Union Party | |
|---|---|
| Other name | |
| Leaders | Francis Preston Blair Jr. Montgomery Blair Thomas E. Bramlette Hamilton Rowan Gamble |
| Founded | 1861; 164 years ago (1861) |
| Dissolved | 1867; 158 years ago (1867) |
| Merger of | American Party Constitutional Union Party Republican Party Union Democrats |
| Succeeded by | Unconditional Union Party Conservative Party |
| Ideology | Unionism Gradual emancipation |
Southern Unionists in theborder states organizedpolitical parties to opposesecession from theUnited States during theAmerican Civil War. They extended critical support to the wartimeadministration of Abraham Lincoln while remaining outside Lincoln'sRepublican Party. While some harbored antislavery sympathies, most Unionists viewed theabolitionist movement with hostility and initially resisted Lincoln's efforts on behalf of emancipation. Unionist governments were opposed byCopperheads who opposed Lincoln's wartime policies and in some cases the war itself, as well asConfederate regular andirregular military forces.[1]
Abraham Lincoln won the1860 United States presidential election on a platform that called for theexclusion of slavery from the U.S. territories; his election and subsequent efforts to suppress rebellion precipitated the secession of elevenslave states that formed theConfederate States of America.[2] Unionist opposition to secession in the slave states includedconditional unionists who preferred acompromise consistent with southern interests but held out the possibility of secession as a last resort, as well as others whose commitment to Union was unequivocal. These latter unconditional unionists remained loyal to the national government following thecommencement of hostilities in April 1861, while many conditional unionists went over to the Confederacy.[3]
Unionists won critical elections inKentucky andMaryland preceding theJuly 4, 1861 emergency session of Congress, sending more than a dozen members to theHouse of Representatives.[4] They established provisional governments inMissouri and thewestern counties of Virginia that constituted the loyal civilian authority in those states throughout the war; a similar strategy was attempted unsuccessfully inEast Tennessee.[5] By 1862, issues related to slavery and emancipation increasingly divided Unionists between opposing factions, culminating in a formal split between Conservative andUnconditional (or Radical) Unionists. Unwilling to sanction proposals for immediate emancipation andBlack enlistment, some Conservatives supported theDemocratic Party in the1864 United States presidential election; the remainder followed the Radicals into theNational Union Party coalition. Lincoln's reelection on the National Union ticket demonstrated the Radicals' superior strength and established a beachhead for the Republican Party in theUpper South.[6]
Unionists came from diverse backgrounds, although certain commonalities were apparent. Most were formerWhigs who had declined to join the Republican Party prior to the war; a minority were Unionist Democrats whoseJacksoniannationalism inspired a fierce opposition to disunion.[7] They drew strength fromAppalachia as well as merchants and businessmen in commercial centers likeBaltimore.[8]Montgomery Blair was the highest-ranking Unionist in thenational government for most of the war aspostmaster general in Lincoln'scabinet; other prominent Unionists includedFrancis Preston Blair Jr.,John J. Crittenden,Henry Winter Davis, andAndrew Johnson.[9]
In its broadest application, "unionist" referred to active opponents of secession in the slave states who remained loyal to the national government following the commencement of hostilities in April 1861.[10] Some historians and contemporary sources use the term "unconditional unionist" to distinguish between this former group and "conditional unionists" who ultimately supported the Confederacy.[11] Elected politicians who pledged unconditional loyalty to the United States during the war were called "Unionists" or "Unconditional Unionists."[12] These terms were sometimes used interchangeably; in other cases, they referred to distinct party organizations, as in Maryland, where the Unconditional Union Party defeated the Conservative Unionists in the 1863 elections.[13]
Unionist political parties in the border states and areas of the Confederacy occupied by theUnion Army had a variety of names, including the Union Party, the Union Democratic Party, the Unconditional Union Party, and the Emancipation Party.[14] As the war progressed, rival Radical and Conservative organizations divided Unionists in several states. In Missouri, the Conservative state organization called itself the Unconditional Union Party in 1864; its opposition formed the Radical Union Party.[15] Dissimilarly, in Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and West Virginia, the "Unconditional Union Party" was the name used by the Radical faction.[16] Many of these state Union parties sent delegates to the1864 National Union Convention, including both Missouri Unionist factions.[17]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The glorious success of the Unionists in the election held in Kentucky on Monday is hardly less important than that of the winning of a battle in the field.
West Virginia elects by large majorities Blair, Brown and Whaley, Unconditional Union men, to the next Congress.
