-

tunately we have no National Committee. It might be prepared by

delegates from the State Committees or by our friends at Washington

on the opening of Congress. It seems to me important that such a doc-

ument should be put forth.

I would have it develop fully the encroachments of the Slave-

Power-its monopoly of office-& its gradual usurpation of our Govt,

so that it has come to be administered, not on the part of Freedom,

but of Slavery. And it should propose as our object-the prevention

of the extension of Slavery-[the deviance?] of the National Govt

from all support of Slavery-& finally the overthrow of the Slave

Power, or in other words, the establishment of such a prevailing pub-

lic opinion, that Slavery will no longer in any way influence our Na-

tional Govt. I am thus particular in dwelling on these latter points, be-

cause some persons suggest that, with the settlement of the question

of the Wilmot Proviso,²⁰ our whole platform will disappear. This is

not so.

I am curious to know how the field seems to you at the present mo-

ment, from yr point of view. In Massachusetts I think the battle has

raged with more ardor than in any other part of the country. The

force brought to the contest on all sides has been great. The Money

Power (now in combination with the Slave Power) has put forth all its

energies. The sums said to have been subscribed in Boston are pro-

digious. The Taylorites are jubilant, but I think they will lose some-

thing of their harmony in determining who shall have the "spoils."

It seems to me not improbable, that Genl Taylor will lean for sup-

port [upon?] the South & Southwest; & I should not be surprized if

he was supported by that part of the country almost without distinc-

tion of party. Joined to this will be the sea board. But the Great

North West (greater by the "All Hail Hereafter") will be against him,

 

 

 

20. Proposed on 8 August 1846 as an amendment to a bill to appropriate funds for

concluding the Mexican War, the Proviso was never adopted by Congress. It forbade

the existence of slavery in any territory acquired by the United States from Mexico

and, phrased in other language, became Resolutions Three and Eight in the Free Soil

platform for 1848. "Free Soil Platform of 1848," Blue, Free Soilers, 294.

• 9
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                    173

 

& also the interior of the Northern States. In these we shall find the

elements out of which to construct an opposition.

Surely the Whigs have a difficult office to organize their party to

sustain Taylor-especially with a view to the succession. Our mission

is simpler, to stand by our principles.

I hope yr health has stood firm through yr labors, & that you are

still fresh for duty. Much will be expected from you.-I am sorry that

Corwin has surrendered to false gods.²¹

Every faithfully yours, Charles Sumner

P.S. What is Judge McLean's position now?

 

Boston Feb. ₂₇th '49

My dear Sir, It is then all true! I can hardly believe it. Ignorant as I

am of the details of yr local politics I can only imperfectly compre-

hend the movement which has given our cause so triumphant a tri-

umph in yr election.²²

It does seem to me that this is "the beginning of the end." Yr elec-

tion must influence all the Great West. Still more yr presence in the

Senate will give an unprecedented impulse to the discussion of our

cause. It will confirm the irresolute, quicken the indolent, & con-

found the trimmers. I know you will grapple at once with John C.

Calhoun on any issue that he shall venture to make.

By the papers this morning I see that Mr Giddings was [voted for?]

to the last. This increases the perplexity with regard to yr local poli-

tics. I do honor Giddings so much & confess my obligations to him

so fully for his lead against Slavery, that I am sorry that he should be

disappointed in any reasonable expectations. I trust he has not been.

We have him already, & now we have you.

In my last I asked you to be good enough to send me another copy

of yr VanZandt argt, as I have given my copy away. And Judge

Allen,²³ who was with me a few days since, expressed a desire to

 

 

 

21. Corwin had campaigned actively for Taylor in Ohio, promising Taylor would not

veto the Wilmot Proviso. Chase to Sumner, Cincinnati, 27 November 1848, "Corre-

spondence," 142-43.

22. In his letter to Sumner (Cincinnati, 27 November 1848), Chase had suggested

that "a union between the old Democracy and the Free Democracy" in the Ohio legis-

lature might result in a Free Soil U.S. Senator, but did not mention his own political

aims. "Correspondence," 144. Indeed, Chase secured a fusion of Democrats and Free

Soilers in the Ohio legislature who in February 1849 elected him Senator over the oth-

er leading candidate, Giddings. For details of Chase's maneuvering and Gidding's po-

sition, see Blue, Free Soilers, 163-66.

