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Path to the Battle of Little Bighorn, Part Two (1860s - 1876)

7/17/2015

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         Source: James Donovan. A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - 
                                                   The Last Great Battle of the American West (2009).
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     In June, 1866, a treaty was signed at Fort Laramie between the U.S. Government and Chief Spotted Tail, the Brule Sioux Chief. Chief Red Cloud (of the Oglala Sioux) and many other chiefs warned the U.S. Gov't what would happen if forts were built on the Bozeman Trail. In December, 1866, a large number of Sioux warriors descended on Fort Phil Kearny, and on 21 December, they lured Captain William J. Fetterman (with about 80 men, mostly raw recruits) out of the fort. 
     Fetterman had (supposedly) loudly boasted that he could defeat any number of Native warriors with only 80 men; he and all of his men were killed by the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors (to the U.S. Government, it was known as the Fetterman Massacre). Crazy Horse (Oglala Lakota) was the war chief that led Fetterman into the lethal trap; Crazy Horse's reputation as a warrior was so secure, he would drop back and let other warriors count coup. 

      When news of the Fetterman Massacre reached the East, the clamor for retaliation reached a fever pitch. General William Tecumseh Sherman called for the extermination of Natives on the Great Plains, but President Andrew Johnson had other plans. Sherman was sent to negotiate another treaty at Fort Laramie in 1868 to find a solution to the violence. As a result of the treaty, many separate reservations were created; the idea of one big reservation (colony) was dead in the water. However, U.S. Government efforts to force Natives to assimilate (to become "white") intensified, in terms of education, agriculture, and culture. 
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     In the treaty, the U.S. Government actually agreed to abandon all three forts on the Bozeman Trail, and to also concede the Powder River country to the Natives. Only when the three forts were destroyed, and the troops withdrawn, did Red Cloud sign the treaty . . . it was the only time Natives defeated the U.S. Government in a war.
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      The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 created the Great Sioux Reservation west of the Missouri River in the Dakota Territory; even for the victorious Red Cloud, he and his people lived on a de facto reservation . . . the land that Red Cloud fought to defend would only be theirs temporarily. 
     The treaty stated that Natives could follow the buffalo if the animals were in such numbers to justify pursuit, but they couldn't occupy lands outside of the reservation area (General Sherman was advised that the buffalo wouldn't be in great numbers very much longer). The treaty even allowed the U.S. Government to build a railroad through the reservation to the Pacific Ocean. In only a few months after the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was signed, Sherman (largely on his own initiative) declared that any Natives that located outside of a reservation should be declared "hostile".

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      In December, 1868, the Washita Massacre (the U.S. Gov't called it a battle) and the subsequent roundup of warring Cheyenne secured the Southern Plains for white expansion and settlement. Very soon after his inauguration as President, Ulysses S. Grant halted U.S. Gov't hostilities in the Northern Plains as the first step towards his "Peace Policy". While assimilation to whites continued, he favored locating Native reservations further away from heavily trafficked / settled areas. The true essence of Grant's "Peace Policy" towards Natives was that he would try to conquer them nicely, with more kindness and less brute force than his predecessors. 
     The War Department disagreed with the President; the "kind treatment" was mostly followed on reservations, but they viewed "hostiles" in an entirely different light. The War Dept. assumed that the strategies and tactics used in the Southern Plains would translate to success in the Northern Plains . . . it would not turn out to be the case.
     In 1871, a Congressional squabble led to legislation that actually forbid ratifying treaties with Natives. As a result, Grant used Executive Agreements as a substitute for negotiating treaties, and those Executive Agreements were then ratified by Congress. These agreements were treaties by another name (everyone involved understood), but ironically, the House of Representatives had more input with the actual negotiations under Grant's strategy.

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       Congress immediately classified Natives as wards, not a foreign sovereign power in the U.S. as stated in the Constitution. The U.S. Government would use that distinction in justifying its actions during the next several years. In the early-1870s, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed (it wasn't fully transcontinental until a major rail link was build in Colorado), the already-lacking supplies in terms of annuities on reservations were cut back further . . . and worse yet, the buffalo had largely vanished on the Great Plains (the major reason was sky-high demand for quality leather in Europe). More Natives retreated to the Powder River country; it was their only realistic course of action other than surrendering and going to a reservation.
     The fuse to the Northern Plains powder keg was lit in the Black Hills region. Knowledge of gold in the Black Hills dated back to the early-1850s, but after the Panic of 1873 ushered in the worst economic depression in U.S. History (to that point), many men traveled to the region.  This search for gold by these desperate men in the Black Hills would be backed-up by the presence of U.S. soldiers.

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       Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, the nation's favorite and most famous "Indian Fighter", led the Black Hills Expedition of 1874. Custer made sure that detailed dispatches were sent back East, chronicling what he saw and what he accomplished. Custer led the East to believe that there was "Gold in Them Thar Black Hills", and it resulted in the biggest gold rush since California (Below: the Black Hills Expedition of 1874).
     In short order, over 10,000 gold mines were established in the Black Hills; there were too many rushing to the region for the Government to keep out illegal squatters; to the Lakota, all the whites in the Black Hills were illegal squatters. By tradition and treaty, the Black Hills belonged to the Lakota. Red Cloud and Spotted Tail made it clear that they (and other prominent chiefs) would not sell the region to the U.S. . . . Red Cloud and Spotted Tail were "summoned" to Washington, D.C. to negotiate terms for selling the land, but they adamantly refused to sign. 
     The U.S. Government then sent a commission to the Black Hills region to try and purchase the land, and over 5000 Lakotas met with them in Nebraska. The non-treaty faction of the Lakotas, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, stated that the Black Hills would be defended to the death. The commission barely escaped the area with their lives, and returned to Washington, D.C. in high dudgeon. 

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     President Grant was in a dilemma, in that what was good for the nation was expansion, but that expansion was in conflict with his "Peace Policy" towards Natives. On 3 November, 1875, Grant met with General Phil Sheridan and General George Crook
(pictured). After the meeting, Grant decided (it's more likely that he was convinced) to claim that the Sioux abrogated (broke) the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. 
     The U.S. Army had been waiting for any excuse to have all-out war in the Northern Plains against the "hostiles"; now the Army's hands had largely become untied . . . all that was needed was the requisite ultimatum. Generals Sherman and Sheridan ordered that any Natives that were not in a U.S. Government reservation by 31 January, 1876, would be officially classified as "hostile" to the U.S. Government. The timing and seasonal conditions made the deadline a practical impossibility to meet in any regard, and most (potentially "hostile") Lakotas (and other Natives) had no intention of going to a reservation anyway . . . so the deadline passed, and Natives outside of a reservation became classified as "hostile".

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     On 1 February, 1876, General Sheridan once again (as in 1868) envisioned a major Winter Campaign against the ("hostile") Natives. It was to be a 3-pronged attack designed to encircle, capture, and if necessary kill "hostiles". By this time, only a relatively few Native tribes in the Northern Plains stood against the U.S. Government: Over 3000 Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos (among them 800 warriors) refused to comply.
     In opposition to these superb guerilla fighters, Sheridan could only muster 3000 soldiers in the Departments of the Dakota and the Platte. These soldiers were ill-equipped, poorly motivated, and most were malingerers, criminals, worthless "bounty jumpers" (those paid to join the army, and then ran away) . . . basically the scum of American society. To command this riff-raff, Sheridan called on a handful of Civil War officers that were vying for the few top-ranking positions in the shrunken post-Civil War Army. Among them were George Crook, Nelson Miles, John Pope, John Gibbon, Eugene Carr, Wesley Merritt, Ranald S. Mackenzie, and Sheridan's favorite attack dog, George Armstrong Custer (pictured, 1876).

