Maudlin. Really kind of depressing, right . Has the feeling of the war. Early on, there was people who are wanting to fight. Now people are sick of it. This has been building up over time. Charles ok. That is a good point. They have been fighting for over three years and it is wearing on people in there is cash people. There is some much death. So much loss and destruction and people are getting tired of it. And wariness is gaining momentum in the summer and fall of 1864. And we begin to see during the election year, the campaigning starts in the summer and we begin to see the democrats step up their attacks on the lincoln administration. We see them come back, and the other says, boldly returning from canada. What are they going to exploit . What are they going to focus on in the election . I think they are going to focus on sort of the emancipation aspect of it. They are trying to get the more conservative republicans on their side in terms of saying, hey, we do not want to this emancipation, neither do you. So come vote for us. Charles are the republicans unified . No. Charles not at all. Thomas . They will try to use the claim that if the north would just abandon this emancipation requirement, that we could have peace. That we just want union with the south and the south would accept those terms. Tickets proven wrong it gets proven wrong, but it is other, if we would just give up on the emancipation proclamation we could have peace. Charles it is not as emancipation, they focus on the president and they say it is lincolns negromania. They brand him as the guilty party, the one preventing peace. Tim . Your hand up. You had your hand up. The Democratic Media is going crazy and focusing on this, they are making and even trying to spread rumors that he has negro blood. Things like, too so the social , media at that time, the newspapers and everything, china him in everyblast way they can. Charles it is a vindictive campaign. It is that moral rightness, that honor and a southern gentlemanship. Talking about extermination is preferable to honor. Jefferson davis say we will fight on unless you acknowledge our government. They are fighting for what they think it is the right thing to do. It is dehumanizing lincoln and demonizing the other side, saying we are the right guys, we are the gentleman. Charles ok. And lincoln with four years, trying to show improvement in the system and do far it has only put the country into this. So they are saying, if you put a democrat back in government, we are going to bond everybody together. Charles we will bring the union back. The only thing stopping the unions lincoln, essentially is what they are saying with this. The author points out a letter by, a couple of letters by Horace Greeley to abraham lincoln. In the letters, what the author quotes, our bleeding country longs for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh constructions why is this important or significant . Who is this . The editor of the new york tribune. It says in the reading he is wishywashy, but he has a big impact on northern route morale. The paper is widely read and lincoln will actually use him as a negotiator with the south. Not necessarily for serious negotiations, but to prove how steadfast the south is in their ways and that even if they give them reasonable negotiations, just to show how the south is not willing to budge. Charles how does this come about . The unofficial negotiations. Rebel agents were up in the north and really going in and out of canada and just kind of in the north and lincoln had gotten wind of it and he saw through it and knew they were agents. They really thought that they were going to be set for negotiations, but lincoln knew otherwise and he knew these confederates were not coming to be peaceful. They were trying to get what they wanted out of him and it did not work. They do not agree to his terms. Charles what were his terms . What were lincolns terms . Thomas . Amnesty, union abolition, and conversation to those others who had emancipated slaves. Charles he is steadfast in what he wants. He says he is not going to break that at all. That is where him and jefferson davis, there is no way that is going to come to an agreement, because he is saying emancipation is setting the tone, we will not go different from that. Charles why does lincoln allow these emissaries to negotiate kind of in the back door . Why does he do that . I think i briefly touched on it, but i think it highlights the south is not willing to come to his terms, so we need to continue the war and so we get unconditional surrender, otherwise they will want us to go back on the emancipation proclamation and as we talked about before, that is an important element may keep being the british on the side, because the british abolished slavery in 1833 and after we released the proclamation, it really took on a moral element. If you ban it, it takes away that moral element and could possibly give them charles that brings up a good point, the moral element. We already said the republicans are split, how are they split . We have one example with conservatives that are being courted by democrats. How are the republicans split . How are they split . Traditionally, you have the conservative branch and the radical branch. Obviously the radicals are made up more of abolitionists now and conservatives are more, they are antislavery but they do not necessarily believe in racially quality. They did not think lincoln could win reelection based on his policy, said they are trying to find a new candidate to win the election. Charles so the problem with this reconstruction policy as far as the radicals are concerned is what . It is being too nice. Charles too soft. Two nice. And there is that and by the summer and fall of 1864, they do not think lincoln can win reelection. Does lincoln think he can win . No, he doesnt. So why hold the election . They talk about it. It shows how strong the democracy is, we are not going to let the rebellion or the rival force stop us and our democratic way of life. Charles anybody else . I think it also kind of just to be frank, lincoln has done some rather questionable acts in terms of the constitutionality, so it is important to kind of reemphasize that this is a democracy and it is the peoples choice and the executive power answers