F 590 . G3 B8 Copy 1 iHE POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS, 1854-60 BY ERNEST BRUNCKEN [From Proceedings of The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1901J MADISON State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1901 THE POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS, fl854-60 BY ERNEST BRUNCKEN [From Proceedings of The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1901J MADISOX State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1901 THE POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. 1854-60 , 1 BY ERIs^EST BRUjSTCKEN. ^Miile the principal parties opposing' each other were the Democrats and the Whi^s, the German voters of Wisconsiu were on the side of the former ahiiost with unanimity. But as the question of slavery assumed greater proportions in the public mind, more and more of the Germans became dissatis- fied with the treatment of that question by the Democratic party. In 1848 German votes helped the new Free-soil party to gain its partial victory in the state. The great majority of the Germans, however, notwithstanding their entire lack of sympathy with the slave-holders, remained Democrats until the outbreak of the War of Secession and even longer. To under- stand this apparent contradiction it will be necessary to dwell for a moment on the characteristics of the different political parties during the decade preceding the war, and see how they would j)resent themselves to immigrants from Germany. Before the slavery question became a disturbing factor, the Whigs may be described as the party of those who felt that there was such a thing as an x\merican nation, w^th an individuality and characteristics of its own, distinct from those of every other nation. These people were of the opinion, more or less clearly realized, that the genesis of this nation was already accom- plished, that its nature and essential character w^ere fixed, and that the only thing left for further development w^as the expan- sion of these fixed characteristics and their adaptation to the growth of the country^ without, however, changing them in any ^Address presented at the Wisconsin state historical convention at Milwaukee, Oct. 12, 1901. Q) POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. IQI important respect. As most of the Wliigs had come to Wis- consin from iN'ew England, or those portions of the Middle states in which the i^ew England element was prevalent, they prac- tically identified this American national character with the only kind of Americanism they knew, that of New England. They intended to reproduce in Wisconsin, as nearly as possible, the institutions, together with the customs, popular views, and prejudices of tlieir native section. To this party, also, were attracted all who were economically interested in resist- ing tendencies towards equality — the wealthy, the protectors of vested interests, and finally, the believers in a strong govern- ment. Whigs were the ]n*omoters of measures tending to up- hold the ISTew England social customs, the Puritan Sabbath, temperance legislation, Protestant religious instruction in the public schools. By their opponents they were called aristo- crats, and there was just enough truth in this appellation to make it politically dangerous. It was natural that a party, the members of which, were so conscious of their national indi- viduality, should assume a jDOsition of antipathy, if not hostility, to the foreign immigrants, whose national characteristics were so different from their own. They feared that their own peculiar custom's and institutions would be modified by the influence of these newcomers, and that in the end the American people would come to be something quite different from what they wished. The Democratic party, on the other hand, embraced first of all those whose miuds were less influenced by national peculiar- ities and predilections, and more by that body of ideas concern- ing liberty and equality which one may roughly call the Jeffer- sonian doctrines — a set of opinions essentially cosmopolitan rather than national. In the second place, to the Democratic standard flocked all those elements which everywhere consisted of the admirers of Jackson — the masses who conceived Democ- racy to represent the common people as against the wealthy. The Jeffersonians were friendly toward the immigrants by rea- son of their principles; the masses sympathized with the for- eigners because the latter were, like themselves, poor, and had the same economic interests. 192 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Under these circumstances it is not at all surprising- that not only the Germans, but also the Irish and other foreigners al- lied themselves with the Democratic party. There they found less disposition to interfere with their customs regarding the keeping of Sunday, the use of beer and wine, and similar things which may appear of small account to the highly educated, but are of great importance to the masse? who have few sources of enjoyment. Among the Democrats also they found a will- ingness to allow them to particij^ate in all the political rights i\nd privileges of the native citizen. Moreover, the educated portion of the foreigners, and particu- larly the German "Forty-eighters," found that the doctrines of Jefferson, the Democratic sage, were identical with those for which they had fought in their native land and for which they had bt^fn driven into exile. AVhen the slavery question became uppermost, it was espe- cially this latter class, the political exiles and their sympathiz- ers, who felt themselves in an uncomfortable predicament. They were Democrats because in that party they found the bul- wark of liberty and equality ; and now they saw that same party become the main support of a system than w^hich nothing could be imagined more abhorrent to Jeffersonian doctrines. When the Republican party was organized, the majority of the "Forty-eighters" rallied around its banner, and together with the old Free-soilers formed what may be called the Jeffersonian wing of the new party. The gTeater part, however, of the Repub- lican voters came out of the camp of the old Whigs. In com- ing together to form' the new organization, the two wings did not propose to give up their respective principles