CH. X]

LINCOLN REËLECTED

339

in Union members of Congress. These elections manifested a tendency of public opinion which pointed almost conclusively to Lincoln's election in November. The tide had turned and now it was again accelerated by Sheridan, who infused a considerable enthusiasm into the last weeks of the canvass by gaining a further and spectacular victory on the nineteenth of October. "Sheridan's Ride," a poem written by Thomas Buchanan Read and read by Murdoch at many gatherings, not only won votes but made a lasting impression on the minds of men. "With great pleasure," telegraphed Lincoln to Sheridan, "I tender to you and your brave army the thanks of the nation and my own personal admiration and gratitude for the month's operations in the Shenandoah Valley; and especially for the splendid work of October 19, 1864." 1

On November 8 the Presidential election took place. Lincoln carried States sufficient to give him 212 electoral votes, while McClellan would receive only 21, those of New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. In but one large State, New York, was there a close contest. Lincoln had a majority of the popular vote of 494,567. Moreover, the Lincoln party chose two-thirds of the House of Representatives. "I give you joy of the election," wrote Emerson to a friend. "Seldom in history was so much staked on a popular vote. I suppose never in history." Grant was "deeply impressed with the vast importance and significance of the Presidential election - the quiet and orderly character of the whole affair." There was, added Hay, "no bloodshed or riot. It proves our worthiness of free institutions and our capability of preserving them without running into anarchy or despotism.

13

In Lincoln's first election the people of the North had 1 Lincoln, C. W., II, 589. 2 Cabot, 609. . 3 J. Hay, I, 249.

340

LINCOLN REËLECTED

[1864

spoken, declaring their antagonism to slavery; if they were to remain true to their highest aspirations, they could not now turn back but must go resolutely forward. In spite of burdensome taxation, weariness of the war and mourning in every household, they decided on this election day of 1864 to finish the work they had begun.

CHAPTER XI

LIFE at the North during the war resembled that of most civilized communities which had full communication with the outside world. Business went on as usual, schools and colleges were full, churches were attended and men and women had their recreations. Progress was made in the mechanical sciences and arts. Men strove for wealth or learning; and the pursuit of fame was by no means confined to military and political circles. Nevertheless, that supreme business, the war, left its stamp on all private concerns and on every mode of thought. This was especially remarkable during the first eighteen months when the patriotic volunteers were individually encouraged by the sympathy and enthusiasm of those at home. "What of the war! Isn't it grand!" exclaimed Phillips Brooks in May, 1861. As late as the summer of 1862 the excellent character of the soldiers was noted. "Our army," wrote Asa Gray on July 2, "is largely composed of materials such as nothing but a high sense of duty could keep for a year in military life." "Our best young men," said Agassiz in a private letter of August 15, "are the first to enlist; if anything can be objected to these large numbers of soldiers, it is that it takes away the best material that the land possesses. "In all the country districts the strong young men were gone.

Times were hard at the commencement of the war and 1V, 189. Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions during the Civil War, 5.

342.

PRIVATIONS OF THE WAR

[1862

continued so until the autumn of 1862. "People are getting dreadfully poor here," wrote Phillips Brooks from Philadelphia.1 The New York Tribune referred to "our para- · lyzed industry, obstructed commerce, our overloaded finances and our mangled railroads."2 All sorts of economies were practised. Coffee and sugar rose enormously in price. Many families mixed roasted dandelion root with pure coffee while others made their morning beverage from parched corn or rye; some substituted brown for white sugar. One by one luxuries disappeared from the table and few were ashamed of their frugal repasts. The wearing of plain clothes became a fashion as well as a virtue. The North was for the most part a community of simple living. Opera was only occasional, theatres were few and the amusements took on a character adapted to the life. A popular lecture, a concert, a church sociable with a charade turning on some striking event of the war, a gathering of young men and women to scrape lint for the wounded, a visit perhaps to a neighboring camp to witness a dress parade of volunteers - these were the diversions from the overpowering anxiety weighing upon the people. Personal grief was added to the national anxiety. "In many of our dwellings," wrote Harriet Beecher Stowe, "the very light of our lives has gone out."

With great trials were mingled petty inconveniences arising from derangement of the country's finances. Gold began to sell at a premium in January, 1862, and disappeared from circulation; but this was no hardship to the mass of the people for gold had not been used largely as currency and there was a ready substitute for it in State bank-notes and the United States legal tenders. But the advance in gold was followed by a similar advance in silver. Silver change 1 June 29, 1861. 2 Aug. 5, 1862.

CH. XI

POSTAGE STAMPS CURRENCY

343

became an article of speculation and was bought at a premium by brokers; much of it was sent to Canada and by July 1, 1862, it seems to have practically disappeared from circulation. Its sudden disappearance brought forth diverse remedies. Individuals, prompter in action thanx municipalities or the general government, flooded the country with shinplasters - small notes in denominations of from 5 to 50 cents, promises to pay of hotels, restaurants, business houses and country dealers. For a short while copper and nickel cents commanded a premium and various metal tokens were issued by tradesmen to take their place as well as that of the small silver coins. Secretary Chase, in a letter of July 14, 1862, to the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, said that "the most serious inconveniences and evils are apprehended" unless the issues of shinplasters and metal tokens "can be checked and the small coins of the government kept in circulation or a substitute provided." He proposed either to debase the silver coinage of the fractional parts of a dollar or to legalize in effect the use of postage and other stamps as currency. Congress, by Act of July 17, 1862, prohibited the issue of shinplasters by private corporations or individuals, provided for the issuance to the public of postage and other stamps and declared that, under certain limitations, these were receivable in payment of dues to the United States and were redeemable in greenbacks. People naturally preferred the stamps to the promises to pay of private individuals and hastened to the post offices to be supplied therewith, but what they here gained in soundness they lost in convenience. The gummy back, flimsy texture, small surface and light weight of the stamps rendered them the most imperfect circulating medium ever known in the United States. For one thing, the making of