23. Charles C. Allen, Free Soil Congressman from Massachusetts.

• 10
 

174                                                        OHIO HISTORY

 

possess a copy of it. Will you send one to his address-Charles Allen,

Wocester, Mass.?-

It seems to me General Taylor will have a hard rub in the Senate.

The elements of opposition will be strong, while his supporters will

be of the most confused character. I am curious to know what course

Seward²⁴ will take. I have always honored him           for the generous

sympathies which he avowed, & for his ability-I regrett his retro-

grade Taylorism-I trust he may be [directed?] anew to an earnest

unequivocal support of Freedom.

Ever sincerely yours, Charles Sumner

 

Boston Dec. ₃₁st '49

My dear Chase, Let me begin by wishing you a happy new year, &

constant strength to sustain the warfare before you.

The papers say that the slave-owners court a discussion of slavery.

If so, they ought to have it. Nor should they be let off with a han-

dling of the Constitutional question only. This is important, as creat-

ing a basis for the discussion. But I believe the country will be

aroused by the moral considerations.²⁵ These will press hard upon

them. The opinions of the fathers, which you have used already,

should be put before them. I wish to see yr old Liberty address re-

produced as a speech in the Senate.

What assistance do you expect in the Senate? I count upon Seward.

I trust he will be true to his past Anti-Slavery. But I fear his ultra

Whiggery.

The Brown business²⁶ in the house was an affair not to be thought

 

 

 

24. William H. Seward, U.S. Senator (Whig, Republican, New York, 1848-61), had

voted for Taylor in 1848.

25. This statement illustrates an important difference between the two activists.

Sumner, the idealist, was also more optimistic than Chase. For example, Chase wrote

Sumner: "I find no man so congenial to me as yourself; though I do not pretend to be

up to your theories in all respects. I fear that this world is not to be redeemed from its

ten thousand self inflicted curses so easily as we flatter ourselves at the outset of any

reform enterprise, and, especially, before brought much in contact with the machinery

behind the scenes, by which the movements in view are regarded." New Haven, 15

September 1849, "Correspondence," 183. Sumner replied: "I am unwilling to pass into

the limbo of mere theorists. A student of the Ideal, I trust never to lose sight of the

practice." Boston, 18 September 1849.

26. In the protracted struggle for Speaker of the House, December 1849, Giddings

and other Free Soilers had temporarily supported William J. Brown of Indiana with

the understanding that Brown would constitute House committees to satisfy the anti-

slavery constituency. On 12 December, after stating he would have, as Speaker, hon-

ored sectional interests of both North and South, Brown withdrew his name. Con-

gressional Globe 31st Congress, 1st Session, 21-22.

• 11
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                       175

 

of with entire self-complacency. I should have hesitated having any-

thing to do with such a character.

I am anxious to see the Globe report of Gidding's passage with

Winthrop.²⁷ Our friend must be very careful in all his statements; for

he will be watched. The mot d'ordre has evidently gone forth to all

the scribblers to put down Giddings. He cannot be put down, but he

must use supreme care in all that he says.

I am glad of the motion to cut off Austria,²⁸ though our Govt sanc-

tioning slavery, will expose itself to a most bitter retort. Let it come.

"Our withers are unwrung."²⁹-Thanks for your favor of Dec. 14th. I

hope soon to hear again.

Ever yrs, Charles Sumner

 

Boston Jan. ₂₄th '50

My dear Chase, If I did not believe that Truth in the end must pre-

vail, I should be disposed at the present moment to despair of our

cause. Both the old parties are coming together on substantially the

same principle-non-action or non-intervention. I trust to Calhoun's

influence to drive them from this shelter.³⁰ Can he do it?

Cass's speech31 will prevent for the present the Northern Democ-

racy from joining with us. And yet his leading supporters in our Legis-

lature now in session said yesterday in private that they would not

sustain him for the Presidency.

The course of the Democrats in Ohio is also disheartening.³² I

think even you must despair of them.

Would it not be well to bring out in the Senate 20 or 30 of the ad-

vertisements of run-a-way negroes in order to shew the character of

 

 

27. On 27 December 1849 Giddings asserted he could vote for neither the Whig

Robert C. Winthrop nor Howell Cobb (Democrat, Georgia) for Speaker, and criticized

Winthrop (a charge Winthrop denied) for supporting the Mexican War after previously

opposing it. Congressional Globe 31st Congress, 1st Session, Appendix, Part I, 36-37.

