The Territorial Legislature’s Failed Loyalty Pledge
A political standoff in the Washington Territorial Legislature over Union support reveals the region's deep sectional divisions during the Civil War.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The following loyal resolutions were recently introduced in the Legislature of Washington Territory, and rejected by a vote of eight to sixteen, the sixteen splitters being 'reconstruction Democrats': Resolved, That the Union is so interwoven with the institutions of our country, that its dissolution would endanger their future peace, and seriously threaten our influence as a nation. Resolved, That all sectional frictions can be better healed within the Union than outside the Union, and that all pretexts for a dissolution of the Union are unwarrantable. Resolved, That the alacrity with which the people rush to the rescue of the Union shows them worthy of their lineage, and their birthright, and makes us, the most distant limb of the Union, forever their debtor. Resolved, That Washington Territory, true to herself, and true to the Government, will not be found wanting in devotion to the Union, in loyalty to the Laws and Constitution, or in due respect for, and support of, Mr. Lincoln's administration. Since the rejection of these resolutions, the Washington Unionists are preparing to combine their forces. There, as here, a middle party is an element of danger.
“Resolved, That the alacrity with which the people rush to the rescue of the Union shows them worthy of their lineage, and their birthright.”
This 1862 legislative skirmish reflects how Olympia, as the seat of Territorial power, was a focal point for the deep, often volatile, ideological splits that characterized Washington during the American Civil War. The tension between 'Unionists' and 'Reconstruction Democrats' underscores that the Pacific Northwest was far from a neutral bystander to the conflict.
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