Massachusetts In The Civil War- Antislavery Activists, Politicians, Nurses, Generals, Repub. Party

- William Lloyd Garrison of Mass., abolitionist & editor of the anti- slavery newspaper, The Liberator.

(Wiki) The Commonwealth of Massachusetts played a significant role in national events prior to and during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Massachusetts dominated the early antislavery movement during the 1830s, motivating activists across the nation. This, in turn, increased sectionalism in the North & South, one of the factors that led to the war. Politicians from Mass., echoing the views of social activists, further increased national tensions. The state was dominated by the Republican Party & was also home to many Radical Republican leaders who promoted harsh treatment of slave owners &, later, the former civilian leaders of the Confederate States of America & the military officers in the CSA Army. Initially, Massachusetts supported the war effort in several significant ways, sending 159,165 men to serve in the Union Army and the Union Navy for the loyal North.

One of the best known Massachusetts units was the 54th Mass. Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment of African American soldiers (led by white officers).



- Charles Sumner, U.S. Senator from Mass.

Additionally, a number of important generals came from Mass., including Benjamin F. Butler, Joseph Hooker, who commanded the Federal Army of the Potomac in early 1863, and Edwin V. Sumner & Darius N. Couch, who both successively commanded the II Corps of the Union Army. The state was a leading center of industry & manufacturing, & poised to become a major producer of war munitions & supplies. The most important source of armaments in Mass. was the Springfield Armory of the U.S. Dept. of War. The state also made important contributions to relief efforts. Many leaders of nursing & soldiers' aid organizations hailed from Mass., including Dorothea Dix, founder of the Army Nurses Bureau, the Rev. Henry Whitney Bellows, founder of the United States Sanitary Commission, & independent nurse Clara Barton, future founder of the American Red Cross.

Massachusetts played a major role in the causes of the American Civil War, particularly with regard to the political ramifications of the antislavery abolitionist movement. Antislavery activists in Massachusetts sought to influence public opinion and applied moral and political pressure on the United States Congress to abolish slavery. William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), of Boston began publishing the antislavery newspaper The Liberator and founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1831, becoming one of the nation's most influential editors and abolitionists. Garrison and his uncompromising rhetoric provoked a backlash both in the North and South and escalated regional tension prior to the war.

By the late 1850s, the antislavery Republican Party became the dominant political organization in several northeastern states. Prominent Republican leaders from Mass. included U.S. Senators Charles Sumner & Henry Wilson who espoused Garrison's views & further increased sectionalism. In 1856, Sumner delivered a scathing speech in the U.S. Senate at the criticizing & insulting pro-slavery southern politicians. This prompted Rep. Preston Brooks of South Carolina to later attack Senator Sumner on the Senate floor, severely beating him over the head and shoulders with a cane. Sumner was so severely injured that he did not return to his Senate duties for several months. The incident further heightened sectional tensions. By 1860, the Republicans controlled the Governor's office & the General Court of Mass.

During the 1860 presidential election, 63% of Massachusetts voters supported Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, 20 percent supported Stephen Douglas of the northern wing of the Democratic Party...

- More, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_in_the_American_Civil_War

- UNION STATES In The American Civil War -

California
Connecticut
Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin



- Dorothea Dix, founder of the Army Nurses Bureau, advocate on behalf of the mentally ill.