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The vitriolic editorial on the Emancipation Proclamation...
The vitriolic editorial on the Emancipation Proclamation...
Item # 703676
January 07, 1863
THE CRISIS, Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 7, 1863
* President Abraham Lincoln
* Emancipation Proclamation
* Spiteful editorial by Democrats
A terrific issue, as the front page contains a printing of Lincoln's famous Emancipation Proclamation by which he freed the slaves in the slave-holding states, signed by him in type: Abraham Lincoln.
But the notable content is not the document but the terrific editorial which precedes it.
This being a pro-South newspaper, despite being printed in the North, the editor gives a vitriolic response to Lincoln's Proclamation. It is headed: "The Deed is
Done! The Dictator Presumes to Speak! The Negro in the Ascendant!" and the text begins: "We do not know that any one should be surprised at this last act of the half-witted Usurper who, in an evil hour, was elected under the forms of the Constitution by a portion of the American people under whip & spur of a set of fanatical & sectional politicians..." and further on: "...Now, if Mr. Lincoln, under the assumption of the 'war power', a power which exists only in the imaginations of himself and his fanatical and brainless followers..." and so much more. Truly a terrific & lengthy editorial taking two and one-third columns.
This is a rare instance where the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation is eclipsed by the editorial concerning it.
The balance of the issue is replete with much war-related reports although they pale in comparison with the front page content. Included: "Battle in Progress at Vicksburg" "Further Atrocities of 'Lincolnism' in Missouri" "The Horrors of Missouri" "The Despotism of Abolitionism" " "Petition to Prevent Negroes Settling in Ohio--Push on the Good Work" "Retaliation Proclamation of Jefferson Davis" which includes: "On the Liberation of Slaves" & is signed in type: Jefferson Davis.
Eight pages, nice condition.
AI notes: THE CRISIS of Columbus, Ohio, dated January 7, 1863, is best known for its extraordinarily vitriolic editorial attacking Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had taken effect just days earlier, and it stands as one of the harshest examples of Northern “Copperhead” press opposition during the Civil War. Edited by Samuel Medary, a leading Peace Democrat, the paper denounced Lincoln as a tyrant and usurper, portraying the proclamation as unconstitutional, reckless, and socially catastrophic, while inflaming racial fears by warning of the political “ascendancy” of formerly enslaved people. The editorial’s language was openly contemptuous and inflammatory, rejecting emancipation as a betrayal of the original war aims and framing it as proof that the Lincoln administration had abandoned lawful government in favor of radical abolitionist ideology. This issue vividly illustrates the depth of Northern dissent in 1863, the bitterness of the political divide within Union states, and the role newspapers like The Crisis played in shaping resistance to emancipation, making surviving copies historically significant artifacts of Civil War–era political conflict and press freedom.
This interesting title was described as "The Hottest Rebel Sheet to be found in the North or the South". It opposed the war and attracted the hatred of the Republicans and the Lincoln administration. It insisted that slavery could not be prohibited by law. So obnoxious was this paper to Unionists that it was denied circulation in some cities. In 1863 the press was raided by a hateful mob.
Eight pages, some toning at the margins, nice condition.
Category: Yankee
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