Carl Schurz

The most prominent foreign-born American in 19th-century public life, Carl Schurz (1829-1906) was soldier, statesman, and journalist. He was at the center of many political reform movements.

Carl Schurz was the foremost of a remarkable group of emigrés who went to the United States after the failure of the 1848-1849 revolution in Germany. In his adopted land Schurz crusaded against slavery, campaigned for his friend Abraham Lincoln, fought for the North in the Civil War, helped shape a Reconstruction policy that enfranchised the freed slaves, championed civil service reform, founded the Liberal Republican movement, was a leader of the "Mugwump" exodus from the Republican party, and denounced American imperialism in the Spanish-American War.

Carl Schurz was born on March 2, 1829, in Liblar near Cologne, Germany. He graduated from the gymnasium at Cologne and entered the University of Bonn in 1847 as a candidate for the doctorate in history. At the age of 19 he was a leader of the student movement that became the spearhead of democratic revolutionary ferment in many parts of Germany. In 1849 Schurz was commissioned a lieutenant in the revolutionary army, which was finally defeated by the Prussians. Knowing he would be shot if captured, he fled the country. He later returned under a false passport to rescue a professor from Spandau prison and spirit him out of Germany in the most daring exploit of the entire revolution.

American Civil War Record

After short residences in France and England, in 1852 Schurz went to the United States. He joined the antislavery movement and helped build the Republican party in Wisconsin, where he settled in 1856. An excellent orator, Schurz made speeches for John C. Frémont in the 1856 presidential election and for Lincoln against Stephen Douglas in the 1858 Illinois senatorial campaign. He was chairman of the Wisconsin delegation to the 1860 Republican convention. He campaigned tirelessly in the 1860 election and was gratified by a letter from Lincoln declaring that "to the extent of our limited acquaintance, no man stands nearer my heart than yourself." Rewarded by appointment as minister to Spain, Schurz resigned that post in 1862 and returned to the United States to work for Union victory and emancipation.

Schurz's military experience was limited to a few weeks of fighting in Germany 13 years earlier, but he worked hard at mastering military strategy and was finally promoted to major general of volunteers in 1863. He was popular with his troops, but his battle record was mixed. After limited success as a division commander at Chancellorsville and a corps commander at Gettysburg, he was given charge of an instruction corps at Nashville. This was not to his liking, and in 1864 he obtained release from command to campaign for Lincoln's reelection. Schurz finished out the war as a chief of staff in William T. Sherman's army.

Postwar Political Career

In the summer of 1865 Schurz began investigating Southern conditions for President Andrew Johnson and a Boston newspaper. He found that many Southerners were defiant and recalcitrant, determined to keep Negroes subordinate. Schurz's long report contradicted the premises of Johnson's Reconstruction policy, and the President did not acknowledge the report. But congressional Republicans secured its publication and wide distribution. This document was of great influence in molding a radical Reconstruction policy based on Negro suffrage.

Schurz was Washington correspondent of the New York Tribune, then editor of the Detroit Post, and in 1867 he became part owner and editor of the German-language St. Louis Westliche Post. Schurz made the keynote address at the Republican national convention in 1868 and the next year was elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. His views on Reconstruction had become less radical; he advocated the removal of all political disabilities from former Confederates and was increasingly critical of Federal intervention in behalf of what he considered corrupt and oppressive Republican regimes in Southern states.

A proponent of civil service reform, Schurz was also repelled by the corrupt political atmosphere of Ulysses S. Grant's administration. In 1872 he led reformers out of the regular Republican party and organized the Liberal Republican party, which nominated Horace Greeley to run against Grant. Schurz's actions split the Republican party in Missouri and allowed the Democrats to capture the legislature, so he was not reelected to the U.S. Senate in 1875. In 1876 he returned to the regular Republican party and supported the presidential reform candidacy of Rutherford B. Hayes. Schurz was rewarded with appointment as secretary of the interior, and he made considerable progress in reform of Indian affairs and introduction of the merit system into the department.

Journalism and Reform

In 1881 Schurz returned to journalism, serving for 2 years as an editor of the New York Evening Post and of the Nation. For several years thereafter he free-lanced, and from 1892 to 1898 he was chief editorial writer for Harper's Weekly. In 1884 he joined the revolt of the "Mugwumps" (reform Republicans) against the party's presidential nominee, James G. Blaine, and supported Grover Cleveland. Schurz was president of the National Civil Service Reform League (1892-1900) and of the Civil Service Reform Association of New York (1893-1906). Opposing the Spanish-American War in 1898, he became a leading anti-imperialist, urging independence for the Philippines rather than American colonialism there. Schurz died in New York City on May 14, 1906. His wife had died some years before; he was survived by three of his five children.

