Posted on 04/10/2018 6:21:45 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1855-1860: Seminar and Discussion Forum
Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott, Lincoln-Douglas, Harper’s Ferry, the election of 1860, secession – all the events leading up to the Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: Sometime in the future.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed. To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Bummer about Thomas Hart Benson. Stephen Douglas looks as if he suffers a poor digestion.
Bttt.
5.56mm
Ephesus has been reconstructed since the view on page 19 was done. My mom and the other Navy Old Girls went there on the “Greece, Turkey, and Miscellaneous Islands” tour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hart_Benton_(politician)
“”In 1851, Benton was denied a sixth term by the Missouri legislature; the polarization of the slavery issue made it impossible for a moderate and unionist to hold that state’s senatorial seat...
Uniquely, Benton has been the subject of biographical study by two men who later became presidents of the United States. In 1887, Theodore Roosevelt published a biography of Benton.[19] Benton is also one of the eight senators profiled in John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage.[20]””
Alexander Stephens was an interesting figure. He was a Southern moderate, initially opposed secession and war. Then became Confederate Vice President and defended both. Met with Lincoln in 1865 in last ditch peace negotiation.
He had a correspondence with Lincoln in 1860:
“”Letter to Alexander H. Stephens
(For your own eye only.)
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, December 22, 1860.
My dear Sir: Your obliging answer to my short note is just received, and for which please accept my thanks. I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and the weight of responsibility on me. Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly or indirectly, interfere with the slaves, or with them about the slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears. The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and ought to be extended, while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That, I suppose, is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.””
The article about Mr. Stephens observes, apparently unironically:
“The House of Representatives was then [1843] generally graced by gentlemen of unquestionable honesty, finished education, and statesmanlike ability ...”
I assume that the author meant to compare the present Congress of 1858 unfavorably with those of the 1840’s.
I agree. Now whether he was accurate or not is another question.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
The good Mr. Strong had a pleasant day, for a change.
I believe it used be a statute that no man could be elected to office if he were an atheist. Men of honor and honesty. Those words create such a longing...
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