“Jeff Davis died pro-Union?”
Well... relatively speaking.
Davis was pro-Union before 1861, but only to the degree of not himself chosing to secede.
He had no principled objections to secession.
After the war Davis considered Republican rule in the South oppressive and favored keeping blacks subservient.
“When touring the South in 1886 and 1887, Davis attended many Lost Cause ceremonies, and large crowds showered him with affection as local leaders presented emotional speeches honoring his sacrifices to the would-be nation.
According to the Meriden Daily Journal, at a reception held in New Orleans in May 1887, Davis urged southerners to be loyal to the nation – ‘United you are now, and if the Union is ever to be broken, let the other side break it.’ “
I think that’s as strong an endorsement of the Union as we’ll see from a Democrat and, indeed, we can well say that Davis here defined his party’s mission to this day: Democrats working to force Republicans to break the union.
As I see it Jefferson Davis was ‘’pro-Union’’ as Hitler was pro-German. Pro-German as he thought he should make it ‘’pro-German and we know what that lead to. Davis no doubt had his own form of a ‘’union’’ in mind aka The Confederacy with himself as it's leader and champion..
No worse a man could have been chosen to be a leader of any coalition. An obstinate, inflexible man given to public quarrels with associates combined with a towering and over inflated sense of his own superiority. As a senator from Mississippi he once declared "I make no terms; I offer no compromises''. He once reprimanded Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard for ''trying to exalt yourself at my expense''. His own wife described him as ''a nervous dyspeptic''. The guy seemed to be the physical embodiment of the Confederacy itself. But ''pro-Union''? Man, that's a stretch.
Jeff Davis was pro-Jeff Davis.
Thanks BJK. I was looking all over for that quote.