Carl Schurz And The Indians

Carl Schurz\u27s importance as an immigrant leader and ethnic politician is well documented; his efforts on behalf of civil service reform and anti-imperialism have often been commented upon. His role as an administrator, however, is less familiar but by no means insignificant. Because it contributed to the more rational treatment of native Americans and the conservation of natural resources, it deserves to be explored more fully. In March 1877, when President Rutherford B. Hayes sent to the Senate his nomination of Carl Schurz for secretary of the interior, party regulars were outraged. In the selection of Mr. Schurz as one of your Cabinet, you will offend, of course, President Grant and his warm friends, as Mr. S. was a bitter enemy of Grant, and did his best to make him odious in the minds of the people, one Republican wrote to the president. Change places with President Grant, and how would you feel should he take a bitter opponent of yours into his Cabinet? Schurz was accused of being an unrealistic dreamer, an impractical philosopher with no ability in business. Roscoe Conkling and his allies hated him; James G. Blaine distrusted him and John A. Logan was jealous of him. His desertion of the Republican party in 1872 had never been forgotten, and when even the moderate James A. Garfield thought the appointment unfortunate, there was some question whether the Senate would confirm it. In the end, however, Hayes prevailed, and the controversial appointee became Zachariah Chandler\u27s successor in the Department of the Interior. CARL SCHURZ\u27S CAREER It is not surprising that Schurz\u27s elevation caused such a row. One of the most colorful figures in nineteenth-century America, the young German revolutionary from the Rhineland had become famous at the age of twentyone, when he liberated his professor, Gottfried Kinkel (then serving a life term for revolutionary activities), from a jail near Berlin. Schurz, who in 1849 had himself narrowly avoided Prussian capture by fleeing through a sewer from the besieged fortress of Rastatt, succeeded in bribing one of the professor\u27s guards. After Kinkel was lowered to the street from the roof, his liberator took him to the coast and from there he escaped by ship to Britain

'To live and die [for] Dixie': Irish civilians and the Confederate States of America

Around 20,000 Irishmen served in the Confederate army in the Civil War. As a result, they left behind, in various Southern towns and cities, large numbers of friends, family, and community leaders. As with native-born Confederates, Irish civilian support was crucial to Irish participation in the Confederate military effort. Also, Irish civilians served in various supporting roles: in factories and hospitals, on railroads and diplomatic missions, and as boosters for the cause. They also, however, suffered in bombardments, sieges, and the blockade. Usually poorer than their native neighbours, they could not afford to become 'refugees' and move away from the centres of conflict. This essay, based on research from manuscript collections, contemporary newspapers, British Consular records, and Federal military records, will examine the role of Irish civilians in the Confederacy, and assess the role this activity had on their integration into Southern communities. It will also look at Irish civilians in the defeat of the Confederacy, particularly when they came under Union occupation. Initial research shows that Irish civilians were not as upset as other whites in the South about Union victory. They welcomed a return to normalcy, and often 'collaborated' with Union authorities. Also, Irish desertion rates in the Confederate army were particularly high, and I will attempt to gauge whether Irish civilians played a role in this. All of the research in this paper will thus be put in the context of the Drew Gilpin Faust/Gary Gallagher debate on the influence of the Confederate homefront on military performance. By studying the Irish civilian experience one can assess how strong the Confederate national experiment was. Was it a nation without a nationalism