Page:Essays on the Civil War and Reconstruction.djvu/75

Rh North. It is unquestionably true that Mr. Lincoln's decree furnished the Southern leaders with a most effective instrument for the consolidation of sentiment in the Confederacy. From that time the struggle on the part of the South was a desperate battle for existence. But in the North, on the other hand, the triumph of the radicals in securing the adoption of their policy by the President awakened feelings of apprehension among the other political factions. Mr. Lincoln admits, in his message to Congress in December, that the issue of the proclamation "was followed by dark and doubtful days." Nor was the gloom confined to the political arena. The bloody reverse at Fredericksburg, the narrow escape from disaster at Murfreesboro, and later the disheartening defeat at Chancellorsville, involved the military situation in hopeless uncertainty. Meanwhile, the discussion of the habeas corpus bill and the conscription act in Congress and in the country at large aroused the bitterness which culminated in the draft riots. In all respects the first half of the year 1863 was the period of lowest ebb of the national fortunes. The turn of the tide came with the nation's birthday. In the field, Gettysburg and Vicksburg marked the change. The stern enforcement of the conscription act was successful finally in putting the government on a firm footing with respect to men, while the enormous loan of $900,000,000, authorized by the last