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142-761: The Hall was originally the Confederate Memorial Home, a residence and gathering place for Confederate veterans. In 1919, 54 years after the Civil War 's end, with few veterans still alive, it was converted into the Confederate Memorial Hall, no longer a residence but a library, museum, and "social hall for white politicians from the South". Notices in newspapers tell of events held there: the United Sons of Confederate Veterans ,

284-409: A performance bond . An injunction or performance bond ensures that there is something to seize in the event of a guilty verdict. This provision prevented the owners of Mafia -related shell corporations from absconding with assets. In many cases, the threat of a RICO indictment can force defendants to plead guilty to lesser charges, in part because the seizure of assets would make it difficult to pay

426-809: A "musical entertainment" in 1909; the Children of the Confederacy hosted in 1913; the women's auxiliary, a benefit concert in 1914; the United Daughters of the Confederacy , a reception in 1916 and a benefit card party in 1917; open house in 1917 for those attending "the annual pilgrimage of Confederate veterans to Arlington". According to a 1997 web page kept active, the Hall had oil portraits of Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee , Stonewall Jackson , Sterling Price , Joseph E. Johnston , and Fitzhugh Lee . Also on display were an original print of

568-522: A Baltimore newspaper editor, Frank Key Howard , after he criticized Lincoln in an editorial for ignoring Taney's ruling. In Missouri, an elected convention on secession voted to remain in the Union. When pro-Confederate Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson called out the state militia, it was attacked by federal forces under General Nathaniel Lyon , who chased the governor and rest of the State Guard to

710-853: A RICO indictment." John Gotti and Frank Locascio were convicted on April 2, 1992, under the RICO Act and later sentenced to life in prison. After the 1998 simultaneous bombings of the US Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the US Department of Justice sued Osama bin Laden in absentia under the RICO statute. A 2004 documentary by BBC filmmaker Adam Curtis called The Power of Nightmares argued controversially that in order to prosecute bin Laden in absentia, U.S. prosecutors had to prove that he

852-413: A blockade of the Confederacy to suffocate the South into surrender. Lincoln adopted parts of the plan but opted for a more active war strategy. In April 1861, Lincoln announced a blockade of all Southern ports; commercial ships could not get insurance, ending regular traffic. The South blundered by embargoing cotton exports before the blockade was fully effective; by the time they reversed this decision, it

994-466: A carefully worded plea, Drexel said it was "not in a position to dispute the allegations" made by the Government. If Drexel had been indicted under RICO statutes, it would have had to post a performance bond of up to $ 1 billion to avoid having its assets frozen. That would have taken precedence over all of the firm's other obligations, including the loans that provided 96 percent of its capital base. If

1136-641: A civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization . RICO was enacted by Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 ( Pub. L.   91–452 , 84  Stat.   922 , enacted October 15, 1970 ), and is codified at 18 U.S.C. ch. 96 as 18 U.S.C.   §§ 1961 – 1968 . This article primarily covers the federal criminal statute, but since 1972, 33 U.S. states and territories have adopted state RICO laws, which although similar, cover additional state crimes and may differ from

1278-570: A civil RICO case naming 30 defendants who were also implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal that they were also part of a conspiracy behind the La Penca bombing . The suit, titled Avirgan v Hull named several Central Intelligence Agency figures and accused them of participating in illegal political assassinations, as well as arms and drug trafficking. The suit was eventually dismissed in 1989, and lead attorney Daniel Sheehan alleged members of

1420-474: A counterfeiting and laundering operation. The FBI began to investigate the group using RICO following the assassination of Jewish radio host Alan Berg on June 18, 1984, and the arrest of member Tom Martinez, for using counterfeit bills to buy liquor. Martinez informed on The Order and RICO was used by the FBI to bring 10 members of The Order to trial and achieved conviction of racketeering and conspiracy charges. Over

1562-497: A course of ultimate extinction. Decades of controversy over slavery were brought to a head when Abraham Lincoln , who opposed slavery's expansion, won the 1860 presidential election . Seven Southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. The war began on April 12, 1861, when

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1704-475: A defense attorney . Despite its harsh provisions, a RICO-related charge is considered easy to prove in court because it focuses on patterns of behavior as opposed to criminal acts. There must be one of four specified relationships between the defendant(s) and the enterprise. Either the defendant(s): The US Supreme Court noted that a commentator had used the terms "prize", "instrument", "victim", or "perpetrator" for these four relationships. RICO also permits

1846-705: A draft law in April 1862 for men aged 18–35, with exemptions for overseers, government officials, and clergymen. The U.S. Congress followed in July, authorizing a militia draft within states that could not meet their quota with volunteers. European immigrants joined the Union Army in large numbers, including 177,000 born in Germany and 144,000 in Ireland. About 50,000 Canadians served, around 2,500 of whom were black. When

1988-731: A famous cutting horse . Cauble was convicted in January 1982 on ten counts: two counts of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act statute (RICO), conspiracy to violate RICO, three violations of the Interstate Commerce Travel Act , and four counts of misapplication of bank funds. He was sentenced to ten concurrent terms of five years. He completed his prison term, was released in September 1987, and died in 2003. Three books about

2130-483: A firm hand by Lincoln tamed Seward, who was a staunch Lincoln ally. Lincoln decided holding the fort, which would require reinforcing it, was the only workable option. On April 6, Lincoln informed the Governor of South Carolina that a ship with food but no ammunition would attempt to supply the fort. Historian McPherson describes this win-win approach as "the first sign of the mastery that would mark Lincoln's presidency";

2272-633: A gang of postal burglars and a Nevada fence collaborated criminally in an organized crime fashion. The case did not involve a Mafia crime family. Subsequently, the US Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Arkansas used the RICO Act on October 2, 1978, to indict officers of Local 1292 of the Laborers International Union of North America. Special Assistant United States Attorney, Samuel A. Perroni, prosecuted

2414-535: A later deputy chief of the criminal division for the Southern District of New York and later managing director in the legal department at Goldman Sachs . Time magazine called the "Case of Cases" possibly "the most significant assault on the infrastructure of organized crime since the high command of the Chicago Mafia was swept away in 1943" and quoted Giuliani's stated intention: "Our approach