28. Senator Cass had recently moved that the U.S. look into suspending relations

with Austria because of Austria's oppression of Hungary. Congressional Globe 31st

Congress, 1st Session, Part I, 54-58.

29. Hamlet, III, ii, 253, meaning "we are innocent."

30. In the search for compromise over sectional differences, Senator John Calhoun

urged the South to secure "adequate guarantees" before supporting any compromise

resolutions. Blue, Free Soilers, 198.

31. Sumner presumably refers to Cass's Senate speech of 22 January 1850 when the

Senator stated that he could not support the Wilmot Proviso. Congressional Globe 31st

Congress, 1st Session, Appendix, 67-70.

32. The Ohio Democratic convention had recently voted against endorsing the

Wilmot Proviso. Eugene H. Roseboom, The Civil War Era, IV, History of the State of

Ohio (Columbus, 1944), 257.

• 12
 

176                                                       OHIO HISTORY

 

Slavery? What is uttered in the Senate is now uttered, through the

press to the whole country. These advertisements speak trumpet-

tongued against the deep damnation.

Have you Judge Jay's last tract-An Address to the Inhabitants of

New Mexico & California.³³

Who will answer Cass! Give me a word of hope.

Ever yours, Charles Sumner

P.S. I suppose Parker is with you in Washington. My regards to him.

 

Boston March ₉th '50

Saturday

Dear Chase, I had never confided in Webster's principles; but I

had supposed that a selfish regard for his position in history would

save him from any open apostacy to Freedom.³⁴ I had thought the

example of Strafford &     of the "archangel ruined"³⁵ would not be

lost upon him. But I have been mistaken.

His speech covers himself, & if possible, his country, with igno-

miny. One of his most devoted friends & correspondents, Mr Steven-

son, who represented Boston in the Phila. Convention³⁶ said this

morning to a friend of mine, "There are but few men, who have it in

their power to disgrace a century. Mr Webster is one of these men &

he has done it." I hear from various Whig quarters the strongest con-

demnations of his speech. I think the moral sense of people has been

pained. But notwithstanding this, I do not expect from Whigs any

open protest. The shiboleth of party is too potent. The independent

Whigs, or protestants, have already left the party. All the rest are in

servile bonds.

 

 

33. William Jay, "Address to the Inhabitants of New Mexico and California, on the

omission by Congress to provide them with Territorial Governments and on the social

and political evils of slavery," written August 1849, in Miscellaneous Writings on Slav-

ery (Boston, 1853), 491-551.

34. Daniel Webster's famous 7th of March speech in the U.S. Senate in support of

Clay's compromise measures was a plea for reconciliation of sectional differences be-

tween North and South to preserve the Union. Especially offensive to Free-Soilers was

Webster's endorsement of the Fugitive Slave Bill, which called for severe punishment

for those aiding runaway slaves. Congressional Globe 31st Congress, 1st Session, 476-

83; Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 184.

35. Presumably Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, chief advisor to Charles I,

executed in 1641 by the Cromwellian Long Parliament on charges he had attempted to

raise an army against the existing Parliament. "Archangel ruined" refers to John Mil-

ton's Satan, Paradise Lost, I, 1. 591.

36. Probably J. T. Stevenson, a Boston manufacturer and Whig who had attended

that party's convention which nominated Taylor in 1848. E.L. Pierce, Memoir and Let-

ters of Charles Sumner, III (Boston, 1893), 124-25.

• 13
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                        177

 

You have a grand opportunity. You must answer Webster & Cal-

houn together. Vindicate our fundamental positions. I hope you will

speak soon, take time enough & go over the whole subject. You un-

derstand it so completely, that you have an immense advantage.³⁷

Ever yrs, Charles Sumner.

P.S. I have been told that our Govr-Briggs³⁸-has been severely

tried by Webster's speech.

P.S. To his plausible casuistry about new States from Texas,³⁹ is it not

a sufficient reply, that Texas did not come in by virtue of a Treaty-

that was rejected; it was simply under Congressional resolutions-&

that, whatever may be the effect of treaty stipulations there can be no

such permanent binding influence in mere resolutions-especially in

defiance of the spirit of the Constitution.

