Abraham Lincoln Papers

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Abraham Lincoln Papers Abraham Lincoln papers From Thurlow Weed to Abraham Lincoln, August 13, 1860 Albany, Aug 13, ‘60 Dear Sir, 1 Mr Sweet writes that he is much from home or I would not bother you with Letters. 1 This is probably a reference to Leonard Swett. 2 The aspects of the campaign are changing. The fusion in this state is to be between the Douglas 3 and Bell men. The result, however, will be the same, and I would be, I think, if all the factions were to unite against us. 2 The Democratic Party had split into two factions in 1860, with one faction in favor of Stephen A. Douglas's candidacy for the presidency and the other for Vice President John C. Breckinridge. 3 Senator John Bell of Tennessee was the presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party. I have been in communication with the leading Breckenridge men; and have just parted with Mr 4 Richmond. So I am pretty well informed as to their purposes and feelings. 4 Dean Richmond was chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee. 5 The Douglass leaders were told (four weeks ago) that Sewards friends would secretly work against the Republican Ticket. Some believed it, and on that they based their absurd confidence and imprudent boasting. 5 William H. Seward As things now look Bell is to be as strong, if not stronger, in the South, than Breckenridge. It would be strange to see the contest settle down between two old Whigs! Abraham Lincoln papers http://www.loc.gov/resource/mal.0351900 The fusion in Pennsylvania, as I am assured, will fail to effect its object. It is not cordial, and will satisfy the Douglass men. So far, all is safe there. 6 7 Gen. Cameron was with me yesterday. He was well pleased with the visit of Judge Davis, and will go to work earnestly. He is by far the strongest man and best worker in the State. 6 Simon Cameron 7 David Davis Rhode Island is in danger. Douglass has got hold of a class of men there who are rich, know how to use money, and control manufacturing establishments. I shall go and see whether the current can be 8 changed. 8 For Lincoln's reply to Weed, see Collected Works, IV, 97-98. Truly yours, T. Weed Abraham Lincoln papers http://www.loc.gov/resource/mal.0351900.
Recommended publications
  • Diplomacy and the American Civil War: the Impact on Anglo- American Relations
    James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Masters Theses, 2020-current The Graduate School 5-8-2020 Diplomacy and the American Civil War: The impact on Anglo- American relations Johnathan Seitz Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029 Part of the Diplomatic History Commons, Public History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Seitz, Johnathan, "Diplomacy and the American Civil War: The impact on Anglo-American relations" (2020). Masters Theses, 2020-current. 56. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029/56 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses, 2020-current by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Diplomacy and the American Civil War: The Impact on Anglo-American Relations Johnathan Bryant Seitz A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of History May 2020 FACULTY COMMITTEE: Committee Chair: Dr. Steven Guerrier Committee Members/ Readers: Dr. David Dillard Dr. John Butt Table of Contents List of Figures..................................................................................................................iii Abstract............................................................................................................................iv Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Van Buren: the Greatest American President
    SUBSCRIBE NOW AND RECEIVE CRISIS AND LEVIATHAN* FREE! “The Independent Review does not accept “The Independent Review is pronouncements of government officials nor the excellent.” conventional wisdom at face value.” —GARY BECKER, Noble Laureate —JOHN R. MACARTHUR, Publisher, Harper’s in Economic Sciences Subscribe to The Independent Review and receive a free book of your choice* such as the 25th Anniversary Edition of Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government, by Founding Editor Robert Higgs. This quarterly journal, guided by co-editors Christopher J. Coyne, and Michael C. Munger, and Robert M. Whaples offers leading-edge insights on today’s most critical issues in economics, healthcare, education, law, history, political science, philosophy, and sociology. Thought-provoking and educational, The Independent