to the people, because a lot of critics call him a tyrant, and if you postpone the election it could make it look more that way. Charles that is part of the democratic platform, that there is overreaching of federal power and lincoln was acting as a tyrant. There is something unprecedented in modern history, because even in britain they would suspend elections for the head of state during the war, and certainly during the civil war. So the u. S. Is president breaking president s breaking in that they will have an election in the middle of a civil war. And he says in the book, we cannot have free government without elections. To postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered , so the shows his true character. Charles this is a essential to the american identity. Elections are part of what constitutes americans. Tim . If he decides to suspend it, it gives more legitimacy to the confederacy, which lincoln this entire time has been trying to strip away from. He is trying to remove the confederacy from thinking they are their own entity and allowing for National Recognition of the confederacy, so he is still carrying on as if Nothing Happened and he is promoting that we are still together, like, we are still trying to keep the nation together and not change things. Charles if you are going to have a union come a need to show something to be united around, something you stand for. At that point, it adds more to the points they are try to push, you are fighting a lost war. You guys are fighting for a lost war. If you elect a democrat, the war will end and we will be beaten. Charles how are the democrats split . Do they agree with that . It is actually part of the reason lincoln wins the reelection. Essentially they come to a compromise, because although he does not want to fight a hard war he believes in the union and that is one of his priorities, to preserve the union. A lot of the copperheads who form the party, they want peace and that is their platform. So there is a discrepancy between the president ial candidate and the platform. Charles you have the war democrats who are for union and winning the war and bringing it to a swift end, and mcclellan does that and by selecting him as a candidate you have somebody who was invested in the war, who fought in the war. You have that street credit, but on the other hand you have the peace democrats and they want to end the war now. Ok tim . When they nominate him for the for the nation, they too put the peace democrats we will nominate him, it makes the democrats happy. That he is going to run on the platform. But he is torn because their phrase is peace first, union second. Thats whats really getting pushed along. And he does not believe that. He Still Believes in union first, even though he is more toward the side of wanting to get to a more peaceful end. Charles and he will sacrifice emancipation for peace . Yes. What is the democratic platform in the election, what does the author say . What when republicans say it is neither you or i it is a war platform, so they kind of go back and forth on it. He does not know if he wants to immediately have peace or if he wants to stay in the war, so that is what gives both sides gets both sides riled up. Charles they have a platform, but having these two parties or these two wings of the party fighting over it kind of makes it nebulous. What are they going to get . What will happen if he is elected . There is doubt. I think it is furthering lincolns cause, because people realized that he is the only viable candidate. The Republican Party is so split. They do not have a common ground. And at least Lincoln Party is a little more closer together. Charles who does he pick for the Vice President ial candidate . Andrew johnson. Charles who is he . He is a democrat. Charles for more . From where . The south. Charles tennessee. It is a border state. Part of it goes to the north. And part of it goes to the south. So what kind of message is lincoln sending by choosing Andrew Johnson . Union. Charles ok. It goes back to the practical purpose of trying to balance the ticket, appealing to different parties. If you have somebody on your team who represents the other side, then you can get those votes. Charles what do they call it . They do not call themselves the Republican Party on the ticket. The national union. So the platform will be centered around union, but it will include what elements . Are they going to negotiate peace . No. Unconditional surrender. What else . [indiscernible] charles emancipation and then going one step further as the kind of bone to the radical republicans what will become the 13th amendment, abolishing slavery in the United States forever. That is another fight that the democrats try to latch onto is this day versus national rights, because you are putting in an amendment and you are taking away the states power to choose what they want to do for their own people in the national hands. And it fades away and becomes a mute point, but they do latch onto it for some time because that is what initially sparked the civil war, was states versus national rights. They kind of latch onto it for a little bit, but it is that that dies down. Charles that does become part of the democratic platform, states rights, but it was a euphemism for what . Slavery. The return of slavery. So convening a piece convention to discuss reunification and then the states rights and amend announcing lincoln as we said earlier. How do the confederate see this . How do they see this division in the union . They see that the democrats have a chance to win the election and if the democrats win the election, the confederate are confident that they can get the war settled and they can be their own nation. Charles they can be their own nation. I jumped ahead, but you see the propaganda. You have some Campaign Posters and here is a song written called, mack will win the union back. What kind of song do you think it is . Saying you will win the union back implies more of an act of preserving the union. It is not passive. By preserving the union by any means. Charles not a song calling for peace. It is prounion. It is not settling for peace. Basically saying, we will win the union back and that means, to me, that means before the war. Charles but, to restore the union . Yes. The word