Slavery and Politics

I. Northwest Ordinance

A. Settling the Upper South

1. Tennessee—parts of the territory that became Tennessee were claimed by North Carolina. Many of the first white settlers in the region came from North and South Carolina, and the most economically successful brought slaves to work on the land they claimed—people like Andrew Jackson.

2. Kentucky—claimed by Virginia; settled by whites from that state, and like in Tennessee, the more economically advantaged brought slaves with them. Virginia in fact had already sold a sizable portion of the land available, in many areas twice, which created conflicting claims which were again usually settled in favor of those able to pay for better legal representation.



B. Northwest Ordinance (1787)—the chaos that had ensued with the settlement of Tennessee and especially Kentucky led to a desire to implement a more ordered process in settling the region north and west of the Ohio River—the Northwest Territory.

1. Congress of the Confederation—perhaps the most significant piece of legislation passed by that body. Following the pattern set the settlement set by Kentucky and Tennessee, eastern states had to give up their claims to the land to their west; in Ohio, for example, the state of Connecticut to give up its claim to both the Firelands and to the Western Reserve.

2. Grid Survey System—the Ordinance provided that the northwest by surveyed in 36 square-mile townships, and land be sold in 320 acre sections, 160 acre half sections, or in 80 acre quarter half sections. The survey was conveyed on maps in a grid pattern, and set the most significant geographic feature of the Midwest today—its grid road system. 16 sections made up a township; the sale of one of the sections in each larger part was set aside to provide funds to establish a public school system.

3. Slavery prohibited—most significantly, slavery was prohibited in the Northwest Territory. This prohibition was not always strictly enforced, and did not prevent slave owners from occasionally using slaves for a season on farms in the region (Lincoln, in fact, defended—successfully—one such slave owner in court), but it did prevent slavery from being established in the region.

4. “Best poor [white] man’s country”—by preventing slavery from gaining a hold in the region, this increased the chances for poor whites of obtaining greater economic prosperity.

5. The political equalizer—before passage of the Northwest Ordinance, the slave states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Georgia—with the Middle Atlantic States of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, which still had an affluent and influential population that owned slaves—dominated national politics. As the states that were created from the Northwest Territory were admitted, and the Middle Atlantic states abolished slavery, this dominance ended, and politics became more balanced.



C. Missouri Compromise (1820)

1. Louisiana Purchase (1803)—most of the attention that has been focused on the Louisiana Purchase has focused on the exploits of the Corps of Exploration, Lewis and Clark’s adventure. This acquisition, however, along with Florida, permitted the creation of the slave states of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, eventually Arkansas—and Missouri.

2. Missouri controversy—Missouri statehood was controversial, because most of the state was north of the line extended west from the point where the Ohio River ended.

3. The Missouri Solution—the legislation that made Missouri a state prohibited the introduction of slavery above 36-30 (Missouri’s southern border); to balance the admission of Missouri, the Down East portion of Massachusetts was admitted as the state of Maine. From this point to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, states were admitted in slave/non-slave pairs—to maintain the balance of power.

II. Manifest Destiny

A. Sea to Shining Sea—most white Americans fully supported extending the territory of the country across the breadth of the continent, but disagreed mightily on whether slavery should be extended with it.


B. Presidency of James K. Polk—Polk’s four years in office witnessed the greatest expansion of territory of the country in its history—but this expansion also heightened the tensions that resulted in the Civil War.

1. Oregon Territory—after a bit of saber-rattling, Polk agreed to settle the northwestern boundary of the country with Great Britain



2. War with Mexico—after initial enthusiasm for the war, many in the country began to become increasingly disenchanted with the conflict, which they began to argue mainly benefited slaveholders, anyway.
3. Whig opposition—Lincoln was a vociferous opponent of the war during one term in Congress


4. Wilmot Proviso—introduced by heretofore loyal Democrat David Wilmot, it proposed to forbid the introduction of slavery to any area gained from Mexico where it did not previously exist (and since slavery was illegal in Mexico, that was just about everywhere). The vote on this measure delineated a new trend in American politics, as the vote split along sectional lines rather than along party differences.