as they had held them before the slavery question came to the fore. The only thing which united them, was their common opposition to the spread of slavery into free territory. That this view of the nature of German Republicanism is correct, becomes evident from the perusal of a speech by Carl Schurz, given at Albany Hall in Milwaukee, during the cam- paign for'the election of Byron Paine as justice of the supreme court in 1859. Schurz was then the acknowledged leader of the German Republicans of the state, and his views may be POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. IQ3 taken as typical of those of most of this element. The particu- lar phase of the anti-slavery strngg'le which was then before the public, w^as the fugitive slave law, which had twace been de- clared unconstitutional by the supreme court of Wisconsin. The United States supreme court, however, had reversed the decisions of the state tribunal, much to the disgust of the more violent anti-slavery men.^ Sclmrz, in discussing these questions, took occasion to analyze the relation of the state to the federal government, which he did in the most approved style of the states' rights school. He praised the Virginia and Ken- tucky resolutions, and his highest constitutional authority was Calhoun. The federal government seemed to him a dangerous animal, w'hich if not chained tight by strict construction of the constitution, would devour the last trace of self-govern- ment and liberty. - The consequences which this speech, strange as coming from the lips of a professed Republican, had upon Mr. Schurz's po- litical career, wall be treated of later. It is mentioned in this place only to show the antagonism which must have existed between the German wing of the Republicans and its Whig as- sociates. While the "Forty-eighters," who were new-comers and had no previous alliances with the Democratic party, threw themselves into the struggle against slavery with all the ardor with which in their old home they had fought against the absolute and pseudo-constitutional governments, the older leaders of the W^isconsin Germans remained true to the Democratic party t.hat had stood by the foreigners in their fight for political equal- ity with the natives. Their arguments against the Republi- cans were based on the ground that the new party, as the suc- cessor of Whigs and Knownothings, had inherited their prin- ciples ; that it was hostile to foreign-born citizens, favoring Puri- tan Sabbath observance and prohibition of the liquor traffic, and was generally the enemy of all human liberty and progress. These arguments, like the charge of aristocratic tendencies. 'See In re Booth, 3 Wis., 1; In re Booth and Rycroft, 3 Wis., 145; U. S. vs. Booth, 18 How., 476; 21 How., 506. 'Milwaukee Sentinel, March 28, 1859. 194 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. against the old Whigs, did not entirely lack truth, and by their means the Democrats succeeded in keeping the greater part of the German voters true to their banner, notwithstanding their almost universal opposition to the slavery system. Having in this necessarily brief and unsatisfactory manner described the general character of the political life among the German voters of the period, I will now relate in some detail the part which Germans took in the political affairs of Wiscon- sin from the organization of the Republican party to the out- break of the War of Secession. I make no pretensions to ex- haustiveness. The material I have had at hand has been almost exclusively of a printed nature, principally the newspapers of the time. But very few of the files of the German newspapers of those years are at present accessible. Many have probably perished forever. On the thirteenth day of Jul.y, 1854, a mass convention was held at Madison for the purpose of organizing the new Repub- lican party. As far as I have been able to discover, the only Ger- mans attending were Karl Roeser,^ of Manitowoc, A. H. Biel- feld,- Dr. Charles E. Wunderly," and Christian Essellen* of ^ Karl Roeser was born in Germany in 1809, became a lawyer, took part in the abortive revolutionary movements of 1830. was imprisoned for high treason, but soon pardoned, and continued to practice his pro- fession. Taking part in the renewed revolution of 1848, he was again sentenced to imprisonment, but succeeded in escaping and made his way to America. In 1853 he founded the Manitowoc Deniokrat, which from the first was strongly anti-slavery. In 1861 he was appointed to a posi- tion in the treasury department, which he held until near his death, continuing at the same time to write for many German newspapers, especially the Washington Volkstrihun. He died in Washington on November 14th, 1897. - A. H. Bielfeld was born at Bremen, Germany, on June 20. 1818. He came to the United States in 1836, spent a year or two in Mexico, came back to this country and settled in Wisconsin in 1843. He was the first city clei'k of Milwaukee. ^Dr. C. E. Wunderly was born on December 6, 1818, received an edu- cation as physician and surgeon in German schools and universities, emigrated to Texas, and in 1845 came to Wisconsin. He died February 22, 1859. * Christian Essellen took part in the revolutionary movements of 1848, and had to go into exile in consequence. He published the first German POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERNL\NS. 1 95 Milwaukee. The Germans of tlie latter citj would not have been represented at all, had not theVereinFreier Mcmner.a. sort of de- bating society to which most of the Milwaukee "Forty-eighters" and their sympathizers belonged, taken the matter in hand, and at two of its meetings hotly debated the question of sending del- egates. The Democrats in the society, under the leadership of Schoeifler and Fratny, resorted to every possible means of ob- struction and prevented the taking a vote on the measure. Then the Eepublicans tried to call a mass meeting of German citizens for the evening of July 12, the day before the convention. But the German daily papers, all of which were Democratic, refused to publish the notice, and as a consequence only four persons at- tended the meeting.