win is important, because it suggest there is a loser as well. And getting drawn back in. Charles so that is some of his partys propaganda. On the right you see the republican propaganda. On the left you see lincoln with the saying, union of liberty. And on the right, union of slavery. What jumps out at you when you look at the imagery . That slave being hung on the right. Charles it is an auction block. Ok. What else . Shaking hands. It seems like he is shaking hands with an immigrant, not a former slave. It seems to involve not only slaves but also the lower class, immigrants too. I find it surprising because the emancipation is such a hot topic, so why isnt he shaken hands with charles you notice he is holding a saw. So it is the free labor imagery. Probably not a well lit fly, but it is an integrated group of people. Embracing and putting his hand on his shoulder. Charles ok. [indiscernible] it looks like slaves being auctioned. I dont know if she oftentimes slavery split up families. So maybe it is highlighting the contrast between if you into the war, it will not bring back the dead soldiers but it is going to have people dying in vain. Charles this is what what is are we bringing back . If we go with mckellens ticket, what we bringing back . Slavery. Charles you notice the flag next to the immigrant and a schoolhouse. On the right, the confederate stars and bars and he is shaken hands with who . Jefferson davis. It is like saying, welcoming the confederate. This is part of the propaganda and we also see in some of the newspapers references to the casualties that were caused by the confederates and later in the reconstruction it is called, waving the bloody shirt. These are the guys that caused your husbands, sons and uncles to die over the civil war. This is part of the propaganda. Here is what grant reports to one of his friends, regarding confederate attitudes. The enemy are exceedingly anxious to hold out until after the election. They hope for a counterrevolution. Deserters come into our line daily to tell us that the men are universally tired of the war and that desertions would be much more forget more frequent, that but they believe peace will be negotiated after the elections. How did they see this . [indiscernible] i was going to say, almost like their last hope. But it highlights the conception that war weariness is prominent in the north. It is also a significant element in the south. You have prounionist groups springing up in the south and this election is the last effort, because so much can change through the ballot box. Charles excellent point. Tim, that is what you are doing with your research, looking at that activity in the south. Dave, go ahead. In the book it said the Vice President had said that this election was the first ray of light he had seen from the north since the war began, so the confederates were hopeful. Charles they are hopeful for the election. It ties back into the new confederate strategy, the way they are fighting. They were really banking on the hearts and minds of the union to collapse. Because they are out of troops and supplies and weapons. Charles so what grant is saying, they are holding on. They have deserters, but they are holding on as of this hope. I think what it says for the confederate government and army at that point, they are no longer in control. At this point, you are just fighting a war and you are banking on what happens to the enemy, the enemys politics, what the enemy does. No longer do you see me taking action and marching north into virginia, it is more like a reactionary war. They are sitting and hoping instead of sitting and thinking, what can i do to regain the initiative . Charles because after gettysburg and vicksburg, can they gain the Strategic Offensive . No. Can they win a political victory . Yes. The prisoner of war issue is another one that lincoln gets tagged with as a reason he is unpopular. Why do the prisoners of war become a hot topic . Thomas . The confederacys official policy toward africa american troops is to have them executed when captured, same thing for officers. Although it is not predominantly what happens, you will see some atrocities. But with regards to the prisoner of war issue in brings the exchange to a halt, because the confederacy refuses to exchange their soldiers for africanamerican soldiers, because they do not see them on an equal level. Charles ok. You had your hand up . One thing they talked about was how overcrowded and how for the southern prisons, for the north, the Union Soldiers like how they were treated. It says it might have been a little over exaggerated because these were well educated men, so they knew how to write and their imagination got the best of them at times. But just from the pictures it looks pretty bad. It looks kind of noticeably like the holocaust in a sense. Charles and two of the most notorious prisons, one in new york, and then andersonville in georgia, which has a 29 rate for mortality. And some of the things that happened. The commander will be a tried and executed after the war. I brought in pictures. This is the idea of the graves at andersonville, you can pass it around and look at it. What were some other things with the prisoner of war issue besides the end of exchanges and the perceived high mortality . I think the important thing to remember is the effect it has in that it hurts the south more than the north, because the south has been men and resources to continue the war offensively charles the north does. Yes. The south cannot afford to lose those men. Often times they would go into hospitals and then return home for some time, but in the south, if you were exchanged you went right back to fighting. So their policy hurt them more than the north. Another reason why you see the south blaming lincoln is because they are like cutting all their ties. They have this anaconda plan in effect and they are cutting ties, so they are saying, we cannot have the prisoners, we cannot have good facilities because you guys are making it impossible for us. That is why you see all of this kind of bad stuff happened. Charles because they are starving too. There is starvation in the south too. Grant makes a reference to this. He comments about moving toward total war, because he says that the manpower is more crucial to the confederacy