5. California Republic—whites had been moving into California in significant number all during the 1840s; the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill saw an explosion of ‘49ers from across the globe—including, significantly, large numbers of Chinese men to work in the mines.



C. Compromise of 1850—a complex series of five bills that: settled the Texas claim of New Mexico, while providing the state with debt relief, El Paso, and the Panhandle; allowed popular sovereignty to decide the issue over slavery in the territories of New Mexico and Utah (it failed in both places); maintained slavery in the District of Columbia, but ended the sale of slaves there; decided the issue of slavery in Southern California by prohibiting it; strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law.

1. Initially failed to pass, but in the following session Stephen A. Douglas broke up the various parts of the bill—Henry Clay had attempted to pass it as an omnibus bill, and the strenuous effort contributed to his demise—and got the Senate to pass the various parts through the use of shifting coalitions

2. Complaints—although no parties were entirely happy with the final result, this compromise in fact helped reduced the tension over sectional disputes that had been building since the Mexican War.

D. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

1. Douglas’ blunder—why does Douglas splinter the country again after settling the issue with the Compromise of 1850? To get a transcontinental railroad built. Southern legislators refused to vote for a railroad unless they got the right to bring slaves into the new territories; Douglas then began arguing for leaving the issue of the extension of slavery to a popular vote.


2. Civil war in Kansas—immediately after the act was passed, both pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces began staking claims on Kansas; the Bushwackers were pro-slavery sympathizers from Missouri, while Jayhawkers were anti-slavery. This dispute quickly escalated into violence, with Bushwackers torching Lawrence; in response John Brown led his sons and other associates on the Pottawatomie Massacre, the murder of five slavery sympathizers. This civil war raged from the mid-1850s until the end of the American Civil War, and saw the rise of such men like Jesse and Frank James and former Ohio school teacher William Quantrill, in addition to the Brown clan and James Lane.

*UPDATE*
III. Political Party Re-alignment

A. Causes—the pressure from the political crisis caused by the sectional split over slavery split the Whig Party, most dramatically, but also split the Democratic Party, as well. This split was less dramatic, because there was a Democratic Party during and after the Civil War—but the split in the Democratic Party was the leading factor in Lincoln’s victory in the 1860 presidential election.

B. Political Parties

1. Liberty Party—abolitionists who broke with Garrison (who did not believe that a political solution could be found on the issue of slavery), the party was not successful electorally, but did pressure northern Whigs from “the left”

2. American Party—aka the Native American Party and the “Know-Nothing” Party, organized around the principals of limiting immigration and the rights of the Roman Catholic Church.


3. Free Soil Party—absorbed abolitionist members of the Liberty Party (eventually), along with anti-slavery elements of both the Whig and Democratic parties. Successful in national elections, with members winning places in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives, the Free Soil Party eventually was absorbed into the Republican Party

The Slavery Dilemna

I. A Brief History of Slavery in North America

A. Introduction of slavery


1. Jamestown—slaves were first sold in Jamestown, Virginia—the first permanent English settlement in North America—in 1619.

2. Two forms of coerced labor—slavery and indentured servitude. Slaves served for entire lifetime, or until such time as their master determined to free them. Indentured servants, on the other hand, served for the life of a contract, at the end of which they were to receive 50 acres of land, a set of tools, and a suit of clothes. For all practical purposes, however, there was little difference between slaves and indentured servants, because they only rarely lived long enough to collect on what they were owed, because of the working conditions on the early tobacco plantations. At this early period, in fact, indentured servants were favored, because their upfront cost was less.

B. Transformation of slavery



1. Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)—Nathaniel Bacon led a rat-tag army of small farmers, indentured servants, and slaves in rebellion against the colonial government, because that government attempted to shut off access to cheap land in the western part of the colony because the disputes this caused with the native peoples living there that was sucking the treasury dry.

2. Aftermath of the Rebellion—the Virginia legislature passed a series of laws during the next decade to differentiate between indentured servants and slaves—things like restrictions on cohabitation between servants and slaves, passing laws restricting the freedom of movement of slaves, Even more importantly, poor whites were required to work on slave patrols; this gave them a sense that they occupied a higher social plane than slaves, and helped persuade non-slave owners to support the slavery system—a wage for their whiteness.