2556-564: A legal coup. Hines and his followers countered with a $ 250,000 suit against Hurley and Mrs. Rogers. In 1990, Hurley filed a $ 5 million suit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act , charging Hines and others with perjury, mail fraud, and money-laundering, "among other misdeeds". The suit was dismissed with prejudice , and defendants were awarded $ 69,066 in attorneys' fees. Over several years, Hurley also accused various people and federal agencies of corruption and

2698-479: A man until she died in 1915 at the age of 71. The small U.S. Navy of 1861 rapidly expanded to 6,000 officers and 45,000 sailors by 1865, with 671 vessels totaling 510,396 tons. Its mission was to blockade Confederate ports, control the river system, defend against Confederate raiders on the high seas, and be ready for a possible war with the British Royal Navy . The main riverine war was fought in

2840-407: A motion to dismiss the superseding indictment, and the first RICO trial commenced on March 13, 1978. The jury convicted the four appellants and another corporation on both the conspiracy and racketeering counts. In May 1979, prosecutor Mark L. Webb, Northern District of California, conducted RICO trial, United States v. Sam Bailey Gang . The successful prosecution used the RICO statute to allege that

2982-467: A myriad of activities that showcase Southern culture and its inherent good manners and abiding respect for others." On January 17, 1987, the date chosen because Robert E. Lee 's birthday was January 19, the Association held an $ 80 (equivalent to $ 215 in 2023)–per–couple ball and fundraiser. It featured "period dancing to Stephen Foster melodies played on antique instruments." In March 1989, there

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3124-451: A patriotic fire under the North. On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to field 75,000 volunteer troops for 90 days; impassioned Union states met the quotas quickly. On May 3, 1861, Lincoln called for an additional 42,000 volunteers for three years. Shortly after this, Virginia , Tennessee , Arkansas , and North Carolina seceded and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia,

3266-420: A pattern are called "predicate" offenses. Predicate acts are related if they "have the same or similar purposes, results, participants, victims, or methods of commission, or otherwise are interrelated by distinguishing characteristics and are not isolated events." Continuity is both a closed and open ended concept, referring to either a closed period of conduct, or to past conduct that by its nature projects into

3408-435: A private individual "damaged in his business or property" by a "racketeer" to file a civil suit . The plaintiff must prove the existence of an "enterprise." The defendant(s) are not the enterprise; in other words, the defendant(s) and the enterprise are not one and the same. A civil RICO action can be filed in state or federal court . Both the criminal and the civil components allow the recovery of treble damages (triple

3550-421: A republic, but a third challenge faced the nation: maintaining a republic based on the people's vote, in the face of an attempt to destroy it. Lincoln's election provoked South Carolina 's legislature to call a state convention to consider secession. South Carolina had done more than any other state to advance the notion that a state had the right to nullify federal laws and even secede. On December 20, 1860,

3692-506: A shadow of doubt that members of Oliver North's operation was [sic] using a Mid-Atlantic Credit Union account in Gaithersburg, Maryland , and a review of this account would prove the costs imposed on Hurley were fraudulent. Judge Bayly, however, quashed subpoenas for both Oliver North and the account without explanation. Hurley said that the board of trustees of his organization, which included those trustees that Judge Bayly had ordered on

3834-482: A variety of financial crimes, as well as drug trafficking. In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno , he linked government corruption and retribution for his whistleblowing , with the efforts to force members onto the Association's board and thus seize its building. Hurley said his life was threatened on several occasions. There was a fight inside the Memorial Hall in which the shirt of one of Hurley's rivals

3976-628: A welding supply company, and oil and gas holdings. The company's worth was estimated at $ 80 million. However, the government sold their interest back to the other partners (Cauble's wife and son) for an estimated $ 12 million. In 1979, the United States Federal Government went after Sonny Barger and several members and associates of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels using RICO. In United States vs. Barger ,

4118-469: Is the head of a criminal organization responsible for the bombings. They find a former associate of bin Laden, Jamal al-Fadl, and pay him to testify that bin Laden is the head of a massive terrorist organization called " al-Qaeda ," which satisfied the requirements of the RICO statute, but that in actuality, a formal terrorist organization named "Al Qaeda" did not exist. In 1999 the Rampart scandal broke in

4260-482: Is to wipe out the five families." Three heads of the Five Families were sentenced to 100 years in prison on January 13, 1987. The Genovese and Colombo leaders, Tony Salerno and Carmine Persico received additional sentences in separate trials, with 70-year and 39-year sentences to run consecutively. The Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano and his underboss , Thomas Bilotti , were murdered on

4402-490: The 1860 presidential election . Southern leaders feared Lincoln would stop slavery's expansion and put it on a course toward extinction. His victory triggered declarations of secession by seven slave states of the Deep South , all of whose riverfront or coastal economies were based on cotton that was cultivated by slave labor. Lincoln was not inaugurated until March 4, 1861, giving the South time to prepare for war during

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4544-566: The Battle of Appomattox ...as well as a yellowed legal copy of Davis' bail bond". During the 1960s and 70s, the building and the association fell on hard times. Membership declined, and the hall became a refuge for vagrants. Hurley, whose father was a member, stepped in and helped refurbish the building, partly with his own money. "As the 20th century drew to a close, the CMA was sponsoring magnificent white tie grand balls, barbecues, horse events, and

4686-489: The Battle of Appomattox Court House , setting in motion the end of the war . Lincoln led the nation through that victory but was shot by an assassin on April 14. By the end of the war, much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed. The Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and four million enslaved black people were freed. The war-torn nation then entered the Reconstruction era in an attempt to rebuild

4828-657: The Burial of [William] Latane , a marble bust of General Robert E. Lee by " Lost Cause " sculptor Herbert Barbee , a Jefferson Davis sideboard , two chairs once the property of General Beauregard , "numerous battle flags", and the First National Flag of the Confederacy that flew during the siege of Atlanta . The library contained over 1,000 books. The Hall had a collection of Civil War-era musical instruments on which small concerts of Civil War-era music were performed, "a copy of Lee's farewell order to his troops after

4970-689: The Dred Scott decision was proof the Southern states had no reason to secede and that the Union "was intended to be perpetual". He added, however, that "The power by force of arms to compel a State to remain in the Union" was not among the "enumerated powers granted to Congress". A quarter of the US army—the Texas garrison—was surrendered in February to state forces by its general, David E. Twiggs , who joined