We say here also, & Mass said at the time that the resolutions were

Unconstitutional.

 

Boston June ₅th '51

My dear Chase, If you can pardon I cannot pardon myself for my

long neglect.

Yr letter of friendship & sympathy on my election⁴⁰ was particular-

ly grateful. Believe me, I have no personal joy in this result. I say now,

as I said while the election was pending, I do not wish to be a sena-

tor. I prefer other paths of duty. Most unfeignedly do I wish another

person faithful to our cause were in my place. And could I, with pro-

priety, make a vacancy, I would do so.

Since the receipt of yr letter I have been much occupied by various

matters, & delayed writing to you, hoping for an opportunity to write

 

 

37. Chase did speak against the compromise measures on 26-27 March and Sumner

assisted him in publishing the speech in pamphlet form.

38. George M. Briggs (Governor of Massachusetts, 1844-50), a moderate Whig, had

voted for Taylor in 1848.

39. In his Senate speech, attempting to resolve the matter of slavery in the territo-

ries, Webster maintained that the issue had already been determined by law. Web-

ster stated that slavery in both the new Texas territory and the southern states was en-

titled to similar governmental protection. Moreover, Texas could become four separate

slave states if its residents so wished. Congressional Globe 31st Congress, 1st Session,

479.

40. On 7 January 1851, Sumner had been nominated by the Free-Soil Caucus of the

Massachusetts legislature for the U.S. Senate. It was not until 24 April that the Free-

Soil-Democrat coalition collected enough additional Whig votes to elect Sumner to the

Senate seat. See Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 189, 200-02. Chase had repeatedly ex-

pressed hope that Sumner would become Senator and, writing from Columbus on 28

April 1851, stated, "Now I feel as if I had a brother-colleague-one with whom I

shall sympathize and be able fully to act." "Correspondence," 235.

• 14
 

178                                                 OHIO HISTORY

 

at length.-I am sad-very sad-at Palfrey's defeat.⁴¹ He deserved

success. His letter last written against the Coalition produced the

present result. But for that, he would have recd democratic support

ample to elect him. I think he will in the course of a few days be con-

nected with our people.

Through Hale's kindness I have been able to select a seat in the

Chamber at Washington. All that was left to me was a seat in the

front row, or Nos 40 & 22. I have taken No 22 at the end of Hale's

row.

I delight in yr promise of co-operation, & hope to see much of you.

I am entirely uncertain as to the way in which to live. My own tastes

would carry me away from a boarding-house or hotel. My European

experience is too pleasantly fresh in my memory, & also my long life at

home with my mother, to incline me to this American system. I

should prefer rooms by myself. Is this practicable? Here I might

breakfast, & occasionally dine, or I might dine at a chop house or

restaurant. What are your ideas?

Do you see yr way in the coming Presidential contest? My reply to

Hale inquiries is that I shall be where my principles are.-Do not imi-

tate my negligence, but let me hear of you soon.

Ever yours, Charles Sumner

 

Boston Sept. ₁₈th '51

Dear Chase, While in New York at the Evng Post office, I heard

that you had been in these parts. Why did you not let me know of yr

movements? It would have been a sincere pleasure to meet and confer

with you, renewing our long talks.

I have just recd yr missive with regard to the Convention at

Cleveland.⁴² I do not think it possible for me to attend it, & I find, on

inquiry, that all our friends, who have time to spare for their country,

expect to be fully occupied in our own state. Besides, it does not

seem to us that there is at this moment any sufficient occasion for

such a Convention as is proposed. It would act, doubtless, with good

 

 

41. Palfrey, Free Soil candidate for Congress, had refused to support the Free-Soil-

Democrat coalition which had elected George Boutwell as Governor and Sumner as

Senator. After a series of inconclusive runoffs, Palfrey finally lost the election. See

Gatell, John Gorham Palfrey, 198-200.

42. Chase had invited Sumner to the "National Convention of the Friends of Free-

dom" on 24 November, stating that "Massachusetts must be well represented."

Chase to Sumner, Cincinnati, 30 August 1851, MS letter in Charles Sumner Papers,

Houghton Library; all letters from Houghton Library cited or quoted by permission of

the Houghton Library.