^ Thereupon the above-mentioned Repub- lican leaders Avent to Madison on their own responsibility, and were duly recognized as delegates from Milwaukee. The con- vention did not fail to realize the importance of agitation among the Germans. ^Vunderly was made a member of the first Hepublican state central committee, and a committee was ap- pointed to raise funds for the establishment of a German Re- publican paper at Milwaukee." About the time of this convention, Bernhard Domschke made his appearance in Milwaukee, and soon became one of the most important leaders of the German Republicans. He came from Louisville, Ky., where he had been associated with Karl Tlein- zen in the publication of a newspaper. He made his debut in an address on August 6, 1854, on the "Democratic Church.'' This created so much excitement that Fratny, the leader of the non-Catholic wing of the German Democrats, challenged him to a jDublic debate, which took place three days later in Market Hall, crowded to its utmost capacity. ^ As usual in such cases, the friends of both speakers claimed the victory for their cham- literary and scientific journal in this country, first as a weekly and later as a monthly. Its name was Atlantis; first published at Detroit, it then was printed at Milwaukee, and finally at Buffalo. It was issued for about five years. ^Atlantis, i, p. 263. 2 The committee consisted of Charles E. Wunderly, A. H. Bielfeld, J. R. Brigham. Edwin Palmer, and Asahel Finch, jr. ' Koss, Mihvaukee, p. 449. 196 WISCOxXSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. pion ; but the undoubted result was, that attention was attracted to the man from Kentucky. On October 7, 185-4, appeared the Korsar, the first German Republican paper in Milwaukee. Its editor was Domschke, while the financial backer was Rufus King, of the Sentinel. So the new party had almost from the start three German weekly papers at its command; for besides the Korsar and Roeser's ^Yisconsin Deniolcrat at Manitowoc, the Pionler at Sauk City espoused the Repub- lican cause. This was the time when the Kno\^^lothing movement and its off-shoot, the American party, had obtained considerable power in several states, and the foreign-born citizens everywhere had become frightened at their success in a much greater degree than the real strength of the agitation warranted. It does not appear that the American party ever liad an appreciable in- fluence in Wisconsin.^ How strong the Knownothing order ever became, it is impossible to learn from the material at hand. But however that may be, the Germans all over the United States felt grave apprehensions. On many sides it was pro- posed that the foreign-bom citizens should unite into a distinct party for the purpose of protecting themselves against attacks upon their rights. At Milwaukee, the German debating club at one time had for its subject the question : "Is it conducive to jjrogress, if the liberal Germans in the United States form a political party of their o'wn?"" Against this idea, Domschke set himself from the beginning. In this connection an article from his pen, which appeared in the Wiscomin, Democrat on August 17, 1854, is interesting as showing his position, which was undoubtedly typical of that of other 'Torty-eighters." He says, amiong other things: ''The idea of forming a union of foreigners against nativism is wholly wrong, and destroys the possibility of any influence on our part ; it would drive us into- a union with Irishmen, those American Croats. In our strug- gle we are not concerned with nationality, but with principles;. ^ In 1856, the number of votes cast for the "American" presidential candidate, Fillmore, was 579, against 52,843 Democratic and 66,090 Re- publican votes. — Wisconsin Blue Book. ' Koss, Milwaukee, p. 440. POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. 197 Ave are for liberty, and against union with Irislimen who stand nearer barbarism and brutality than civilization and humanity. The Irish are our natural enemies, mot because they are Irish- men, but because they are the truest guards of Popery." It is not a part of the subject matter of this paper to relate in detail the political history of the state, during the following six years. Suffice it to recall, that the Republican party from the first showed great strength, and within two years had its representative in the gubernatorial chair. In 1856, the state cast her electoral votes for Fremont, and four years later went for Lincoln. During all this time Republicanism steadily gained ground among the Germans, but at no time was there anything like a general falling away from the Democratic stand- ards. Temperance and Knownothingism were the great bug- bears that kept them largely from joining the party to which their anti-slavery sentiments would have drawn them. To this Avas added the fact that in the eyes of the Catholic Germans the Republicans were identical with their old and bitter enemies, the "Forty-eighters."^ As time progressed, and the Democrats began to feel the stings of defeat, the tone of discussion in the newspapers and on the stvimp became exceedingly bitter. The anti-slavery j^arty was never mentioned except as the '"Black Republican" party, and "nigger worshippers" became one of the mildest epithets. Here are some selections from an article in the Seehote published i^overaber 6, 1858 : You know yourselves of what elements the so-called Republican party is composed. Temperance men, abolitionists, haters of foreigners, sac- rilegious despoilers of churches (Kirchenschaender) , Catholic-killers, these are the infernal ingredients of which tnis loathsome Republican monstrosity is composed. * * * This miserable Republican party is a blood-thirsty tiger ever panting for your gore, that would like to kill you with the most exquisite tortures. * * * Even Germans are miserable and nefarious enough to fight in the ranks of the enemy for the destruction of their countrymen. An ever-recurring charge against the German Republican lead- ers was, that they w^ere actuated by selfish motives because the ' See Parkman Club Papers, 1896, p. 236. 1 98 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Eepublicans stood ready to give tliem lucrative offices or assist them in journalistic enterprises.