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Path to the Battle of Little Bighorn, Part One (1763 - 1860's)

7/17/2015

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     Source: James Donovan. A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - 
                                                The Last Great Battle of the American West (2009).
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    For white Americans and the United States Government, it became known as "The Line"; it was the point from where Natives were forced to relocate West. One of the first "Lines" was the 
Proclamation of 1763, which was the last time that Native sovereignty (in the interior) was considered important to the causes of peace and trade; of course it was only considered, not respected, by Colonial whites (e.g. Washington).
     The demand for land by white Americans was enormous, and "The Line" kept moving West after such events as: The Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794) / Louisiana Purchase (1803) / 
Indian Removal Act (1830; where white expansion picked up serious momentum) / 
Indian Intercourse Act (1834; defined "Indian Territory") / The 1st Wagon Train to Reach the Platte River (1841; it was the origin of the 
Oregon Trail) . . . by the early-1840s, Native removal was largely accomplished in the view of white America.

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        By 1845, 5000 immigrants were on various trails West, but by 1850, the number increased to 55,000, many of whom traveled through Lakota Territory. Of course disease spread through Native populations, and increased violence against whites was the logical result. 1845 was the same year that the phrase "Manifest Destiny" first appeared (in the 
Democratic Review); it provided political, social, economic, and even religious justification for whites to expand West.
     The Mexican War (1846 - 1848) finalized most of the U.S. Government's claims in what would become known as the contiguous states (the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 was the last land purchase from Mexico). The Gold Rush in California dramatically increased expansion, and it also proved that "The Line" was no longer an effective solution to the "Native Problem".
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      As the 1850s progressed, the Reservation System from the East was applied in the Great Plains, and "Native Colonies" were established. There, in these "Colonies", Natives would be kept out of the white settlers' way, and taught to become "white". Thus began the U.S. Government strategy of negotiating (and forcing) treaties with Natives, taking what it wanted; the legality of most of the treaties were beyond-dubious.
     An example: A treaty was signed between the Cheyenne & Arapaho Nations and the U.S. Gov't in 1851 where it was agreed that the Cheyenne would relocate to a reservation south of the Arkansas River, giving up all their lands. But, only 6 of the 44 Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs signed the treaty . . . therefore, most Cheyenne and Arapaho didn't feel that they were bound by the document. Also, "Annuity Payments" on reservations were designed to wean Natives from buffalo, but the system was steeped in corruption, since it was headed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Despite all the dishonesty and corruption with the treaties and on the reservations, major warfare had been avoided in the Midwest and the Great Plains.
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      In August, 1862, a massacre occurred in SW Minnesota that resulted in Natives killing over 800 whites; it started over a dispute between Natives and a white farmer over access to the farmer's hens' eggs. The Great Sioux Uprising (a.k.a. Minnesota Massacre; Great Sioux War) of 1862 was the first sign of large-scale, organized Native resistance. 
     General John Pope, then in charge of the Missouri Division, vowed revenge; he ordered 
General Henry Sibley's troops into action, and they defeated a large number of Santee warriors at Wood Lake. Over 2000 were captured, and 38 were publicly hanged on 26 December, 1862; President Lincoln actually commuted over 300 Native executions. The Lakotas were stripped of their land in SW Minnesota by the Minnesota River, and moved to a reservation on the Missouri River. Sioux resistance (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, and others) spread westward with the fleeing warriors, and violence on the Great Plains increased.
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      The Sand Creek Massacre occurred on 29 November, 1864 under the command of Union Colonel John M. Chivington (pictured). Chivington attacked "Peace Chief" Black Kettle's sleeping Cheyenne village (about 100 lodges); even children were massacred under Chivington's orders. Over 200 Cheyenne were killed and mutilated by Chivington's men, and they proudly paraded through Denver (175 miles away), displaying Cheyenne body parts to cheering white Coloradans. 
     Enraged Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho warriors raided towns, stage stations, ranches, wagon trains . . . they burned, looted, and killed wherever they could in retaliation for Sand Creek. During the Winter of 1864-1865, these warriors joined kinsmen in the Powder River country, which was the area between the Black Hills and the Bighorn Mountains, which the Lakota claimed as their homeland (although the Lakota had taken it from the Crow Nation a few decades earlier). 

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     The Union Government initiated the Powder River Campaign in 1865; it became a fruitless endeavor to try and clear out marauding Natives in the region. Over 6000 soldiers in 3 columns stirred up the Lakota Nation for good, especially Chief Red Cloud (pictured; who had tallied over 80 coups by the age of 16, and coups were counted very carefully, much like confirmed kills for pilots in WW I and WW II) and the Oglala Nation. Red Cloud and his warriors reeked havoc over U.S. soldiers and whites foolish enough to enter the Powder River country, especially if they used the Bozeman Trail, which was the best route to the Montana gold mines.

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Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse Before Little Bighorn

7/17/2015

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         Source: James Donovan. A Terrible Glory: Custer and Little Bighorn - 
                                                   The Last Great Battle of the American West (2009).
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     Before Sitting Bull became a warrior, he was a very deliberate boy, and his name before he entered adolescence was "Slow" (his first name was "Jumping Badger"). When he reached maturity, he was 5'10" with a heavy muscular frame, and possessed a deep bass voice with a deep, penetrating stare . . . even as a young man he was a commanding presence. 
     By 1855 (at the age of 25), Sitting Bull was a leader of a Hunkpapa elite military society, the "Strong Hearts". This group (like others) was a combination of warrior and military police; their mission was to not only protect the Hunkpapa tribe, but also its culture and social order. Collectively, these groups were called an akicita; Sitting Bull had joined a type of military fraternity.

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     Soon, it became clear that Sitting Bull was more than just a warrior; he possessed other traits in addition to bravery, including generosity, fortitude, and wisdom (which was especially hard to acquire). In Sitting Bull, each of these traits had been developed to an incredible degree. By his late-20s, Sitting Bull was made a war chief of the Hunkpapa tribe (within the Lakota Nation). 
     Sitting Bull earned the reputation as a Wichasha Wakan (Holy Man) before he was 30 years old. By the Summer of 1857, six of the seven Lakota tribes gathered at Bear Butte in the Black Hills for a council. Present among the tribes were the Hunkpapa, Minneconjou,
Two Kettles, Blackfeet, Sans Arc, and the Oglala (the Brule tribe was busy in the South, making war on the Pawnee along the Platte River).

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     At least 5000 attended the council at Bear Butte, and Lakota leaders pledged resistance to white expansion on their lands . . . as long as whites stayed out of what they considered their land, all would be well. After the Great Sioux Uprising in Minnesota in December, 1862, the fleeing Dakotas traveled West to join their Lakota brethren. U.S. Army columns were in pursuit, and Lakota and Dakota warriors united to fight the U.S. force. 
     Gradually, Lakota warriors perfected the hit-and-run guerilla tactics would would become so successful in the Great Plains. By the end of 1864, there were running battles in the Badlands and the Upper Missouri area; Sitting Bull and the other Lakota war chiefs attacked whites to forestall the invasion from the East.

