Reprint from the YEAR-BOOK OF THE GERMAN AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF ILLINOIS Vol. XII A POLITICAL PROPHECY OF THE FORTY- EIGHTERS IN AMERICA ^ -ri^ A POLITICAL PEOPHECY OF THE FORTY-EIGHTERS IN AMERICA By Julius Goebel, Jr., University of Illinois I. Political prophecy is a term which occurs not infrequently in the historical literature of Germany, where it has a dis- tinct meaning. While, in English, the word prophecy still seems to be confined chiefly to the religious sphere where it originated, in Germany it is applied also to the highest inter- est of a people, namely its national destiny. A political prophecy of this kind, I venture to call The New Eome, by Charles Goepp and Theodor Poesche, pub- lished in 1853, of which this paper is to treat. It was thru this book that the American people, as contemporary reviews show, for the first time should become aware of the great in- fluence which national prophets may exert, not only upon the intellectual and moral life of a great nation, but also upon its political ideals. The question naturally arises here as to what the real na- ture of prophecy is, when freed of its biblical connotation. Rudolph Hildebrand, the eminent German philologist, in a paper entitled Prophezeiungen defines it as follows : „@§ gteBt in alien menfcf)Itcf)en 2]crl}dltniffeu, bie aU ©angeS in arbeitenber ^etoegung finb, etnen ^unft ober eine Sinie, too hie eigentltd^e treibenbe Uraft tool^nt, unb trtfft man in gliicfltcfier ©tnnbe mtt feinem Xenfen unb Siitilen in biefen ^nnft, jo fann man ben nod) nid^t gegebenen gortgang ber 33ett)egung be§ @Qn= gen im borauS fel^en, fotoeit ntrf)t aufeere, unberecEienBare (storun= gen ifin i^emmen; man ftel^t bie Cinie entlong, bie nod) nidjt ha ift unb boc^ in ben 3}er^altniffen jd)on mit gegeBen. ^n biefem ®tnne luirb benn aucf) nodf) tagltd;) pvop^e^eit, im fleinen it)ie im grofeen Seben." ^ It is for this reason that we often speak of poets as proph- ets. A glance at the history of Germany will show, moreover, » Hildebrand, Tagebuchblatter, p. 218. that in times of great national disaster or crises there arise men who, even more than the poets, fulfill the mission of na- tional prophets. At such times of national calamity, men like Fichte will step forth and will give solace by looking out be- yond the present vicissitudes into the future. Thru four hundred years of German history, and even earlier, we meet with men of the prophet type proclaiming national unity, national regeneration and final world dominion of Germany. In the earliest times these prophecies crystalized about the per- son of single heroes, such as Frederick Barbarossa. The Ger- man people had felt that with his death the glory of the empire was past, and certain folk legends grew up concerning the mountain Kyffhauser, where he was pictured as sleeping un- til the time was ripe for him to return and restore the pristine glory of the empire. These local legends gradually spread until in the beginning of the fifteenth century they had be- come national traditions. The Friedrichsage lived until the time of the Franco-Prussian war, and its influence upon German leaders not only of the Middle Ages, but also of mod- ern times can easily be discerned. Another hero in whom the national hopes and aspirations of the German people became embodied was Arminius. Again and again we find him the subject of German epics and dra- mas, the most notable of which was Kleist's Hermanns chlacht. It is with the coming of Goethe and Schiller, and still later of Fichte, that national prophecy assumes its loftiest char- acter in Germany. Goethe's Epimenides and Schiller's Wil- helm Tell are proof how these poets who had striven so long for the intellectual supremacy of their country also realized the full significance of the national political movement. And it was by his inspiring Beden an die Deutsche Nation, that Fichte aroused his people to shake off the shackles of the tyrant Napoleon. I have already said that these national prophets promise not only national unity and regeneration, but also the forma- tion of a new and more powerful world empire. We find that prophecies of this sort originate during and after the decline of the Holy Roman Empire. They are very significant in that they show how deeply rooted was the conception of a great and all-embracing world federation. It is known how this phantom of an empire, rivalling that of ancient Rome, held the medie- val world with an almost uncanny fascination. To this illu- sion was due in no small degree the unhappy fate of Ger- many for so many centuries. A most remarkable prophecy of a future German world empire differing from the old Holy Roman Empire appears e. g. as early as 1669, in a chapter of the book Der Ahenteuerli- clie Simplicissimus, by Christoph von Grimmelshausen.