Civil War
As determined Peace Democrats, Thomas Bayard and his father were very much opposed to the Lincoln policy of coercion to prevent the secession of the Southern states, although they seemed equally in favor of remaining in the Union. While many of their actions raised questions from their opponents about their loyalty towards the Union, no evidence of treason has ever been established. Thomas Bayard was himself the First Lieutenant of a group known as the Delaware Guard, widely considered to be one of the military arms of pro-Southerners in Delaware. When the Delaware Guard was finally disarmed, Bayard was arrested for resisting the seizure, but was later paroled. However others may have felt, on January 2, 1861, Bayard is widely credited for convincing the Delaware General Assembly to drop, once and for all, any thought of secession.
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Famous quotes related to civil war:
“The principle of majority rule is the mildest form in which the force of numbers can be exercised. It is a pacific substitute for civil war in which the opposing armies are counted and the victory is awarded to the larger before any blood is shed. Except in the sacred tests of democracy and in the incantations of the orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)