Review is blazing the way toward informed debate! Student? Educator? Journalist? Business or civic leader? Engaged citizen? This journal is for YOU! *Order today for more FREE book options Perfect for students or anyone on the go! The Independent Review is available on mobile devices or tablets: iOS devices, Amazon Kindle Fire, or Android through Magzter. INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE, 100 SWAN WAY, OAKLAND, CA 94621 • 800-927-8733 • [email protected] PROMO CODE IRA1703 Martin Van Buren The Greatest American President —————— ✦ —————— JEFFREY ROGERS HUMMEL resident Martin Van Buren does not usually receive high marks from histori- ans. Born of humble Dutch ancestry in December 1782 in the small, upstate PNew York village of Kinderhook, Van Buren gained admittance to the bar in 1803 without benefit of higher education. Building on a successful country legal practice, he became one of the Empire State’s most influential and prominent politi- cians while the state was surging ahead as the country’s wealthiest and most populous.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Sumner, Charles. the Selected Letters of Charles Sumner. Edited
    Sumner, Charles. The Selected Letters of Charles Sumner. Edited by Beverly Wilson Palmer. 2 vols. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990. Vol. 2 Lawyers and politicians, 20 Lincoln, Seward, Sumner, Chicago convention nomination, 23-24 Law, barbarism of slavery, Lewis Tappan, 26 Crime Against Kansas speech, 29-30 Fugitive slave law, 31-32 Election, Lincoln, secession threats, 34 Seward, 37 Secession, 37ff Secession and possible civil war, 38-39 Thurlow Weed, Lincoln, Winfield Scott, 40-41 Scott, Seward, 42 John A. Andrew, no compromise, 43, 47-48 Fears compromise and surrender, 44 Massachusetts men need to stand firm, 46 Massachusetts, Buchanan, Crittenden compromise, 50-51 Personal liberty laws, 51-52 Fort Sumter, forts, 53 Virginia secession election, 54 New Mexico compromise, 55-57 Lincoln, 59 Lincoln and office seekers, 64 Seward influence, 64 Lincoln and war, 65 Northern unity, Lincoln, 69 John Lothrop Motley, 70-71 Congressional session, legislation, 71-72 Blockade, 73 Bull Run defeat, Lincoln, 74 Cameron and contrabands, 75 Lincoln, duty of emancipation, 76 William Howard Russell, Bull Run, 76-78 Slavery, Frémont, Lincoln, 79 Frémont, 80 Wendell Phillips, Sumner speech on slavery, 80 Slavery, English opinion, emancipation, Cameron, contraband order, 81-87 War, slavery, tariff, 82 Trent affair, Mason and Slidell, 85-94 Charles Stone, 95 Lieber, Stanton, Trent affair, 98 Stanton, 99 Lincoln, Chase, 100 Davis and Lincoln, 101 1 Andrew, McClellan, Lincoln, 103 Establishing territorial governments in rebel states, 103-8 Fugitive
    [Show full text]
  • Whigs and Democrats Side-By-Side
    The Campaign of 1840: William Henry Harrison and Tyler, Too — http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=553 Background for the Teacher After the debacle of the one-party presidential campaign of 1824, a new two-party system began to emerge. Strong public reaction to perceived corruption in the vote in the House of Representatives, as well as the popularity of Andrew Jackson, allowed Martin Van Buren to organize a Democratic Party that resurrected a Jeffersonian philosophy of minimalism in the federal government. This new party opposed the tendencies of National Republicans such as John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to invest more power in the federal government. Van Buren built a political machine to support Jackson in the 1828 election. Van Buren’s skills helped give the Democrats a head start on modern-style campaigning and a clear advantage in organization. The Democrats defeated the National Republicans in 1828 and 1832. The Democrats maintained their hold on the presidency when they bested the Whigs—a union of former National Republicans, Antimasons, and some states’ rights advocates—in 1836. But a major economic depression in 1837 finally gave the Whigs their best chance to occupy the White House. They faced Andrew Jackson’s political organizer, vice-president, and handpicked successor, President Martin Van Buren, who was vying for a second term. By the time forces were readying themselves for the election of 1840, both Democrats and Whigs understood how to conduct effective campaigns. In an election that would turn out an astounding 80 percent of a greatly expanded electorate, the parties were learning to appeal to a wide range of voters in a variety of voting blocks, a vast change from the regionally based election of 1824.