     Sitting Bull refused to participate and sign the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Soon after Laramie, an unprecedented decision was made among the Lakota; a Supreme Chief would be selected (instead of the independent chiefs from independent tribes). Sitting Bull was named Supreme Chief for the entire Lakota Nation with much ceremony. 
     Almost all non-treaty Lakotas (what General Sherman termed "hostiles") gathered around him, at least in spirit. While most Lakota were already on reservations, Sitting Bull led the "Free-Roamers" against the U.S. Government. He refused all efforts by the Government to have him negotiate and sign a treaty; Sitting Bull didn't change his stance for 17 years, until his people were starving.
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     In 1865, Crazy Horse (Oglala) was named a "Shirt-Wearer", which was the highest honor a Lakota warrior could receive. Not only was Crazy Horse an elite warrior, but being a "Shirt-Wearer" also meant that he had governing responsibilities as well; he was expected to put the tribe's interests ahead of his own. However, in 1870, Crazy Horse was with a woman that wasn't his wife, and the enraged husband shot him in the face just below the left nostril. Crazy Horse survived with a broken jaw and a scar on his left cheek (the husband, as well as most everyone else in the tribe, believed that Crazy Horse had died). 
     As a consequence of his actions, Crazy Horse lost his status as a "Shirt-Wearer", but he 
looked far more intimidating as a warrior. Crazy Horse first met Sitting Bull in 1871, and by then, Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa tribe had moved to the Powder River country, and waged a defensive war against the U.S. Government and white settlers.

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     In August, 1872, several thousand Lakota gathered for their traditional Sun Dance in Southeast Montana, which was a combination social and religious celebration. Then, on 14 August, 1872, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse took part in an attack on a railroad survey crew that was protected by U.S. troops. Crazy Horse led an attack in the open against the troops, while Sitting Bull, inspired by Crazy Horse's charge, just sat down, well within rifle range of U.S. Cavalry, calmly smoking his pipe while bullets were hitting the ground all around him. 
     Crazy Horse, inspired by the actions of Sitting Bull, made one more charge against U.S. troops, and his horse was shot out from under him. Both men had covered themselves in glory in their respective tribes, and within the Lakota Nation, on that mid-Summer day in August, 1872.

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     In the late Summer of 1873, an even larger railroad / government survey expedition (2000 men) headed out to the Powder River country (the Yellowstone is one of the major rivers in the region). In charge of the troops was Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer; he and his men were based out of Fort Abraham Lincoln (pictured: the restored blockhouse) on the Missouri River near Bismarck, North Dakota. The Northern Pacific Railroad had just reached Bismarck, and the next stretch of track was heading to Montana . . . Powder River country. 
     A very desirable trek existed for the tracks, in that all the Northern Pacific had to do was follow the Yellowstone River to the Rockies, and then find a navigable pass through the mountains. On 4 August, 1873, Custer experienced his first contact with Natives in Montana; he was by himself (most likely either hunting or target shooting), and had a close call with Native warriors. Thus began a series of encounters where the Lakota dictated the rules of engagement (guerilla tactics). Custer used cannon to disperse Lakota warriors; Custer equated cowardice with the withdrawal of the warriors.

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       The Northern Pacific's plan to go west of Bismarck was canceled due to the Panic of 1873 (which led to the worst economic depression in US History at that point). It seemed that the Lakota (and other Natives) in the Powder River country would get a reprieve from the white "Invasion From the East", but another trespass would begin the final chapter in the Great Plains (gold), and it would involve Custer, and the Black Hills region.
     To the Lakota, it didn't matter that they had taken the Black Hills from the Cheyenne, and the Cheyenne had taken it from the Comanches/Kiowas, and that they had taken the area from the Crows over a century ago. To the Lakota, the Black Hills represented their "Food Pack", which they could access when needed (the region also had religious significance). Other than protecting railroad surveys, the U.S. Cavalry hadn't really dealt with Natives in the Powder River country in any significant manner.
(Pictured: President Grant trying to help America, depicted as a woman in distress as a commentary on the severity of the Panic of 1873)

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     U.S. troops attacked a peaceful sleeping village of mostly Cheyenne, with some Oglala and Minneconjou as well. This attack started a chain of events that caused the groups led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse to band together. That large gathering of Cheyenne, Oglala, and Hunkpapa Natives moved northwest in April/May, 1875. "Free-Roamers", made up of Sans Arc, Blackfeet Lakota, and more Minneconjou, joined the entourage.
     In early-June, 1875, this gathering of Natives had 500 lodges, 1000 warriors, and thousands of Natives were leaving reservations to join this growing number of Natives. The U.S. Government, military, and the general public had no idea what Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and the Dakota Chief Inkpaduta (pictured, who had been resisting white incursions far longer that the other two) meant to their people in terms of inspiration and direction. All three shared an unyielding desire to defend, to the death, their homelands, people, and their way of life.

            Addendum: The Deaths of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull . . .
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George Armstrong Custer After the Civil War (1866 - 1868)

7/17/2015

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     Source: James Donovan. A Terrible Glory: Custer and Little Bighorn - 
                              the Last Great Battle of the American West (2009)
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      In July 1866, Congress expanded the mounted cavalry with four more regiments (a rare expansion in the climate of Post-Civil War military downsizing), and they all headed West. George Armstrong Custer was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 7th Cavalry; he was once again in command, even if not the overall commander. In the next decade, Custer would only command in one battle (Washita, 1868), with the rest classified as skirmishes . . . until Little Bighorn in June, 1876.
     The fawning press still loved him, and Custer was always accommodating to the media. By 1872, his letters were regularly published in newspapers and magazines under his own name. Custer enjoyed his celebrity enormously . . . much to the chagrin & irritation of some. 


(Pictured: Lt. Colonel Custer shortly before the Battle at Little Bighorn)

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      In October, 1866, Custer (and his wife Libbie) went to Fort Riley (KS) to organize and train his new regiment within the 7th Cavalry. Under Custer's command was 
Captain Frederick Benteen (31, 5 yrs older than Custer), a cantankerous Virginian that served with distinction in the Civil War. Benteen took an instant dislike to Custer when he first met him in January, 1867; many historians have argued that this may have been due to similarities in their personalities. Benteen viewed Custer as a blustering, bragging, press-created peacock . . . he was jealous, upset that he wasn't in command. Benteen's bitterness would infect the 7th Cavalry all the way to Little Bighorn on 25 June, 1876.
     The 7th Cavalry was ordered to protect settlers and railroad crews pushing West. In the Spring of 1867, Custer joined up with General Winfield Scott Hancock's 1400 soldiers, cavalry, and artillery, but the joint mission was an abject failure, in that hostilities actually increased in the Great Plains.

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      On the Great Plains, Custer was introduced to guerilla tactics for the first time, and he became very frustrated with the lack of success. He was also experiencing supply problems, inferior rations, desertions, excessive heat, deceitful Native guides/scouts, but most of all, he missed Libbie. As a result, Custer the "Tyrant" resurfaced, alienating many of his men, and then he went back to see Libbie in Fort Riley (pictured: the front of the Custer home in the fort) without permission . . . Custer went AWOL (he missed her, but he was also concerned that she was cheating on him with a captain stationed at the fort).
     Custer was court-martialed two months later, and he basically dug his own grave. The Court of Inquiry gave Custer multiple chances to help himself, but Custer remained imperious. After a month of deliberation, Custer was found guilty on all but three charges, and was suspended from rank and command without pay for a year. It was actually a very mild verdict, and at the time, being convicted in a court-martial was not the career-ending humiliation that it would become in the 20th Century. Custer blamed many others in the 7th Cavalry for his situation, never once reflecting on his own decision-making . . . it widened a rift that would never heal in the regiment.

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       On the surface at least, the Custers treated the year as an extended vacation. Custer's suspension would only last ten months, because General Philip Sheridan (pictured, now in overall command of the departments on the Plains) requested that his sentence be reduced. The War on the Plains was going poorly, and Sheridan (still a huge Custer supporter) gave Custer a virtual "blank check" in terms of what he could do on the Plains. 
     When Custer returned, he was energetic, purposeful, and itching to find Natives. Custer was allowed to retain his regiment, and Sheridan made sure that the regiment was properly supplied. Custer was still the disciplinarian: officers late to meetings actually had their tents put on fire.  One month after his return, the 7th set out to find Natives . . . during the winter. Sheridan calculated that it would be easier to find Natives along their winter camps by rivers and creeks.

