Seth Kaller, Inc.

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“Stand by Congress!”

This broadside, presented in the form of a balance sheet, gives an account of the money and men the northern states spent in suppressing the rebellion and the results it had received, including the “Murder of President Lincoln” and the massacre of black and white Unionists in Memphis (May 1866), New Orleans (July 1866), and Platte City, Missouri (September 1866). It concludes that loyal people, both black and white, must stand by Congress against President Andrew Johnson.

Inventory #27504       ON HOLD

The majority of the text of this broadside appeared in The Kenosha Telegraph in Wisconsin. After “Which will the people stand by?” the editors added “Congress and Halbert E. Paine.” Union brigadier general and Republican Congressman Halbert E. Paine (1826-1905) won reelection in November 1866 to represent Wisconsin’s 1^st congressional district.[1]

The New Orleans Tribune of November 8, 1866, attributed the campaign document to Col. Rush C. Hawkins of New York.[2] According to a bibliographer, the Union League Club of New York City printed and circulated 100,000 copies of the broadside. It also appeared as a four-page pamphlet.[3]

Excerpts

“Paid.
“In money, about five billions of dollars, $5,000,000,000”
“Men.
“Total number of white troops who bore arms to suppress the Rebellion, 2,500,000
“Total number of colored troops who bore arms to suppress the Rebellion, 180,000....
“Sailors and marines who bore arms to suppress the Rebellion, about, 122,000
“Total of soldiers and sailors, 2,802,000”
“Total dead, 408,877”

“Received.
The Murder of President Lincoln
“The massacre of Unionists at Memphis.
“ ʺ        ʺ            ʺ        ʺ         ʺ  New Orleans.
“ ʺ        ʺ            ʺ        ʺ         ʺ  Platte City.
“Churches and school-houses used by Unionists, burnt in all the rebel states.”

“Impudent claims on the part of Rebels for seats in Congress, in order to enable them to make laws for loyal citizens, repudiate the National debt, discontinue pensions, place the Government again in the hands of the rebels, pay themselves for their slaves, and start another rebellion, soon as they see any chance of success.”

“The enactment of a slave code, quite as unjust as any heretofore existing, in all the rebel states.”

“Are these the results for which the Loyal States gave oceans of blood and billions of treasure? Congress says NO! Johnson and his rebel friends say YES! Which will the people stand by?”

“Liberty and Justice demand that Congress shall be sustained, and Presidential dictation rebuked.”

Historical Background
President Andrew Johnson and the Republican-controlled Congress clashed frequently between 1865 and 1868 over a variety of issues and policies. Johnson granted a general amnesty to most former Confederates and oversaw the creation of state governments for many of the southern states, dominated by ex-Confederate officials. In February 1866, he vetoed legislation extending the Freedmen’s Bureau, and Congress could not override it.

The 1866 congressional elections served as a referendum on the direction of Reconstruction in the southern states. President Johnson made a public speaking tour in August and September in support of mostly Democratic candidates, known as the “Swing Around the Circle,” but his efforts proved unproductive. In the elections, both Republicans and Democrats gained seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, with the Republicans augmenting their majority in the House. Although the Democrats won 14 additional seats, the Republicans gained 23, leaving them with a 173-to-47 majority. In the U.S. Senate, Republicans won 15 seats to the Democrats’ 2 victories, leaving the Republicans with an even stronger 57-to-9 majority.

In 1867 and 1868, Congress passed a series of Reconstruction Acts, each vetoed by Johnson, and each veto overridden by Republicans in Congress. When Johnson tried to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, in direct violation of the recently passed Tenure of Office Act (over Johnson’s veto), the House of Representatives voted 126 to 47 in favor of a resolution to impeach Johnson on February 24, 1868, for a series of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” mostly related to his attempted dismissal of Stanton. Nearly every Republican voted for the resolution, and every Democrat voted against it.

Rush C. Hawkins (1831-1920) was born in Vermont and enlisted in the 2^nd U.S. Dragoons at age 15 to serve in the Mexican War. After the war, he settled in New York City, where he studied law. In 1861, he helped to raise the 9^th New York Infantry, a Zouave-styled regiment, and became its colonel. He served with distinction in Benjamin F. Butler’s expedition to North Carolina. Expecting to receive a promotion to brigadier general, Hawkins was instead relieved of command for insubordination. After a conference with President Abraham Lincoln, Hawkins was restored to command and again fought in North Carolina in 1862. He briefly commanded a brigade in the IX Corps in Virginia and participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg. He later led a brigade in the siege of Suffolk, Virginia, in the spring of 1863. He was mustered out of service with his original regiment in May 1863. In July 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Hawkins for appointment as brevet brigadier general of volunteers, and the Senate confirmed the nomination. Hawkins remained active in the New York militia. He served as a Republican member of the New York State Assembly in 1872. He became a noted art, book and incunabula (items printed before 1500) collector. He died in 1920 after being struck by a car while crossing a street in New York.

Condition: Pencil marks; edge tears; foxing and some punctures; very good.