    [Show full text]
  • Abraham Lincoln Papers
    Abraham Lincoln papers From Sydney H. Gay to [John G. Nicolay], September 17, 1864 New York, Sept. 17 1864 1 My Dear Sir— I write you at the suggestion of Mr. Wilkerson to state a fact or two which possibly you may make use of in the proper quarter. 1 Samuel Wilkeson was Washington bureau chief of the New York Tribune. Formerly an ally of Thurlow Weed, Wilkeson at this time was in the camp of Horace Greeley. 2 The recent changes in the N. Y. Custom House have been made at the demand of Thurlow Weed. 3 4 This is on the authority of a statement made by Mr. Nicolay to Surveyor Andrews & Genl. Busteed. Now Andrews refuses to resign, & if he is removed he will publish the facts substantiated by oath & 5 correspondence. It will go to the country that Mr. Lincoln removed from office a man of whom he thought so well that he promised to give him anything he asked hereafter, provided he would enable the President now to accede to the demands of the man who, outside of this state, is universally beleived to be the most infamous political scoundrel that ever cursed any country, & in the state is without influence with the party which he has publicly denounced & abandoned. Mr. Lincoln ought to know immediately that such is the attitude which he will occupy before the people if he persists in this matter. Andrews will defend himself, & I know, from a consultation with some of the leading men in the party here, to-day, that he will be upheld & justified in it, be the consequences what they may.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Russell, William Howard. William Howard Russell's Civil War: Private
    Russell, William Howard. William Howard Russell’s Civil War: Private Diary and Letters, 1861-1862. Edited by Martin Crawford. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992. London, voyage to the United States, 3 South Carolina diplomat, secessionist, going home, war and possible blockade, 3-4 Lincoln, Olmsted book on slavery, 5 Americans refuse to pray for the royal family, 9 American women, 10 New York, 16ff Republicans, the South, Sumter, 17 Horatio Seymour, 17 Washington, 22ff Willard’s Hotel, 22 Seward, Lincoln, 22 Chaos opinions in New York, 23-25 George Bancroft, Horatio Seymour, Horace Greeley, August Belmont, James Gordon Bennett, 25 Dinner with Lincoln and cabinet, 28 Dinner, Chase, Douglas, Smith, Forsyth, 29 Seward, 31 Wants to know about expeditions to forts and pledges to Seward he could keep information secret, 32 Portsmouth and Norfolk, 36 Naval officer Goldsboro, 37 Charleston, Fort Sumter, 39 Report to Lord Lyons, Charleston, Beauregard, Moultrie, Sumter, 42-43 Seeks to have letters forward to Lord Lyons, 46 Complains of post office and his dispatches, 50 Montgomery, Wigfall, Jefferson Davis, Judah Benjamin, 52 Mobile, 53 Slaves, customs house, 55 Fort Pickens, Confederate determination, Bragg, 56-57 Wild Confederate soldiers, 58 Slidell, 62 Crime in New Orleans, jail, 63-64 New Orleans, traveling on Sunday, 65-66 Louisiana plantation, slaves, overseer, 67-70 Plantation, 71 Chicago Tribune, Harper’s Weekly, 74 Terrible war that will end in compromise, south is strong, 75-76 Winfield Scott vs. Jefferson Davis, 76-77 Deplores
    [Show full text]
  • Losing and Winning
    Losing and Winning THE CRAFT AND SCIENCE OF POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS 1 There are three people that I want to acknowledge tonight because if it wasn’t for them, we would not be here . whenever the history is written about Alabama politics, remember those names, Giles Perkins,distribute Doug Turner and Joe Trippi. —DEMOCRATIC US SENATOR-ELECTor DOUG JONES CREDITED HIS UPSET VICTORY TO HIS CAMPAIGN MANAGERS IN A NATIONALLY TELEVISED VICTORY SPEECH ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 12, 2017.1 post, olitical campaigns are like new restaurants: Most of them will fail. Of the Pmore than 140 campaign managers we interviewed for this book, nearly