• 15
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                       179

 

effect on local opinion in Ohio; but I do not think it can serve any na-

tional purpose to a sufficient degree to tempt us, who are otherwise

occupied, to the long journey. But I trust that we shall not seem indif-

ferent to the cause, because we are unable at the present moment to

mingle in yr counsels & efforts.

The Coalition will carry Mass. & Winthrop be completely de-

feated.⁴³ This is clear, unless Hunkerism breaks out in some unex-

pected form of treachery.

I have not seen yr recent letter. That of July I liked much.

I regret more & more my official burdens. There is nothing in the

vista of office which has any charms for me.

The Democrats will go into the next Presidential campaign on the

issue of Cuban Annexation.⁴⁴ This we must meet next winter.

Let me hear from you soon.

Ever yrs, Charles Sumner

P.S. I have thought of securing rooms at Washington the other side

of the Presdt's house.⁴⁵

 

Senate Chamber ₂₆th Feb. '56

Dear Chase,    John Bell⁴⁶ is now speaking on Central America, & I

send you a short word of friendship.

We all miss you-yr steady councils, & yr ready voice & the

strength of yr presence. Come back. Do.⁴⁷

Wilson's speech opening our Kansas debate is the grand effort &

culmination of his life, & is worth a senatorship. It is a conglomerate

& pudding-stone of facts, & these, at this stage of discussion are par-

ticularly important. He has drawn down much bitterness upon him-

self.⁴⁸ This shewed itself in the Exec. Session, on the same day,

 

 

43. Winthrop was running for Governor against the Free-Soil-Democratic coalition

candidate, George Boutwell.

44. Some Southern slavery expansionists sought to purchase Cuba from Spain. See

Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 241.

45. Although in his letter of 28 June 1851 Chase proposed renting a house jointly

with him and Hale, Sumner engaged a bedroom and sitting room of his own on New

York Avenue. "Correspondence," 238. Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 206.

46. U.S. Senator (Whig, Tennessee, 1847-1859).

47. Running as the nominee of the Anti-Nebraska Republican Convention, Chase

had been elected Governor of Ohio in 1855. Writing Sumner from Cincinnati shortly

after the election, Chase stated, "Our victory is glorious and complete.... Every en-

gine of detraction and abuse was put in action against me. But the people vindicated

me at last." Letter of 15 October 1855, Sumner Papers, Houghton Library.

48. In his opening speech on the admission of Kansas, 18 and 19 February 1856,

Senator Henry Wilson (Republican, Massachusetts, 1855-72) had declared the anti-

slavery settlers in Kansas law-abiding and the elections in favor of proslavery interests

• 16
 

180                                                      OHIO HISTORY

 

when Shannon was pushed through. Several senators there directly

insulted him. Yr successor⁴⁹ spoke then for the first time, briefly but

effectively, with positive richness of voice & freedom of language.

The course of the Administration towards Kansas seems diabolic.

I have not been able to go near the Presdt during this session.

What say you of affairs?

Ever yrs,   C.S.

 

Senate Chamber ₁₅th May '56

My dear Chase, I was glad to hear from you & chide myself for my

much silence. But this has been with me a very busy winter. My

engagements of business have grown, & I have also occupied myself

with severe public questions.

I have the floor for next Monday on Kansas, when I shall make the

most thorough & complete speech of my life.⁵⁰ My soul is wrung by

this outrage, & I shall pour it forth. How small was all that our fathers

endured compared with the wrongs of Kansas!

From Presidential talk I have kept entirely aloof, except to say, on

every proper opportunity, that my preference is for the old guard, in

which I recognised you & Seward as foremost. The latter has be-

haved magnanimously this winter, & striven well to keep the stan-

dard of our principles at their just height. In the caucuses he has de-

veloped unexpected power of fervid extemporaneous speech. His

friends do not allow him to be considered a candidate. The talk

seems now to fasten upon McLean & Fremont.⁵¹

 

 

fraudulent; he stated that the present governor of the Kansas Territory, Wilson Shan-

non, was incompetent and should be removed, and criticized President Franklin

Pierce's efforts to organize a proslavery government there. Congressional Globe 34th

Congress, 1st Session, Appendix, 89-95.

49. George E. Pugh, U.S. Senator (Democrat, Ohio, 1855-61), presented a petition

for a pension from a Revolutionary War widow. Congressional Record 34th Congress,

1st Session, 449.