^ The antagonism between the "grays" and the "greens," that is between the older German residents and those who had come since 1848, did not fill so conspicuous a place in the contem- poraneous life of Wisconsin as it did in the older states, simply because there were comparatively few "grays" here. But oc- casionally it cropped out, as for instance in the newspaper feuds of Domschke with Fratny and Schoeffler. The political quar- rels were unhesitatingly carried into social and business life. In 1857, Henry Cordier, a young German lawyer at OshkosL, had said, in a letter to the Wisconsin Demolcrai : "As a German Kepublican in Oshkosh, this stronghold of Hunkers, I stand very much isolated." Thereupon the Democratic paper in his town, Avhich was published by another German lawyer, Charles A. Weisbrod, threatened him with boycott.^ Oshkosh, the Hun- ker stronghold, by the way, gave 628 majority for Randall, the Republican candidate for governor. One of the aims of which the Gennan Republican leaders never lost sight, was to prevent their jiarty from doing anything to justify the charge that it was in favor of Knownothingism and prohibition. In his acconnt of the Madison convention of 1854, Roeser, in his paper, exclaimed exultantly: "ivTot a word about temperance in the platform!" In 1855 he declared that in case the Republicans should nominate a temperance man for governor, the Germans w^ould remain true to the party but stay away from the polls. On September 25, 1855, he wrote that Domschke, Wunderly, and himself had been assured by the party authorities thai: for the next two years the temperance question would not be taken up, as slavery was the all-important ' One of the charges against the Republicans, used in successive cam- paigns was, that they spent state money for campaign purposes by hav- ing state documents unnecessarily printed in German and giving the contracts to German Republican printing offices. The charge was well- founded, only the Democrats were equally guilty. In 1853 they had spent $12,000 for such German printing "jobs." = Oshkosh Deutsche Zeitung, Oct. 3, 1857. Cordier later became state prison commissioner, 1864-70. POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GER.NLVNS. IQQ issue. In their platforms of 1857, both parties declared with great emphasis against nativism. The Democrats said in their platform : Resolved, That we hold in detestation the intolerant and un-American spirit which aims to curtail the privileges of those who, coming from other lands, seek to be citizens of the United States, and that the Dem- ocratic party of this state will, as it has ever done, frown indignantly on every attempt to interfere with the existing laws relative to nation- alization. The Republican platform contained the following plank: Resolved, That the true advocates of free labor must necessarily be true friends to free and unobstructed immigi'ation; that the rights of citizenship and the full enjoyment and exercise thereof make true American patriots out of foreigners; that an abridgement of those rights would necessarily tend to divide the citizens of the Republic into different classes, a ruling and a governed class; that inequality of rights among the inhabitants of a republic will always be inconsistent with and dangerous to true Democratic institutions; and that therefore the naturalization question is, with the Republicans of Wisconsin not a question of mere policy but principle. Resolved. That we are utterly hostile to the proscription of any man on account of birthplace, religion, or color, and that we are op- posed to all secret or public organizations which favor such proscrip- tion. Under tliese circumstances, it was not possible for the Demo- crats to say that the Republicans as a party were in favor of pro- hibition or the restriction of the rights of foreigners. But they never failed to point out such tendencies, whenever they showed themselves in individual Republicans either at liome or in other states. For instance, much was made of the fact that in 185'^ John Sherman, of Ohio, had in the house of representatives -opposed the admission of Minnesota to the Union, because her constitution provided that foreigners might exercise the suffrage before they had become fully naturalized.^ Sometimes the Re- publicans got a chance to retaliate with this kind of argument, as when Stephen A. Douglas, that idol of the German Demo- crats, in 185.5 opposed in the senate the provision of the land ^ Oshkosh Deutsche Zeitung, May 19, 185S. 200 WISCOxN'SIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. preemption bill wliieh gave the same rights to foreigners having declared their intention to become naturalized, as to citizens ; or when in 1859, a man was appointed deputy collector of customs at Port Washington, who was generally supposed to have be- longed to a Knownothing lodge and never denied the story. This mistake of the Buchanan administration excited the vio- lent disgust of the Democratic state senator of the district, Sil- verman, and caused no slight chuckle among the Kepublicans. ■'^ In 1859, the strongly Republican state of Massachusetts passed a law taking away the suffrage from foreign-bom citizens until the expiration of two years after the date of their naturalization. This law created the most intense indignation among foreign- ers throughout the United States, and undoubtedly cost the Re- publicans everywhere thousands of votes. The Republican state convention of the same year, in Wisconsin, took pains to condemn this law of another state ; but for a long time it contin- ued to furnish ammimition to the Democrats, who said that this law proved how the Republicans "placed the German be- low the nigger."" Differing' as they did with the majority of their party on nearly every point except that of slavery, the German Republi- cans naturally never became very strong party men ; but were, easily induced t'^ vote with the Democrats whenever the slavery question was not directly at issue. An article written by Christian Essellen, in his magazine Atlantis, illustrates this- attitude. After discussing M'hat the Germans ought to do when compelled to choose between anti-slavery and temperance, he says: "We agree perfectly with the New York Ahend^ieitung and the Illi- nois Staats-Zeitung in this, that where no other way can be found we ought to lay principal stress on the slavery question in state and con- gressional, but on the temperance question in municipal elections. To those who would fain draw us into the ranlis of the pro-slavery party by showing us a beer mug, we will reply that we would i-ather submit to annoying measures than betray the grand principles of liberty.