all had lost elections—and many of them more than once. Even the most experienced and successful campaign manager can lose unexpectedly and even spectacularly. Consider the case of a campaign manager we will call “TW.” For three decades, he managed his candidate—his client and his best friend—rising from the New Yorkcopy, legislature, to the governor’s mansion, and on to the US Senate.2 Along the way, TW had worked for other candidates who were nominated for or won the presidency.3 TW’s skills as a campaign manager had earned him national renown and a very comfortable living. He was the undisputed American political notwizard behind the curtain. Now at the peak of his craft, TW was in Chicago at the Republican Party’s nominating convention. His client of thirty years was the front-runner to win the nomination. TW was so certain of the result that he had sent his candidate out of Do the country on a preconvention tour of European capitals.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Twenty-Five “This Damned Old House” the Lincoln Family In
    Chapter Twenty-five “This Damned Old House” The Lincoln Family in the Executive Mansion During the Civil War, the atmosphere in the White House was usually sober, for as John Hay recalled, it “was an epoch, if not of gloom, at least of a seriousness too intense to leave room for much mirth.”1 The death of Lincoln’s favorite son and the misbehavior of the First Lady significantly intensified that mood. THE WHITE HOUSE The White House failed to impress Lincoln’s other secretaries, who disparaged its “threadbare appearance” and referred to it as “a dirty rickety concern.”2 A British journalist thought it beautiful in the moonlight, “when its snowy walls stand out in contrast to the night, deep blue skies, but not otherwise.”3 The Rev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler asserted that the “shockingly careless appearance of the White House proved that whatever may have been Mrs. Lincoln’s other good qualities, she hadn’t earned the compliment which the Yankee farmer paid to his wife when he said: ‘Ef my wife haint got an ear fer music, she’s got an eye for dirt.’”4 The north side of the Executive 1 John Hay, “Life in the White House in the Time of Lincoln,” in Michael Burlingame, ed., At Lincoln’s Side: John Hay’s Civil War Correspondence and Selected Writings (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), 134. 2 William O. Stoddard, Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln’s Secretary ed. Michael Burlingame (1880; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), 41; Helen Nicolay, Lincoln’s Secretary: A Biography of John G.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship of William H. Seward to the Trent Affair
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1949 The Relationship of William H. Seward to the Trent Affair Christopher J. McGarigle Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation McGarigle, Christopher J., "The Relationship of William H. Seward to the Trent Affair" (1949). Master's Theses. 819. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/819 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1949 Christopher J. McGarigle r THE RELA'l'IONSHIP OF WILLIAM H. SE.'WARD TO THE TRENT AFFAIR by CHRISTOPHER J. MCGARIGLE A THESIS SUBhlTTED IN PARTIAL FULFILlMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in LOYOLA UNIVERSITY JUNE 1949 vnA Christopher J. MoGarigle was born in Chioago, Illinois Deoember 5, 1919. He was graduated fram Mount Carmel High Sohool, Chicago, Illinois, June, 1931. In June, 1939. he graduated fram the Pre-Legal School of Woodrow Wilson Junior College. Chicago, Illinois. In February, 1940, he entered the Chicago Teachers College and withdrew from the college in November, 1942 to enter the United States Arm¥. In February, 1946, he returned to Chicago Teaohers College, and was graduated in June, 1946. Mr. MoGarigle received a Baohelor of Eduoation degree with a major in History.
