Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-01-04

! I: j !; !: !:
~ to write a fair,
perfectly accurate
y story Of the civil
~X war. A recital OF
HSs&, our countrys
&Sst3o struggles with
u other nations pre-
sents fewer diff
culties. Most Of those disputes are far
enough away to allow the right per-
spective. But the civil war. perhaps
the deadliest war In all history, Is
different. Brother fought against
brother. Every battle. no matter which
side won it. was national calamity
and a blow at our country's welfare.
That the breach which threatened
to wreck forever the United States Is
now entirely healed, that the once war
ring sections are Joined again into
mighty. indivisible world power; that
all Ill feeling and partisan fanaticism
are eternally buried, that the causes
Of the war are dead issues and north
and south merged into one perfect
brotherhood-all these facts speak
more eloquently than mere words.
Nearly 100000 American lives and
more than s4,OOOOOO,OOO were spent
upon the civil war; Here In brief are
the events which led up to 1t:
For many years the old bond Of fel-
lowship between north and south had
been weakening. South Carolina as
! far back as Andrew Jackson's time
had taken offense at certain tariff reg
ulations aud had threatened to secede
from the Union. Other southern states
believed in loyalty to state rather than
to the national government. They be-
lleved that when states no longer
wished to remain In the UHion they
had right to withdraw. And when
such time came they did withdraw.
Their right or lack of right to do this
was the actual occasion Of the war,
not the freeing Of the negro, as is gen.
orally supposed, although this latter
was one of the great primary causes.
Early In colonial days many thou
sand African r"groes had been brought
to America al, sold as slaves, not only
in the sorth. but In the north as well.
After Il time the northern states found
slavery 10 longer profitable. 1t died
natural death. rs do most Improbable
customs and paid labor took its place.
| But in the south negroes were needed
: for field work on the huge plantations.
which formed the backbone of the south
ern states prosperity. On many OF these
| plantations the climate was such that
no white man could stand the all day
outdoor work; hence southerners grew
to regard slavery as necessary to their
livelihood. In the north sentiment
sprang up against the buying and sell
ing of human beings. The south re-
scented this feeling, and the breach be-
tween the two sections was still fur
Their widened. Yet no active trouble
might have ensued but for fresh COM
plications.
More and more states were constant
ly added 10 the Union. And when
these new states CHANGED to be STU
ated along the border line between
north and south strenuous efforts were
made to introduce the slavery system
into them. While the government
made no outward objection to the con-
tinuance of slavery in states where
the custom already had Il foothold.
public sentiment In the north forbade
the establishing Of any new slave
states The question Of slavery or no
slavery in these states became a ma
tional issue. and the Republican party
fouuded in 1856 with John G. Fremont
as its candidate for president) pro-
claimed itself the mo slavery cham