Further Reading

The basic source for Schurz's life is The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (3 vols., 1907-1908). Also of value are Frederic Bancroft, ed., Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz (6 vols., 1913), and Joseph Schafer, ed., Intimate Letters of Carl Schurz, 1841-1869 (1928). There is no biography of Schurz incorporating modern scholarship. The best account is Claude M. Fuess, Carl Schurz, Reformer (1932). □

Carl Schurz , 1829–1906, American political leader, b. Germany. He studied at the Univ. of Bonn and participated in the revolutionary uprisings of 1848–49 in Germany. Compelled to flee to Zürich after the collapse of the movement, he finally emigrated (1852) to the United States, where he settled (1856) in Watertown, Wis. and became a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him (1861) U.S. minister to Spain. Schurz resigned this position to serve in the Civil War. Promoted to major general in 1863, he fought in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Chattanooga and served with Gen. William T. Sherman's army in North Carolina in 1865. Between 1865 and 1868, Schurz was Washington correspondent of the New York Tribune, editor of the Detroit Post, and joint editor and owner of the St. Louis Westliche Post. He was U.S. Senator (1869–75) from his adopted state of Missouri. Antagonized by the radical Republican Reconstruction program and opposed to the administration of President Grant, Schurz aided in forming (1872) the Liberal Republican party . In 1876, Schurz supported Rutherford B. Hayes, whose hard money views he approved, for the presidency. He served (1877–81) in Hayes's cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. He was an editor (1881–83) of the New York Evening Post and wrote editorials (1892–98) for Harper's Weekly. In 1884, convinced of James G. Blaine's unfitness for office, Schurz led the mugwumps in their opposition to Blaine's nomination and candidacy. Schurz supported the Democrat Grover Cleveland in that year and again in 1888 and 1892. He turned to William McKinley in 1896 because of William Jennings Bryan's currency views, but in 1900 he supported Bryan because of his anti-imperialist views. He wrote Life of Henry Clay (2 vol., 1887), Abraham Lincoln: an Essay (1891), and his own reminiscences (3 vol., 1907–8; abridged vol. by Allan Nevins, 1961).

Bibliography: See F. Bancroft, ed., Speeches, Correspondence, and Political Papers of Carl Schurz (6 vol., 1913); J. Schafer, ed., Intimate Letters of Carl Schurz, 1841–1869 (1928); biographies by C. M. Fuess (1932, repr. 1963) and J. P. Terzian (1965).

Schurz, Carl (1829–1906),born in Germany, participated in the unsuccessful revolutionary movement (1848–49), and emigrated to the U.S. (1852), where he became prominent in the Republican party and was active in antislavery work. His other services in behalf of Lincoln brought him an appointment as minister to Spain (1861–62), from which he resigned to become a brigadier general. Although his division was accused of cowardice at Gettysburg, a court of in‐quiry found the charges unwarranted and com‐mended him for his actions. After the war he was Washington correspondent of the New York Tribune, and edited a Detroit paper and a German daily published in St. Louis. He left journalism to become a senator from Missouri (1869–75), in which capacity he opposed political corruption and jingoism. Hayes appointed him secretary of the interior (1877–81), in which office he was noted for his iinstallation of a merit promotion system, humanitarian treatment of the Indians, and interest in the conservation of natural resources. With E.L. Godkin and Horace White, he became editor of the New York Evening Post, which they made famous for its liberal independence. After differing on editorial policies, he resigned to write for Harper's Weekly (1892–98), which he left when he refused to support the policy favoring war with Spain. His later years were devoted to writing and speaking on domestic and foreign matters. In addition to his Life of Henry Clay (1887) he left for publication Reminiscences (3 vols., 1907–8) and Speeches, Correspondence, and Political Papers (6 vols., 1913).

Schurz, Carl ʃŏorts; ʃərts (1829–1906) Union army officer, secretary of the interior, and U.S. senator. Schurz grew up in Germany, where he allied himself with those who sought democratic reforms. Wanted for treason, he rescued an imprisoned comrade by bribing a guard, and the two then fled to England. He came to the United States in 1852 and settled in Wisconsin, becoming active in the Republican party. In 1860 he first supported William H. Seward, then Abraham Lincoln; his help in campaigning among German immigrants helped Lincoln achieve victory. When the Civil War broke out, Schurz raised several troops of German immigrants, then became ambassador to Spain, from which position he supported the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. He returned to the United States in 1862 and was commissioned a brigadier general; he fought well at the Second Battle of Bull Run (1862), but his performance at Chancellorsville and at Gettysburg (both 1863) drew criticism, and the rest of his war service was unremarkable. In 1869 he was elected to the Senate from his new home state, Missouri. Schurz's support for clean government, and for the Republican candidate in 1876, brought him a post as secretary of the interior; in this position he introduced civil service reforms and moved to protect natural resources; he also eventually softened the department's treatment of Native Americans. An anti-imperialist, he opposed the Spanish-American War (1898) and annexation of new territories.