^ In this tale, a half-witted fellow who imagines himself to be the God Jupiter, gives expression to some very lofty and noble ideas. He proposes in his capacity of a god to bring into exist- ence a German hero who shall go forth and subdue the evil and help the good. England, Sweden, and Denmark, Spain, France, and Portugal will all come under the dominion of this hero (the incarnation perhaps, of Frederick Barbarossa) and through a parliament of the wise men of these countries he will ameliorate the conditions of the poor by abolishing all taxes. Absolute equality and freedom of religion will char- acterize his kingdom. Such in brief is the outline of the world empire of the half-witted fool. During the eighteenth century which marks the lowest ebb of national patriotism in German political history, we find the idea of a future political empire almost forgotten. In its stead arise the conceptions of German intellectual supre- macy and of a cosmopolitanism independent of state. It is very interesting to note that, while this latter conception takes a firm hold upon continental Europe ; in England it is of prac- tically no influence.^ Strange as it may seem, it is in France where the idea of cosmopolitanism first originates and takes a strong hold upon the intellectual life. From France the idea spread to Ger- * Grimmelshausen, Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus (Neudrucke deutscher Literaturwerke, v. 26), Bk. Ill, c. 4 & 5, p. 209 et sq. ^ This is but natural, for in a firmly established state with a pro- nounced sense of nationality, such as England, the vague political ideas of cosmopolitanism could find little favor. many where it was heartily welcomed by that politically dis- organized country. The spread of this idea and its influence in Europe is easily explained by the fact that French influ- ence and culture were dominant in the intellectual world as well as in political spheres. With the passing of the eigh- teenth century the original conception of cosmopolitanism is gradually forgotten, on account of the revolution in France. From this time forth until the time of Napoleon Ill's coup d'etat in 1852, France comes to be regarded as the leader of republicanism, a republicanism, to be sure, which to a certain extent, is cosmopolitan in character. France becomes now a haven of refuge for the political exiles not only of Ger- many, but also of Italy and Poland. The July revolution in 1830 immediately caused the republicans in Germany and Italy to break forth in open rebellion. A similar effect was produced by the Revolution of 1848. After the quelling of this latter rebellion in Germany, hun- dreds of its leaders and their followers, filled with republican aspirations and subconscious reminiscences of former prophe- cies of a future world dominion, emigrated to France and Switzerland, where they seemed to find for a short time the realization of their hopes of a republic. "With the rise of Napoleon III it soon became evident to the refugees that their presence in France and even in Switz- erland was not desired. In many cases they were summarily ordered to depart.^ The coup d'etat in December, 1851, ab- solutely shattered their hopes of a cosmopolitan republic in Europe. Although a great many of the exiles turned to England, yet the majority, and especially the radicals among them, decided to emigrate to the United States, ^hich, in their opinion, was the only remaining republic in the world. Hopes of making Germany a republic were dashed to the ground. It is only in the light of their republican ideas that we can rightly judge the seemingly traitorous propaganda against Germany carried on by the Radicals in this country and as it found expression in The New Rome. To most of ^ Rattermann, Article on C. Esselen, contained in this volume. the forty-eighters the Grerman Nationalstaai: ^ meant a dem- ocratic state more or less after the pattern of the French republic, and to realize their ideal, they believed themselves justified in using every possible means. II. We have seen in the above, the many and various influen- ces which helped to shape the intellectual development and the political thinking of the German liberals and how