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German Americans, African Americans, and the Republican Party in St. Louis, 1865–1872
KRISTEN L. ANDERSON
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IN THE PAST, German Americans frequently have had the reputation, both among scholars and contemporaries, of being staunch supporters of the Republican Party throughout the Civil War. While the work of many scholars has ably demonstrated that this view is an oversimplification, it is nonetheless a fairly accurate portrayal of political affiliations within the German population of St. Louis. Unlike in many midwestern cities such as Cincinnati or Milwaukee, where the German population contained sizable numbers of Democrats throughout the Civil War, Germans in St. Louis overwhelmingly supported the Republican Party.1 At least 80 percent of St. Louis Germans voted for Lincoln in 1860, a degree of support that set them apart from other Missourians as well as from Germans in other states.2 These Germans would be among the most radical of the Radical Republicans throughout the Civil War, providing support for the immediate abolition of slavery and the enrollment of black soldiers in the Union Army.3 |
1
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During the years immediately after the war, however, some of the policy decisions of the Missouri Republican Party threatened to undermine its base of support within the German population. Some Germans threatened to abandon the Republican Party due to its failure to address economic concerns after the war. Others expressed concern about the religious stance of the party, including the incorporation of religious language and a loyalty oath for clergymen into the new Missouri constitution. Finally, the issue of black suffrage aggravated this concern, as some Germans worried that the African Americans moving to St. Louis seeking work after the war, if allowed to vote, would likely support the most nativist and pietistic segments of the Republican Party, due to the influence that pietistic religion supposedly had over them. These concerns led German voters to oppose measures that the Missouri Republican leadership endorsed—including the 1865 constitution and the 1868 black suffrage amendment—even when they otherwise continued to vote for Republican candidates. Furthermore, in 1870 and 1872 many German voters joined the Liberal Republican bolt from the Republican Party, further distancing themselves from that party's Reconstruction policies. Ultimately, the Republican Party's failure to address adequately Germans' economic, religious, and racial concerns cost them supporters among the German population. |
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The political uncertainty of the postwar years was compounded by the economic difficulties of that period, which made more precarious the situation of workers in St. Louis, as elsewhere. As in other parts of the country, workers in St. Louis organized to protect their interests, and the Germans played prominent roles in such organizations.4 German Americans were prominently involved with organizations associated with specific trades, including cigar makers, masons, and coopers, as well as general labor associations such as the St. Louis Arbeiter-Verein and the Deutscher und Böhmischer Arbeiter-Unterstützungs-Verein.5 Germans also participated in other labor activities in St. Louis, including meetings and parades for the eight-hour movement, labor festivals, and political activities.6 |
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