crushing the rebellion crushing the Union?
A publication in upstate New York called for the end of the war and its great costs in terms of the dead and maimed, the public debt, and the loss of Constitutional liberty.
From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in July 1864:
What War has Accomplished.
More than three years of incessant war have elapsed. More than two millions of men have been called out to swell the ranks of our armies – thirty times the number of men which was at first deemed to be an extravagant force have entered the service; thirteen times three months have elapsed and where are we to-day, and what have we done? At least half a million of the strongest, healthiest, ablest producers of the North have been slain – needlessly and wickedly slain – making widows, orphans and mourning in every neighborhood in the North.
three serfs and a reeve
We have incurred a debt of four thousand millions. If any man can demonstrate how at the end of the war the current expenses and interest can be paid without crushing the industry of the country and reducing every laboring man and his family to the condition of serfs, we should rejoice to see the figures. But supposing this to be done, we still have the principal debt larger than the monstrous debt of Great Britain resting upon us for all time. Owned by the rich, it will be the foundation of a monied aristocracy, who will keep the masses forever toiling to pay the interest – the poor continually growing poorer, and the richer, richer.
We have imperilled our liberties. The great bulwarks of liberty, habeas corpus, freedom from arrest except upon due process of law; the right of trial by jury; freedom of speech and the press – rights which our ancestors fought hundreds of years to secure, and which we thought were firmly established, have all been repeatedly violated. This is due to the war, for its only attempted justification is – military necessity. Reflecting men of all parties are becoming justly alarmed at the fearful encroachments upon Constitutional liberty. They were first tolerated because we were assured that they were only temporary, and not to grow into precedents; they have already lasted for years.
In view of all the sad lessons of the past and all our hopes for the future, let us demand in thunder tones a stoppage of this most wicked war. Why sacrifice another 500,000 men to the juggernaut of this unholy strife?
You can see a graphical representation of U.S. war debt at The Atlantic and read one take on the economic costs of the Civil War at the Freeman
who gets the kids?
