November 27th, 2007
Did you ever think that a respected citizen of Philadelphia back in the 1860s could be arrested just for being outspoken in his objection to war? Did you ever think that the same citizen could languish in prison for several months without really knowing what his crime was or why he was being accused? The average American patriot would say indignantly “Not in the good old freedom-loving USA!” This sounds more like a scene from the Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.
W. H. Winder reveals an America completely different than what the majority of Americans hear about every July Fourth. Winder published his account titled Secrets of the American Bastille in 1863. W. H. Winder’s story would be almost unbelievable to many American who have grown up convinced that Abraham Lincoln was the tender-hearted emancipator of the slaves and the one who wanted “malice towards none and charity for all.” On September 10th, 1861, Winder wrote a letter in good faith to a top official in Lincoln’s administration—Secretary of State William H. Seward. In this letter Winder eloquently laid out his objection to Lincoln’s war policies. He pleaded with Seward to use the influence of his high office to save the nation from the horrors of war. In this letter Winder also states the following: “I feel that I have been bold in speech, but not half as much so as I am in heart and purpose, to do all I can for the restoration of the fraternal Union, which I deem vital to the interests of both sections (North and South). I do not mean to assert the South has been exempted from blame; but being the weaker, all her errors can and will be remedied by the restoration of the Union.” (Page 10) Winder goes on to condemn the Abolitionists for forcing the South to a point where they had no other choice but to secede from the Union. He explains that instead of making it clear that the North had nothing against the Southern states the Abolitionists caused enmity and resentment to multiply. He points out the secession of the Southern states could have been prevented before it happened if the Federal government had been willing to lower or abolish its high tariffs which the South objected to. Winder stated to an extent that the treatment of the Southern states as the scourge of freedom in America only infuriated the South to a point where they could not take it anymore. Winder also published his opinion of the war in Philadelphia newspapers. For expressing his views so freely regarding the war, Winder was arrested by a federal marshal by the order of the State Department. Winder was held in Fort Lafayette located in New York Harbor for the month of September. In October he was sent to Fort Warren located in Boston Harbor. Mr. Winder was held at Fort Warren from October of 1861 until his release in November of 1862. Winder was charged with writing in newspapers and in personal correspondence against the government. He noted that this charge only came after he had been arrested, his office had been searched, and his personal and public papers had been confiscated by a federal marshal.
All of this shows the extent that the Lincoln administration was willing to go to silence opposition to their policy. Lincoln believed that the end justified the means. If some liberty was lost while winning the war then it could not be helped.
In conclusion I will say that Winder offers an invaluable resource for our generation. With the knowledge of the past, we can see looming danger that is yet to come. With this knowledge we can better defend our freedom of speech and be aware that it can be in peril—even in the United States of America.
