Abraham Lincoln Papers

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Abraham Lincoln papers From Alexander W. Meyers to Abraham Lincoln, January 31, 1861 Meadville, Pa., January 31, 1861 Dear Sir: — Since so much is being said and so much trickery is being resorted to in relation to a Cabinet appointment from this State, I feel it my duty out of regard to the party & our principles to address you on the subject, and possibly my protest may have additional weight when I tell you I am not an aspirant or expectant of any office or appointment whatever. I earnestly protest against the appointment of Hon. Simon Cameron to a position in your Cabinet, and for the following reasons: viz First — He does not adequately represent the party in this State politically or intellectually. Secondly. — His political record is stained by numerous instances of the worst corruption, & is by not means satisfactory to the body of the party. Thirdly. — He has resorted to trickery deception & corruption to obtain the position & to obtain an expression of the party through the Press of the State in his favor, which does not represent the sentiments of the party towards him. (These are general accusations (I do not enter into details as I desire to be brief.) but ample evidence of them to an unprejudiced mind is to be found in our present political history.) And Lastly — We have a number of Statesmen — abler & better not open to these objections, — 1 upon whom the honor can be conferred, as Thaddeus Stevens, David Wilmot Thomas Williams, D. A 2 Finney, & numerous others. 1 ID: Thomas Williams was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1863-69) from Pennsylvania. 2 ID: Darwin A. Finney was a Republican member of the Pennsylvania legislature who briefly served in the U.S. House of Representatives following the Civil War. Pennsylvania has been dishonored in the cabinet for the last four years by her representatives, & if she is now to have a representative then we want one who will retrieve her wounded honor, & not be a reproach to her! Abraham Lincoln papers http://www.loc.gov/resource/mal.0695900 I mail you a copy of my paper with an article marked, which meets the approbation of the party here, & upon which I have been heartily congratulated by the influential men of the party. Pardon me for intruding upon your time & patience, but I assure you I do it in the interest of the party & my country. Verry Respectfully Your obedient Servant Alex. W. Myers Ed Republican Abraham Lincoln papers http://www.loc.gov/resource/mal.0695900.

Copy Link

Recommended publications

H. Doc. 108-222
THIRTIETH CONGRESS MARCH 4, 1847, TO MARCH 3, 1849 FIRST SESSION—December 6, 1847, to August 14, 1848 SECOND SESSION—December 4, 1848, to March 3, 1849 VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES—GEORGE M. DALLAS, of Pennsylvania PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE—DAVID R. ATCHISON, 1 of Missouri SECRETARY OF THE SENATE—ASBURY DICKINS, 2 of North Carolina SERGEANT AT ARMS OF THE SENATE—ROBERT BEALE, of Virginia SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES—ROBERT C. WINTHROP, 3 of Massachusetts CLERK OF THE HOUSE—BENJAMIN B. FRENCH, of New Hampshire; THOMAS J. CAMPBELL, 4 of Tennessee SERGEANT AT ARMS OF THE HOUSE—NEWTON LANE, of Kentucky; NATHAN SARGENT, 5 of Vermont DOORKEEPER OF THE HOUSE—ROBERT E. HORNER, of New Jersey ALABAMA CONNECTICUT GEORGIA SENATORS SENATORS SENATORS 14 Arthur P. Bagby, 6 Tuscaloosa Jabez W. Huntington, Norwich Walter T. Colquitt, 18 Columbus Roger S. Baldwin, 15 New Haven 19 William R. King, 7 Selma Herschel V. Johnson, Milledgeville John M. Niles, Hartford Dixon H. Lewis, 8 Lowndesboro John Macpherson Berrien, 20 Savannah REPRESENTATIVES Benjamin Fitzgerald, 9 Wetumpka REPRESENTATIVES James Dixon, Hartford Thomas Butler King, Frederica REPRESENTATIVES Samuel D. Hubbard, Middletown John Gayle, Mobile John A. Rockwell, Norwich Alfred Iverson, Columbus Henry W. Hilliard, Montgomery Truman Smith, Litchfield John W. Jones, Griffin Sampson W. Harris, Wetumpka Hugh A. Haralson, Lagrange Samuel W. Inge, Livingston DELAWARE John H. Lumpkin, Rome George S. Houston, Athens SENATORS Howell Cobb, Athens Williamson R. W. Cobb, Bellefonte John M. Clayton, 16 New Castle Alexander H. Stephens, Crawfordville Franklin W. Bowdon, Talladega John Wales, 17 Wilmington Robert Toombs, Washington Presley Spruance, Smyrna ILLINOIS ARKANSAS REPRESENTATIVE AT LARGE John W.