^ ^Madison Democrat, February 25, 1859. " For an impartial discussion of the Knownothing movement from the standpoint of the Germans, see Julius Froebel, Aus Amerika, i, p. 513. ^ Atlantis, i, p. 194. rOLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. 20I The arg'iiments of those non-Catholic Germans who remaine J Democrats, are well characterized in another article by Essellen : If the curse of slavery is mentioned for whicli that party conducts its propaganda, if one points to Kansas and Missouri, it is replied that all that has nothing to do with the Democratic party of Wisconsin; that Wisconsin has no slavery. If one calls attention to the bad and fraudulent management of the present Democratic state administration, complains about the frittering away of the school lands or the frauds connected with the building of the Insane Hospital, if one shows up the corruption of the Democratic party of the state, either these things are denied or refuge is taken in answers like this: It is better, after all, to have at the head of the state government negligent spendthrifts who leave us our personal liberty, than virtuous Puritans that will load us down with temperance legislation. If we remind them of the connec- tion of the Democracy with the Jesuits, we get for an answer the gen- eral horror of Knownothings, fearing whom seems to be the principal occupation of Germans even in Wisconsin.^ At the time when the Republican party was organized, in 1854, the German vote in Wisconsin Lad already become so strong that both parties found it advisable to have a place on their state tickets given to a representative of that nationality. Accordingly in 1855, the Republicans nominated for state treas- urer Carl Roeser, who was credit^id with having been chiefly in- strumental in carrying Manitowuc county in 1854, theretofore strongly Democratic, for the new^ party. Roeser, however, was defeated by Charles Kuehn, also a German, who was nominated by the Democrats and became the successor of Edward Janssen, his countryman, as state treasurer. In 1857, Francis Huebsch- mann, of Milwaukee, one of the principal leaders of the "free- thinking" wing among the Gei-man Democrats, was a candidate for the nomination of governor by the Democratic convention. He was defeated by James B. Cross, and Carl Habich of Dane county became the German representative on the ticket, being nominated for state treasurer. He was at the time the deputy of Treasurer Charles Kuehn. Dr. Huebschmann and his friends did not take their defeat in good part. In his paper, the Gradaus, he charged the delegates to the convention w'ith cor- '^ Atlantis, iii, p. 225. 202 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. ruption.^ This naturally broiiglit a violent storm of indigna- tion about his ears, but before long he had his revenge. At the ^Milwaukee charter election in the following spring, a large sec- tion of the Democrats joined the Republicans for the purjDose of overturning the Democratic city administration, which was charged wdtli incapacity and corruption. The fight was espe- cially hot in Huiebschmann's home w-ard, the second, which was almost wholly German. In this ward lived the two candidates for city treasurer : H. Sclnvarting, the regular Democrat, and A. von Cotzhausen, the reform candidate, who had the endorse- m'ent of the Republicans. Huebschmann w-as one of the most active of the reformers. Of course he was charged with being actuated merely by a desire for revenge upon the D'emocrats who had preferred Cross to himself as governor. The fight attracted the attention of the entire state. The outcome Avas, that the re- formers elected a Republican, William A. Prentiss, for mayor^ who became thereby the first Republican city officer in Milwau- kee. Cotzhausen, hoAvever, the reform candidate for city treas- urer, w^as defeated. By this time the German Republicans had found for them- selves a leader beside whose eminent ability even such gifted men as Roeser, Wunderly, and Domschke appeared insignificant. This leader was Carl Schurz. When Schurz came to Wisconsin in the spring of 1853, and settled in Watertown, he w^as not more than twenty-four years old ; but already knowai to every Ger- man in the United States as the youth who three years before had helped Gottfried Kinkel, the poet and revolutionist, to es- cape from the prison at Spandau, wdiere he had been incarcer- ated for high treason.^ Schurz took an active interest in the political affairs of his new home from the very start, but not until the Fremont presidential campaign did he attract general attention. It is stated, on the authority of C. C. Kunz, of Sauk City,^ that the first to bring Schurz forward as a stump orator was L. P. Harvey, who later became governor. At a meeting of the state central committee in the summer of 1856, he spoke ' Oshkosh Deutsche Zeitung, Oct. 17, 1857. ' Parkman Club Papers, 1896, p. 235. 'Seebote, March 27, 1897. POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. 2O3 of him as a bright young Gorman he liad met at Watertown, who was building a house for himself, but was ready to go on the stump for Fremont as soon as the house was finished. Har- vey, it seems, was ignorant of the Kinkel affair. But a few days later the Madison State Journal published an article, pre- sumably from the pen of Horace Rublee, in which the story of Schurz's bravery was told. This of course threw a sort of ro- mantic glamor around the .young orator, and made people curious to hear him. In 1857, the Eepublicans nominated Carl Schurz for the of- fice of lieutenant-governor. The Republican candidate for gov- ernor, Alexander W. Randall, was elected by 454 majority out of a total vote of 88,932 ; but Schurz was defeated by the Dem- ocratic candidat*^, E. D. Campbell, by 107 votes. As it was probable that many German Democrats had scratched their tickets in favor of Schurz, it seemed evident that a considerable number of native Republicans had refused to vote for the Ger- man candidate. The Democrats did not fail to take advantage of this circumstance. '"There you see the character of the Black