Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps: Difference between revisions
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Their Confederate counterparts remained unrecognized on American stamps until 1937, when Lee and Jackson were included among the Civil War generals and admirals pictured in the commemorative Army-Navy issues, a series promoted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (himself a stamp enthusiast). Even then, however, with the war some seven decades in the past, this inclusion of a stamp honoring Confederate generals proved controversial. After the issue was announced in May 1936, a false rumor spread that Jefferson Davis was to be portrayed along with the two officers, and on June 11 the following ''Associated Press'' dispatch appeared in the ''New York Sun'':
<blockquote>G. A. R. Opposes Honors For Lee. Denounces Plan to Issue Stamp Series. — At Syracuse, June 11, (A. P.) A proposition to honor Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis, on postage stamps issued bearing their likeness, was denounced by thirty-eight aging veterans of the Civil War, attending the Seventieth Annual Encampment of the United States department of the Grand Army of the Republic.</blockquote>
Later the proposed Lee-Jackson stamp was deplored in the Ohio state legislature. After its issue, moreover, southerners inveighed against it as well, objecting that Lee’s right shoulder displayed two stars rather than three, in effect demoting him to the rank of Lieutenant General (this mistake occurred as the result of a design change). Word spread that an act of Congress to recall the stamp was in preparation, but no such legislation materialized.<ref name="Johl">{{cite book |title=
This article follows the convention of the 1995 Civil War commemoration of 20 stamps related to the Civil War; civilians of the Civil War have been pictured beginning with the definitive issue for [[Abraham Lincoln]] after his assassination. Notable people who were Civil War participants have been included in this article including inventors, authors, and subsequent U.S. presidents.
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But at the onset of the American Civil War, Lincoln's postmaster general, [[Montgomery Blair]] faced a federal postal system regionally disabled by seceding states and disloyal postmasters. To prevent possible fraud potentially amounting to $270,000 in postage and stamped envelopes held in the South, the existing stamps were withdrawn and demonetized, and a new series of stamps was hurriedly issued. With the previous contract ending June 10, 1861, the Post Office Department signed a contract with the National Bank Note Company of New York City. Loyal postmasters in seceded states returned stamps to the Department. The new stamps were in use across the Union by mid-August 1861 with the same denominations and honoring the same people as the previous issue, but all of the designs had changed.<ref>"1861 Issues" [http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&tid=2027499 Smithsonian National Postal Museum]. viewed January 31, 2014.</ref>
Unlike most political appointees, Montgomery Blair took charge of the department, organizing an efficient system for the army and navy and abolishing the franking privilege for postmasters. He originated the new practices of free mail delivery and the sorting of mail on railway cars. He developed the return-receipt system for accountability, and innovated the money order system for soldiers to send and receive money from the field. Blair sponsored the first International Postal Congress in Paris in 1863.<ref>Smith, Elbert B., "[https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
President Jefferson Davis had appointed [[John Henninger Reagan]] on March 6, 1861, to head the new Confederate States of America Post-office Department. The United States Post Office Department continued to handle the mail of the seceded states until June 1 when the Confederate Post office took over collection and delivery throughout the Confederacy, remaining in operation for the duration of the Civil War.<ref>"History of the Confederate States Post Office Service". [https://archive.today/20130116073327/http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmailus2b.htm New York Times; about.com]. Viewed January 31, 2014.</ref> The most immediate concerns of the Confederate postmaster general was the organization of his department and providing for the payment of postage so that it would become self-financing. While the recalled U.S. postage could no longer be used to carry the mail by the U.S. Post Office, the Confederacy did use "appropriated" United States postal stationery for some time. General Reagan claimed he never conferred official authority on postmasters to issue interim, "provisional" stamps, but they filled a need in the absence of national Confederate stamps (which were not issued until October, 1861) and stamped envelopes.<ref>Benjamin, Maynard H., [http://postalmuseum.si.edu/industrywhitepapers/EMA_History.pdf The History of Envelopes] 2002, Envelope Manufacturers Association and EMA Foundation for Paper-Based Communications. p. 16. viewed February 22, 2014.</ref>
===U.S.A. and C.S.A. stamps===