[Show full text]
The Causes of the Civil War
THE CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR: A NEWSPAPER ANALYSIS by DIANNE M. BRAGG WM. DAVID SLOAN, COMMITTEE CHAIR GEORGE RABLE MEG LAMME KARLA K. GOWER CHRIS ROBERTS A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Communication and Information Sciences in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2013 Copyright Dianne Marie Bragg 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT This dissertation examines antebellum newspaper content in an attempt to add to the historical understanding of the causes of the Civil War. Numerous historians have studied the Civil War and its causes, but this study will use only newspapers to examine what they can show about the causes that eventually led the country to war. Newspapers have long chronicled events in American history, and they offer valuable information about the issues and concerns of their communities. This study begins with an overview of the newspaper coverage of the tariff and territorial issues that began to divide the country in the early decades of the 1800s. The study then moves from the Wilmot Proviso in 1846 to Lincoln’s election in 1860, a period in which sectionalism and disunion increasingly appeared on newspaper pages and the lines of disagreement between the North and the South hardened. The primary sources used in this study were a diverse sampling of articles from newspapers around the country and includes representation from both southern and northern newspapers. Studying these antebellum newspapers offers insight into the political, social, and economic concerns of the day, which can give an indication of how the sectional differences in these areas became so divisive.
[Show full text]
A. K. Mcclure and the PEOPLE's PARTY in the CAMPAIGN of 1860
A. K. McCLURE AND THE PEOPLE'S PARTY IN THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 By WILLIAM H. RUSSELL* pOLITICAL campaigns usually are considered important mainly for the election results that follow. Yet the campaign itself can have lasting effects, both in the discussion of issues and in the relations developed among politicians under stress. This was notably true of the campaign of 1860 in Pennsylvania. This cam- paign was to have strong effects on the future of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, and on the state's attitude toward the issues leading to the Civil War. It affected the career of nearly every prominent Republican politician, but none more than that of young Alexander K. McClure, state chairman of the party during this critical time. A. K. McClure. by 1860, was already well known as one of the state's shrewdest and most ambitious young politicians. At the age of eighteen he had founded his own newspaper at Mifflintown, and become a spokesman for the anti-slavery Whigs. Six years later he took over the Whig newspaper at Chambersburg, where he achieved financial success and leadership in community affairs. By 1857 he had become a lawyer and won election to the legislature. There he would be a leader of the anti-Democratic forces for several years. With the decline of the Whig Party, he had dallied briefly with the new Know-Nothing movement, then joined in the effort to unite Whigs, Know Nothings, and anti-Nebraska Demo- crats under the Republican label. In 1860, still just thirty-two years of age, he was called to be state chairman of his party.
[Show full text]
Wilmot Proviso
Wilmot Proviso The Wilmot Proviso was introduced on August 8, 1846, in the United States House of Representatives as a rider on a $2 million appropriations bill intended for the final negotiations to resolve the Mexican-American War. The intent of the proviso, submitted by Democratic Congressman David Wilmot, was to prevent the introduction of slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. The proviso did not pass in this session or in any other session when it was reintroduced over the course of the next several years, but many consider it as the one of first events on the long slide to secession and Civil War which would accelerate through the 1850s. Background Pennsylvania politician David Wilmot After an earlier attempt to acquire Texas by treaty had failed (lithograph by M.H. Traubel). Source: Library to receive the necessary two-thirds approval of the Senate, of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division the United States annexed the Republic of Texas by a joint (Digital ID cph.3c32936). resolution that required simply a majority vote in each house of Congress. President John Tyler signed the bill on March 1, 1845 in the waning days of his presidency. As many expected, the annexation led to war with Mexico. When the war began to wind down, the political focus shifted to what territory, would be acquired from Mexico. Key to this was the determination of the future status of slavery in any new territory. Both major political parties of the time had labored long to keep divisive slavery issues out of national politics. However, the victory of James Polk (Democratic Party) over Henry Clay (Southern Whig) in the 1844 presidential election had caught the Whigs by surprise.
