Stepping into the precipice

Hamilton Rowan Gamble (1798-1864) became the 16th Governor of Missouri after Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson (1806-1862) and his pro-Confederate allies fled Jefferson City. Gamble stepped into the role of provisional governor on July 31st, 1861. Gamble devoted his three-year tenure to implementing conservative Unionist goals amid increasing challenges from Washington officials, military leaders, and Radical Republican opponents. Missouri became a state challenged not only by Confederates but also by Union advocates, who differed in their views on whether to pursue gradual or radical emancipation.

When the Civil War began in Missouri turned to the Confederacy. Claiborne Fox Jackson was sworn in as Missouri’s 15th governor on January 3, 1861. A state convention was called in 1861 to decide whether Missouri would secede or remain in the Union. The assembly first met in Jefferson City on February 28, 1861. Jackson aligned himself with the pro-Southern majority and believed that the state convention would vote for secession. Instead, they vacated the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and the assembly; appointed Hamilton Rowan Gamble as the provisional governor; and called for a statewide election in November.

Ignoring the convention order, Jackson declared Missouri a free republic and dissolved all ties with the Union on August 5, 1861. He unsuccessfully summoned the old assembly to meet in November (less than a quorum of either house responded) but they still passed a formal ordinance of secession and appointed senators and representatives to the Confederacy. On November 28, 1861, the Confederate States of America admitted Missouri. Jackson removed with the southern sympathizing members of the state government to southern Arkansas after the Battle of Pea Ridge. (1) Jackson died and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St Louis, Missouri.

When war broke out in April 1861, Gamble identified the dangers posed by partisan politics and divided loyalties, and in early summer, he became the leader of moderate Unionists after Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and his pro-Confederate allies fled Jefferson City. Appointed provisional governor July 31, 1861 he devoted his three-year tenure to implementing conservative Unionist goals amid increasing challenges from Washington officials, military leaders, and Radical Republican opponents.

When the General Assembly convened in Jefferson City on December 29, 1862, the question of emancipating Missouri’s slaves topped Gov. Gamble’s agenda. He advocated for a gradual system of emancipation; however, he faced strong opposition from Radical Unionists who demanded an immediate end to slavery in the state. This disagreement thwarted any efforts to enact emancipation measures.(2)

Those in favor of gradual emancipation had established Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic. It was established on land acquired for people who formerly had been enslaved in the United States by the American Colonization Society, which founded a colony at Cape Mesurado in 1821. But by the end of 1862, there were those who wanted to see the enslaved given their freedom immediately, just like Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation would do for other states in rebellion. (See January 1st)

Sources used today