Journalists First, Rebels Second: An Examination of Editorial Reaction to the President's Proposed Conscription of Newspapermen

This chapter examines the reactions of the Southern press generally. In one editorial, Morse quoted former President Andrew Jackson saying that nothing, not even civil war, would justify a government’s “official interference with the freedom of speech or of the press,” and he called for Confederate citizens to let Richmond know they would not stand for any tampering with the press. And, indeed, Confederate editors continued throughout Sherman’s campaign, and even after the fall of Savannah, to publish articles predicting a Southern victory and articles obviously aimed at building Southern morale. It is curious that, at the same time, these editors were publishing such divisive commentaries on the events of the war and the Confederate government’s lawmaking activities.