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"The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known": The North's Union Leagues in the American Civil War by Paul Taylor (review)
Civil War History Pub Date : 2021-02-05 , DOI: 10.1353/cwh.2021.0007
Adam W. Dean

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Reviewed by:

  • “The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known”: The North’s Union Leagues in the American Civil War by Paul Taylor
  • Adam W. Dean
“The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known”: The North’s Union Leagues in the American Civil War. Paul Taylor. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-1-60635-353-0. 336 pp., cloth, $45.00.

Paul Taylor, a well-known historian of the North during the Civil War, has produced the most complete study of the United States’ Union and Loyal Leagues during and immediately after the conflict. While most scholars of the Civil War era are vaguely familiar with the leagues, Taylor corrects a number of common misconceptions and shows they were indispensable to securing public support for the Union war effort.

Taylor traces the origins of the Union Leagues to two prewar phenomena. First, there was a longstanding tradition of gentlemen’s social clubs in Northern cities that served as blueprints for the elite leagues that existed in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston during the war. Second, during the election of 1860 and ensuing [End Page 59] secession crisis, secretive political groups like the Wide Awakes formed to back the Republican Party.

Once the war proved longer and more difficult than most in the North had imagined, union supporters in the Upper Midwest established Union Leagues. Taylor makes a valuable point by noting that people formed these organizations because they feared pro-Confederate societies like the Knights of the Golden Circle and faced hostility from the Copperheads—Northern Democrats opposed to the war and emancipation. These middle-class and grassroots organizations coalesced first in Illinois and then acquired a national headquarters in Washington, DC, in 1863 as the Union League of America. Taylor points out that the more famous Union League Clubs in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston were separate. These groups also backed the Union war effort and the Republican Party but were much more elite, featuring the powerful and wealthy. Here, Taylor makes good use of Sidney George Fisher’s excellent diary.

While ostensibly nonpartisan, both the elite and grassroots Union Leagues worked hand-in-glove with the Republican Party to support the war and, after 1863, emancipation. They labeled Copperhead and Democratic opponents as traitors but were somewhat open to war Democrats like Andrew Johnson, whom they invited to speak at a national rally in March 1863. The leagues produced literature and pamphlets during elections to support Republican candidates and Abraham Lincoln. In 1864, this took the form of a whopping 470,000 copies of “its thirty-three . . . works” (224). While Taylor examines some of these pamphlets, including one by Francis Lieber, I wanted more analysis of these appeals. A few leagues also provided the funding for USCT regiments. Yet another function of the league was ostracism of Copperheads and those labeled as such, to provide social penalties for opposing the war and emancipation.

The last chapter touches on the Union Leagues during Reconstruction. In the South, African Americans provided the bulk of league membership, due to the Southern “white workingmen’s inability to fully grasp the League’s mission” and racism (233). Paramilitary violence by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan also prevented the groups from being more successful in the South. By 1872, with the goal of union achieved, most of the clubs in the North evaporated, with the exception of the elite clubs in big cities.

Overall, there is much in this book to appreciate. The writing is clear and engaging. The research is careful and thorough. Any future assessment of the election of 1864, so critical to US victory, will have to include Taylor’s work on the Union Leagues. I had only two quibbles. First, Taylor makes constant references to contemporary American politics. Some of these are a stretch, and in years to come may date the book. Second, perhaps in response to recent scholarship grossly overselling [End Page 60] emancipationist sentiment in the prewar Republican Party, Taylor gives frequent asides that during Reconstruction even radicals “cared little for black equality” and only wanted black votes (239). This is an overcorrection; radicals such as Benjamin Butler were tenacious in advocating for black...



中文翻译:

“有史以来最完整的政治机器”:保罗·泰勒(Paul Taylor)在美国内战中的北方联盟联盟(评论)

代替摘要,这里是内容的简要摘录:

审核人:

  • “有史以来最完整的政治机器”:保罗·泰勒(Paul Taylor)在美国内战中的北方联盟联盟
  • 亚当·W·迪恩
“有史以来最完整的政治机器”:美国内战中的北方联盟联盟。保罗·泰勒(Paul Taylor)。俄亥俄州肯特市:肯特州立大学出版社,2018年。ISBN978-1-60635-353-0。336页,布,$ 45.00。

内战期间北方著名的历史学家保罗·泰勒(Paul Taylor)在冲突期间和冲突发生后,对美国联盟和忠诚联盟进行了最全面的研究。尽管南北战争时代的大多数学者对联盟都含糊不清,但泰勒纠正了一些常见的误解,并表明它们对于确保公众对联盟战争努力的支持是必不可少的。

泰勒将联盟的起源追溯到战前的两种现象。首先,北方城市有绅士社交俱乐部的悠久传统,是战时费城,纽约和波士顿存在的精英联盟的蓝图。其次,在1860年大选及随后的[结束第59页]分裂危机期间,诸如“大觉醒”之类的秘密政治团体成立,以支持共和党。

一旦战争证明比北方大多数人想象的时间更长,难度更大,中西部上层的工会支持者就会建立联盟。泰勒指出,人们之所以成立这些组织,是因为他们担心像黄金圈骑士团这样的亲同盟社会,并面对铜头黑手党(Copperheads)的敌对态度,他们反对战争和解放,从而提出了宝贵的观点。这些中产阶级和基层组织首先在伊利诺伊州合并,然后于1863年收购了华盛顿特区的国家总部,成为美国联合联盟。泰勒指出,费城,纽约和波士顿比较有名的联盟联赛俱乐部是分开的。这些团体也支持联盟的战争努力和共和党,但精英更加强大,拥有强大而有钱的人。这里,

虽然表面上是无党派的,但精英联盟和基层联盟同盟都与共和党携手合作,以支持战争,并在1863年后实现了解放。他们将科波海德和民主党的反对者标记为叛徒,但对像安德鲁·约翰逊(Andrew Johnson)这样的战争民主党人却持开放态度,他们应邀在1863年3月的一次全国集会上发言。在选举期间,联盟制作了文学和小册子,以支持共和党候选人和亚伯拉罕·林肯。在1864年,它采用了多达470,000份的“ 33册”的形式。。。作品”(224)。泰勒研究了其中一些小册子,包括弗朗西斯·利伯(Francis Lieber)的小册子时,我希望对这些呼吁进行更多分析。一些联盟还为USCT团提供了资金。联盟的另一个功能是对科波海德斯(Copperheads)和那些被贴上标签的人的排斥

最后一章涉及重建期间的联盟联盟。在南方,由于南方“白人工人无法完全掌握联盟的使命”和种族主义,非洲裔美国人提供了大多数的联盟会员资格(233)。Ku Klux Klan等团体的准军事暴力也阻止了该团体在南方取得更大的成功。到1872年,为了实现联盟的目标,北部的大多数俱乐部都消失了,除了大城市的精英俱乐部。

总的来说,这本书有很多值得欣赏的地方。文字清晰,引人入胜。这项研究是仔细而透彻的。对于美国胜利至关重要的任何对1864年大选的未来评估,都必须包括泰勒在联盟联赛中的工作。我只有两个小题。首先,泰勒不断提及当代美国政治。其中有些是延展性的,并且在未来的几年中可能会使本书过时。其次,也许是在回应最近的奖学金严重超卖[尾页60]战前共和党emancipationist情绪,泰勒给了频繁的旁白是重建过程中甚至自由基“小照顾黑人平等”,只想要黑人选票(239)。这是一个过度校正;本杰明·巴特勒(Benjamin Butler)等激进分子坚决主张黑人...

更新日期:2021-03-16
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