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Goldstein Umd 0117E 16020.Pdf (1.645Mb) ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: CAPITAL AND CULTURE: WILLIAM WILSON CORCORAN AND THE MAKING OF NINETEENTH- CENTURY AMERICA Mark Laurence Goldstein, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Dr. David Sicilia Department of History Capital and Culture: William Wilson Corcoran and the Making of Nineteenth Century America explores the fascinating life of one of the nation’s earliest and most successful political insiders, financiers, philanthropists, and shapers of the emerging cultural elite. Corcoran helped establish and normalize many important components of modern American culture. He played a key role in stabilizing and merchandizing U.S. financial securities at home and abroad and was responsible for significant developments in public debt war finance. He was also successful as one of the first professional lobbyists in the capital city. Corcoran encouraged and legitimated American landscape painting and probably established the country’s first true art gallery. Corcoran’s tireless efforts to improve the nation’s capital were a remarkable early model of urban development. His dedication to landscaping the emerging National Mall predates such plans for New York’s Central Park, which scholars often characterize as the oldest urban park in a major American city. A generation before Carnegie and Rockefeller spent vast sums of money on large donations, Corcoran helped shape American philanthropy. He gave away the majority of his fortune in major gifts to institutions and to needy individuals. Corcoran was among the first philanthropists to expand charity’s reach beyond one’s immediate community and he established a pattern of national giving across specific areas of interest or need. Corcoran championed a view of national reconciliation and southern repair simultaneously born out of the Civil War. He formulated a patriotic and nationalist view of a united America, but nonetheless developed and supported efforts to rebuild southern institutions destroyed by the conflict. Corcoran’s adroit utilization of networks combined the personal and professional in ways that were both a key to his success and ahead of his time. At the seat of American politics and power for more than half a century, Corcoran effectively transcended region and faction. His connections to money and power on the one hand, and to art and cultural leadership on the other, created sophisticated and long-standing networks distinct from traditional kinship groups that Corcoran used to his advantage years before such actions became commonplace. CAPITAL AND CULTURE: WILLIAM WILSON CORCORAN AND THE MAKING OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA by Mark Laurence Goldstein Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Advisory Committee: Dr. David Sicilia, Chair Dr. William Becker Dr. James Gilbert Dr. Whitman Ridgway Dr. Mary Sies ©Copyright by Mark Laurence Goldstein 2015 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many academic and personal debts have accrued during the course of this work which can hardly be repaid. To everyone who helped me and supported my project, I gratefully offer a sincere thank you for your interest and encouragement. Nevertheless, I must mention several people whose guidance and assistance were instrumental in the development of my dissertation, and without whom my efforts would probably have failed. First and foremost is David B. Sicilia, my faculty advisor and friend who has encouraged my academic progress from the day I arrived at the University of Maryland at College Park. He routinely offered advice, scholarly approaches, and encouragement over breakfast at the local diner, and more books than one person could possibly read. James Gilbert always lent a patient and enthusiastic ear and offered insights and ideas that strengthened my thesis. The other members of my committee provided important comments, including professors Whitman Ridgway, Mary Sies, and William Becker. Marisa Bourgoin, formerly of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, brought kindness, enthusiasm and insight into W.W. Corcoran to my project from the very beginning. Other individuals at the Gallery, including Dare Hartwell and Lisa Strong were very helpful in guiding me to useful research sources. I appreciate the wisdom of my parents, Carole and Jerry Goldstein, in their expectation that I should always pursue learning and personal growth wherever they led; the example of my brother, Steven Goldstein, in obtaining a doctorate and striving for ii higher learning; and the encouragement that Martin Murray, Becky Sherblom, and John McClenahen provided in the course of the project. Most importantly, I thank Michael Lacey and Zachary Lacey for allowing me the freedom and time away from our family life to complete this dissertation. To the extent that my dissertation is not boring, I thank Zachary for warning me against that danger. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments iii Title of Contents v Chapter I: Introduction 1 A Unique Context 3 A Catalyst 6 Business Leaders 9 Chapter II: Beginnings 15 Corcoran’s Youth 17 Early Business Failures 19 Banking in the Capital 27 Slavery 29 Nineteenth-century Georgetown 31 Man about Town 34 Courtship with Louise 38 Marriage 42 Love Letters 44 Family Frustration 50 Home Life 56 Chapter III: Rise of the Political Banker 63 Antebellum Banking 65 American Banking Evolution 70 Corcoran’s Banking Leverage 74 Local Banking Attributes 77 The Network of Banking 80 Reasons for Corcoran’s Success 83 Banking and Political Culture 86 Beyond the Capital 95 Chapter IV: Selling the War 97 War of 1812 Model 99 iv Corcoran and War Finance 101 The Government’s Response 105 The 1847 Loan 107 The 1848 Loan 109 The European Market 111 Corcoran’s Impact on War Funding 115 Chapter V: America’s Lobbyist 119 Leveraging Networks 121 Corcoran’s Difference 124 Lobbying 128 Role of an Elite 134 Banker to Lobbyist 140 Claims Business 142 Collins Shipping Line 147 Land Speculation 153 The Politics of Politics 157 Electoral Politics 159 Chapter VI: Culture and Community 166 Philanthropic Impulse 170 Corcoran’s Philanthropic Vision 174 The Growing Capital 179 Art and the Capital 183 Washington, D.C., Art Scene 186 Corcoran and Other Collectors 190 Early Impact 197 City Growth 199 Washington, D.C., Landscapes 202 Oak Hill 207 Corcoran’s Real Estate 211 Lafayette Square 216 Chapter VII: Interregnum 222 Capital in Wartime 227 Trent Affair 231 Corcoran in Europe 237 v Reputation 240 Chapter VIII: Resilience and Repair 244 Battle for the Gallery 247 Gallery in Context 254 Corcoran’s Art Legacy 259 Gallery Opening 261 National Reconciliation 268 Aiding the South 271 Salving War Wounds 272 The Contested City 279 Corruption and City Bosses 284 Home Rule 288 City Governance 292 Chapter IX: Legacy and Summation 296 Comparison with Corcoran 298 Next Generation 308 Corcoran’s Legacy 311 Bibliography 316 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The story of William Wilson Corcoran is in many ways the story of the nineteenth century, embodying both the conflicts and continuities of America’s rapid commercial and cultural development. Corcoran, the son of an Irish dry-goods merchant, became one of the most influential bankers and securities brokers of the mid-nineteenth century. Steeped in a tradition of slavery and southern gentility, he freed a family slave and her children many years before emancipation and helped purchase the freedom of other slaves. An advisor and friend of almost every president from Andrew Jackson to Grover Cleveland, Corcoran spent most of the Civil War in Europe after he was accused of treason. He became one of the wealthiest men in America, but gave away most of his money a generation before Gilded Age industrialists popularized the philanthropic impulse. Corcoran was an influential and important figure who has been largely forgotten in the sweep of American history. Specialists in economic and business history may recall his contributions and success in mid-nineteenth century banking and in strengthening American finance at home and abroad after the depression of the late 1830s destroyed liquidity and the bond market. An understanding of American philanthropy prior to the Gilded Age would not be complete absent the contributions and impact Corcoran imparted to Washington, D.C., and the nation. If he is recognized at all, Corcoran is generally associated with the Corcoran Gallery of Art, arguably the first true art gallery in America. Yet he is absent from most studies of influential people and events 1 of mid-nineteenth century America, despite making significant contributions in a surprising number of fields. Indeed, one is hard pressed to find many other people, either Corcoran’s contemporaries or individuals of later eras, who were influential in quite so many domains. Corcoran has become so forgotten by time that few people recognize— and almost no one has chronicled—the contributions and complexities of his role in American life. The entire scholarly and historical research on this important figure comprises a half dozen articles—mainly on art—and a single monograph from the 1960s covering portions of Corcoran’s business ventures and financial transactions. Corcoran’s role in American politics also warrants careful attention. His role as a powerbroker behind the scenes and his seeming ability to transcend time and faction make him an intriguing figure for study in any age. The nineteenth century’s limited access to democratic institutions shares little with today’s liberal pluralism. In an era when politics and influence were synonymous with elite access, Corcoran had few rivals for backroom dominance. Yet, as with many effective powerbrokers who accomplished most of their work behind the scenes, we may never know everything we’d like to know about his accomplishments: Was he a major backroom influence and broker for the Compromise of 1850? Probably—he was certainly present at its creation, and was on intimate terms with virtually everyone involved.
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