50. Sumner refers to "The Crime Against Kansas" which he delivered on 19 and 20

May 1856. In excoriating the South for introducing slavery into the Kansas Territory,

Sumner especially singled out Senators Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and Andrew But-

ler of South Carolina. Congressional Globe 34th Congress, 1st Session, Appendix,

529-44; see especially 530 and 543.

51. John C. Fremont, U.S. Senator (California, 1850-51), and Republican nominee

for President, 1856. In his letter to Sumner from Columbus, 3 May 1856, Chase had

asked: "What about Presidential matters? Before we separated a year ago you con-

fessed a purpose for me. From what you said last winter I inferred that your mind had

undergone a change. If so, it matters little to me. All I ask is a true & tried man, and a

plain platform. I could labor harder for Sumner, Seward, Hale, or several others than I

could for myself: and I should envy no man the responsibilities which an election

would impose." Excerpt from manuscript letter, Sumner Papers, Houghton Library.

• 17
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                       181

 

Surely we can succeed.-we must succeed in the coming election. If

we do not, well may we despair!

Report says that my fair neighbor is soon to be married; but I learn

nothing from the family, & some weeks ago she volunteered to tell me

there was no truth to it.

Ever Yrs, Charles Sumner

P.S. I miss you much. Ducite ab urbe dominum.⁵²

 

Boston ₁₀th Jan. '58

I have this moment, my dear Chase, finished yr message, as it ap-

pears in the Tribune.⁵³ I am with you on the question of jurisdiction,

& nothing could be better than yr statement of the Kansas case. I

shall send it to Lord Napier,⁵⁴ who unhappily is in much need of

light.

You have sculptured the whole case, so that it stands forth with

the distinctness & simplicity of a bas-relief.

I wish that we could talk together for an evng-.

Our experience of Douglas, I think, would prevent any strong confi-

dence in his labors for the good cause. His essential baseness has

been too often manifest. Besides, the personal motive of his present

movement is too obvious. I cannot at this point of time undertake to

say whether he will be successful or not. This, however, seems cer-

tain to me, that if he had not taken his present course, he would have

been defeated in Illinois. He let the office-holders in New York know

that he would not be "in Walker's way in 1860." Indeed, he

is obviously struggling now, not for the Presidency, but for a re-

election. It is a little strange that some of our friends & papers should

play into his hands.⁵⁵

I envy you many things, but now chiefly the capacity to work,-

which unhappily I cannot. But all is surely coming back, &, some

 

 

52. Take the master from the city!

53. Presumably, the New York Tribune. During this period Chase stated publicly

several times that the territories should not be open to slavery, and that Senator

Stephen A. Douglas's (Democrat, Illinois) opposition to the Lecompton Constitution

did not mean he was joining the antislavery forces. Hart, Salmon Portland Chase,

173-74.

54. Sir Francis Napier, British Minister to the United States (1857-58), tended to fa-

vor the southern Democratic position. Donald, Sumner and Civil War, 332.

55. When Douglas denounced the Lecompton Constitution in December 1859, he

openly opposed President Buchanan. Douglas opposed the constitution not because of

its proslavery bias, but rather because it had not been submitted to a popular vote.

Damon Wells, Stephen Douglas, The Last Years, 1857-61 (Austin, 1971), 23. The Walker

referred to could be Robert Walker, recently resigned as Governor of the Kansas Terri-

tory, although his troubles there surely had weakened his possibilities as a Presiden-

tial candidate for the 1860 election.

• 18
 

182                                                     OHIO HISTORY

 

hours during this last week, I have been disposed to believe that it

had come. But I must wait a little longer. Oh! I do long to speak.⁵⁶

You are happy with yr daughters about you. God bless them & re-

member me most kindly to them. If you have not struck me from yr

lists as an unresponding correspondent, let me hear from you soon, &

believe me, dear Chase, Ever sincerely Yours, Charles Sumner

 

Senate Chamber ₇th Feb. '60

Dear Chase, Too long I have delayed my welcome & hand-shake.

It is with true pleasure, in heart & head, that I think of yr return to

this body.⁵⁷ Would that you were here now!

So at last you are vindicated most triumphantly in yr State. Re-

turning justice lifts aloft her scales.

Few political events have given me more pleasure.