[Show full text]
Thesis-Antithesis: Clark & Casey
Thesis-Antithesis: Clark & Casey January 31, 2007 by Dr. G. Terry Madonna and Dr. Michael Young The ghost of Joe Clark has been lurking around the edges of political news lately following the election of Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey Jr. to the Senate. Clark served as US Senator from Pennsylvania from 1957 until 1969. Before entering the Senate, he was mayor of Philadelphia, a lawyer, a writer (author of two books), and something of an intellectual (a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences). Clark is remembered due to the historical significance of his last electoral victory; in 1962 he was the last Democrat to be elected to a full six-year term until Bob Casey turned the trick in 2006. Clark and Casey have this history in common. But the two men seem almost polar opposites in most other ways. Tracing the backgrounds, careers, and philosophies of the pair reveal them to be virtual political antonyms--the yin and yang of Pennsylvania politics. Consider: Divergent Family Background--Clark was the quintessential blue blood, coming from a family with roots in the state dating back to the early 19th century. His family hobnobbed with the likes of lawyer/financier Jay Cooke. He attended Harvard as did his dad. He lived a life to the manor born with private country clubs and debutante parties. On the other hand, Casey was the grandson of a coal miner, was reared in a hard scrabble town, and attended Catholic school. One of seven siblings, his early background was solidly middle class, his values solidly middle American, and his politics solidly FDR Democrat.
[Show full text]
Download Download
Hoosiers and the Western Program, 1844-1848 Roger H. Van Bolt* The western program of political action, thoroughly grounded in economic need, was repeatedly rejected by the Polk administration. There had been a traditional support of western interests by both parties for over a decade, but in many respects this support had been one of lip service and of intermittent character. In the period of 1844-1845,however, changes were taking place in the parties themselves and also in government policies, resulting in a growing suspicion in the Northwest that sectional needs were not being met with ade- quate measures to alleviate the stress and strain. Even the parties themselves were becoming distrustful. It is interesting to note that James K. Polk, a political dark horse, had become president because of the failure to resolve the cleavages of the faction.’ Many factors contributed to Indiana’s political action dur- ing this period. The Hoosiers’ interests in the western pro- gram had certain elements in common with their neighbors; yet Indiana possessed no spokesmen for its needs with the en- thusiasm of Jacob Brinkerhoff and Joshua Giddings of Ohio, or John Wentworth of Illinois. Unlike Ohio and Illinois, In- diana’s wool and lead interests were not strong enough to be represented in the national halls. Neither was its lake trade as important as it was to the adjoining states. Michigan City was an enterprising center for the grain growers of northern Indiana, but it was not a Chicago or a Cleveland in importance for Indiana’s trade was not concentrated in the direction of the lake.
[Show full text]
Pennsylvania History (People, Places, Events) Record Holdings Scholars in Residence Pennsylvania History Day People Places Events Things
rruVik.. reliulsyiVUtlll L -tiestuly ratge I UI I Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Home Programs & Events Researchr Historic Sites & Museums Records Management About Us Historic Preservation Pennsylvania State Archives CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information Doc Heritage Digital Archives (ARIAS) 0OF ExplorePAhistory.com V Land Records things Genealogy Pennsylvania History (People, Places, Events) Record Holdings Scholars in Residence Pennsylvania History Day People Places Events Things Documentary Heritaae Pennsylvania Governors Symbols and Official Designations Examples: " Keystone State," Flower, Tree Penn-sylyania Counties Outline of Pennsylvania History 1, n-n. II, ni, tv, c.tnto ~ no Ii~, ol-, /~~h nt/n. mr. on, ,t on~~con A~2 1 .rrniV1%', reiniSy1Vdaina riiSiur'y ragcaeiuo I ()I U Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission lome Programs & Events Research Historic Sites & Museums Records Management About Us Historic Preservation Pennsylvania State Archives PENNSYLVANIA STATE CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information HISTO RY Doc Heritage Digital Archives (ARIAS) ExplorePAhistory.com Land Records THE QUAKER PROVINCE: 1681-1776 Genealogy Pennsylvania History . (People, Places, Events) Record Holdings Y Scholars in Residence Pennsylvania History Day The Founding of Pennsylvania William Penn and the Quakers Penn was born in London on October 24, 1644, the son of Admiral Sir William Penn. Despite high social position and an excellent education, he shocked his upper-class associates by his conversion to the beliefs of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, then a persecuted sect. He used his inherited wealth and rank to benefit and protect his fellow believers. Despite the unpopularity of his religion, he was socially acceptable in the king's court because he was trusted by the Duke of York, later King James II.