5112-563: The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in January 1863, ex-slaves were energetically recruited to meet state quotas. States and local communities offered higher cash bonuses for white volunteers. Congress tightened the draft law in March 1863. Men selected in the draft could provide substitutes or, until mid-1864, pay commutation money. Many eligibles pooled their money to cover the cost of anyone drafted. Families used

5254-603: The International Longshoremen's Association . During the 1980s and the 1990s, federal prosecutors used the law to bring charges against several Mafia figures. In 1985, United States Attorney Rudy Giuliani (who would be indicted under Georgia RICO laws in August 2023 ) indicted 11 organized crime figures in United States v. Anthony Salerno, et al , also known as Mafia Commission Trial . Using

5396-721: The Reagan Doctrine , a peculiar gathering of Nicaraguan contras , Afghan-based mujahedeen and members of the Angolan guerrilla group UNITA , which was funded by the South African apartheid regime." He said he took this action because the Tax Code prohibited such political activity by his tax-exempt organization; in fact, Hurley's Association lost its 501 (c)(3) status for a few years but regained it. "Hurley said that after ten years of litigation he can prove beyond

5538-756: The US Department of Justice 's Operation Family Secrets indicted 14 Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, or the Organization) members and associates under RICO predicates. Five defendants were convicted of RICO violations and other crimes. Six pleaded guilty, two died before trial, and one was too sick to be tried. In 2005, a federal jury ordered Fasano to pay $ 500,000 under RICO for illegally helping

5680-592: The Virginia to prevent its capture, while the Union built many copies of the Monitor . The Confederacy's efforts to obtain warships from Great Britain failed, as Britain had no interest in selling warships to a nation at war with a stronger enemy and feared souring relations with the U.S. By early 1861, General Winfield Scott had devised the Anaconda Plan to win the war with minimal bloodshed, calling for

5822-522: The Western theater , the Union made permanent gains—though in the Eastern theater the conflict was inconclusive. The abolition of slavery became a Union war goal on January 1, 1863, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation , which declared all slaves in rebel states to be free, applying to more than 3.5 million of the 4 million enslaved people in the country. To the west, the Union first destroyed

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5964-526: The electrical telegraph , steamships, the ironclad warship , and mass-produced weapons were widely used. The war left an estimated 698,000 soldiers dead, along with an undetermined number of civilian casualties, making the Civil War the deadliest military conflict in American history. The technology and brutality of the Civil War foreshadowed the coming World Wars . The origins of the war were rooted in

6106-406: The 168,649 men procured for the Union through the draft, 117,986 were substitutes, leaving only 50,663 who were conscripted. In the North and South, draft laws were highly unpopular. In the North, some 120,000 men evaded conscription, many fleeing to Canada, and another 280,000 soldiers deserted during the war. At least 100,000 Southerners deserted, about 10 percent of the total. Southern desertion

6248-539: The 1980s. Sarah McClendon was on the Association's board. Richard T. Hines was a former South Carolina state legislator, U.S. General Services Administration official, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Washington, and "a major neo-Confederate ", who "in 1984...penned a paean to Preston Brooks , the secessionist South Carolina congressman who caned Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts on

6390-601: The Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Insurance rates soared, and the American flag virtually disappeared from international waters, though reflagging ships with European flags allowed them to continue operating unmolested. After the war, the U.S. government demanded Britain compensate it for the damage caused by blockade runners and raiders outfitted in British ports. Britain paid the U.S. $ 15 million in 1871, but only for commerce raiding. Dinçaslan argues that another outcome of

6532-566: The Bahamas in exchange for high-priced cotton. Many were lightweight and designed for speed, only carrying small amounts of cotton back to England. When the Union Navy seized a blockade runner, the ship and cargo were condemned as a prize of war and sold, with proceeds given to the Navy sailors; the captured crewmen, mostly British, were released. The Southern economy nearly collapsed during

6674-400: The British response to the U.S. was toned down, helping avert war. In 1862, the British government considered mediating between the Union and Confederacy, though such an offer would have risked war with the U.S. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston reportedly read Uncle Tom's Cabin three times when deciding what his decision would be. The Union victory at the Battle of Antietam caused

6816-621: The British to delay this decision. The Emancipation Proclamation increased the political liability of supporting the Confederacy. Realizing that Washington could not intervene in Mexico as long as the Confederacy controlled Texas, France invaded Mexico in 1861 and installed the Habsburg Austrian archduke Maximilian I as emperor. Washington repeatedly protested France's violation of the Monroe Doctrine . Despite sympathy for

6958-575: The Commonwealth, which at its greatest extent was over half the state, and it went into exile after October 1862. After Virginia's secession, a Unionist government in Wheeling asked 48 counties to vote on an ordinance to create a new state in October 1861. A voter turnout of 34% approved the statehood bill (96% approving). Twenty-four secessionist counties were included in the new state, and

7100-486: The Confederacy bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina . A wave of enthusiasm for war swept over the North and South, as military recruitment soared. Four more Southern states seceded after the war began and, led by its president, Jefferson Davis , the Confederacy asserted control over a third of the U.S. population in eleven states. Four years of intense combat, mostly in the South, ensued. During 1861–1862 in

7242-400: The Confederacy refused to exchange black prisoners. After that, about 56,000 of the 409,000 POWs died in prisons, accounting for 10 percent of the conflict's fatalities. Historian Elizabeth D. Leonard writes that between 500 and 1,000 women enlisted as soldiers on both sides, disguised as men. Women also served as spies, resistance activists, nurses, and hospital personnel. Women served on

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7384-539: The Confederacy's river navy by the summer of 1862, then much of its western armies, and seized New Orleans . The successful 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River , while Confederate General Robert E. Lee 's incursion north failed at the Battle of Gettysburg . Western successes led to General Ulysses S. Grant 's command of all Union armies in 1864. Inflicting an ever-tightening naval blockade of Confederate ports,

7526-518: The Confederacy, France's seizure of Mexico ultimately deterred it from war with the Union. Confederate offers late in the war to end slavery in return for diplomatic recognition were not seriously considered by London or Paris. After 1863, the Polish revolt against Russia further distracted the European powers and ensured they remained neutral. Russia supported the Union, largely because it believed