II. Slavery and American Independence

A. Slavery in the Colonies—slavery existed in all of the colonies in the years before the American Revolution—including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and especially New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

1. Adaptability of Slavery—it has long been assumed by historians and other that slavery was suited to plantation culture, but it proved to be extremely adaptable. Slavery prospered in the plantation South, but it proved to be profitable in other environments, as well.

B. Declaration of Independence

1. “…all men are created equal…”
2. “…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…”
3. “…among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…”

C. Spread of Democracy

1. Pennsylvania Constitution (1776)—preceeding the Declaration of Independence, the Pennsylvania Constitution was one of the most democratic documents of its time. As part of its stand on equality of all men, it called for the abolition of slavery.

2. Early years of Revolution—in many of the former colonies of the North, the abolition of slavery took place. By the late 1780s, slavery was abolished in Massachusetts; Connecticut followed suit shortly afterward. Ironically, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania only abolished slavery gradually, and vestiges were around until about 1840.


3. Lord Dunmore—the colonial governor of Virginia. To recruit forces to fight the patriots in that colony, Dunsmore promised to emancipate all slaves who joined his forces.

D. Too Much Democracy?

1. Constitutional Convention—while there was no explicit mention made of slavery or its abolition, the institution was implicitly accepts through the so-called “3/5ths Clause.”

III. The Rise of the Abolitionist Movement

A. Abolitionism Before 1831

1. Pennsylvania Abolition Society—founded by Society of Friends (Quakers); published anti-slavery tracts, sought to use the legal system to end slavery
2. American Colonization Society—established the colony of Monrovia (later Libreria) on the west coast of Africa in 1822, modeled on the British example of Sierra Leone, to “repatriate” slaves.

B. Second Great Awakening—a period of great religious revival that swept throughout much of the US during the 1820s and 1830s. It inspired the start of a number of reform movements with a renewed religious fervor, in order to create a “heaven on earth.”


1. Charles Grandison Finney—charismatic lawyer-turned-intinrent preacher, reacting to the deism of the French Revolution; Finney argued against the Calvinist belief that God had a predestined plan for human being, and that instead humans were “moral free agents” who could obtain salvation through their own efforts—but they had to act immediately, because time was short.


C. William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator

1. Grew up in abject poverty in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Apprenticed as a printer, he was converted to abolitionism by the Quaker Benjamin Lundy.

2. Garrison’s brand of abolitionism—was both militant and pacifist, at the same time. For example, he once burned a copy of the Constitution (because it was a slavery document), while also advocating non-violence (despite the violence to himself and his followers that his rhetoric inspired). Argued that the United States needed to undergo a spiritual renewal to remove the stain of slavery.


C. Frederick Douglass

1. Escaped slavery in Baltimore—trained as a shipwright.

2. Living proof of intelligence and eloquence possible of all slaves

3. Acolyte of Garrison—began moving toward a political solution to slavery that Garrison rejected, however.

IV. Northern Reaction to the Growth of Slavery

A. Free Soil Movement

1. War with Mexico—after initial enthusiasm for the war, many in the country began to become increasingly disenchanted with the conflict, which they began to argue mainly benefited slaveholders, anyway.

2. Whig opposition


3. Wilmot Proviso—introduced by heretofore loyal Democrat David Wilmot, it proposed to forbid the introduction of slavery to any area gained from Mexico where it did not previously exist (and since slavery was illegal in Mexico, that was just about everywhere). The vote on this measure delineated a new trend in American politics, as the vote split along sectional lines rather than along party differences

The Time of the Lincolns, Part 2

The second half of the video presentation, Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided concentrates on the married life of the couple. Particular attention is paid to the role Mary Lincoln plays in being a sounding board for Abraham Lincoln's policy positions, and as a helpmate in his political career.

Another point of emphasis to be aware of is how Mary comes to be viewed as mentally unstable. Although Abraham Lincoln twice in his life suffered bouts of depression severe enough that friends feared he would take his own life, it was Mary Lincoln that many people consider to be mentally unstable. Is that because of her gender? That she was more demonstrative of her emotions? A combination of the two?