[Show full text]
The Democratic Party Resources
Essential Civil War Curriculum | Al Ronzoni, The Democratic Party | April 2016 The Democratic Party in the Civil War By Al Ronzoni Jr. Resources If you can read only one book Author Title. City: Publisher, Year. Hettle, Wallace The Peculiar Democracy: Southern Democrats in Peace and Civil War. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001. Books and Articles Author Title. City: Publisher, Year. Baker, Jean H. Affairs of Party: The Political Culture of Northern Democrats in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Reprint, New York: Fordham University Press, 1998. Landis, Michael Todd Northern Men with Southern Loyalties: The Democratic Party and the Sectional Crisis. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014. Silby, Joel H. A Respectable Minority: The Democratic Party in the Civil War Era, 1860-1868. New York: W.W. Norton, 1977. Smith, Adam I. P. No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Weber, Jennifer L. Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln's Opponents in the North. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Organizations Essential Civil War Curriculum | Copyright 2016 Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech Page 1 of 2 Essential Civil War Curriculum | Al Ronzoni, The Democratic Party | April 2016 Web Resources Other Sources Scholars Name Email Al Ronzoni, Jr. [email protected] Google Keywords The Wilmot Proviso, first proposed by Democratic congressman David Wilmot in 1846, prohibited slavery in the new territories acquired from Mexico. Though it never became legislation, the Wilmot Proviso wrenched this traditional division of parties into a conflict between the North and South.
[Show full text]
The "Pennsylvania Origins of Popular Sovereignty
The "Pennsylvania Origins of Popular Sovereignty HE introduction of the Wilmot Proviso in 1846, perhaps more than any other single action, broke the uneasy sectional Ttruce regarding slavery and began the process of party and sectional realignments which culminated in the Civil War. As the proviso's basic principle of free soil became the dominant issue of the campaign of 1848, national politicians were forced to come to grips with this question in a variety of ways.* Popular Sovereignty, the Democratic Party's solution to these issues in 1848, had its origins as an acceptable political concept in Vice President George M. Dallas' Qreat Speech ... Upon the Reading Topics of the T)ay> which he gave in Pittsburgh on September 18, 1847. Although Congressmen Caleb B. Smith of Indiana and Shelton F. Leake of Virginia had made earlier vague references to the people of a territory governing themselves, Dallas was the first major political figure to call for popular sovereignty.1 He had been a prominent figure in the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania and the nation since Andrew Jackson's first bid for the presidency. He had served as Mayor of Philadelphia (1828-1829), Federal District Attorney (1829-1831), United States Senator (1831-1833), Attorney General of Pennsylvania (1833-1835), Minister to Russia (1837- 1839), and as Vice President under James K. Polk. Clearly his endorsement of popular sovereignty was an important political sign. It appears to be more than coincidental that the Proviso and two of the three leading solutions to the problem of slavery in the territories—extension of the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean and popular sovereignty—originated within the Keystone State.