7668-706: The Confederacy. As Southerners resigned their Senate and House seats, Republicans could pass projects that had been blocked. These included the Morrill Tariff , land grant colleges, a Homestead Act , a transcontinental railroad, the National Bank Act , authorization of United States Notes by the Legal Tender Act of 1862 , and the end of slavery in the District of Columbia . The Revenue Act of 1861 introduced income tax to help finance

7810-519: The Confederate capital was moved to Richmond . Maryland , Delaware , Missouri , West Virginia and Kentucky were slave states whose people had divided loyalties to Northern and Southern businesses and family members. Some men enlisted in the Union Army and others in the Confederate Army. West Virginia separated from Virginia and was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, though half its counties were secessionist. Maryland's territory surrounded Washington, D.C. , and could cut it off from

7952-452: The Deputy Chief's office at City Hall. The Order was an American far-right terrorist group active from September 1983 to December 1984. Their intention was to precipitate the collapse of the federal Government or Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG) which they perceived as illegitimate. Their intention was to do so via a campaign of bombings and assassinations. However, in order to fund their actions they turned to armoured car robbery and

8094-465: The District of Columbia Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure. He alleged that Bayly "hired the plaintiffs to sue him", and feared "his own 'probable assassination' by the government as payback for his uncovering court complicity in cocaine trafficking." According to Hurley, his "bizarre court odyssey" began in the 1980s when he canceled an Oliver North "Freedom Fighter" fund-raising event, to be held at Confederate Memorial Hall, for "denizens of

8236-412: The District of Columbia by seizing prominent figures, including arresting one-third of the members of the Maryland General Assembly on the day it reconvened. All were held without trial, with Lincoln ignoring a ruling on June 1, 1861, by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney , not speaking for the Court, that only Congress could suspend habeas corpus ( Ex parte Merryman ). Federal troops imprisoned

8378-504: The Iran-Contra enterprise were behind the assassination of judge Robert Vance who was expected to reverse the dismissal. G. Robert Blakey stated it was the best-charged RICO case he had seen, and the litigation spawned a national fundraising effort. In 1990, Bruce Springsteen and Bonnie Raitt held a benefit concert to support the litigation. A 500-page affadaivit filed in December 1986 was also published as "The Shadow Government." On March 29, 1989, American financier Michael Milken

8520-491: The Los Angeles Police Department exposing widespread criminal activity within the department's anti-gang unit called CRASH. 70 officers were initially implicated in planting evidence, dealing drugs, bank robbery, and unlawful killings and beatings. In 2000, Federal District judge William Rea ruled the RICO statute could be used to name the entire LAPD as a criminal enterprise for individuals suing it over police brutality and misconduct. Over 140 civil RICO lawsuits were filed against

8662-420: The North, where anti-slavery sentiment had grown, and for the South, where the fear of slavery's abolition had grown. Another factor leading to secession and the formation of the Confederacy was the development of white Southern nationalism in the preceding decades. The primary reason for the North to reject secession was to preserve the Union, a cause based on American nationalism . Background factors in

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8804-545: The North. It had anti-Lincoln officials who tolerated anti-army rioting in Baltimore and the burning of bridges, both aimed at hindering the passage of troops to the South. Maryland's legislature voted overwhelmingly to stay in the Union, but rejected hostilities with its southern neighbors, voting to close Maryland's rail lines to prevent their use for war. Lincoln responded by establishing martial law and unilaterally suspending habeas corpus in Maryland, along with sending in militia units. Lincoln took control of Maryland and

8946-443: The RICO Act against MLB commissioner Bud Selig and former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria , claiming that Selig and Loria deliberately conspired to devalue the team for personal benefit in preparation for a move. If found liable, Major League Baseball could have been responsible for up to $ 300 million in punitive damages . The case lasted two years, successfully stalling the Expos' move to Washington or contraction during that time. It

9088-419: The RICO Act, Giuliani charged the heads of New York's so-called " Five Families " with extortion , labor racketeering, and murder for hire . Three Assistant United States Attorneys assisted in the trial: Michael Chertoff , the eventual second United States Secretary of Homeland Security and co-author of the Patriot Act ; John Savarese, later a partner at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz ; and Gil Childers,

9230-473: The Senate floor in 1854 for his speeches against slavery ." In 1987, he filed suit seeking to dismiss Hurley and the association's vice president, Mrs. John Tilden Rogers. Hines complained, among other things, that Hurley operated the building for personal gain, renting out rooms and pocketing the proceeds. "In one of the most bizarre cases to ever come before the courts", Hurley and Mrs. Rogers responded by suing Hines and six others, claiming they were victims of

9372-408: The South's post-war recovery. Cotton diplomacy proved a failure as Europe had a surplus of cotton, while the 1860–62 crop failures in Europe made the North's grain exports critically important. It also helped turn European opinion against the Confederacy. It was said that "King Corn was more powerful than King Cotton," as U.S. grain went from a quarter to almost half of British imports. Meanwhile,

9514-416: The South. The Confederacy turned to foreign sources, connecting with financiers and companies like S. Isaac, Campbell & Company and the London Armoury Company in Britain, becoming the Confederacy's main source of arms. To transport arms safely to the Confederacy, British investors built small, fast, steam-driven blockade runners that traded arms and supplies from Britain, through Bermuda, Cuba, and

9656-399: The U.S. and Britain over the Trent affair , which began when U.S. Navy personnel boarded the British ship Trent and seized two Confederate diplomats. However, London and Washington smoothed this over after Lincoln released the two men. Prince Albert left his deathbed to issue diplomatic instructions to Lord Lyons during the Trent affair. His request was honored, and, as a result,

9798-429: The U.S. served as a counterbalance to its geopolitical rival, the U.K. In 1863, the Imperial Russian Navy 's Baltic and Pacific fleets wintered in the American ports of New York and San Francisco, respectively. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ( RICO ) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and

9940-471: The Union Army or pro-Union guerrilla groups. Although they came from all classes, most Southern Unionists differed socially, culturally, and economically from their region’s dominant prewar, slave-owning planter class. At the war's start, a parole system operated, under which captives agreed not to fight until exchanged. They were held in camps run by their army, paid, but not allowed to perform any military duties. The system of exchanges collapsed in 1863 when