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     The 7th Cavalry headed towards the Washita River on 23 November, 1868. Custer followed a trail of over 100 Cheyenne warriors from Kansas to a winter camp. He didn't know if the Native camp was hostile, but the trail of the Cheyenne warriors led straight there; Custer assumed that the 100 warriors were in the village's 51 tepees.
     Custer led the charge from the north (with the rising sun at his back) into the village, but he had ordered multiple simultaneous charges from different directions. The engagement lasted a mere ten minutes, but there were two alarming developments. First was Major Elliott and his sixteen missing men, and Custer had reports that some warriors were heading his way. The village Custer attacked was actually one of several that had over 1000 warriors (very poor reconnaissance), and they were advancing in mass. Custer decided to burn the village, kill 900+ ponies, and abandon Major Elliott and his men on the field (Elliott and his men were eventually found, dead and frozen, riddled with arrows and badly mutilated).

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     Instead of retreating as the 1000 warriors advanced, Custer (pictured in 1868) gave the order to move TOWARD the warriors, and the Cheyenne retreated (Native warriors preferred to chase down their enemies; they often retreated when advanced upon, preferring guerilla tactics). The Washita was heralded as a major triumph by the U.S. Government, military, media, and Westerners. Some denounced the Washita as a massacre on defenseless and peaceable Natives. 
   Of the 40-50 Natives killed, over half were noncombatants; Osage scouts, not troopers, were the main reason for the deaths (to the Osage, it was a chance to gain revenge against the Cheyenne from past events). The Washita was harsh, but it wasn't a wholesale massacre; Custer actually halted some of the killing. Custer's superiors were pleased with the result, in that it was the first piece of good news to come from the Plains after the Civil War. While it was a morale-booster for the government, it demoralized Southern Plains Natives . . . no longer could Natives feel safe during the winter in their camps by rivers.

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      The 7th Cavalry continued rounding up hostile Natives in the Southern Plains during that winter (1868-1869). Captain Benteen took Major Elliott's death very hard, and blamed Custer; he even wrote a scathing letter that was published in Eastern newspapers. Custer just couldn't believe or understand why one of his officers could be so disloyal (when Benteen freely admitted in an officer's meeting that he wrote the letter, Custer, disbelievingly, walked out of the tent). 
     From that point on, there was a Custer "Clan", and Benteen's "Anti-Custer Clan"; however, most officers remained neutral, wanting nothing more than to do their duty (and when off duty . . . drink). Benteen would continue to rail against Custer, loudly, for the next seven years . . . 


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George Armstrong Custer: Before/During the Civil War

7/17/2015

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   Source: James Donovan. A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn -
                    the Last Great Battle of the American West (2009)
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     George Armstrong Custer had the ability to process a lot of information and make a considered decision in short order. Time and again during the Civil War, Custer made split-second decisions that turned out to be correct. By the end of the Civil War, Custer's skeptics among the Union officers were the older and less successful. The Custer of the Civil War inspired loyalty and shared the danger with his men, and they followed him where he went.
     Few would have predicted that level of success for Custer at West Point, where he had the highest number of demerits in his class. He was very popular, despite graduating at the bottom of his class in June, 1861 (Ironically, his worst grades were in cavalry tactics). His class's graduation was accelerated by over a year (the last year was condensed to one month) due to the onset of the Civil War.

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     2nd Lieutenant Custer's first assignment was with the 2nd Cavalry, which was in General 
Irvin McDowell's division. Custer was at the 1st Battle of Bull Run, but was only an observer from a distance, not a participant. He was cited for bravery, however, for directing aspects of the Union rearguard action on the retreat. For over a year, Custer served as 2nd Lt. as an aid to various officers in the Union Army. 
     Custer often volunteered for combat assignments, and as a result, impressed the General of the Army of the Potomac, George B. McClellan . . . McClellan promoted Custer to Brevet Captain (during the Civil War, there weren't many medals issued, but promotions that were in effect during the war, "brevets", were very common . . . with no increase in pay, of course).
     Above: the earliest photograph taken of 2nd Lt. Custer during the Civil War in 1862)

     Custer made himself indispensable to McClellan; Custer worshipped the General from afar.
When Lincoln removed McClellan in the Fall of 1862, the 22 year-old Custer was without a position of significance. Custer's rank reverted to 2nd Lt. when he was reassigned to the Army of the Potomac in the Spring of 1863. 
     General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker acted on good advice, and finally created a unified cavalry corps in the Army of the Potomac. Once again, Custer made himself indispensable, this time to the cavalry commander, Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton . . . Custer was fearless, had an inclination and desire for battle, and proved to be a natural leader in combat
      (Pictured below: Custer and General Alfred Pleasonton after the Battle of Gettysburg)
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       On 28 June, 1863, Custer was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General (Pleasonton was also promoted to a higher-rank). Unlike his previous two promotions, this one was based solely on merit, no political connections were needed. Custer had learned much about command in terms of organization, strategies, and tactics . . . he had also learned to "toot his own horn" rather effectively (probably from McClellan).
     Few Brigadier generals led their men into battle; most preferred to stay back. But Custer led his men, believing that if he shared the danger, his men would fight harder. At this point, Custer had started to craft his own uniform, featuring multiple colors (e.g. a red scarf). Custer claimed that he wanted his men to know where he was at all times in battle 
            (Pictured: Brevet Brigadier General Custer)

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      The Battle of Gettysburg occurred just a few days after his promotion, and his first charge was a disaster. Custer knew he received rash advice from a reckless junior officer, but he authorized and led the charge (depicted in the painting) on the principle that he wanted to prove himself in his new rank. Custer was almost killed (his horse was KIA), and he was rescued by one of his privates; although the charge was disastrous, he did prove his mettle to his men.
     On the climactic day of Gettysburg ("Day 3"), Custer charged into Jeb Stuart's much larger and more vaunted cavalry TWICE. Custer was outnumbered at least 8 to 1, but ordered and led the second charge anyway, halting Stuart's flanking efforts. It was the first time in the Civil War that a Union cavalry won AND held the field against a Southern force. After Gettysburg, it was mostly triumph-after-triumph for Custer and his Michigan brigade - they proved to be the best of the Union cavalry corps. Custer's reputation and fame grew, and his likeness became common in newspapers and magazines.

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     On 9 February, 1864, Custer married Libbie Bacon. Libble was able to stay near her husband during the Civil War in that General Sheridan had ordered a special dispensation for Custer's wife (Custer was apparently back in Sheridan's good graces). By now, Sheridan was in command of the entire Union cavalry, which meant when General Grant ordered that Jubal Early's forces be crushed (he was a constant menace to Washington, D.C.), it was Sheridan's responsibility to do so. Sheridan ordered his Union cavalry to engage in "total war" in the Shenandoah Valley (west of DC), denying Early any easy chances to forage for supplies.
     In September, 1864, Custer was given command of the 3rd Cavalry, and the soldiers of the 3rd were thrilled. General Jubal Early's surprise attack led to great disarray and a Union retreat for all the cavalry corps except Custer's 3rd, which had an orderly and effective rearguard action. When Sheridan arrived after his famous 11 mile ride to the front, the situation had markedly improved due to Custer taking active command. After Early was crushed, Custer was promoted to Brevet Major General in the Union cavalry.

