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D50
Lv 6
D50 asked in Arts & HumanitiesHistory · 3 months ago

What fate befell loyalists in states that seceded?

What happened to those white citizens who opposed secession and civil war? Were they driven out of their homes? Lynched? Merely shunned?

2 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    2 months ago

    Sorry but I don't know.  

  • Anonymous
    3 months ago

    People who were open about their Unionism could certainly face all of that.  At a minimum they'd face social estrangement, perhaps even shunning.  But they could also face violence, both official and unofficial, especially if they took their Unionism beyond mere private advocacy.  The Confederacy had a rather dim record on civil liberties, even for white people, and didn't tolerate dissent, at least on the issue of its existence. 

    Of course, the fate of Unionists changed once Union armies entered a region.  In occupied areas, they could find new opportunities, sometimes greater than they might otherwise have had, because the Union wanted loyal people to help administer reconquered regions.  The biggest example of this is Andrew Johnson, who was the only Senator from a seceded state who didn't leave the Union government.  He became the Union Governor of his native Tennessee and then, in 1864, the nominee for Vice President.  Johnson probably never would have been VP (not to mention eventual president) if not for the secession and the opportunity his loyalty provided him  There were other Southern unionists who saw similar, though less dramatic, rises in fortune.  And, of course, there were about 100,000 white Southerners who served in the Union Army.  Every Confederate state, except for South Carolina, contributed at least one full regiment to the Union Army

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