10082-401: The Union blockade. The Confederacy purchased warships from commercial shipbuilders in Britain, with the most famous being the CSS  Alabama , which caused considerable damage and led to serious postwar disputes . However, public opinion against slavery in Britain created a political liability for politicians, where the anti-slavery movement was powerful. War loomed in late 1861 between

10224-464: The Union hospital ship Red Rover and nursed Union and Confederate troops at field hospitals. Mary Edwards Walker , the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor , served in the Union Army and was given the medal for treating the wounded during the war. One woman, Jennie Hodgers, fought for the Union under the name Albert D. J. Cashier. After she returned to civilian life, she continued to live as

10366-544: The Union marshaled resources and manpower to attack the Confederacy from all directions. This led to the fall of Atlanta in 1864 to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman , followed by his March to the Sea . The last significant battles raged around the ten-month Siege of Petersburg , gateway to the Confederate capital of Richmond . The Confederates abandoned Richmond, and on April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant following

10508-492: The Union would win if it could resupply and hold the fort, and the South would be the aggressor if it opened fire on an unarmed ship supplying starving men. An April 9 Confederate cabinet meeting resulted in Davis ordering General P. G. T. Beauregard to take the fort before supplies reached it. At 4:30 am on April 12, Confederate forces fired the first of 4,000 shells at the fort; it fell the next day. The loss of Fort Sumter lit

10650-486: The Union, this was never likely, so they sought to bring them in as mediators. The Union worked to block this and threatened war if any country recognized the Confederacy. In 1861, Southerners voluntarily embargoed cotton shipments, hoping to start an economic depression in Europe that would force Britain to enter the war, but this failed. Worse, Europe turned to Egypt and India for cotton, which they found superior, hindering

10792-483: The Union-held Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is located in the harbor of Charleston , South Carolina. Its status had been contentious for months. Outgoing President Buchanan had dithered in reinforcing its garrison, commanded by Major Robert Anderson . Anderson took matters into his own hands and on December 26, 1860, under the cover of darkness, sailed the garrison from the poorly placed Fort Moultrie to

10934-643: The Union. A February peace conference met in Washington, proposing a solution similar the Compromise; it was rejected by Congress. The Republicans proposed the Corwin Amendment , an alternative, not to interfere with slavery where it existed, but the South regarded it as insufficient. The remaining eight slave states rejected pleas to join the Confederacy, following a no-vote in Virginia's First Secessionist Convention on April 4. On March 4, Lincoln

11076-577: The West, where major rivers gave access to the Confederate heartland. The U.S. Navy eventually controlled the Red, Tennessee, Cumberland, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers. In the East, the Navy shelled Confederate forts and supported coastal army operations. The Civil War occurred during the early stages of the industrial revolution, leading to naval innovations, notably the ironclad warship . The Confederacy, recognizing

11218-579: The Western territories destined to become states. Initially Congress had admitted new states into the Union in pairs, one slave and one free . This had kept a sectional balance in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives , as free states outstripped slave states in numbers of eligible voters. Thus, at mid-19th century, the free-versus-slave status of the new territories was a critical issue, both for

11360-459: The amount of actual/compensatory damages). Although its primary intent was to deal with organized crime , Blakey said that Congress never intended it merely to apply to the Mob . He once told Time , "We don't want one set of rules for people whose collars are blue or whose names end in vowels, and another set for those whose collars are white and have Ivy League diplomas." On December 1, 1977,

11502-521: The blockade was the rise of oil as a prominent commodity. The declining whale oil industry took a blow as many old whaling ships were used in blockade efforts, such as the Stone Fleet , and Confederate raiders harassed Union whalers. Oil products, especially kerosene, began replacing whale oil in lamps, increasing oil's importance long before it became fuel for combustion engines. Although the Confederacy hoped Britain and France would join them against

11644-523: The board, had voted to sell the museum to cover the fines and costs that were being imposed by the courts." The building was seized and sold in 1997 to pay $ 500,000 in contempt of court fines that Hurley received in District of Columbia courts for undisclosed reasons. It then became a private residence. "' Constitutional government is a thing of the past', Hurley sadly observed." American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names )

11786-454: The bond ever had to be paid, its shareholders would have been practically wiped out. Since banks will not extend credit to a firm indicted under RICO, an indictment would have likely put Drexel out of business. By at least one estimate, a RICO indictment would have destroyed the firm within a month. Years later, Drexel President and CEO Fred Joseph said that Drexel had no choice but to plead guilty because "a financial institution cannot survive

11928-508: The convention unanimously voted to secede and adopted a secession declaration . It argued for states' rights for slave owners but complained about states' rights in the North in the form of resistance to the federal Fugitive Slave Act, claiming that Northern states were not fulfilling their obligations to assist in the return of fugitive slaves. The "cotton states" of Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , Louisiana , and Texas followed suit, seceding in January and February 1861. Among

12070-489: The country, bring the former Confederate states back into the United States, and grant civil rights to freed slaves. The war is one of the most extensively studied and written about episodes in U.S. history . It remains the subject of cultural and historiographical debate . Of continuing interest is the fading myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy . The war was among the first to use industrial warfare . Railroads,

12212-474: The course of The Order's activities they had distributed millions of dollars to the wider far-right movement and Operation Clean Sweep used RICO to bring 14 leading members of the far-right to trial on charges of seditious conspiracy at Fort Smith , alleging their receipt of The Order's funds as connection to their attempt to overthrow the federal government. In 1986, the Christic Institute filed

12354-477: The crisis was Secretary of State William H. Seward , who had been Lincoln's rival for the Republican nomination . Embittered by his defeat, Seward agreed to support Lincoln's candidacy only after he was guaranteed the executive office then considered the second most powerful. In the early stages of Lincoln's presidency Seward held little regard for him, due to his perceived inexperience. Seward viewed himself as

12496-657: The de facto head of government, the " prime minister " behind the throne. Seward attempted to engage in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed. Lincoln was determined to hold all remaining Union-occupied forts in the Confederacy: Fort Monroe in Virginia, Fort Pickens , Fort Jefferson , and Fort Taylor in Florida, and Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces opened fire on

12638-467: The death penalty for the murder of Bonanno caporegime Gerlando Sciascia , that case severed to be tried separately), arson, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, and money laundering. After deliberating for five days, the jury found Massino guilty of all 11 counts on July 30, 2004. His sentencing was initially scheduled for October 12, and he was expected to receive a sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. The jury also approved