One last thing to think about during the video presentation. We have already seen that both Abraham and Mary Lincoln suffered through the loss of their mothers during their respective childhoods, which deeply affected their lives. The couple also suffer through the deaths of two of their children (Edward, or Eddie, and William, or Willie). Mary Todd Lincoln also experienced the loss of her father shortly after the death of Eddie--and of course, she saw her husband murdered before her eyes. How did these losses effect the relationship between Abraham and Mary Lincoln? Obviously, the assassination ended Lincoln's life, but how did their shared losses effect their marriage.

Again, as before, check back and I will share further thoughts on the video.

The Time of the Lincolns

Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln were brought together by the circumstances of their lives, and by the ambitions that both nurtured within themselves. Their marriage was both one of political alliance, and of respect and love for one another. The video viewed in class, Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided explores the commonalities and conflicts of their lives. Although I have not been able to find the video online anywhere (either YouTube or PBS), I will be updating this post through the week with some things the video presents that you should think about--so check back.

*UPDATE*
Both Abraham and Mary Lincoln lost mothers at an early age: Abraham Lincoln at the age of 9, and Mary Lincoln at the age of 6. Both fathers sought a wife to fill the void in their household, and married shortly afterward. For Abraham Lincoln, his stepmother Sarah Bush Lincoln partially filled the void that the death of his mother had created. She encouraged his educational aspirations, and acted as a buffer between Lincoln and his father as the conflict between them grew. Mary Todd Lincoln had a much less satisfying relationship with her stepmother; she apparently saw her as a rival for her father's affection, and grew to resent her presence in the Todd household.

Part of this difference can be explained, perhaps, by their respective positions within their families. Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln had two children, Sarah and Abraham; when Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush, she brought three children from her first marriage, but the couple had no children together. Mary Todd Lincoln was the fourth child born to the union of her mother and father, and her mother died giving birth to a sixth; Robert Smith Todd then had nine more children with his second wife. Although the Todd's had household slaves who assisted with rearing these children, one can imagine the difficulty that individual children had in getting their parent's attention.

The Lincoln's were linked by their political ambitions. For Abraham Lincoln, politics was the best route open to him to advance himself socially and economically. In Mary Todd, he undoubtedly saw someone whose personal connections--as well as her personality and political acumen--would be helpful in advancing his career. For Mary Todd Lincoln, this union would provide her with the only avenue open to her to be poltically active--as the wife of a politician.

Lincoln and the Whig Party, Part 2

I. Marriage

A. Courtship of Mary Todd

1. Todd Family—the Todds were a prominent Kentucky family, members of the Whig Party, friends with Henry Clay—and slaveholders. Mary Todd’s mother died when she was quite young. Father Robert Todd sent his daughters North to find suitable husbands; four of his daughters ended up marrying and living in Springfield, Illinois.

2. Engagement—Lincoln and Mary Todd became engaged after Lincoln proposed to her. Almost immediately afterward, however, Lincoln had second thoughts about the engagement, and spent the next several weeks attempting to persuade Mary to release him from his obligation. She magnanimously allowed Lincoln to back out of the engagement (a very serious matter in those more formal times). Within a year of breaking off the engagement, however, Lincoln and Mary Todd were married.

B. Married Life—the couple initially took up residence at the Globe Tavern, but Mary Todd Lincoln quickly became pregnant, and the couple rented a very small three room house in Springfield.

1. Robert Todd—Mary Todd Lincoln’s father visited them after the birth of his namesake. Realizing that his daughter was in fairly desperate circumstances, with a new baby and a husband gone much of the time, he bought them as substantial piece of land, and began sending his daughter $10.00 a month ($240.00 in today’s dollars) to use as “incidental” money to hire help around the house.

2. Riding the Circuit—Lincoln undoubtedly felt greater pressure to increase his income so support his family, and it was at this point that he became a dedicated “circuit rider” in order to accomplish that. Riding the circuit meant that he spent larger portions of his time away from home, however.

3. Differences in Temperment—while Lincoln was very much a brooding loner much of the time who kept his own council; Mary Todd was much more effusive and social, and in need of constant approval and reinforcement. Lincoln’s frequent, long absences from home certainly had an adverse effect on Mary’s mental well-being.