Tell yr children not to forget me. Good bye!

Ever & ever Yours, Charles Sumner

Seward has a very anxious look. It is understood that he has pre-

pared his speech-the last speech he will ever make-so he says;-

as he will not return to the Senate after 4th March.⁵⁸

 

Senate Chamber, ₁₉th Jan. '61

My dear Chase, I have not written to you because until now I saw no

occasion to trouble you with my hopes or fears. I looked forward to

you as a colleague in the Senate & a pillar there of our cause, & I was

unwilling to say a word to incline you to any change. Indeed, I have

been fixed in the opinion that you ought to be in the Senate-that

there yr great powers could be most felt, & yr usefulness most emi-

nent. If these times were not so unnatural, I think that I could not be

shaken in this idea.

 

56. On 22 May 1856 Sumner had suffered a serious beating from Preston Brooks,

South Carolina Congressman, in retaliation for Sumner's verbal attack on Brooks's

cousin, Senator Butler. Sumner did not fully recover until December 1859. Donald,

Sumner and Civil War, 290-93, 315.

57. On 2 February 1860, the Ohio legislature elected Chase as U.S. Senator. Al-

though a faction opposing him had caused postponement of the election, Chase wrote

Sumner (Columbus, 20 January 1860) that he saw "no serious opposition" to his re-

turning to the Senate. "Correspondence," 284-85. Chase was, of course, looking be-

yond the Senate toward the Republican Presidential nomination and viewed Seward

as his chief rival for that position.

58. In his Senate speech 29 February 1860, Seward argued for the admission of

Kansas as a free state, dwelling on the moral and political evils slavery produced. He

declared that the Republican Party, representing the best interests of the entire Unit-

ed States, did not favor disunion. Congressional Globe 36th Congress, 1st Session,

910-14.

• 19
 

Small Minority to Great Cause                                      183

 

But our new Administration, under the peculiar circumstances

which now surround us, will be called to deal directly with great

questions of principle.⁵⁹ It will be for a while in the place of Congress,

& it may have the duty cast upon it to save a great cause even at the

expense of the Republic. Such a responsibility can be adequately met

only by firmness, courage & inflexible principle.

More than anything else, I fear "surrender." Beyond my opposi-

tion to slavery in every form-whether it shews itself in direct or indi-

rect propositions-I am against any offer now, even of a [peppercorn?].

Let us know if we have a Govt. These troubles cannot now be con-

fused by any concession on our part without admitting secession as a

constitutional right & giving to recent proceedings the force of prece-

dent, so that hereafter every Presidential election will be conducted

under the menace of "disunion" by a single discontented State.

No; we must stand firm.

Therefore I trust that you will accept the post of Secretary of the

Treasury.⁶⁰ I write this at my own [motivation?], & with an anxious

desire to help those principles for which we have so long labored to-

gether.

I deplore S's speech.⁶¹ He read it to me 4 days before he made it,

& I supplicated him with all the ardor of my soul, to change its tone

& especially to abandon every proposition of concession,-ending his

speech with the declaration that Mr Lincoln would be inaugurated

4th March President of the United States, & with a rally to sustain

him. He did not hearken to me. Gov^r Bingham,⁶² who is by my

side, says that yr acceptance is "our only salvation."

We are on the eve of great events, & I doubt if any devices can do

more than dishonor us.

You will judge the question wisely - I doubt not. God bless you! &

yr daughter also Ever yours, Charles Sumner

 

 

59. By this date, South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama had seceded

from the Union, with conventions to consider secession then being held in Georgia,

Louisiana, and Texas. On this same date were formalized Virginia's plans for a confer-

ence to examine ways by which dissolution could be prevented; delegates from every

state were invited to assemble in Washington on 4 February for a peace conference. Da-

vid Potter, The Impending Crisis (New York, 1976), 498, 507.

60. President-elect Abraham Lincoln offered this Cabinet post to Chase in early

January 1861.

61. Seward's speech, delivered in the Senate 12 January 1861, proposed five means

by which the Union could be preserved. He offered such concessions to the South as

a Constitutional amendment denying Congress the power to interfere with slavery in

any state and proposed a popular convention to consider amendments to "the organic

national law." Congressional Globe 36th Congress, 2nd Session, 343-44.

62. Kinsley Bingham, Governor of Michigan.

• 20