12780-594: The department. In July 2001, US District Judge Gary A. Feess said that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue the LAPD under RICO, because they were alleging personal injuries rather than economic or property damage. In 2001, Major League Baseball team owners voted to eliminate two teams , presumably the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos . In 2002, the former minority owners of the Expos filed charges under

12922-529: The desire of the Southern states to preserve the institution of slavery . Historians in the 21st century overwhelmingly agree on the centrality of slavery in the conflict. They disagree on which aspects (ideological, economic, political, or social) were most important, and on the North 's reasons for refusing to allow the Southern states to secede. The pseudo-historical Lost Cause ideology denies that slavery

13064-405: The effective date of this chapter and the last of which occurred within ten years (excluding any period of imprisonment) after the commission of a prior act of racketeering activity. The US Supreme Court has instructed federal courts to follow the continuity-plus-relationship test in order to determine whether the facts of a specific case give rise to an established pattern. The illegal acts forming

13206-493: The ensuing guerrilla war engaged about 40,000 federal troops for much of the war. Congress admitted West Virginia to the Union on June 20, 1863. West Virginians provided about 20,000 soldiers to each side in the war. A Unionist secession attempt occurred in East Tennessee , but was suppressed by the Confederacy, which arrested over 3,000 men suspected of loyalty to the Union; they were held without trial. The Civil War

13348-430: The essential role of cotton in the European economy. The European aristocracy was "absolutely gleeful in pronouncing the American debacle as proof that the entire experiment in popular government had failed. European government leaders welcomed the fragmentation of the ascendant American Republic." However, a European public with liberal sensibilities remained, which the U.S. sought to appeal to by building connections with

13490-433: The federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana indicted thirteen defendants, Robert J. L'Hoste & Company, Inc. for conspiracy and racketeering activity. After the defendants moved to dismiss the indictment for overbreadth and vagueness, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment on February 27, 1978, charging the same offenses and naming eleven defendants, including the appellants. The district court denied

13632-636: The federal law and each other in several respects. G. Robert Blakey , an adviser to the United States Senate Government Operations Committee , drafted the law under the close supervision of the committee's chairman, Senator John L. McClellan . It was signed into law by US President Richard Nixon . Prosecutors in the 1970s used it to prosecute the Mafia as well as others who were actively engaged in organized crime. In later years, prosecutors have applied

13774-573: The first labor union official trial that began on June 5, 1979. Perroni's successful prosecution used RICO to convict the defendants of conspiracy, murder for hire, perjury and embezzlement of union property in United States v. Allison, et al. The US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York employed the RICO Act on September 18, 1979, in United States v. Scotto . Scotto, who was convicted on charges of racketeering, accepting unlawful labor payments, and income tax evasion, headed

13916-664: The future with a threat of repetition. The Lucchese crime family was one of the " Five Families " that dominated organized crime activities in New York City. Prosecuting attorneys Gregory O'Connell and Charles Rose used RICO charges to break up the family over an 18-month period. Several members of the Latin Kings have been convicted of RICO offenses. RICO was instrumental in indicting members of The Cowboy Mafia from Texas, Tennessee and Florida. During 1977 and 1978, this group imported over 106 tons of marijuana. Using

14058-693: The group were published: The Cowboy Mafia (2003) by Cauble's personal jet pilot Roy Graham; Catching the Katy (2017) by Barker Milford; and A Conspiracy Revealed by DEA agent Daniel Wedeman Sr. As a result of the RICO conviction, Cauble forfeited his 31% interest in Cauble Enterprises, including two Cutter Bill Western World stores, three Texas banks (Western State Bank in Denton, Dallas International Bank and South Main Bank of Houston), six ranches,

14200-439: The homefront economy could no longer supply. Surdam contends that the blockade was a powerful weapon that eventually ruined the Southern economy, costing few lives in combat. The Confederate cotton crop became nearly useless, cutting off the Confederacy's primary income source. Critical imports were scarce, and coastal trade largely ended as well. The blockade's success was not measured by the few ships that slipped through but by

14342-554: The international press. By 1861, Union diplomats like Carl Schurz realized emphasizing the war against slavery was the Union's most effective moral asset in swaying European public opinion. Seward was concerned an overly radical case for reunification would distress European merchants with cotton interests; even so, he supported a widespread campaign of public diplomacy. U.S. minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams proved adept and convinced Britain not to challenge

14484-460: The law more broadly. Under RICO, a person who has committed "at least two acts of racketeering activity" drawn from a list of 35 crimes (27 federal crimes and eight state crimes ) within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering if such acts are related in one of four specified ways to an "enterprise." Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $ 25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition,

14626-607: The movement to abolish slavery and its influence over the North. Southern states believed that the Fugitive Slave Clause made slaveholding a constitutional right. These states agreed to form a new federal government, the Confederate States of America , on February 4, 1861. They took control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, with little resistance from outgoing President James Buchanan , whose term ended on March 4. Buchanan said

14768-476: The need to counter the Union's naval superiority, built or converted over 130 vessels, including 26 ironclads. Despite these efforts, Confederate ships were largely unsuccessful against Union ironclads. The Union Navy used timberclads, tinclads, and armored gunboats. Shipyards in Cairo, Illinois, and St. Louis built or modified steamboats . The Confederacy experimented with the submarine CSS  Hunley , which

14910-418: The new Confederacy sent delegates to Washington to negotiate a peace treaty. Lincoln rejected negotiations, because he claimed that the Confederacy was not a legitimate government and to make a treaty with it would recognize it as such. Lincoln instead attempted to negotiate directly with the governors of seceded states, whose administrations he continued to recognize. Complicating Lincoln's attempts to defuse

15052-417: The ordinances of secession, those of Texas, Alabama, and Virginia mentioned the plight of the "slaveholding states" at the hands of Northern abolitionists. The rest made no mention of slavery but were brief announcements by the legislatures of the dissolution of ties to the Union. However, at least four—South Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas —provided detailed reasons for their secession, all blaming

15194-479: The organization's board of directors". "According to Hurley, the individuals the judge had ordered on the board had affiliations with Oliver North 's Contra operations." What "the North/Republican operatives" really wanted was..."a beautiful front behind which it can run a nasty military/intelligence operation". To no avail, Hurley also reported the federal judge deciding his case, John H. Bayly Jr., to