The eight United States postage stamps issued in 1861 pictured Washington (5), Franklin (2) and Jefferson (1), and envelopes signaled the sacredness of the Constitution and rebellion as treason. Confederate stamps pictured Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Jefferson Davis (a stamp was printed depicting John C. Calhoun but was never put into use). Confederate envelopes focused on the Confederate flag and Jefferson Davis to foster a growth of Confederate nationalism, characterizing Lincoln as the anti-constitutionalist, the North as disloyal and the Southern attempt at nationhood as a renewal of the American Revolution. In the struggle for preserving their rights and liberties, George Washington was on their side.<ref>Boyd, Steven R. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tsPOCBTwUwsC
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* Confederate flag in three colors.{{clear}}
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====Union officers====
During World War I, Theodore Roosevelt believed it to be a "bully" idea to issue a series of stamps honoring American military heroes. Nothing came of the suggestion until his stamp collecting cousin, Franklin Roosevelt was nearing the end of his first term. His Secretary of War recommended both Union and Confederate generals in the series. Political reaction delayed issue until after election. The opposition was primarily from Northern Republicans against the Confederate choices, and Lost Cause southerners against the Union choices.<ref>Marszalek, John. "Philatelic Pugilists" in Herman Hattaway and Ethan S. Rafuse. [https://books.google.com/books?id=47oEszn2AmMC
Today stamp collectors from North and South include both Grant-Sherman-Sheridan and Lee-Jackson stamps in their collections. In the 1990s Civil War series, no state legislature objected to Sherman as a villain as some protested for the 1937 issue. The healing process continued.<ref>Marszalek, John. "Philatelic Pugilists" in Herman Hattaway and Ethan S. Rafuse. [https://books.google.com/books?id=47oEszn2AmMC
[[File:Sherman Grant Sheridan 1937 Issue-3c.jpg|thumb|{{center|Sherman, Grant, Sheridan}}]]
* [[Ulysses S. Grant]] was a winning general in the western theater throughout the Mississippi River Valley, promoted to commanding general of the union armies to lead the advance through the [[Overland Campaign|Virginia Wilderness]], the siege of Richmond to [[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Lee's surrender]] at Appomattox. His philosophy of war was to "keep the enemy under relentless pressure at all points and to fight whenever opportunity offered."<ref>Keegan, John. "The American Civil War: a military history" (2009) {{ISBN|978-0-307-26343-8}}, p. 329</ref> He was subsequently elected to two terms as U.S. President during Congressional Reconstruction.
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* [[Edwin M. Stanton]], Lincoln's Secretary of War and instrumental in Union success. Subsequently Andrew Johnson's attempt to remove Stanton led to Johnson's impeachment.<ref>"Stanton, Edwin McMasters", Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers. SBN 87779-081-7. p. 1244.</ref> Moderately anti-slavery, he worked well with congressional committee heads of both parties. He organized an efficient War Department bureaucracy and a system of open competitive bidding for contractors. He instituted the railroad organization and military telegraph.<ref>Bates, Christopher. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
* [[Frederick Douglass#Civil War years|Frederick Douglass]] was active as a pre-war abolitionist. Publisher of the newspaper ''North Star''. A leading abolitionist in the Civil War, recruited African-Americans into the Union army, including his two sons. Attended 1848 Seneca Falls meeting, a lifelong advocate for woman suffrage.<ref>Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
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* [[Clara Barton#American Civil War|Clara Barton]], the "Angel of the Battlefield", served as a nurse on the front line at Cedar Run, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg. In charge of hospitals of the Army of the James in 1864. Subsequently founder of the [[American Red Cross]].<ref>"Barton, Clarissa Harlowe", Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers. SBN 87779-081-7. p. 827.</ref> 1940 issue.
* [[Andrew Carnegie]] was Superintendent of the Military Railways and the Union Government's telegraph lines in the East. Subsequently the [[U.S. Steel#Formation|U.S. Steel Corporation]] magnate.<ref>"Carnegie, Andrew", Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers. SBN 87779-081-7. p. 877.</ref> He suffered sunstroke assisting Union wounded after First Bull Run.<ref>Weisberger, William. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
* [[Sojourner Truth]] was featured as a human rights activist in the Black Heritage Series. During the Civil War she recruited black troops for the Union Army; her grandson enlisted in the [[54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry|54th Massachusetts]]. In 1864, she worked for the National Freedman's Relief Association in Washington DC. 1986 issue.
