Wednesday, January 19, 2011

New York Ignores Its Civil War History


The standard narrative is that slavery was a Southern institution and the north, including New York fought to preserve the union and end slavery. But the reality of history is never so simple. For example, as a Congressman in the 1840s, New Yorker Fernando Wood was a strong supporter of slavery and the South. He continued his support of the South when he became Mayor of New York City in the 1850s. On January 8, 1861, the New York Times published the transcript of Mayor Fernando Wood's annual report to the city's Common Council. In this message, Wood spoke about the city's options as the United States federal union appeared to be dissolving and he called for the city to secede as well. Woods told the Common Council, "It would seem that a dissolution of the Federal Union is inevitable." He reminded its members that with their "aggrieved brethren of the Slave States we have friendly relations and a common sympathy" because "we have not participated in the warfare upon their constitutional rights or their domestic institutions." He proposed that "New York should endeavor to preserve a continuance of uninterrupted intercourse with every section," and to do this it should secede from the Union itself and become "a free City." Wood concluded, "When disunion has become a fixed and certain fact, why may not New York disrupt the bands which bind her to a corrupt and venal master. New York, as a Free City, may shed the only light and hope for a future reconstruction of our once blessed Confederacy." Wood's sentiments were supported by the New York Herald and the Journal of Commerce. The Herald published a statement by department store magnet Alexander Stewart charging that "the refusal at Washington to concede costs us millions daily." The Journal of Commerce warned President-elect Lincoln that, "there are a million and a half mouths to be fed daily in this city and its dependencies; and they will not consent to be starved by any man's policies."...more

No comments: