March 19, 1861 (Tuesday)

Greeting Spring

The news today reports on Gustavus Fox's mission to visit Fort Sumter and get a picture of the exact nature of the situation.  Fox had proposed a plan to re-enforce Fort Sumter and Lincoln wanted to pursue the idea and see if it was feasible.  Below are several links to the story of the day....

From the American Civil War, "A Mission for Gustavus V. Fox."  


From the Civil War Daily Gazette:  "Gustavus Vasa Fox Heads to Fort Sumter." 


From Tulane University, Dept. of History:  "Hesitation and Decision--Fox's Mission."


Also, a fascinating article on the changes of divorce law in the 1850-1860's and how that affected the debate on the South leaving the Union.  Many interpreted the situation like a divorce.  "Divorce, Antebellum Style," by Adam Goodheart, Disunion--New York Times, March 18, 2011. 

"The New York journalist John O'Sullivan likewise compared the sectional crisis to a 'divorce for incompatibility of temper and interests' in which 'it will be better...to part in peace' than to launch a bloody civil war.  A Unionist orator, on the other hand, compared the disagreements between North and South to 'occasional bickerings between husband and wife, which ought not to lead to an immediate divorce.'

Yet divorce was no mere metaphor on the eve of the Civil War.  In fact, it was a volatile political issue, one that occasionally seemed to divide the nation as sharply as the slavery question did.  In early 1861, the question of when -- or even whether -- a man and woman should be permitted to end their marriage was being hotly debated by many of the same legislators, journalists and activists who were also arguing over national disunion.  Like slavery and secession, divorce was an issue involving civil rights, moral responsibilities and conflicts over state and federal authority.  It was a controversy that, in many ways, foreshadowed present-day debates over marriage laws and rights."
Read more details about this debate at the link above....