* [[Harriet Tubman]] was featured in the Civil War commemorative sheet of 20. Tubman, "Moses", was a conductor on the [[Underground Railroad]], recruited for [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]], and served as a Union spy.<ref>"Tubman, Harriet", Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers. SBN 87779-081-7. p. 1282.</ref> 1995 issue.<ref name="United States Stamps 2012. p. 227">Scott 2013 Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps & Covers. 2012. {{ISBN|0-89487-475-6}}, "Civil War" A2289 p. 227.</ref>
* [[Mary Chesnut]] was featured in the Civil War commemorative sheet of 20. Chesnut was a Confederate diarist, married to [[James Chesnut, Jr.|James]], a U.S. Senator, signer of the Confederate Constitution and army general. Chestnut criticized both slavery and "Yankee interference", "Think of all these young lives sacrificed!"<ref>Harrison, Jennifer. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
* [[Phoebe Pember]] was featured in the Civil War commemorative sheet of 20. Pember served as a nurse and Confederate hospital administrator for 15,000 patients in Richmond. Hancock 1995 issue.<ref name="United States Stamps 2012. p. 227"/>
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[[File:Appomattox Centennial 1965 issue--5c.jpg|thumb|150px|{{center|[[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox surrender]]}}]]
[[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox surrender]] followed Confederate evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Lee's remnant army was surrounded without supply of food or ammunition.<ref>Keegan, John. "The American Civil War: a military history", op. cit., p. 348.</ref> Terms were generous, contributing to the nation's healing following civil war.<ref>Wink, Jay. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2J_wP9WGsjcC&
The [[Battle of Hampton Roads]] between the Monitor and Merrimac (Virginia), Battle of Shiloh, [[Battle of Chancellorsville]] and Battle of Gettysburg were featured in the Civil War commemorative sheet of 20. 1995 issue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2&cmd=1&id=193091&img=1&mode=1&pg=1&tid=2043413|title=American Civil War Issue|accessdate=2014-03-18}}</ref>
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* [[Lincoln-Douglas debates]] were republished widely as literature for Lincoln's presidential campaign. In Douglas' "Norfolk Doctrine" during his campaign swing through the South he promised resistance to secession by force. In the event, Douglas raised troops for "Lincoln's army" throughout Illinois following the firing on Fort Sumter.<ref>Bowman, Shearer Davis. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ARI1y0bu8UMC
* American Credo quote from letter to H.L. Pierce, April 6, 1859. 1960 issue. Many of Lincoln's letters were meant for publication and found their way into the press. {{clear}}
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* Suffragettes, [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]], [[Carrie Chapman Catt]], and [[Lucretia Mott]], 1948. Suffragists joined ranks with the abolitionists as the Civil War grew near, and were active throughout the Civil War and after. In return, abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass supported women's suffrage following the Civil War. "100 years of progress of women, 1848–1948" is written below the portraits 1948 issue.
* [[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.#Early life|Oliver Wendell Holmes]], Colonel served as a Union officer in combat and on a general's staff. He later served on the Supreme court and influenced legal thought regarding national economic regulation.<ref>"Holmes, Oliver Wendell", Webster's Guide to American History, op. cit., p. 1022</ref> 1968 issue. {{clear}}
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* [[Samuel Morse]] invented the telegraph which allowed Lincoln to listen in on direct communications among army generals from his office in the Army Department.<ref>Goodwin, Doris Kearns. "Team of Rivals: the political genius of Abraham Lincoln" (2006) {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4983-3}}, p. 277.</ref> Grant used the telegraph to communicate instantaneously with his divisional commanders in the field, setting up telegraph wires at the end of each day's march.<ref>Keegan, John. "The American Civil War: a military history" (2009) {{ISBN|978-0-307-26343-8}}, pp. 98, 328.</ref> 1940 issue.