15336-525: The prosecution team attempted to demonstrate a pattern of behavior to convict Barger and other members of the club of RICO offenses related to guns and illegal drugs. The jury acquitted Barger on the RICO charges with a hung jury on the predicate acts: "There was no proof it was part of club policy, and as much as they tried, the government could not come up with any incriminating minutes from any of our meetings mentioning drugs and guns." In 1980, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Gil Dozier

15478-462: The prosecutors' recommended $ 10 million forfeiture of the proceeds of his reign as Bonanno boss on the day of the verdict. Immediately after his July 30 conviction, as court was adjourned, Massino requested a meeting with Judge Garaufis, where he made his first offer to cooperate. He did so in hopes of sparing his life; he was facing the death penalty if found guilty of Sciascia's murder. Indeed, one of John Ashcroft 's final acts as Attorney General

15620-403: The racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." A US Attorney who indicts someone under RICO has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or an injunction to temporarily seize a defendant's assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property as well as to require the defendant to put up

15762-480: The rest of his life in prison and ended up serving 22 months in prison. Milken was also ordered banned for life from the securities industry. On September 7, 1988, Milken's employer, Drexel Burnham Lambert , was threatened with RICO charges under respondeat superior , the legal doctrine that corporations are responsible for their employees' crimes. Drexel avoided RICO charges by entering an Alford plea to lesser felonies of stock parking and stock manipulation . In

15904-427: The run up to the Civil War were partisan politics , abolitionism , nullification versus secession , Southern and Northern nationalism, expansionism , economics , and modernization in the antebellum period . As a panel of historians emphasized in 2011, "while slavery and its various and multifaceted discontents were the primary cause of disunion, it was disunion itself that sparked the war." Abraham Lincoln won

16046-576: The shrimp boats Agnes Pauline , Monkey , Jubilee , and Bayou Blues , the group made six trips from Colombia to Texas. The group was arrested in 1978 after the federal government seized the Agnes Pauline when they were unloading their cargo in Port Arthur, Texas . In 1979, twenty-six members of the smuggling ring were convicted. Charles "Muscles" Foster, a ranch foreman and the head of the operation, pleaded innocent by reason of insanity and

16188-579: The southwestern corner of Missouri (see Missouri secession ). Early in the war the Confederacy controlled southern Missouri through the Confederate government of Missouri but was driven out after 1862. In the resulting vacuum, the convention on secession reconvened and took power as the Unionist provisional government of Missouri. Kentucky did not secede, it declared itself neutral. When Confederate forces entered in September 1861, neutrality ended and

16330-532: The stalwart island Fort Sumter. Anderson's actions catapulted him to hero status in the North. An attempt to resupply the fort on January 9, 1861, failed and nearly started the war then, but an informal truce held. On March 5, Lincoln was informed the fort was low on supplies. Fort Sumter proved a key challenge to Lincoln's administration. Back-channel dealing by Seward with the Confederates undermined Lincoln's decision-making; Seward wanted to pull out. But

16472-446: The state reaffirmed its Union status while maintaining slavery. During an invasion by Confederate forces in 1861, Confederate sympathizers and delegates from 68 Kentucky counties organized the secession Russellville Convention, formed the shadow Confederate Government of Kentucky , inaugurated a governor, and Kentucky was admitted into the Confederacy on December 10, 1861. Its jurisdiction extended only as far as Confederate battle lines in

16614-564: The streets of Midtown Manhattan on December 16, 1985. As of 2014, 33 states as well as Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands had adopted state RICO laws to cover state offenses under a similar scheme. Under the law, the meaning of racketeering activity is set out at 18 U.S.C.   § 1961 . As currently amended it includes: Pattern of racketeering activity requires at least two acts of racketeering activity, one of which occurred after

16756-457: The substitute provision to select which man should go into the army and which should stay home. There was much evasion and resistance to the draft, especially in Catholic areas. The New York City draft riots in July 1863 involved Irish immigrants who had been signed up as citizens to swell the vote of the city's Democratic political machine , not realizing it made them liable for the draft. Of

16898-506: The thousands that never tried. European merchant ships could not get insurance and were too slow to evade the blockade, so they stopped calling at Confederate ports. To fight an offensive war, the Confederacy purchased arms in Britain and converted British-built ships into commerce raiders . The smuggling of 600,000 arms enabled the Confederacy to fight on for two more years, and the commerce raiders targeted U.S. Merchant Marine ships in

17040-430: The war created jobs for arms makers, ironworkers, and ships to transport weapons. Lincoln's administration initially struggled to appeal to European public opinion. At first, diplomats explained that the U.S. was not committed to ending slavery and emphasized legal arguments about the unconstitutionality of secession. Confederate representatives, however, focused on their struggle for liberty, commitment to free trade, and

17182-478: The war due to multiple factors: severe food shortages, failing railroads, loss of control over key rivers, foraging by Northern armies, and the seizure of animals and crops by Confederate forces. Historians agree the blockade was a major factor in ruining the Confederate economy; however, Wise argues blockade runners provided enough of a lifeline to allow Lee to continue fighting for additional months, thanks to supplies like 400,000 rifles, lead, blankets, and boots that

17324-603: The war. In December 1860, the Crittenden Compromise was proposed to re-establish the Missouri Compromise line, by constitutionally banning slavery in territories to the north of it, while permitting it to the south. The Compromise would likely have prevented secession, but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected it. Lincoln stated that any compromise that would extend slavery would bring down

17466-436: The winter of 1860–1861. Nationalists in the North and "Unionists" in the South refused to accept the declarations of secession. No foreign government ever recognized the Confederacy. The U.S. government, under President James Buchanan , refused to relinquish its forts that were in territory claimed by the Confederacy. According to Lincoln, the American people had shown they had been successful in establishing and administering

17608-478: The world" within a few years. Some European observers at the time dismissed them as amateur and unprofessional, but historian John Keegan concluded that each outmatched the French, Prussian, and Russian armies, and without the Atlantic, could have threatened any of them with defeat. Unionism was strong in certain areas within the Confederacy. As many as 100,000 men living in states under Confederate control served in

17750-536: Was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union. The central conflict leading to war was a dispute over whether slavery should be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states , or be prohibited from doing so, which many believed would place slavery on