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      Later in 1864, Custer was taken by surprise by a Confederate advance (after pulling in his pickets too early), and was almost captured at an inn (similar to 
General Charles Lee during the Revolution). In what was a common practice with high-ranking officers during the Civil War, Custer twisted and altered facts in his reports to avoid taking responsibility (which he would continue to do after the war);  even General Phil Sheridan was on Custer's case after the near-debacle. 
     At Appomattox, Custer talked to Confederate officers, some of whom he knew from West Point. General Sheridan purchased Wilmer McLean's table on which Lee surrendered to Grant for $20 ($300 today), and gave it to Libbie with a very complimentary note about her husband.

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     At the close of the Civil War, only General Ulysses S. Grant, General William Tecumseh Sherman, and General "Li'l Phil" Sheridan were more popular than Custer. However, his popularity with his men would soon plummet; he would be viewed as a tyrant during "Reconstruction Duty". After the Civil War, Custer was posted in Louisiana and Texas, and his men lacked provisions and motivation. Nevertheless, Custer demanded that his men follow his orders and rules to the letter, which led to the "tyrant" label. 
   Sheridan supported Custer wholeheartedly, but his new reputation as a tyrant would shadow him to his death at Little Bighorn on 25 June, 1876. Custer's commission in the Union Army expired in January, 1866, and he was mustered out of the Army at age 26. Custer was now only a cavalry captain in the regular (peacetime) army . . . what would he do with the rest of his life . . . 

(Pictured above: General Custer during the Civil War with one of his dogs; he absolutely loved dogs. After the Civil War, it was common for him to claim to have between 20 and 40 dogs in his "entourage")

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Thomas Jefferson: The Leader of the Opposition (1790 - 1797)

7/7/2015

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     Source: Jon Meacham. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012)
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     Thomas Jefferson officially became America's first Secretary of State on 22 March, 1790.  TJ was flexible on many political points (even, initially, with the National Bank), but he never changed his views that the U.S. was susceptible to a monarchy. TJ was in favor of a stronger federal government, but not one that opened the door to a monarchy. In other words, TJ was adamantly opposed to Monocrats (rule by one), and he saw multiple threats, visible and invisible, to America's republican government.

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      On 31 October, 1791, Jefferson convinced his journalistic pitbull, Philip Freneau (pictured), to use his National Gazette as a Republican platform . . . in doing so, TJ became the leader of the opposition against the Federalists (and especially Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury). In 1793, James Madison (the leader of the Republicans in the House) wanted TJ to remain as SecState, but Jefferson believed that his debt of service to the new federal government had been more than paid.
     Jefferson told Madison that the battles seemed endless, and victories had been too elusive; in effect, TJ was making a political tactical retreat to Monticello. Jefferson may have been retreating to Virginia, but Democratic-Republican Societies were emerging and spreading in New England and New York in 1793. 
     These very aggressive pro-Jefferson / anti-Federalist groups were organized and led by working-class and middle-class citizens, and also featured a strong immigrant presence. These societies were viewed by Hamilton and President Washington as very dangerous groups that were a serious threat to the social order. By 31 December, 1793, the friction was too great for Jefferson, and he officially resigned as SecState to Washington; Washington officially accepted the resignation on 1 January, 1794.

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     Jefferson's strategy on his return to Monticello in early-1794 was to wait, and be summoned to come to the rescue . . . the outcry for his return would be the Election of 1796. Madison (among others, such as James Monroe), kept TJ abreast of domestic and foreign affairs while he was in retreat at Monticello. What worried Jefferson the most was the growing accumulation of power by the Federalist Party, and of Alexander Hamilton.
     Although Jefferson was happy at Monticello, he needed to be in the world of politics and consequence, which meant holding office, articulating beliefs, and championing Republicanism over Monarchy. In the Fall of 1795, the rising star of New York politics, 
Aaron Burr (pictured), visited Jefferson at Monticello . . . in Burr, TJ had a potential rival to Hamilton in the state. When the Jay Treaty was ratified in 1795, Jefferson and his Republican Party had the issue they needed; it was a rallying point, leading to momentum and purpose. Jefferson felt he was close to being "summoned" in order to block the rise of Monarchy in America.

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     On 19 September, 1796, President Washington's
"Farewell Address" was published, and it opened the floodgates in terms of candidates pursuing the Presidency in the upcoming election. Jefferson wrote Madison that it might be best if he was elected Vice-President, given the current domestic and foreign policy issues. 
     Meanwhile, Hamilton hatched a strategy to try and keep BOTH John Adams and Thomas Jefferson from being elected (he thought Adams was too headstrong, and that Jefferson's vision of an Agrarian America was flat-out wrong). Hamilton urged key Federalist electors (with letter-after-letter) to vote for South Carolina's Thomas Pinckney (pictured). He hoped to deny Adams the Presidency by siphoning away several crucial electoral votes, while also costing Jefferson crucial Southern electors. 
     Jefferson knew that it would be a close call in 1796 between himself, Adams, and Pinckney; so much so that TJ asked Madison to be his advocate in case the election had to be decided in the House of Representatives. Madison, in at least one letter, told Jefferson that if he was elected Vice-President to accept it, arguing that "close proximity to the President critical."

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     On 8 February, 1797, the Electoral Votes were officially tallied in the U.S. Senate, with Vice-President John Adams presiding. Adams received 71 votes, with TJ receiving 68; Jefferson, by finishing second, was America's second Vice-President (TJ is known as the "1-2-3 Man", in that he was the first SecState, second VP, and third President). One reason why the Election of 1796 was so close was that the 3/5's Compromise (still in effect) meant that there were more Southern Electoral Votes. 
     Before the results were official, on 1 January, 1797, Jefferson sent Madison a draft letter addressed to Adams. It was very nice letter, pledging his support as Vice-President to President-Elect Adams. Madison sent a letter to Jefferson, basically scolding him as to the contents, and told him to NEVER send the letter, in that he believed that TJ needed to immediately set the tone of OPPOSITION! Later, as Washington exited the stage as President, Jefferson thought that GW was lucky to leave just before the bubble burst on the Federalists.

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     The only time President John Adams consulted Vice-President Thomas Jefferson was before the Inauguration, concerning U.S.-French relations. Adams wanted TJ to convince James Madison to be the U.S. Minister to France. Not long after Adams took the oath of office and became the 2nd President, TJ told Adams that Madison wouldn't accept the position (both TJ and Madison felt that it would be worse-than-stupid to try and help the Federalist Party in any way). 
     President Adams' Cabinet was a very mediocre group (with the exception of 
John Marshall), which he inherited from Washington (GW wasn't very enamored with the group either). But that middling Cabinet gave their Adams a very hard time over making the offer to Madison via Jefferson; for the next four years, Adams never consulted TJ on a political question. Adams understood that he was being pressured to be a partisan President by powerful Federalists . . . and Jefferson came to understand that, even as VP, criticism was inevitable in politics.

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Thomas Jefferson: The Road to the Declaration of Independence

7/7/2015

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       Source: Jon Meacham. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012)
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     For most of the Colonial Elite, revolution was the most shrewd economic choice. The "Rich Eastern White Guys" were restricted from land speculation in the West, and (non-British) paper money was worthless. And, since Thomas Jefferson and the Eastern Elites were in debt (for TJ, it was hereditary debt plus his own), a revolution meant a chance to wipe the slate clean and start over. 
     TJ likened the debt of the Eastern Elites to being the property of the London creditors (George Washington
wholeheartedly agreed with that viewpoint). TJ believed that not making payments to London creditors was a type of boycott, which had become an accepted strategy of resistance to the Crown to many in the Colonies. It would be a rich man's revolution . . . the lower classes would be much slower to respond in kind. To the Jefferson and the Eastern Elites, separation from Britain representedtti an attractive economic and ideological future.