* [[Eli Whitney]] invented interchangeable parts in rifled musket manufacture for the Union and supervised machinery in Connecticut.<ref>"Whitney, Eli." Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. op.cit. p. 1324.</ref> Field blacksmiths could salvage unbroken parts from a battlefield for immediate reissue in Union armies. Whitney's technological gift was equally crucial to the Confederacy: his invention of the cotton gin transformed cotton into a viable commercial product, fostering an enormous growth of the Southern slave-based agricultural economy through which the C. S. A. hoped to thrive as a self-sufficient nation.<ref>[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3497 New Georgia Encyclopedia: Eli Whitney in Georgia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405160012/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3497 |date=2013-04-05 }}. Accessed March 6, 2014.</ref> 1940 issue. {{clear}}
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* [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]] wrote [[The Conduct of Life]] about current issues as an Abolitionist. He embraced war for a national rebirth.<ref>"Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. op.cit., p. 942.</ref> As civil war approached, he accepted political means could not redress immoral law. His "Lecture on slavery" was moderately anti-slavery, but at war, he said the South should be "pounded instead of negotiated into a peace."<ref>Pannapacker, William A., [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
* [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]] during the 1860s supported abolitionism and after the Civil War hoped for reconciliation among the states.<ref>"Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. op.cit., p. 1092.</ref> Wrote "Poems on Slavery". A friend of [[Charles Sumner]]. His eldest son joined the Union army.<ref>Harrison, Jennifer., [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
* [[Henry David Thoreau]] wrote [[A Plea for Captain John Brown]], leading Abolitionists to accept Brown as a martyr; armies of the North [[John Brown's Body|sang Brown's praises]] on the march.<ref>"Thoreau, Henry David. Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. op.cit., p. 1273.</ref> 1967 issue.{{clear}}
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* [[Walt Whitman#Civil War years|Walt Whitman]] served as a nurse in Union hospitals around DC and wrote, "The great army of the sick".<ref>"Whitman, Walter. Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. op.cit., p. 1323.</ref> Though "To Thee Old Cause" called for war as a rite of national purification from materialism and political corruption, Whitman was not an abolitionist, believing North and South reconcilable. "Beat! Beat! Drums!" was a call to arms following the First Bull Run disaster. "Drum-Taps" transitions to grief for the wounded and dying. "Sequel" contained tributes to Lincoln's martyrdom.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
* [[Louisa May Alcott#Literary success|Louisa May Alcott]] served as a nurse in a Georgetown, DC hospital, wrote for the ''Atlantic'' and abolitionist ''Commonwealth'' magazines exposing hospital conditions.<ref>"Alcott, Louisa May". "Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. op.cit., p. 806.</ref> Earlier wrote pro-abolitionist poem, "With a rose, that bloomed on the day of John Brown's Martyrdom", and later, "Little Women" of a northern family with a war-absent patriarch.<ref>Marten, James. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
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* [[Rutherford B. Hayes#Civil War|Rutherford B. Hayes]], a Major General of volunteers, [[23rd Ohio Infantry]], elected radical congressman 1864. Reform governor, expanded presidency, fought for veterans pensions.<ref>Hoogenboom, Ari, "Rutherford B. Hayes", Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a political, social and military history. Op.cit., p. 956.</ref> 1922 issue.
* [[James A. Garfield#
* [[Chester A. Arthur#Civil War|Chester A. Arthur]] was army engineer in chief of the New York Militia.<ref>"Arthur, Chester Alan". Webster's Guide to American History, op. cit., p. 816</ref> 1938 issue {{clear}}
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* [[Grover Cleveland#Family and early life|Grover Cleveland]] was drafted but paid for a substitute. Active in NJ Democratic politics.<ref>"Cleveland, Stephen Grover". Webster's Guide to American History, op. cit., p. 889</ref> 1923 Issue.
* [[Benjamin Harrison#Civil War|Benjamin Harrison]], Brigadier General [[70th Indiana Infantry Regiment|70th Indiana Infantry]], fought in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, [[Battle of Peachtree Creek|Peachtree Creek]]. U.S. Senator for veterans pensions. As president, Sherman Anti-Trust Act, McKinley Tariff, six western states 1889–1890.<ref>Boomhower, Ray E., "Benjamin Harrison", Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a political, social and military history. Op.cit., p. 937.</ref> 1902 issue.