Republicans," they would argue. "They are willing enough to put a German on their ticket so as to catch German votes. But when it comes to the election, they take good care that the d d Dutchman is not elected." From this time on, the German portion of the Republican party became decidedly unfriendly to the state administration, and especially to its head. Governor Randall. This internal quarrel contributed not a little towards keeping the Germans away from the new party. In the summer of 1858 the German leaders published a long manifesto, which amounted to an open declaration of war against the administration. It was signed by Bernhard Domschke, Henry Cordier, H. Lindemann, Win- ter and Ritsche, publishers of the Volksblatt, Carl Roeser, and Carl Schurz. Among other things the manifesto contains the following passages : The Republican party of this state has been unfortunate in that the former head of the administration has not succeeded in disproving the charge of corrupt acts, although he was elected principally on the issue of political honesty. It is true that the present administration 204 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. stands clear of such accusations; but we have cause to complain of many acts which must injure the harmony and prosperity of the Re- publican party. Corrupt opponents of Republicanism, and even un- worthy individuals, have been favored and encouraged while men of merit have been disregarded and shoved aside. Such actions, with the surrounding circumstances, must destroy the confidence of the Repub- lican masses in their leaders and representatives, discourage honest endeavors, and weaken the effectiveness of the party organization., The Democrats may do such things without astonishing the world or doing injury to themselves; but an administration which has solemnly bound itself to lend no ear to the influence of cliques and to proceed honestly, openly, and with decision, cannot break such promises without injuring the credit and organization of the party to which it owes its installa- tion in office. An attempt to manage a new party, like the Republican, on the plan of that organization whose only aim is the distribution of public plunder, must have a tendency to gain temporary advantages at the cost of principle, to make concessions in order to win outward power, to unite for the purpose of expediency the most incompatible opposites, and to make principle the humble slave of circumstances. When a party gives way to such influences, it may suddenly find itself sinking from the solid ground of principle to the changeable platform of time-serving inconstancy. In closing, the document reiterates the adherence of the sign- ers to Republican principles, and expresses a hope for the future total abolition of slavery. Schurz, in the meantime, was rapidly becoming a man of more than local reputation. In 1858, he took a somewhat con- spicuous part in the great Lincoln-Douglas campaign in Illi- nois ; and in April, 1859, he was called to Boston, to help the Re- publican cause in the very birthplace of anti-slavery sentiment. While he was thus busy in spreading Republican doctrines, he was violently attacked at home. The most outrageous of the assaults of his enemies was a statement made in the Beaver Dam Democrat to the effect that Schurz was in the pay of the Prussian govermnent, which kept him here as a spy on his fellow exiles from Germany. The only evidence offered in support of this charge, was that his property had not been confiscated as had that of many other refugees. The affair naturally created a great deal of discussion. Huntington, the editor of the paper which had published the libel, refused to tell who had given him POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GER^L■^NS. 205 the information, and the friends of Schnrz .c;nessed in vain who the author was. At one time suspicion fastened itself on Leon- ard Mertz, who, however, in an indignant communication to the Watertown Transcript, cleared himself of the accusation. Finally the VolJisfrcund claimed to have discovered the slan- derer in Emil Roethe, publisher of the Watertown Weltbuerger, who had formerly been a protege of Schurz's and had even lived for a while in his house, Roethe denied the charge in general terms, but many continued to believe it true. ^ When the time approached for the state convention of 1859, the anti-administration wing of the Republicans decided that Schurz must be nominated for governor. Carl Roeser became the manager of his campaign. ''We are," he said in his paper, "from principle in favor of the nomination of Carl Schurz as candidate for governor, not because he is a German, but because we demand of the Republican party that by an open, living deed, namely the nomination of a foreign-born citizen who has secured esteem throughout the United States, it disprove the charges of Knowaiothingism made against it." The fight between the Schurz forces and the followers of Governor Randall, who sought a renomination, became quite bitter ; and Randall, in his hatred of Schurz, finally declared that he was willing to withdraw from the contest if thereby he could defeat the nomination of his op- ponent. When the convention met, however, it was found that out of 174 votes cast only 48 were for Schurz. It is stated that 20 of these came from delegates of German birth. Schurz was tendered the nomination for lieutenant governor, but he de- clined. The defeated candidate, whose home by this time had been transferred from Watertown to Milwaukee, was on his re- turn given a public reception by the Young Men's Republican club; and in a speech on Market square reaffirmed his loyalty to Republican principles and promised to work for the election of Randall. Some of his German followers, however, did not accept his defeat so philosophically. The German Republican club of Manitowoc adopted violent resolutions in which Gover- nor Randall was denounced as a Knownothing, a friend of cor- ruptionists, and an advocate of the fugitive slave law. Through- ^ Atlas, Dec. 28, 1858; Feb. 28, 1859. .206 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 'Out the state, large numbers of German Kepublieans stayed ■away from the polls on acoount of this disaffection. The charge against Randall of upholding the fugitive slave law, brings