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     On 19 May, 1774, a Virginia newspaper announced the Boston Port Act (it would be the first of "The Intolerable Acts"). TJ's "Summary View" in response was the first time an item that he wrote spread through the Colonies (and even to London). He didn't advocate separation; he expressed a desire to return to the way things were done before all the current hullaballoo. On 6 August, 1774, Washington paid for several copies of what he called "Jefferson's Bill of Rights"; TJ's "Summary View" moved TJ to the forefront of the brewing revolt in Virginia and beyond . . . it also placed him in a position to be among the few that could write a declaration concerning independence.
     Jefferson was elected to the 
2nd Continental Congress (an engraving is to the right) on 27 March, 1775 as the Colonies were drifting towards armed conflict with Britain. Lord Dunmore, the Colonial Governor of Virginia, confiscated gunpowder, which effectively denied Virginians their arms . . . he also threatened to emancipate Virginia's slaves if the scurrilous hoo-haw continued. As a result, Virginia and the 2nd C/C accelerated their preparations for war. TJ came of political age not from certitude, but from the rising conflict with King George III and Great Britain.

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      On 11 June, 1775, Jefferson left for Philadelphia and the 2nd Continental Congress; a larger world beckoned. TJ was reluctant to speak in public (like Washington), so therefore he held his tongue while the 2nd C/C was in session. The events of 7 November, 1775, would do much to produce the Declaration of Independence. Lord Dunmore declared martial law (from the ship in which he was hiding) in Virginia; he also decreed that any African slave that took up arms against the Colonies would be freed. 
     These declarations led to many neutrals becoming revolutionaries, at least in spirit. There was also the sense that the property of the Virginia Gentry would soon become the property of the British Crown. On 4 February, 1776, Jefferson read a copy of Thomas Paine's Common Sense . . . he agreed with most every one of Paine's tenets and concepts. 

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      During the first week of June 1776, a motion to dissolve the union with Great Britain was made in the 2nd C/C. The motion focused on the practical domestic and international applications of independence. A vote was delayed until 1 July in order to get New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and South Carolina on board. 
     But the question was: who should write a draft of the declaration of independence . . . 
John Adams said Jefferson should be the primary author (he based this assertion on a conversation he had with TJ two years prior). TJ thought Adams should write the declaration, but Adams stood his ground, and refused, and Jefferson agreed to write the draft (Adams & Franklin helped TJ edit the draft . . . Franklin suggested the term "Self-Evident"). Jefferson drafted the document for neutral Americans, soldiers in arms, and potential global allies. A satisfied TJ turned into a frustrated TJ when the 2nd C/C cut out about 1/4 of his draft, including negative clauses concerning the slave trade.

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      The Declaration of Independence was formally introduced to the 2nd Continental Congress on 28 June, 1776, and on 1 July, the debate started. Again, large portions of TJ's draft were cut, this time including a denunciation of slavery. TJ hated being edited by such a large group; he silently writhed in agony at suggestions of rewording or deleting passages. Jefferson took the proposed changes to the Declaration of Independence as attacks on him, not constructive criticism . . . which is a common trait with those that have incredible ambition, like Jefferson.
     On 2 July, 1776, the 2nd C/C voted to adopt a resolution for independence from Great Britain, and on 4 July, they ratified the Declaration of Independence. Later, a jealous John Adams said the Declaration of Independence was a theatrical show, not a substantive document.

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     The Declaration of Independence was one of many things with which Jefferson was involved as a member of the 2nd Continental Congress. He faced daunting tasks that included dealing with real-or-imagined conspiracies, such as Loyalist plots and Native attacks in the frontier. TJ also wrote a proposed constitution for Virginia, and closely followed the debates concerning the Articles of Confederation. 
     Jefferson (like Theodore Roosevelt) saw politics as a kaleidoscope . . . loyalties and positions often changed . . . who was an enemy in the morning may be an ally in the afternoon. As a result of his experience in the 2nd Continental Congress, Jefferson was very knowledgeable on political methods and strategies. And, in the Fall of 1776, a 33 year-old Thomas Jefferson met, for the first time, the 25 year-old James Madison in the Virginia Assembly . . . their first battle together: Freedom of Religion in Virginia.

(Below: John Trumbull's revisionist painting of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. TJ and Trumbull were friends, which explains why TJ is the star of the painting . . . if you look closely, you'll see Jefferson stepping on the left shoe of John Adams, which was most likely Trumbull's idea, according to our Capitol Tour Guide in June, 2014)

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The Repeal of Prohibition

7/1/2015

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     Source: Edward Behr. Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed America (2013)
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     In 1927, perhaps 50,000 Americans died from drinking "Moonshine" liquor during Prohibition. Hundreds of thousands of other Americans suffered from blindness, paralysis, and other very serious conditions; much of the alcohol that was consumed was just flat-out dangerous. The main poisons were wood alcohol and, "denatured" (and tax-exempt) alcohol. Usually, the denaturing substance was methanol (sometimes kerosene); three glasses could kill a person. 
     Wayne Wheeler (President of the Anti-Saloon League), so powerful and influential for so long, was finally on the defensive. He had supported the use of methanol for "denaturing" alcohol, and he had actively and aggressively lobbied against mandatory poison labels (pictured: a local warning label from a pharmacy). Wheeler actually denied responsibility in any way over the deaths from "denatured" alcohol; he stated that those that died from drinking that type of alcohol deserved it, since they were breaking the law . . . at long last, Wheeler's enemies 
(the "Wets") sensed that his "Prohibition Power" was starting to ebb away.

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     As the Anti-Saloon League was losing it influence with Congress, Wheeler's health was slipping. He had made many enemies in America, but also in the Anti-Saloon League. But Wheeler's downfall actually started in 1925 when President Coolidge replaced the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury with someone that wasn't loyal or beholden to Wheeler. This new Ass't SecTreas made sure that the Commissioner in the Prohibition Bureau was no longer a lackey for Wheeler (pictured). At the first sign of weakness, some members of Congress pounced on Wheeler, and long-dormant anti-Prohibition groups started to regain political traction.

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     There were many groups that continually voiced their opposition to Prohibition. Two of note were the American Bar Association (which challenged the legality of the Volstead Act) and the American Federation of Labor. What worried Wheeler the most was the strong possibility of a new "Women's Crusade", and he had reason to worry - the effort to form the crusade was led by the most famous female Republican in the U.S. . . . Pauline Morton Sabin
(pictured).
     On 23 April, 1927, Wheeler (who was very ill with heart and kidney problems) debated Clarence Darrow, one of the most famous and influential "Drys", at Carnegie Hall. Wheeler didn't acquit himself well, in part because of his health, but also because Darrow was a far superior opponent. After the debate, Coolidge kept replacing more top-level administration officials that were anti-Wheeler, and in essence the "wheels came off" for Wheeler, in that no one in the federal government was afraid of him any longer. Wheeler died only five months after his debate with Darrow, in September, 1927; he had been in the process of making plans to try and influence the outcomes of
 both political conventions.