[Show full text]
Causes of the Civil War Causes of the Civil War
Causes of the Civil War Causes of the Civil War • Northwest Ordinance • Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 • Kentucky and Virginia • Compromise of 1850 Resolutions • Uncle Tom's Cabin • Missouri Compromise • Kansas–Nebraska Act • Tariff of 1828 • Bleeding Kansas • Nullification Crisis • Mexican American war • Nat Turner's slave rebellion • Sumner-Brooks affair • The Amistad • Dred Scott v. Sandford • Texas Annexation • Brown's raid on Harper's • Mexican–American War Ferry • Wilmot Proviso • 1860 presidential election • Ostend Manifesto • Secession of Southern States • Manifest Destiny • Star of the West • Underground Railroad • Corwin Amendment • Battle of Fort Sumter Attempted Solutions • Missouri Compromise • Wilmot Proviso • Ostend Manifesto • Compromise of 1850 • Kansas-Nebraska Act • popular sovereignty • Bleeding Kansas • Dred Scott Decision The Decision of Slavery Missouri Compromise Missouri Compromise 1820 • Regulation of slavery in the western territories • Prohibited slavery north of 36 ̊-30’ N parallel, except in Missouri • Sectional balance • Maine is a free state Part of the Texas Annexation Resolution of 1845 On the Compromise “… but this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. it is hushed indeed for the moment. but this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. a geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every
[Show full text]
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 304 351 SO 019 E31 TITLE Historic
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 304 351 SO 019 E31 TITLE Historic Pennsylvania Leaflets No. 1-41. 1960-1988. INSTITUTION Pennsylvania State Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg. PUB DATE 88 NOTE 166p.; Leaflet No. 16, not included here, is out of print. Published during various years from 1960-1988. AVAILABLE FROMPennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, P.O. Box 1026, Harrisburg, PA 17108 ($4.00). PUB TYPE Collected Works - General (020)-- Historical Materials (060) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS History; Pamphlets; *Social Studies; *State History IDENTIFIERS History al Explanation; *Historical Materials; *Pennsylvania ABSTRACT This series of 41 pamphlets on selected Pennsylvania history topics includes: (1) "The PennsylvaniaCanals"; (2) "Anthony Wayne: Man of Action"; (3) "Stephen Foster: Makerof American Songs"; (4) "The Pennsylvania Rifle"; (5) "TheConestoga Wagon"; (6) "The Fight for Free Schools in Pennsylvania"; (7) "ThaddeusStevens: Champion of Freedom"; (8) "Pennsylvania's State Housesand Capitols"; (9) "Harrisburg: Pennsylvania's Capital City"; (10)"Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution"; (11) "A French Asylumon the Susquehanna River"; (12) "The Amish in American Culture"; (13)"Young Washington in Pennsylvania"; (14) "Ole Bull's New Norway"; (15)"Henry BoLquet and Pennsylvania"; (16)(out of print); (17) "Armstrong's Victoryat Kittanning"; (18) "Benjamin Franklin"; (19) "The AlleghenyPortage Railroad"; (20) "Abraham Lincoln and Pennsylvania"; (21)"Edwin L. Drake and the Birth of the
[Show full text]
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Guide to Civil War Holdings
PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM COMMISSION GUIDE TO CIVIL WAR HOLDINGS 2009 Edition—Information current to January 2009 Dr. James P. Weeks and Linda A. Ries Compilers This survey is word-searchable in Adobe Acrobat. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………..page 3 Introduction by Dr. James P. Weeks………………………………….………...page 4 How to Use this Guide….………………………………………………………page 6 Abbreviations………….……………………..………………………….………page 7 Bureau of Archives and History State Archives Division, Record Groups………………………………..……....page 8 State Archives Division, Manuscript Groups…………………………………...page 46 State Archives Division, Affiliated Archives (Hartranft) ………………………page 118 PHMC Library …………………….……………………………………………page 119 Bureau of The State Museum of Pennsylvania Community and Domestic Life Section……………….………………………..page 120 Fine Arts Section……………………………………….…….…………...…… page 120 Military History Section……………………………….……..…………………page 126 Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum………………………….……..…..page 131 Drake Well Museum Eckley Miner’s Village Erie Maritime Museum Landis Valley Museum Old Economy Village Pennsylvania Military Museum Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Bureau for Historic Preservation State Historical Markers Program………………………………………………page 137 National Register of Historic Places and Register of Historical Landmarks……………………………….………………. ………………….…page 137 3 Acknowledgements This survey is a result of the PHMC Scholar-in-Residence (SIR) Program. In 2001, Diane Reed, Chief of the Commission’s Publications and Sales Division proposed that a book be created telling the story of Pennsylvania during the Civil War using the vast holdings of the PHMC. In order to create the book, an overview of the PHMC Civil War holdings was necessary. A SIR collaborative project was funded early in 2002, and Dr. James P. Weeks of the Pennsylvania State University History Department was chosen to create the survey, working with Linda Ries of the Archives staff.
[Show full text]