us back to the consideration of the difference in prin- ciples, within the Republican p'arty, of those with Democratic antecedents, like Schurz and his Germans, and those who came from the old Whig party. Undoubtedly there was no real truth in the charge. But vei*y likely the governor had expressed him- self to the effect that after the supreme court of the United •States had overruled the decisions of the state supreme court and declared the fugitive slave law constitutional, no further re- sistance to that law could be permitted until it had been prop- erly repealed. Schurz, however, and his Germans entertained, in this instance at least, the most extreme states' rights doctrine, as appears from his speech for Byron Paine. Although he no- where expressly mentioned the right of nullification, his theories undoubtedly lead directly to that teaching. These views were shared by many of the old Free^soilers, who either were Democrats in everything but the slavery question, or who, like the old Liberty party men, forgot everything else in their zeal for the abolition of slavery. Naturally, the form of Republicanism which appears in the Byron Paine speech of Carl Schurz did not remain unchal- lenged. It was especially Timothy O. Howe, later United States senator, who took up the sword to defend the centralistic nature of Republican principles. After considerable discussion in the newspapers, and in correspondence with prominent Re- publicans, he made the matter one of the principal grounds of objection to Schurz's nomination for governor. He recurred to the matter in the state convention of 1860, when Schurz was anxious to be a delegate to the Chicago national convention. Howe asked him point blank whether he considered the peculiar views expressed by him in the Milwaukee speech with regard to the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts, essential to the principles of the Republican party. Schurz, after some discus- sion, finally admitted that his views on that question were not essential to Republicanism, and with this answer Howe was satisfied. Schurz was duly elected a delegate, as the party POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. IQJ leaders were anxious to heal the breach between the two factions. Undoubtedly the same desire towards conciliation had contrib- uted toward the election of Schurz as regent of the state univer- sity by the legislature, at the session of 1859. This election had become necessary by the resignation of Professor Carr. The office of regent at that time seems to have been considered a political plum, for it appears that the successful candidate was elected by a strict party vote over Leonard Mertz, for whom the Democrats cast their ballots.-^ The action of Schurz in retreating from his extreme position on the states' rights question, did not at all please his abolitionist friends. Associate-Justice A. D. Smith also, whose term was then about to expire, made a violent attack on him. The Ger- man Republicans and the various shades of abolitionists had from the first been closely connected, because both were more radical in their anti-slavery views than was congenial to the more conservative majority of their party. ^ A number of prominent Gennans, including some who afterwards remained stout adherents of Democracy, had been members of the vigi- lance committee during the excitement connected with the res- cue of the fugitive slave Glover.^ Later, Wunderly was one of Shennan Booth's sureties during the criminal prosecution against him. When Schurz became the Republican candidate for lieutenant-governor in 1857, it was Booth who nominated him in the convention. When John Brown was executed on December 2, 1859, the Milwaukee Germans, in addition to the general meeting of citizens at the chamber of commerce, held an indignation meeting of their own, and the resolutions passed ^ Legislative Journal, Feb. 2, 1859. - At one of the anti-fugitive slave law meetings in 1854, resolutions were passed that advocated nullification in its crudest form. At this meeting a state league was formed, with the following officers: E. B. Wolcott, president; A. H. Bielfeld, secretary; C. E. Wunderly, treasurer; Ira C. Paine, vice-president. See Vroman Mason, "Fugitive Slave Law in Wisconsin," y^is. Hist. Soc. Proc, 1895, p. 128. ^ These members were Wunderly, Christian Essellen, F. Neukirch, F. Fratny, and Moritz Schoeffler. A. H. Bielfeld, the Free-soiler, acted as secretary of the mass meeting on March 11, 1854. 208 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. upon that occasion contained the following paragraph which ought to have satisfied the most impetuous abolitionist : Resolved, That if the last means to solve the slavery question in a peaceful manner fails, it would in our opinion be perfectly justifiable to gain that end in revolutionary ways; and that all responsibility for such a necessary step will rest on the heads of those who persistently refuse to abolish, by means of reform, an institution that disgraces our century and this republic. It must not be imagined, of course, that the slavery question was during all these years the only political matter which in- terested the people of the state or the German element among them. The antagonism' between the Catholics and the free- thinkers, which was so noticeable during the preceding period, continued with unabated vigor. In 1854, the anti-Catholic paper Flughldtter'^ was the subject of some heated debates in both houses of the legislature, where Assembl_yman Worthing- ton of Waukesha and Senator McGarry of Milwaukee offered resolutions prohibiting the legislative postmasters from dis- tributing this publication to the members. These resolutions, however, were not adopted. The religious radicalism of the "Forty-eighters" " found vent in their support of a movement for the abolition of the exemption of church property from taxation. In 1855, Assemblyman James Bennett, of Manitowoc, put him- self at the head of this movement, and presented numerous peti- tions in its behalf, very largely signed by Germans. The same gentleman also offered a motion to strike out the customary ap- ■Parkman Club Papers, 1896, p. 236. ^ Besides the Catholics and the freethinkers or "Forty-eighters," the Lutheran element of the German population hardly appears as a dis- tinct factor, as far as the political affairs of this period are concerned. Many Lutherans, probably, were retained in the Democratic party through the influence of Dr. Walther, of St. Louis, the German-Luth- eran patriarch of this country. He approved of slavery on the ground that it had biblical authority. Walther's influence was particularly strong in the congregations belonging to the Missouri synod, so-called. But in the younger organization, known as the Wisconsin synod, there was from the first a pronounced anti-slavery spirit which led most Lutherans belonging to it into the Republican ranks. POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. 