Unconditional Union Party facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Unconditional Union Party
"Union" ribbon, probably worn by Sol Smith of Missouri
Leaders	Francis Preston Blair Jr., Thomas Swann, John P. Kennedy
Founded	1861 (1861)
Dissolved	1866 (1866)
Merger of	Unionist Party Constitutional Union Party
Merged into	National Union Party
Headquarters	Jefferson City, Missouri
Ideology	Big tent Unionism Abolitionism Radicalism
Political position	Big tent
National affiliation	National Union Party (1864–1866)
Colors	Pink
Politics of United States Political parties

The Unconditional Union Party was a group of politicians and citizens who strongly supported keeping the United States together during the American Civil War. They formed in 1861, mainly in Missouri, where many people were talking about leaving the Union. This group believed the Union should stay united no matter what.

Unlike other "Unionist" groups that were active across the northern states, the Unconditional Union Party mostly worked in the border states. These were states like Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland, which were located between the North and the South. Members included Southern Democrats who stayed loyal to the Union, plus parts of the old Whig Party, and other groups who did not want to join the Southern Confederacy. The party stopped being active in 1866.

Missouri's Fight for Union: The Unconditional Union Party

After the presidential election of 1860, it became clear that many Southern states would not accept Abraham Lincoln as president. In Missouri, a leader named Francis Preston Blair Jr. started bringing together people who supported Lincoln, John Bell, and Stephen A. Douglas. He wanted to form a new political group: the Unconditional Union Party.

Their main goal was to put aside old political differences and focus on one thing: saving the Union. Blair and his supporters wanted to "resist the plans of those who wanted to leave the Union, using politics if possible, or force if needed."

Some people in Missouri also wanted to save the Union, but they had conditions. They thought slavery should be allowed to spread to new areas. Others believed the Southern states should be allowed to leave peacefully, thinking they would soon realize their mistake and ask to rejoin. Blair tried to work with these "Conditional Unionists" to get more support for his cause.

The first official meeting of the Missouri Unconditional Union Party happened on February 28, 1861, in St. Louis. Only political leaders who openly supported Bell, Lincoln, or Douglas were invited. They passed a rule saying that "Missouri had no good reason to leave the Federal Union." They also asked both the U.S. government and the states leaving the Union to avoid fighting and prevent a civil war.

Missouri's leaders who wanted to leave the Union could not get enough support across the state. So, led by Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson, they formed their own separate government and eventually fought against the Union Army. As the war went on, politicians who supported the Union gained more control in Missouri. Governor Jackson and his pro-Confederacy Missouri State Guard were forced out of the state. An Unconditional Unionist named Benjamin F. Loan was elected to the U.S. Congress.

Union Efforts in Other Border States

Similar groups to Blair's started in other states south of the Mason–Dixon line. In these states, people and leaders were divided on whether to stay loyal to the Union. In Kentucky, the Unconditional Union Party formed to oppose leaders who wanted to leave the Union.

A similar movement began in Maryland. Its leaders pushed for all enslaved people in the state to be freed right away, without their owners getting paid. With help from the U.S. government and its soldiers, Maryland's voices for leaving the Union were quieted. The party officially formed in the summer of 1863. They worked to elect candidates who supported the Union at the state and local level, especially in Western Maryland.

Since Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation only freed enslaved people in states that were rebelling, and not in border states like Maryland, the party changed its focus. They started pushing for freeing enslaved people within Maryland itself. The Conservative Union State Central Committee, led by Thomas Swann and John P. Kennedy, met in Baltimore on December 16, 1863. They passed a rule supporting immediate freedom for enslaved people "in the easiest way for both owner and enslaved person." The local military leader, Robert C. Schenck, also supported this idea.

When the U.S. government did not act, the Unconditional Union Party held another meeting on April 6, 1864. Again, they strongly supported freeing enslaved people right away. General Schenk's replacement, Lew Wallace, also supported this rule.

Henry Winter Davis was elected to represent Maryland in the 38th Congress (1863–65) as an Unconditional Unionist. He was a strong critic of President Lincoln, believing Lincoln's plans for rebuilding the South were too soft. In 1864, after Lincoln stopped a rebuilding law proposed by Davis and Senator Benjamin Wade, Davis and Wade wrote a public statement attacking the president. Because of this, Davis was not chosen to run for another term.

Images for kids

• 

  "Unconditional Union Ticket," St. Louis, 1860

• 

  Another St. Louis Unconditional Union leaflet