these forces culminated in the successive revolutions of 1821, 1830, and 1848, when thousands of patriotic men forced into exile, sacrificed their homes and their future for the sake of their political ideals. Let us now consider the nature of the move- ment of the forty-eighters in America, and the men who led it. The emigration of the German political refugees to Ameri- ca began in the twenties of the nineteenth century, when the persecution of the demagogues which followed the Carlsbad Decrees drove a number of promising and highly intelligent men to this country. The most conspicuous of these men was Karl FoUen,^ who later became one of the principal leaders of the Abolitionists. On the whole, however, the exodus of the political refugees in the twenties was insignificant com- pared with the emigration which set in after 1830, following the various disturbances and revolutions in Europe of that year. Thousands of German citizens came to the United States during this period. The majority of them hailed from the principalities along the Rhine, such as Nassau and Hessen, and many of them settled in the newly opened lands of Missouri and western Illinois.^ But the great tide of im- migration was still to come. It was the Revolution of 1848 that brought literally hun- dreds of thousands of immigrants to this country, among whom there were men of the highest intellectual and social position. In contrast, however, to the immigrants from France, Italy and Hungary, who were for the most part aristocrats, the ^Meinecke, Weltbiirgertum und Nationalstaat, p. 17. " Kapp, Aus und tjber Amerika, v. I, p. 309. » Ibid. German settlers were democratic in character as was the entire political movement which had carried them to this country. The German is by no means clannish, and whatever recog- nition he wins, he may ascribe to individual effort. The forty- eighters had an especially difficult task in winning recogni- tion in the United States and their troubles were increased by the fact that many of their countrymen who had settled in America previous to them did not sympathize either with their ideals or their political aspirations. Consequently there arose between the two groups a great bitterness especially in political matters,^ The earlier immigrants immediately dubbed the newcomers "Greenhorns," a term which was shortened to ' ' Greens, ' ' while the latter retorted by calling their opponents the "Grays," as expressive of what they believed to be their musty and antiquated ideas. In order to understand fully the feeling of antagonism between these opposing parties, it is necessary to consider briefly the doctrines and ideals of the forty-eighters. The typical forty-eighter was at the same time a radical and an idealist. Unable to carry out his revolutionary propaganda in Europe, upon his arrival in America, he transferred his pro- gram bodily to this country. America, from the beginning of the eighteenth century had been glorified in Germany as the land of freedom, and nothing could equal the disappointment of the refugee upon finding that this land of the free fostered one of the most abominable of human institutions. The fire of his wrath he now turned from the European despots to the American slave-holder. At the same time he keenly felt the necessity of a national regeneration if the American republic was to be saved from destruction.^ Thousands of exiles who otherwise would have wasted their energies or come to ruin in this country became useful and influential citizens by finding a field for their activities in the abolition movement.^ ^ Koerner, Memoirs, v. I, p. 549. ^ Heinzen, Teutscher Radikalismus in Amerika, Neue Folge, v. 2, p. 638, also Kaufmann, Die Deutschen im Amerikanischen Biirgerkriege, p. 104. * Kapp, Aus und iiber Amerika, v. I, p. 312, No better example of this can be found than Karl Heinzen, the eminent Boston journalist and political thinker. Heinzen had been one of the foremost leaders of the revolutionary movement in Germany. Although exiled he had returned from New York to take part in the uprising in Baden. After the failure of this rebellion he fled again to New York and en- tered upon various journalistic ventures, during which he took a prominent part in politics. He finally settled in Boston and edited Der Pionier, the famous periodical, in which he gave utterance to his political program. It is interesting to note that this program differs but little from the radical pro- gram which he had previously advanced as a leader of the revolutionary party in Germany.