Republic of Winston
Encyclopedia
Winston County, Alabama
Winston County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, formerly known as Hancock County before 1858.Its name is in honor of John A. Winston, the 15th Governor of Alabama. As of 2010, the population was 24,484. Its county seat is Double Springs....
) was one of several places in the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
where disaffection during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
was strong. In Winston County, this opposition became violent and had long-lasting political consequences—deep enough to generate a legend after the war that the county had seceded
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from Alabama.
Background
Winston County is in the hilly uplands of northwestern AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. Its shallow soil is almost wholly unsuitable for plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
-style agriculture, and Winston was never home to many slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. The 1860 US Census shows there only 3,450 white residents in the underpopulated county, and just 122 slaves. Winston's residents were mainly poor farmers who viewed the Confederacy with suspicion, fearing it was meant to maintain the political control of the wealthy planter class.
Winston County's representative at the January 1861 Alabama Secession Convention was Charles Christopher Sheats
Charles Christopher Sheats
Charles Christopher Sheats was a U.S. Representative from Alabama.Born in Walker County, Alabama, Sheats attended the common schools....
, a 21 year old school teacher. He refused to sign Alabama's ordinance of secession
Ordinance of Secession
The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by the states officially seceding from the United States of America...
, even after it had been passed by a vote of 61 to 39. Sheats became so vocal in his opposition that he was finally arrested. On his release, he became a leader of a pro-neutrality group. Later, he would become an open supporter of the Union and spend most of the war in prison. Many Winston County residents refused induction into the Confederate Army, and some spoke openly of organizing troops to support the Union. The worried state authorities moved to enforce obedience through conscription and loyalty oaths, which only made matters worse. A meeting was held at Looney's Tavern, where a series of resolutions were passed. These stated that the people of Winston County had no desire to take part in the war and intended to support neither side. One resolution declared that if a state could secede from the Union, then a county could secede from the state. Richard Payne, a pro-Confederate, laughed with delight. "Winston County secedes!" he shouted. "Hoorah for the Free State of Winston!" From Payne's remark was born the legend of the "Republic of Winston".
In April 1862, the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
invaded north Alabama. Many of the pro-Union Winstonians enlisted in Union Army's new 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment
1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment (Union)
The 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment recruited from Southern Unionists that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:...
. While the Union 1st Alabama Cavalry would play a heroic part in the war, they did so generally outside of Alabama.
Winston County itself was suffering from its own internal war. Confederate Home Guard
Confederate Home Guard
The Confederate Home Guard was a somewhat loosely organized militia that was under the direction and authority of the Confederate States of America, working in coordination with the Confederate Army, and was tasked with both the defense of the Confederate home front during the American Civil War,...
s in the county were poorly disciplined and often used their uniforms as excuses to settle old grudges. The Union men responded by forming their own irregular bands, and by the end of the war Winston County had been largely devastated by its own people.
After the war, Winston County became a bastion of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in Alabama, in sharp contrast to the overwhelming support for the Democrats in the rest of the state. Winston's unique history has become the basis of a small tourist industry, which includes an outdoor drama loosely based on the events. A passenger boat named the "Free State Lady" plies the waters of nearby Smith lake. "Dual Destiny", a memorial statue of a young soldier dressed half as a Union troop and half as Confederate, is frequently photographed.
Further reading
- Downing, David C. A South Divided: Portraits of Dissent in the Confederacy. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007. ISBN 9781581825879
- Dodd, Donald B., and Amy Bartlett-Dodd. The Free State of Winston. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
- Dodd, Donald B., and Wynelle S. Dodd. Winston: An Antebellum and Civil War History of a Hill County of North Alabama. Vol. 4 of Annals of Northwest Alabama, comp. Carl Elliot. Birmingham: Oxmoor Press, 1972.
- Winston County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Winston County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1998.
See also
- NickajackNickajackNickajack was the name of a proposed neutral state of Unionist areas of North Alabama and East Tennessee. In the period leading up to the American Civil War there was much talk of secession made by the politicians representing wealthy plantation owners in the Black Belt. Hill country residents were...
- Tap RootsTap RootsTap Roots is a 1948 period film set during the American Civil War. It is very loosely based on the true life story of Newton Knight, a farm owner who attempted to secede Jones County from Mississippi....
, a highly fictionalized film of Winston County's history.
External links
- The Incident at Looney's Tavern information at the Alabama Department of Archives and History
- Free State of Winston