* [[William McKinley#Civil War|William McKinley]], Major in the [[23rd Ohio Infantry]]. He fought in western Virginia, [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]], [[Second Battle of Winchester|Winchester]], [[Battle of Fisher's Hill|Fisher's Hill]], [[Battle of Cedar Creek|Cedar Creek]]. Subsequently in the Spanish–American War, appointed several former confederates to high rank as a form of sectional reconciliation. Assassinated as president.<ref>Rafuse, Ethan A. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC
====Abraham Lincoln====
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==See also==
* [[Army and Navy stamp issues of 1936-1937]]
* [[Commemoration of the American Civil War]]
* [[Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States]]
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;Civil War on stamps and envelopes
* Benjamin, Maynard H., [http://postalmuseum.si.edu/industrywhitepapers/EMA_History.pdf The History of Envelopes] 2002, Envelope Manufacturers Association and EMA Foundation for Paper-Based Communications. For political impacts of postal system, unifying but also dividing the nation. chapters on "prelude to war", "wanted:riders" and "the war begins".
* Boyd, Steven R. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tsPOCBTwUwsC
* Boyd, Steven R., "The Medium is the Message: Union Civil War Patriotic Envelopes and their Impact, 1861–1865" [http://postalmuseum.si.edu/symposium2006/abstracts.html Winton M. Blount Symposium on Postal History, November 3–4, 2006.] Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Washington, D.C. Abstracts of Papers and Panels.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140228092427/http://chnm.gmu.edu/staff/sheila/lot49/ch4_viewingamericainstamps.pdf Chapter 4: Shaping National Identity with Commemoratives, 1920s–30s] (2006) "Viewing American Stamps" George Mason University. Viewed February 22, 2014.
* Charles, Harry K., [https://web.archive.org/web/20140307174822/http://stamps.org/userfiles/file/symposium/presentations/CharlesPaper.pdf "American Civil War Postage Due: North and South"], Postal History Symposium, Nov. 2012. Viewed February 19, 2014.
* Dodson, Larry (2006). [http://americantopicalassn.org/pdf/pr/061004-CivilWar.pdf A Philatelic Tour of the American Civil War (also known as the War between the States)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030215/http://americantopicalassn.org/pdf/pr/061004-CivilWar.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }}. ATA Handbook 155. Arlington, TX: American Topical Association. Single and multiple battles, one hundred Confederate and Union men with biographies. Transportation section identifies trains, ships and even an ambulance. Flags, uniforms and places are followed by a section of literature and films, composers, authors, poets and sculptors that reflect some aspect of the Civil War.
* Hattaway, Herman and Ethan S. Rafuse. [https://books.google.com/books?id=47oEszn2AmMC
* Marszalek, John F. "Philatelic pugilists: the 1937 Civil War stamp battle demonstrated the longevity of the South's memory" in Columbiad: a quarterly review of the war between the states. vol. 3 no. 2 (Summer 1999), p. [146]-157.
* National Postal Museum. [http://npm.si.edu/civilwar/ The Civil War: 10 years]. Viewed February 19, 2014. For portions of the exhibit ''A Nation Divided'' available online.
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* Worldcat. [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=su%3AUnited+States+History+Civil+War%2C+1861-1865+On+postage+stamps.&qt=hot_subject United States History Civil War, 1861–1865 on postage stamps] there are thirteen entries. viewed February 13, 2013.
;General
* Bowman, Shearer Davis. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ARI1y0bu8UMC
* Coulter, E. Merton. "The Confederate States of America 1861–1865. (1950) {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0007-3}}. vol. VII. History of the South, Louisiana State University. For general history of the Confederacy and events surrounding its existence.
* Craven, Avery O. "The growth of Southern nationalism 1848–1861" (1953) {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0006-6}} vol. VI. History of the South, Louisiana State University. For Intellectual and political developments and events leading up to the American Civil War.
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* Wills, Gary. [https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Gettysburg-America-Schuster-Library/dp/0743299639 Lincoln at Gettysburg: the words that remade America] (2006) {{ISBN|978-0-7432-9963-3}}. For an investigation into the cultural significance of the Gettysburg Address.
* Webster's Guide to American History" 1971. G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers. SBN 87779-081-7. For general biographical references independent of WP biography citations.
* Wink, Jay. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2J_wP9WGsjcC&
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