209 propriation for the services of a chaplain of the assemhly, which was promptly voted down, but earned for its author the warm praise of his townsman, Carl Roeser. Mr. Bennett's political career, by the way, seems to have come to an abrupt close, for his name does not reappear in the lists of members of the legis- lature. The school question was widely debated durino- that period and here is what one leading "Forty-eighter," Christian Es- sellen, has to say on the subject : "It seems to me it is a wrong conception of religious tolerance, and an extension of it beyond its natural limits, if religious associations are permitted to snatch from the state a part of public instruction and use it for their selfish, one-sided ecclesiastical purposes." He went on to advocate the prohibition of all private and parochial schools, and as a first step in that direction the subjection of all such in- stitutions to the supervision of the state authorities.* It is doubtful, however, whether Essellen here expressed the views of most of the "Forty-eighters," for just about this time they were very active in founding private schools wherever there were con- sidei-'able numbers of Gennan residents. During this period no inconsiderable number of Germans held various state offices, including membersship in the legislature. Most of the German members of the latter were on the Demo- cratic side. Among the more prominent of them was Fred Horn of Cedarburg, who in 1854 was speaker, as he had been in 1851, and was to be again in 1875. Another Democrat of consid- erable prominence in the legislature was Charles G. Rodolph, who represented Iowa county in 1851, Ilichland in 1858, and was in the senate during the sessions of 1859 and 1860. He gained some notoriety by a speech on the Kansas troubles, February 28, 1858. During that session a considerable portion of the legislative time was spent in discussions of the national political situation. On March 1, Paul Weil, of West Bend, another Grerman Democratic member, offered a resolution "that all buncombe speeches on Kansas be limited to five minutes." But the resolution was promptly tabled, and the flow of oratory went on as before. On the whole the influence of the Germans ^Atlantis, i, p. 24. 2IO WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. in the legislature does not seem to have been very great. In 1859, Bernhard Domschke passed a pretty severe judgment on them. But his opinion may have been influenced by the fact that in the legislature of that year the German members were all Democrats. He referred to the fact that several Ger- man papers had mentioned with satisfaction that no less than fourteen members of the legislature were Germans. To this he replied, that mere numbers would never gain the admi- ration of others for the Germans, if they lacked ability. Of all the Germans there was but one of respectable capacity — Horn. The rest were mere ciphers. Then he went on : "The others are mostly dumb as codfish, play second or third fiddles, stay at home half of the week rather than attend, and on oc- casion disgrace the German name by foolish speeches as did Senator Rodolph the other day."^ On the whole, the picture which the Germans in Wisconsin present during the period from 1854 to 18G0, is a satisfactory one from the standpoint of a member of that element who de- sires to see his nationality exert an influence proportionate to their numbers and capacity, and from the point of view of an American wdio wishes that so important an element in our com- monwealth shall become an organic part, instead of remaining a foreign body within the community. The German immigration into Wisconsin, before the war, reached its high water mark in 1854, when according to the esti- mate given by Fred Horn who Avas then commissioner of immi- gration, 16,000 Germans settled in the state. Among the immi- grants during this and the preceding three or four years, there was an extraordinaiy number of educated and able men who had been compelled to leave their country for political reasons. At first most of these imagined that their exile would be of short du- ration ; and consequently, during the first few years, took far more interest in the affairs of Europe than in those of the United States.- Others wasted their strength for a while dreaming 'Atlas March 1, 1859. = They were described by Christian Essellen as "men who begin every sentence with 'When the outbrealc comes again' (Wenn's wieder losgeht)." POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF WISCONSIN GERMANS. 211 about the foundation of a German state in the !N'orthwest. But by 1854, the hopes for a renewal of the revolutionary movements in Germany were pretty well dissipated; and more and more the leading minds among the Germans began to feel that their home was here, and to devote their energies to promoting the welfare of their adopted country. By the year 1860 they had become excellent American citizens ; and when in the following year the War of Secession broke out, no element of our popu- lation was more prompt or more enthusiastic than the Germans in rallying round the union banner. True, as the war pro- gressed and its hardships became more severely felt, a few Ger- mans, misled by demagogical copperheads, took part in the dis- graceful draft riots. But it was a German governor who put dowTi these disturbances with an energy that put to shame the native governors of ISTew York and some other states in similar emergencies. The administration of Governor Salomon, how- ever, lies beyond the scope of this paper. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 016 096 226 4