^ A comparison of these two programs may not be out of place as it will aid us in ob- taining a better insight into the real nature of the movement. Program of the German Program of the Radicals Revolutionary Party ^ in the United States ^ 1. Germany to be an in- 1. Total abolition of the divisible union. presidency and of the office 2. Administration to be by of state governor, and of the the people themselves through system of two houses ; and the a single chamber of deputies, conversion of the federative and a ministry dependent on republic into a republic one the majority in the house. and indivisible. 3. Common and direct 2. Representatives subject franchise to all, with excep- to recall by their constituents tion of prisoners and inmates at any time.* of insane asylums. 4. Freedom of speech, press, teaching and assembly. 5. Abolition of the stand- ^ Friedrich Hassaurek had a still more radical and anarchistic pro- gram. ^Heinzen, Teutscher Radikalismus in Amerika, Neue Folge, v. 2, p. 638. ^ I have taken this from Koerner, Memoirs, v. I, p. 566. I have amended certain passages where Koerner's English was too unidiomatic. ^ Compare this with the present recall which we have in several states. ing army and the establish- ment of a militia system. 6. Guaranty of jury trial in both civil and criminal cases. 7. Administrative appoint- ments to be confirmed by the chamber of deputies. 8. Intervention of Ger- many in favor of republican governments. The establish- ment of a congress of peoples and of a European tribunal in place of the existing diplo- matic system.^ 9. Abolition of feudalism and feudal dues.^ 10. (Deals with the regu- lation of taxes). 11. Ownership of land to be regulated by the state. 12. Those incapable of lab- oring shall be assisted, and work secured for those who are able to work. 13. Establishment of a general public school system. 14. Establishment of a free postal system. 15. The state shall provide for free places of amusement and recreation for the people. 16. Emancipation of women. 3. Abolition of the policy of neutrality. The United States to intervene against intervention as practiced in Europe. Instant abolition of slavery. 4. All lands to be free and the poor settler to be assisted by the state. 5. No man to own more land than the state allows. 6. In all German schools, German teachers to be em- ployed. 7. Establishment of a Ger- man university at the expense of the government. ^ Compare this with the present peace movement and the Hague Tribunal. ^ There were still relics of feudalism in Germany at this time in the form of tithes, "Frondienst," etc. 8 17. Abolition of the penal 8. Abolition of penitentia- system and of capital punish- ries. They shall be trans- ment. formed into houses of reform. 18. Absolute freedom of 9. The government shall religion. Church property to own all railroads. The rail- revert to the state.^ road to the Pacific shall be built at the cost of the state. 10. No official position to be allowed persons dependent on the Pope. In a certain sense, this program of Heinzen's may be called prophetic, — and, while at that time it may have seemed visionary and even ridiculous,^ nevertheless, many of the reforms proposed have since been carried out or are at present being advocated by such men as W. J. Bryan and Theodore Roosevelt. Heinzen, like many another reformer, was some fifty years in advance of his contemporaries. It was inevitable that men like Heinzen who had played so prominent a role in European politics, should exercise a powerful influence upon the political attitude of their coun- trymen in America. Yet, in spite of their patriotic activity, they were at first not only underestimated as a group, but their individual efforts were seldom recognized. Adhering too rigidly to their principles and hence despising the com- mon American practice of compromise, it was impossible for them to be popular with the practical politicians of their time.^ In addition to this fact they were convinced that the unscrupulousness and corruption of American political life was bound to undermine the very foundations of the re- public, and they strove against this with might and main. Up to this time the German immigration had attached itself almost exclusively to the Democratic party,* and even as late * I have omitted certain sections which bore no relation whatever to the American program of the radicals. ^ Koerner, Memoirs, v, I, p. 566. ^ Kapp, Aus und iiber Amerika, v. I, p. 314. *Von Hoist, Constitutional and Political History of the United States, V. V, p. 159. as 1850 it was considered a sort of heresy not to belong to it. Nevertheless, the Germans occupied an almost despicable position in this party. In fact, they were universally known as "voting cattle."