| My
good friend Justin Sanders sent me the scanned images for these in 2020
and it has taken this long to get them formatted. That wasn't entirely
sloth on my part, partly because of the challenges in transcribing the
scans, but mostly because the sentiments expressed here are so extreme
that I just had to learn more about the editorial direction of the Chronicle in this period. Turns out that the editor was one Nathan Morse, formerly the editor of the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Republican Farmer.
After publishing an anti-Lincoln editorial which backed an immediate
peace plan, an angry mob attacked the newspaper offices, wrecked the
facilities, and Morse headed south. He became editor (and,
eventually, sole owner) of the Chronicle
and a strident anti-Davis voice. A great deal of background on
all of this is available online in various places, such as the Georgia Encyclopedia and a 2021 newspaper article. There is more detail in the 1960 book, The Augusta Chronicle: Indomitable Voice of Dixie 1785 – 1960, by
Earl L. Bell and Kenneth C . Crabbe, although some of that book's
conclusions are challenged by the 2021 newspaper article.
Regardless of that backstory, these two editorials are simply
breath-taking in the degree of their pro-slavery attitude. |
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Back to Causes of the Civil War (Main page) Back to Editorial Commentary Source: Scanned copy of original newspaper. Date added to website: June 13, 2023 |