4. New Law Partner—shortly after his marriage, Lincoln and his second law partner Stephen Logan dissolved their firm so that Logan could go into business with his son. The break-up is amiamble, but as a result, Lincoln asked a clerk in his old firm to become his partner.


C. Billy Herndon—William H. Herndon, who Lincoln was already well-acquainted, was himself well-acquainted with the more radical elements of the Whig Party; Donald argues that this was, in fact, one of the reasons Lincoln took Herndon on as a partner. Lincoln had married into the “silk-stocking” wing of the Whig Party—his brother-in-law was one of the leading Whigs in the state of Illinois, and his wife’s family were prominent Whigs in Kentucky. Herndon gave Lincoln an in with the local Whig Party apparatus that would allow him to draw on the “wild boys” of the party, as well as the deep pockets of the establishment—a group that would assist him in winning elections, much like the Clary’s Grove Boys did in New Salem.

II. Whig Politics


A. American System—Lincoln was a Whig in large part because he saw Henry Clay’s American System as the best means to integrate the disparate parts of the American economy—manufacturing in the Northeast, the grain production of the West, and the cotton and tobacco production of the South—into one interdependent national economy.

1. Labor Theory of Value—today, the Labor Theory of Value is closely associated with Marxism, and is therefore “discredited.” At the same time Marx is developing these ideas, however, Lincoln is coming to similar conclusions—“To [secure] to each labourer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government.” (Donald, Lincoln, p. 110).

2. Wage Slavery—in conjunction with the growing popularity of the labor theory of value, there grows the idea of “free labor.” The idea of free labor is usually juxtaposed against its polar opposite—slave labor. The growth of manufacturing was accompanied by the growth of working for wages. This was a relatively new concept, and not welcomed by all. Many manufacturing workers before the advent of industrialization worked as skilled craftsmen, and thought themselves independent. Working for wages changed that formulation, because waged work, it was thought, made one dependent upon ones’ employer. This changed relationship was often compared to a state of slavery, hence the term “wage slave.”

B. Rep. Abraham Lincoln—Whigs remained the minority party for most of its existence, although the party did have some success in presidential elections. Whigs were definitely the minority party in Illinois during this time

1. Partisan loyalist—Lincoln campaigned for other Whig candidates, as well as assisted in strategy in the hope of winning more elections. In order to gain one of the few “safe” Congressional Whig seats in the state, Lincoln at the 1844 conventions was able to maneuver a resolution that the next convention nominate a “suitable” candidate for the office, thus ensuring that the current nominee served only one term. Lincoln was unable to maneuver the 1848 convention to re-nominate him for the office.




2. War opponent—while the War with Mexico was raging when Lincoln ran for US Representative in 1846, he voiced no opposition to the war. Upon taking office in 1847, while the war was winding down, Lincoln became a severe critic, accusing the Administration of maneuvering Mexican forces into war, and of even lying to the American people about the original provocation. This had later repercussions when Lincoln became president, and political opponents accused him of manipulating forces to provoke war.

3. End of Congressional Term—at the end of his only term in Congress, Lincoln returned to Springfield and his law practice, with little prospect of returning to the national political stage.

Lincoln and the Whig Party, Part 1

I. The First Party System


A. Articles of Confederation—the first system of government formed by the newly independent United States. This document was the first instrument of government that attempted to strike a balance between a central government strong enough to provide for the common defense, the promotion of commerce, and other desirable services that a large central government can provide, with the suspicion that a strong central government would trample individual liberties—or use too much tax money.

1. Most Political Power Vested in the States—when the articles were finally ratified in 1781—five years after the war with Great Britain started—most of the political power remained vested in the states, while the national government was limited in its power. The national government was responsible for the common defense, making treaties, coin money, establish a postal system, and manage relations with Native Americans. Congress, elected from the states annually, also served as final arbitrator in all disputes between the states

2. Systemic Weaknesses—this system proved to be unworkable, because the national government proved to have inadequate powers to compel the states to follow its edicts—particularly in matters of taxation, since the national government had little power to get the states to turn over the tax money they collected on the national government’s behalf. By 1786, this lead to calls to amend the Articles to give the national government greater powes

B. Creation of the Constitution—because of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and because many political elites felt that the nation suffered from “too much democracy,” a convention was held (first in Annapolis, and then again in Philadelphia) to hammer out a newer document of governance.