     When the Great Depression started, the consumption of liquor didn't decrease by much at all, but there was a great awareness of the lost tax revenues that existed before Prohibition from liquor sales. Due to the Depression, some of the most staunch "Drys" were at the forefront of trying to repeal Prohibition; to these conservatives, the federal government was facing a fiscal, not a moral, issue. 
     The Great Depression didn't initiate the repeal for Prohibition, but it did markedly accelerate the ratification of the 21st Amendment. Many wealthy "Drys" wanted liquor to be once again legal so it could be taxed, hoping that the resulting revenues would lower their income tax. Many "Dry" farmers also changed their tune so they could sell more grain at a better price.
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     Al Smith ("The Happy Warrior", pictured) won the 
Democratic nomination for President in 1928, after Wheeler thwarted his bid four years earlier . . . the "Wets" finally had some momentum. However, Prohibition and his Catholicism dogged Smith during the General Campaign against the Republican candidate Herbert Hoover. In the Election of 1928, the "Drys" won their last victory, electing Hoover to the White House in a landslide (pictured below), while also sending the highest percentage of "Drys" to Congress during Prohibition. 
     President Hoover stated that he opposed any effort to repeal the 18th Amendment, but the political mood would drastically change in the next four years, due to the Great Depression. Also, the new leader of the Anti-Saloon League, Bishop James Cannon, proved to be brazenly bigoted and hypocritical. The "Wet" media confirmed that he was a black-marketer during the Great War, and was guilty of multiple counts of "moral turpitude". 

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      On 5 December, 1933, hard liquor was again legal to drink, but there was a problem, in that hardly any speakeasy / bar had a liquor license to legally dispense alcohol. Ironically, few wanted to tangle with any legalities after Prohibition was repealed. In New Jersey, the governor extended Prohibition a few more days so those that wanted to celebrate could do so "legally". 
     On 6 December, 1932, the 21st Amendment to repeal Prohibition was officially proposed in Congress. In December, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment (the Nebraska Unicameral took "no action" with the proposed amendment), officially ending Prohibition in America. The implementation of the repeal of Prohibition occurred in two steps: first, "real" beer once again became legal, and after that process was started, then hard liquor became legal. 
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      The Significance of Prohibition: Most Americans wanted to forget the 13+ years of Prohibition . . . not only that, but Prohibition remains the least-studied area for historians. It's almost impossible to stamp out "Tolerated Vices", and if an attempt is made, organized (and even unorganized) crime will thrive as a result. 
     The least-learned lesson of Prohibition is that legislation alone is no cure for our nation's problems. America's social conservatives were proven wrong in at least their politics and predictions concerning Prohibition. Repression is like morphine, in that it masks the pain, but it doesn't cure the sickness . . . and Prohibition was a dose of national morphine that lasted 13 years, 5 months, and 9 days, and left an indelible mark, both positive and negative, on America.
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Prohibition: The Volstead Act,  Ratification of the 18th                                              Amendment, and the Immediate Aftermath

7/1/2015

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     Source: Edward Behr. Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed America (2013)
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     The many weaknesses and omissions of the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment were due to the powerful influence of Wayne Wheeler (pictured), the leader of the Anti-Saloon League. Congressman Andrew J. Volstead (R; MN), was merely the facilitator of the law that bore his name. On 27 May, 1919, the bill was introduced to the House of Representatives, and after a three month debate, was passed 255 - 166. Shortly thereafter, the Senate also passed the Volstead Bill, and then President Woodrow Wilson vetoed it on Constitutional and ethical grounds. On the same day, Congress overrode Wilson's veto; at that point, the Volstead Act replaced all previous "Dry" laws in the states.

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      The Volstead Act (pictured: Representative Andrew J. Volstead) had many exceptions with alcohol, such as brewers could stay in business with "Near Beer" (.05 % alcohol). There was no liquor advertising, and the implements to manufacture liquor were illegal as well, but it was legal to drink in a private home. 
     The Volstead Act was a hopeless piece of legislation, in that it didn't take into account the willingness and ingenuity of regular citizens and lawbreakers to get around the feeble enforcement provisions. The "Drys" naively assumed that the "Wets" would actually honor the law.

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    It was a forgone conclusion that 3/4's of the states would ratify the proposed 18th Amendment, making Prohibition part of the Constitution (Nebraska would be the 36th state to ratify the 18th Amendment). One year after ratification, the 18th Amendment was officially enacted on 17 January, 1920 (immediately, the Bahamas became a "Bootleggers Paradise").
     On the night of 16 January, 1920, the level of drinking by the nation's "Wets" was somewhat muted. On 17 January, the celebration of the "Drys" was off-the-charts; it was vitriolic and self-congratulatory hyperbole . . . to the "Drys", they had totally defeated the "Wets"; those that consumed alcohol had become a "conquered people". 

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      During that "Grace Period" between ratification and implementation of the 18th Amendment, the government had to prepare for the enforcement of Prohibition. But Congress only allocated a measly $3 million, and there were only 1500 agents in the newly-created Prohibition Bureau (pictured: agents from the Prohibition Bureau in action).
     Adding to the future futility of enforcing Prohibition was Wayne Wheeler's idea to put the agents in the Prohibition Bureau under the authority of the Treasury Department, not under Justice (Wheeler had lobbied Ohio Senator Warren Harding very hard for that decision). Very early, that proved to be a disastrous decision, in that since the agents were civil servants, they were poorly paid and equipped . . . the conditions were ripe for corruption at the enforcement level in the federal government during Prohibition.

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     Immediately after Prohibition was enacted in January 1920, sprouting up like daisies, were speakeasies, bootleggers, and hijackers. The "Drys" were, of course, surprised, but these shenanigans had been going on at the state level for a long time. "Medicinal" liquor was legal under the 18th Amendment, and in Chicago alone, 15,000 doctors and 57,000 druggist were prescribing liquor to "treat" various ailments. 
     The ingenuity of clandestine liquor manufacturers / brewers was impressive; it was worth their while to supply that product, in that demand for illegal alcohol was sky-high. Defying Prohibition became the "thing to do" with college students, "Flappers", and much of America's middle class (also, the cocktail was invented during Prohibition, in order to disguise the taste of bad liquor). 
        Below: America's most famous columnist, H.L Mencken of the Baltimore Sun,   
                   openly and enthusiastically violating Prohibition in a speakeasy.

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     Prohibition meant that the U.S. was all set for a wild drinking spree that would last 13 years, 5 months, and 9 days. Prohibition would transform the nation's morals, and alter attitudes towards all those in authority; it would also usher in a new "Era of Cynicism". Political immorality flourished at the federal, state, and local levels during Prohibition, which allowed lawbreakers, bootleggers, speakeasies, hijackers, and a new breed of gangster to flourish.
                           (Below: A segment from Ken Burns' "Prohibition", 
                      tracing the last few years before the 18th Amendment)
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Temperance: "The Women's War" (featuring Carry Nation)

7/1/2015

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      Source: Edward Behr. Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed America (2013)
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     Women's Temperance was the first mass-movement involving women in U.S. History. It also featured the world's first large-scale non-violent protest movement (like Gandhi' efforts decades later). These "Women Crusaders" used arrests and insults in the early-1870s as a way to gain guilt-ridden converts to their cause. The behind-the-scenes mentors were men, and the logistics came from Protestant churches. There was some success in the Midwest in terms of non-stop picketing and protesting, but while awareness was raised, only a relatively small percentage of saloons actually closed their doors.

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       While this specific "Women's Crusade" was a a media success, it had a short shelf-life. When the interest from the media waned, the Crusaders went back home, and the affected saloons reopened. As a result, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in 1874. Frances Willard (pictured) was eventually elected as WCTU President; she was not only an ex-Crusader, but also a university professor. 
      The WCTU believed that moderation was a "shoddy lifebelt", which promised safety, but only tempted danger. Willard was one of the first to work for nationwide Prohibition; she organized a petition effort to lobby Congress in 1875. The WCTU made every effort to educate kids on the evils of alcohol, featuring such Sunday School publications as "Counting Fingers". 