17892-508: Was a fox hunt in Virginia. "In June there is a grand ball to celebrate the birthday of Jefferson Davis ." It claimed a membership of several thousand, but the only visible member is its president, John Edward Hurley (who calls it "my...organization"). Hurley, who is described as a White House correspondent on the website of the Justice Integrity Project, and is also member of a lobbying group, has been president since

18034-507: Was acquitted in 1980. In August 1981, Rex Cauble was indicted by a grand jury, as the government believed he was the financial backer of the smugglers. Foster was the foreman for his ranches, and the drugs were transported to Cauble's ranches throughout Texas. Cauble was a multi-millionaire, the former chairman of the Texas Aeronautics Commission, and an honorary Texas Ranger . He was also the owner of Cutter Bill ,

18176-488: Was charged with violating both Hobbs and RICO laws. The Baton Rouge -based United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana accused Dozier of compelling companies doing business with his department to make campaign contributions on his behalf. On September 23, 1980, a jury convicted Dozier of five counts of extortion and racketeering . The judge sentenced Dozier to 10 years imprisonment which

18318-410: Was declared a criminal enterprise under the federal RICO statutes after a lengthy United States Department of Justice investigation. Several high-ranking officers of the department, including Deputy Police Chief Raymond Cassamayor, were arrested on federal charges of running a protection racket for illegal cocaine smugglers. At trial , a witness testified he routinely delivered bags of cocaine to

18460-430: Was eventually sent to arbitration , where the arbiters ruled in favor of Major League Baseball, permitting the move to Washington to take place. Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino 's trial began on May 24, 2004, with judge Nicholas Garaufis presiding and Greg D. Andres and Robert Henoch heading the prosecution. Massino faced 11 RICO counts for seven murders (due to the prospect of prosecutors seeking

18602-408: Was high because many soldiers were more concerned about the fate of their local area than the Southern cause. In the North, " bounty jumpers " enlisted to collect the generous bonus, deserted, then re-enlisted under a different name for a second bonus; 141 were caught and executed. From a tiny frontier force in 1860, the Union and Confederate armies grew into the "largest and most efficient armies in

18744-472: Was indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and fraud relating to an investigation into an allegation of insider trading and other offenses. Milken was accused of using a wide-ranging network of contacts to manipulate stock and bond prices. It was one of the first occasions that a RICO indictment was brought against an individual with no ties to organized crime. Milken pleaded guilty to six lesser felonies of securities fraud and tax evasion, rather than risk spending

18886-698: Was later upgraded to 18 years when other offenses were determined. A $ 25,000 fine was suspended pending appeal, and Dozier remained free on bail . The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans upheld Dozier's conviction. He eventually served nearly four years until a presidential commutation freed him in 1986. Around June 1984, the Key West Police Department located in Monroe County , Florida,

19028-405: Was made of bullion lost from mints. He stated that it would be US policy "to collect the duties and imposts"; "there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere" that would justify an armed revolution. His speech closed with a plea for restoration of the bonds of union, famously calling on "the mystic chords of memory" binding the two regions. The Davis government of

19170-566: Was marked by intense and frequent battles. Over four years, 237 named battles were fought, along with many smaller actions, often characterized by their bitter intensity and high casualties. Historian John Keegan described it as "one of the most ferocious wars ever fought," where, in many cases, the only target was the enemy's soldiers. As the Confederate states organized, the U.S. Army numbered 16,000, while Northern governors began mobilizing their militias. The Confederate Congress authorized up to 100,000 troops in February. By May, Jefferson Davis

19312-512: Was not successful, and with the ironclad CSS  Virginia , rebuilt from the sunken Union ship Merrimack . On March 8, 1862, Virginia inflicted significant damage on the Union's wooden fleet, but the next day, the first Union ironclad, USS  Monitor , arrived to challenge it in the Chesapeake Bay . The resulting three-hour Battle of Hampton Roads was a draw, proving ironclads were effective warships. The Confederacy scuttled

19454-460: Was pushing for another 100,000 soldiers for one year or the duration, and the U.S. Congress responded in kind. In the first year of the war, both sides had more volunteers than they could effectively train and equip. After the initial enthusiasm faded, relying on young men who came of age each year was not enough. Both sides enacted draft laws (conscription) to encourage or force volunteering, though relatively few were drafted. The Confederacy passed

19596-769: Was sworn in as president. In his inaugural address , he argued that the Constitution was a more perfect union than the earlier Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union , was a binding contract, and called secession "legally void". He did not intend to invade Southern states, nor to end slavery where it existed, but he said he would use force to maintain possession of federal property, including forts, arsenals, mints, and customhouses that had been seized. The government would not try to recover post offices, and if resisted, mail delivery would end at state lines. Where conditions did not allow peaceful enforcement of federal law, US marshals and judges would be withdrawn. No mention

19738-439: Was the principal cause of the secession, a view disproven by historical evidence, notably some of the seceding states' own secession documents . After leaving the Union, Mississippi issued a declaration stating, "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world." The principal political battle leading to Southern secession was over whether slavery would expand into

19880-567: Was to order federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Massino. Massino thus stood to be the first Mafia boss to be executed for his crimes, and the first mob boss to face the death penalty since Lepke Buchalter was executed in 1944. Massino was the first sitting boss of a New York crime family to turn state's evidence, and the second in the history of the American Mafia to do so ( Philadelphia crime family boss Ralph Natale had flipped in 1999 when facing drug charges). In 2005,

20022-525: Was too late. " King Cotton " was dead, as the South could export less than 10% of its cotton. The blockade shut down the ten Confederate seaports with railheads that moved almost all the cotton. By June 1861, warships were stationed off the principal Southern ports, and a year later nearly 300 ships were in service. The Confederates began the war short on military supplies, which the agrarian South could not produce. Northern arms manufacturers were restricted by an embargo, ending existing and future contracts with

20164-488: Was torn from his body...and the fracas "nearly led to bloodshed." "They call my wife and threaten her or threaten me and put notes on my door. That's Ku Klux Klan stuff." "I'm relatively conservative myself...[b]ut their conservatism is off the chart as far as I'm concerned." He was jailed briefly for contempt of court and fined $ 30,000 in court costs during this extended battle, "because he had failed to obey [the judge's] previous order requiring that Hurley add new members to

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