but in his watchful care of the measure, in the quick and intuitive judgment with which he discerned every man on the democratic side of the House who felt anxious as to the vote he should give on the momentous question, and in the pressure which he brought to bear upon him from the best and most influential of his constituents." 3

When Congress adjourned on the Fourth of July, 1864, General Ashley was thoroughly prepared to prosecute the campaign for the amendment during the recess and the early weeks of the next session, which would begin in December. Aided by the Hon. Henry Winter Davis of Maryland and Hon. Francis P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, he prepared a list of nineteen Border State men whose votes against the amendment in June were believed to have been in conflict with their personal preferences. They were regarded as "men of broad and liberal views, and strong and self-reliant enough to follow their convictions even to political death, provided they could know that their votes would pass the measure." He also secured a very large list of the names of influential men residing in the districts represented by those nineteen men of the House, to aid in bringing pressure to bear upon them to secure their votes for the amendment when it should again. be brought before them.

Upon consultation with Hon. Reuben E. Fenton, Governor of New York, and Hon. Augustus Frank, member of Congress from that state, he prepared a list of seventeen Northern democrats whose votes he hoped to secure for the amendment, and also a list of their most influential constituents to aid in efforts to induce them to support the amendment. From Toledo, Ohio, his home city, he prosecuted the campaign, aided by a limited number of trusted friends, until near the time for the convening of Congress. The work was conducted with great vigor but quietly and with no public announcement of results attained.

Until after the election in November public thought and 8 Twenty Years of Congress, Vol. I., p. 536.

HON. JAMES M. ASHLEY OF OHIO

Who introduced into Congress the first bill to abolish slavery in the Dis

trict of Columbia, and the first Constitutional Amendment to abolish slavery in the United States. He had charge of both measures while they were before the House of Representatives. From a photograph by Brady, presented the author by General Ashley.

effort were so largely occupied with the Presidential campaign and members of the House were so deeply concerned by their own political interests that this nation-wide campaign in support of the amendment proceeded without attracting any considerable attention. Hence, this feature of the battle for the abolition of slavery by Constitutional Amendment has no mention in the history of those times, because it was unknown to those who wrote that history. Before the adjournment of Congress in July there was much to encourage the hope that the amendment would pass the House during the next session if the election in November indicated that it was approved by the people. Therefore, when President Lincoln was re-elected by a popular majority of 411,281 and an electoral majority of 191, with a new House of Representatives consisting of 138 Unionists and 35 democrats, the campaign in support of the amendment took on new life and was prosecuted with greatly increased vigor and hope of success.

The first thrilling achievement during this period was made known by a letter to General Ashley from Hon. George H. Yeaman, a democratic member of the House from Kentucky, and one of the ablest and most influential of the Border State delegation. On the 11th of December, 1862, Judge Yeaman offered in the House resolutions declaring the Emancipation Proclamation "unwarranted by the Constitution and a useless and dangerous war measure." He had always been allied with the pro-slavery forces and opposed the Constitutional Amendment during the preceding session of Congress; but after the verdict of the people in November he at once wrote General Ashley informing him of his purpose to speak, vote and work for the passage of the amendment. Coming as it did before the reconvening of Congress and at a time when the opposing forces were advancing for the decisive struggle, that letter from the distinguished Kentucky democrat, filled with enthusiasm every one of the little group who were permitted to know its contents. Like similar letters received during those weeks it was held strictly confidential, and not until

his very able speech in support of the amendment was delivered in the House was the public informed of Judge Yeaman's alignment with those who favored that measure.

The election in November made certain the passage of this, or an equally acceptable amendment, by the next Congress if the House failed at this time to approve of the pending measure. This was both helpful and harmful to the campaign then in progress. It was helpful to know that it revealed the people's approval of the amendment and sounded the death-knell of slavery by constitutional provision, but that also caused some members whose votes were being sought to hesitate in taking action that would imperil their own political life when the measure was assured of ultimate success without their support.

The certainty of success in the next Congress, if not in this, caused President Lincoln very earnestly to desire the passage of the amendment at this session. He was perfectly satisfied with the provisions and language of the impending measure, and believing that the Rebellion would soon be overcome, he was apprehensive that victory in the field would be so fully satisfying to the public and to the Government that less effective provisions respecting slavery might be adopted. This apprehension caused him to urge members of the House in personal interviews and otherwise to pass the amendments with least possible delay. In his annual message of December 6th, 1864, he said:

"At the last session of Congress a proposed amendment of the Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, passed the Senate, but failed for lack of the requisite two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives. Although the present is the same Congress, and nearly the same members, and without questioning the wisdom or patriotism of those who stood in opposition, I venture to recommend the reconsideration and passage of the measure at the present session. Of course the abstract question is not changed, but an intervening election shows, almost certainly, that the next