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     At the turn-of-the-century, Carry Nation would steal the WCTU's formidable thunder. Nominally a member of the WCTU, Carry Nation was determined to protest in her own way. Born into an eccentric (insane?) and rebellious family, Carry Moore (pictured) was very likely a mentally unbalanced person. Carry spent a lot of time with African slaves, looking for human connections, since her mother didn't want much to do with her at all. 
     She married Charles Gloyd in 1867, who was a heavy drinker, and her life took a major turn as a result. Gloyd's two main vices were drinking and smoking, which were the very vices that Nation attacked in the future. She married again, this time to a man named David Nation, partly so she could legitimately call herself Carry Nation. David was not a strong man, and failed at most everything, including preaching. During unsuccessful sermons, Carry would embarrass him by saying such things out loud as "That will be all for today, David".

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     Carry Nation soon started busting up saloons in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and New York City, and as a result, she became a "Media Star". By 1901, Nation was so far removed from reality that she publicly celebrated the Assassination of President William McKinley; it was at that point that she started her sharp decline. Soon, the WCTU stopped funding her, and the media stopped covering her "Hatchetations". 
    Nation resorted to reenacting her "Hatchetations" on stage, but there were no crowds of note. She even tried stage performances in Britain, and tried to break up pubs, but was arrested and heavily fined. Nation was totally unaware that she had become a complete caricature, a figure of ridicule. Soon after her unsuccessful "tour" in Britain, Nation had a mental breakdown, and died at the age of 65 in a mental institution.

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     One day, Nation entered a Kansas saloon with another WCTU woman, and a sledgehammer; she smashed a keg of whiskey, and hurled invectives in a rage . . . no one dared trifle with her. After busting up a few saloons in Kiowa, she bought a large hatchet, which was to become her signature. Her raids on saloons were sudden, fierce, and violent: few dared face her directly as she destroyed bars and furniture. 
     Law enforcement was in a dilemma as to what to do with Carry Nation, since Kansas was officially a "Dry" state. Nation was destroying property, but those properties were violating state law. Nation rarely stayed in jail more than one night; very often, she used her short periods of incarceration for media exposure.
   (Below: if the embedded video doesn't play, click on "Women of Prohibition Carry Nation")

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The Origin of the Temperance Movement

7/1/2015

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Source: Edward Behr. Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed America (2013)
     In 18th Century America, alcohol in one-form-or-another was so plentiful and so cheap that most Americans went through life in a semi-perpetual alcoholic haze. An American tradition was not only plentiful alcohol, but plenty of time-off (as in hours/days) for consumption. This was a tradition carried over from Europe, especially Britain; in 1720s England there was a "Gin Craze" that was similar to the Crack Cocaine epidemic that ravaged 1980s America. In Colonial America, it was rum, not gin, that was king, and hard liquor (and even beer) was consumed far more than wine.
      (Below: American Colonists enjoying a concoction commonly known as "Rum Punch")
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     In contrast to Europe, Colonial America, despite its factionalism, didn't have nearly the same level of strife, which allowed Temperance (and then Prohibition) to slowly take root. Also, there was a link between liquor and politics in Colonial America, especially in taverns. 
     Colonial tavern owners were economically and politically powerful; they not only delivered votes by providing (often free) liquor, but their taverns were the epicenter of politics for the area. Politicians, to be taken seriously, basically had to be an engaging presence in a tavern(s) in order to be elected/re-elected. The tavern keeper would buy votes and politicians that matched his ideology with liquor. 

                (Below: an "election" involving alcohol in Colonial America)

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     Tavern keepers (and the clergy) were the key opinion-makers long before the development of modern media . . . however, the status of the tavern keeper would sharply decrease after the Civil War, in that the percentage of tavern keepers that were foreign-born would rise significantly.
  (Below: a depiction of an apple press - the first step in making hard apple cider)
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       Hard apple cider was the staple alcoholic beverage since the early-1700s for most Colonists, and then whiskey made its debut in the 1760s. As the 19th Century progressed, rum and gin became working-class staples, while for those with greater socio-economic status, madeira, port, or malaga were consumed (Beer wasn't heavily consumed until German immigrants came to America in significant numbers starting in the 1830s).
    By 1810, the population of the U.S. was 7 million, and among those millions, alcohol consumption was rampant. One estimation, based on the somewhat measurable data of the day, was that the average per capita consumption of alcohol was 10-12 gallons of distilled spirits a year (a more realistic estimate would be in the 3 to 4 gallon range: by 1830, citizens over the age of 15 consumed 7 gallons of alcohol per year). Here is another way to measure the alcohol consumption from our early history: In Washington's first four months as President, 25% of his budget was spent on various varieties of liquor.
     From early Colonial times, some Puritans, such as Increase and Cotton Mather, favored Temperance (limiting, or tempering, the consumption of alcohol). By the 1740s, the small percentage of people that classified themselves as Temperance leaders had, in their minds, linked drinking alcohol with spiritual neglect. To these Temperance leaders, excessive drinking was the source of the lack of adherence to religion and social order.

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      Dr. Benjamin Rush (pictured) was the first to clinically analyze the negative effects of liquor. Rush's study was an early-1800s equivalent to the Surgeon General's warning with cigarettes in the 1960s. The crux of Rush's argument was that people needed to switch from hard liquor to wine or beer (and drink less). As a result of its publication, Temperance societies started to sprout up in the U.S. (the diminutive President James Madison still drank a pint of whiskey before breakfast every morning). 
     The first Temperance publication in Boston was The Philanthropist in 1826; by 1829, there were at least a thousand Temperance Societies throughout America. There were so many Temperance Societies that the clergy were forced to take notice. By 1836, Dr. Rush's study had become "lost in translation", in that with the clergy running point, Temperance Societies were on the warpath against all liquor for religious reasons - in parts of the U.S., there was already open support for Prohibition.


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      From the 1830s-on, Temperance focused on the moral cost of drinking - it was a "Mortal Sin". More clergy were comparing drinking with eternal damnation and sobriety with salvation. In America, drinking alcohol became a religious problem, not a political or social problem. 
      To Temperance leaders like Reverend Justin Edwards (pictured), the alcohol industry represented a vast Godless conspiracy to undermine traditional society . . . Americans, then as now, were susceptible to conspiracy theories. As the Temperance Movement began to grow, the rate of alcohol consumption actually decreased; by 1850, per capita consumption of alcohol was down to a little less than two gallons per year.

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     On 2 June, 1851, the Maine legislature made the sale of liquor illegal throughout the state; decades later, it would become the basis for the 18th Amendment. The leader of the Prohibition movement in Maine was the "Napoleon of Temperance", Colonel Neal Dow (pictured). He was among the first to believe that a legislative solution was the best method to drastically reduce alcohol consumption, and improve society.
    In opposition were the "Wets", which were mostly staunch conservatives backed by brewers, distillers, and saloon keepers. Not only did "Wets" oppose Temperance / Prohibition, they also opposed the emancipation of African Slaves. To these social conservatives, Temperance and Abolitionism came from the same brood of trouble-makers: they believed that their status and influence were under attack.

     The Maine Prohibition law was easily circumvented: it didn't actually prohibit drinking, it just outlawed saloons. Alcohol could be imported and consumed - a common way around the law was to sell a five-cent soda cracker, but the rum was "free". Also, code phrases such as "do you want to see a Blind Pig" meant "do you want a glass of rum"; it was the beginning of what would become known during Prohibition as a "Speakeasy".
     In the 1850s, the momentum of the Temperance Movement ground to a halt due to the increasing likelihood of Civil War. During the Civil War, taxes on liquor and beer were deemed essential in order to help fund the war effort, especially in the Union. However, the Civil War would prove to be a very useful springboard for what would eventually become the first powerful Prohibition lobbying group, the Anti-Saloon League (ASL) . . . 
               (Below: A Temperance poster called "The Drunkard's Progress" from 1846)
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