Excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's Contemporaries: Oliver P. Morton; Excerpts From Newspapers and Other Sources

Ideological motivations provide more interesting grounds for speculation if only because they are less clearly defined. However, such motivations had little to do with Walker, whose opposition stemmed from a personal feud with Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton. Walker supported the war vigorously enough to com mand an Indiana regiment for almost a year, but fell out with Morton over politically-motivated appointments to his command. Still, he may have been ripe for feud ing with Morton because of his pre-war identification with the (douglas wing of the) Democratic party. Walker came to denounce Republican tyranny and despotism [as good] as that of France or of Austria. He also denounced Republican intentions to subjugate the states and meddle with slavery.

Bowles also attacked the Republicans perverted con struction of the Constitution and defended slavery. He added economic considerations: Indiana was tied by com merce to the South and, if left alone with New England in the North, would simply become the hughers of wood and drawers of water for the Northeast; Dodd feared the development by Republicans of a centralized power sufficient to reduce the States to territories and denounced military interference with civil elections in Kentucky. Andrew Humphreys always warned of dangers to free speech and freedom of the press and urged the people to stand up for their rights. Milligan began denouncing the tyranny and usurpations of the Presi dent as early as August, 1861, claiming the war was illegally brought on by an usurper. The Union had to be saved by and for a strict construction of the Constitution and the faithful observation of the rights of every section of the Union. By 1864, Milligan was claiming that only a reunion of West and South could save Indiana from pecuniary vassalage to the commercial and manufacturing interests of the East. He also prided himself upon his soundness on what he called the Nigger question.

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