^ Nothing but the poorest offices, such as remote consulates, or post-offices, were given them, and in every respect their relation to the political leaders was that of servant to master. Even the German press in this coun- try was on the side of the political bosses, and looked up to them with a sort of reverential awe. Imagine the effect of the merciless criticism, the result of the high ethical stand- ards, which Heinzen and Esselen in their journals and pub- lications directed against these political conditions and their advocates, the unscrupulous and corrupt politicians. Little wonder that the reformers met with tremendous opposition not only among the older generation of their countrymen but also among the American politicians who soon came to feel the force of the new ideals. American materialism and German idealism were now brought into direct and sharp conflict. To be sure, in the end, German idealism was to triumph, but the bitterness of feeling on the part of the American politicians found its expression in the notorious Know Nothing movement, one of the most disgraceful chapters in the history of American politics. The Know Nothing Party, also known as the Nativist and as the American Party, made its first appearance in the year 1854, although it had come into existence some time previous. Its first victory was won in Salem, Massachusetts in January, 1854, when a candidate who had not been publicly nominated was elected. Similar occurrences took place in rapid succes- sion in other and larger cities. For a long time the origin and creed of this conspiracy against the foreigner were un- known,^ and the great parties found themselves confronted by a secret and mysterious foe which they had to combat. The * Kapp, Aus imd iiber Amerika, v. I, p. 317. ^ Woodburn, Political Parties and Party Problems in the United States, p. 84 says that their motto was the words attributed to Wash- ington: "Put none but Americans on guard tonight." • 10 one clew to the purpose of their activities was that their poli- cy was clearly nativistic, anti-Irish in the North especially in New York, and anti-German in the South and West. Two parts of their program were particularly significant: public ofBces should be filled by native Americans only, and naturali- zation should be allowed only after four yefirs of residence in this country/ The programs of the German radicals were seized upon with avidity by the Know Nothings, and, as Von Hoist expresses it, were used as heavy artillery in their war- fare.^ In December, 1854, Senator Adams of Mississippi, brought forward a bill to amend the naturalization laws so that naturalization would be granted only after twenty-one years residence in this country.^ This bill, although it was never passed, indicated that while the movement in the North was directed chiefly against the Irish and the Catholics, and to a certain extent was inspired by patriotic motives, the nativists in the South saw in the Germans an antislavery element too dangerous to be tolerated. The Know Nothing Party was of short duration, for once its secret was out its decline was rapid. Its members in- spired fear only as long as they fought invisibly.* A move- ment of this sort in the face of the overwhelming number of immigrants and citizens of foreign descent was doomed to failure. Its champions could not point to a time when this country began to be purely American and ceased to be Eu- ropean to a certain extent, or when it had ever been anything but a republic of immigrants.^ The national victory of the Know Nothings might easily have meant the fall of this re- public. The direction of the movement against the Germans was another evidence, moreover, of the ignorance of its lead- ^ Von Hoist, Constitutional and Political History of the United States, vol. V, p. 81. Mbid, p. 188. 'Congressional Globe, Second Session, Thirty-third Congress, p. 24. * Von Hoist, Constitutional and Political History of the United States, V. V, p. 187. •^Heinzen, Teutscher Radikalismus in Amerika, Neue Folge, v. 1, p. 55. 11 ers concerning the historical achievements and the cultural influence of the German element in this country.