    [Show full text]
  • William Henry Seward.’ Review of Seward: Lincoln’S Indispensable Man, by Walter Stahr
    Trinity College Trinity College Digital Repository Faculty Scholarship 6-2014 The Republican Statesman: William Henry Seward.’ Review of Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man, by Walter Stahr Scott Gac Trinity College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/facpub Part of the United States History Commons 7KH5HSXEOLFDQ6WDWHVPDQ:LOOLDP+HQU\6HZDUG Scott Gac Reviews in American History, Volume 42, Number 2, June 2014, pp. 285-290 (Article) Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: 10.1353/rah.2014.0055 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/rah/summary/v042/42.2.gac.html Access provided by Trinity College Raether Library __ACCESS_STATEMENT__ Information Technology Center (30 Sep 2014 15:53 GMT) THE REPUBLICAN STATESMAN: WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD Scott Gac Walter Stahr. Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012. viii + 703 pp. Illustrations, notes, and index. $32.50 (cloth); $19.99 (paper). In 1860, most Americans agreed that the West, with its abundant lands and resources, would secure prosperity and freedom for years to come. But whether wage labor or slavery, industry or agriculture, or some amalgam in between was to embody the new, modern America remained unresolved. At the heart of the Republican Party’s imperial design stood Chicago. The city, fueled by a decade of development in rails and commerce, epitomized a nation of dramatic growth, wage labor, and interconnected markets. A small town of about 30,000 in 1850, Chicago more than tripled its population in the next ten years. With a horsecar line, public sewer system, and university, the city had begun to attract women and men, such as George Pullman, who looked to capitalize on the region’s growth.
    [Show full text]
  • I Introduction After Teaching Constitutional Law for More Than Twenty Years, I Often Think of It As a Collection of Stories. Th
    THIS WORK IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR QUOTED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. Introduction After teaching constitutional law for more than twenty years, I often think of it as a collection of stories. The stories are usually about one of two things. The first is great events in constitutional history, such as the framing and ratification of the Constitution or Reconstruction. The second is the institutions established by the Constitution or their leaders. There are many stories about Congress or its most colorful members but even more about the Supreme Court, especially its most famous decisions or justices. The presidency is the subject of more stories than the Court. Especially popular are stories about the few presidents commonly regarded as having had the greatest historical impact – notably, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. More than a few stories are told about presidents who died in office, committed huge blunders, or presided over major scandals. This book tells a different set of stories. These stories are about the presidents whose constitutional impact has largely, if not wholly, been neglected in the study of constitutional law. These presidents’ stories are important for several reasons. First, they illuminate the richness of constitutional activity outside the Supreme Court. The Court is not, as most people suppose, the only institution that shapes constitutional law. Non-judicial actors often make monumental constitutional judgments that courts never review. Second, the forgotten presidents’ stories enrich our understanding of constitutional change. A popular theory is that constitutional changes result from the actions of a few people or events.
    [Show full text]
  • John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856
    Civil War Book Review Fall 2017 Article 9 Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. rF emont And The Violent Election Of 1856 Stephen D. Engle Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr Recommended Citation Engle, Stephen D. (2017) "Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. rF emont And The Violent Election Of 1856," Civil War Book Review: Vol. 19 : Iss. 4 . DOI: 10.31390/cwbr.19.4.14 Available at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cwbr/vol19/iss4/9 Engle: Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. Fremont And The Violent Election Of Review Engle, Stephen D. Fall 2017 Bicknell, John Lincoln’s Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856. Chicago Review Press, $26.99 ISBN 1613737971 1856: Moment of Change The famed historian David Potter once wrote that if John Calhoun had been alive to witness the election of 1856, he might have observed “a further snapping of the cords of the Union.” “The Whig cord had snapped between 1852 and 1856,” he argued “and the Democratic cord was drawn very taut by the sectional distortion of the party’s geographical equilibrium.” According to Potter, the Republican party “claimed to be the only one that asserted national principles, but it was totally sectional in its constituency, with no pretense to bi-sectionalism, and it could not be regarded as a cord of the Union at all.”1 He was right on all accounts, and John Bicknell captures the essence of this dramatic political contest that epitomized the struggle of a nation divided over slavery. To be sure, the election of 1856 marked a turning point in the republic’s political culture, if for no other reason than it signaled significant change on the democratic horizon.
    [Show full text]