^ In order to arrive at a just estimate of the movement against the Germans of 1848, we must remember also that the better classes of Americans had not really learned to know the true character of the German refugees. Their knowledge was confined to the uneducated type of immigrants and even these they did not take the trouble to know thoroughly. Many Americans had forgotten the fact that the social and educa- tional status of their immigrant forefathers had been no bet- ter than that of many poor Germans. That the educated German refugees were not known better to the Americans was however to a large extent their own fault.^ They had no wish to be Americanized, and in their minds their coming to this country was nothing but a short sojourn until events had shaped themselves for their final return to Germany, It was not until the Know Nothing movement had played itself out, and the Republican Party had begun to assume a more im- portant role in the politics of this country, that the German radicals found themselves, so to speak, and for the first time began to exert a practical influence in national politics. At the convention of the Republican Party in Philadelphia in 1856 the forty-eighters joined the party en masse,^ and the various elements which had, until this time, been passing their time in ceaseless bickerings, were at last united in one common cause. The election in 1860 found practically the whole German population on the side of the Republicans, and in the opinion of the leading forty-eighters it was chiefly through the efforts of the Germans that the election was final- ly decided in favor of the Republican cause.* It is not to be supposed that this transition from German revolutionists in temporary exile to practical American politicians, was an ^ The most vicious excrescence of this movement was the so-called "rowdies." ^ Heinzen, Teutscher Radikalismus in Amerika, Neue Folge, v. I, p. 159. ^ Kapp, Aus und liber Amerika, v. I, p. 318. * Kapp, Aus und iiber Amerika, v. I, p. 318. 12 — ^^*ii •k'r« je^t gonglicf) bergriffene The New Rome or The United States of the World, New York, G. B. Putnam & Co., 1853. ®§ mar ami) in ®r. peering? ^ou§, mo ^oefci)e feine i^vau guerft traf, bie bort mit il^rem SSater, bem 48er 9teboIutiondr unb ®(j^Iefif(f)en 5lBgeorbneten be§ gronffurter ^orlamenteS, ©buarb ^elg, ber in 9^em i)or! mol^nte, sum 33efu{f) mar. ^ad) einem ^af)re murben bie jungen Seute einig unb griinbeten in ^l^ilabel^l^ia einen ^auSl^alt, bon mo fie im ^al^re 1858 nadf) ©t. Soui§ liBerfiebelten, mol^in ^oefc^e einen dtu\ at§ SSorftelfier einer beutf(f)en ^ribatf(f)ule l^otte. Unter 3Xnberen Befanb fid^ I)ier auii) ©eneral Strang ©iegel, ber bamoB aB ^rofeffor fun= girte. 2II§ ber ^iirgerfrieg au§Braif), ging bie ©(f)ule unter, unb ^oefcfie fam mieber nac^ bem Often unb berfud^te 91em §)or! unb ^]^iIabeI|?lf)io, fonb jebocf) in 2Saff)ington in hem neu orga= nifierten internal 9tebenue 93ureau be§ ®d^a^amte§ al§ (Bta^ tiftifer 33efd3aftigung, in meldfiem Slmte er el^renboE fidf) au^m^' nete Bi§ bie bemofratifd^e Sfbminiftration ©lebelanbS feiner Z'd' 36 ttgfett em dnbe mad^te. ®^dter l^otte er etne ©teHung al§ ©tottfttfer tm ©enfu§ bureau inne. ^oefd^e toor etn inttmer greunb bon ^orl ©c^urg, toeld^er etne ^o^e Srd^tung fiir il^n fiatte unb fetrte ^alettte unb gal^igfeit gu frflQ^en touBte. ^m internal 9iebenite 33ureau ertttoicfelte fid) ^oefd^e qB ftotifttfc^er ©i-^ert ber Sfrt, ba% (Sraf bon S;!)tetmonn, ber beutfd^e ^Botfd^Qfter in 2Baff){ngton, bte 35eretn{gten ©toaten offtsieU erfu(f)te, tl^n na(f) 33erltn su fenben urn ha mtt giirft ^t§= mard iiBer [tottftifd^e ©etoiB, itber bte ®entf(f)Ianb STuSfunft n)unfd^te, ^^erfonltc^ gu fonferteren, toa§ bann quc^ gefd^a^ ^oefd^eS Bufommenfunft mtt bent grofeen ^ongler tear fiir Betbe e:onferenten fel^r Befrtebtgenb, unb ^oefd^e l^atle bte ©fire bon SSBmorcf ofter§ in feine 3Bo]^ming eingelaben gu toerben. ®r fungirte aud^ Bet ber 33t§ntardEfeier in SBafJ)ington, toeld^e in ber ©oncorbia ^ird^e bafelBft am 6. 9^obemBer 1898 gefiolten tourbe, aB ^rofibent. ®Q§ grofee Sel6en§rt)erf ^oefdieS tear feine gorfd^ung liBer ba§ entftel^en unb 2gad^§tum be§ grofeten aEer afJenfdfienftamme, bie STrier unb baffelBe tourbe unter hem Xitel: S)ie Strier, ein Seitrag 3ur EiiftorifdCien Stntl^ro^ologie, ^eno, Hermann ©oftenoBIe, 1878, beroffentlid^t. ©ine 9^ebifio)t unb SSeiterfiil^rung be§ SSerfeS Befinbet fid^ in feinem 9^atf)Iafe. ^oefd^e ftarB nad^ einem mel^ridrjrigen 90?agenleiben in a8af^» ington om 27ten SeaemBer 1899. 37 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 015 826 218 6