1. Shay’s Rebellion—indicative of the unrest in the country, a number of “rebellions” took place as people protested the lack of specie in circulation, and their need to pay taxes in this hard currency. Armed farmers roamed the countryside in bands, closing local courts to prevent them from holding legal proceedings necessary to foreclose on farms for non-payment of debts (especially taxes)

2. The alarm raised by these protests fueled the need on the part of the ruling elites to tamp down on democracy; the new constitution kept a legislative body directly accountable to the people (the House of Representatives, directly elected by voters every two years, instead of annually). But then they created a bicameral legislature (two houses of governance), with the creation of the Senate, elected by the state legislatures and serving six year terms; a chief executive (heading the new executive branch), elected by the electoral college (proportioned by the popular vote), rather than direct election by the people; and finally, a non-elected judiciary branch, charged to act as final arbiter in disputes between states, persons of different states, and maritime cases—most significantly, they are not charged with determining the constitutionality of anything.

C. Constitutional Controversy—because the Constitutional Convention superceded their original charge—to seek changes to strengthen the Articles of Confederation—and because the changes proposed drastically altered the relationship of the national government—which for the first time can truly be called a “federal” government—opposition to the changes quickly sprang up. Defenders of the new constitution began calling themselves Federalists, which had initially been what their opponents had been calling themselves; the opposition thereafter was known as the “anti-federalists.”


1. Federalist Papers—now seen as a sacrosanct document laying out “the Founders” vision of how the government was to be constituted. At the time these documents were created, however, they were anonymous tracts that appeared in newspapers sympathetic to the Federalist viewpoint. We have since learned that three men were responsible for their creation—John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, with Hamilton and Madison writing many more than Jay, and with Madison writing the lion’s share between himself and Hamilton.

2. Federalism—argued for the need for a stronger national government; Federalists, in fact, made up the majority of the convention, and anti-federalist arguments had little effect. Many of the most respected names from the Revolutionary era supported—Hamilton, Franklin, and especially Washington—supported the Federalist side. That support, along with the promise to immediately pass ten amendments limiting the powers of the new federal government, led to the Federalist side prevailing after a bruising battle of ideas in the nation’s nascent press.

C. Emergence of Parties—nowhere in the Articles of Confederation, nor in the Constitution, are political parties mentioned; yet these organizations do arise very quickly to advocate for certain political positions.

1. George Washington—is the one person who stood above party, although his support for the Constitution usually ends in his being identified as a Federalist. As the father of his country, however, he stood above party—or “factional” as he would call it—disputes.

2. John Adams—was a much more divisive character. Adams won a close election over Thomas Jefferson in 1796, when Washington decided to not run for a third term. With Washington gone, the anti-federalist opposition felt more emboldened to attack the new president’s policies. Federalist, who still control government, pass the Anti-Sedition Law of 1798, essentially making it illegal to criticize the government

3. Thomas Jefferson—the anti-federalists rallied around Jefferson, who was ambassador to France during the controversy over the new Constitution; while Washington headed the government, Jefferson dared not criticize the government; with Washington out of the way, anti-federalism found a new, eloquent spokesman. They even come up with a new label for themselves, the Democratic-Republicans.

D. Death of the First Party System

1. Slow Death of the Federalist Party—after John Adams, the Federalist never again control the Executive branch of the government; after Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson were all Democratic-Republicans.


2. Hartford Convention—during the midst of the War of 1812, opposition to the policies of James Madison reached a fever pitch in New England and New York, where Federalist electoral strength was greatest. At the Hartford Convention in 1814, those states discussed secession; this rather treasonous action ended the influence of the Federalist Party, and left the Democratic-Republicans the only viable political party.

II. The Second Party System

A. “The Era of Good Feelings”—the old label given to the time period when there was only one political party, and therefore in theory no factional disputes to stir up opposition to the political direction the country was headed.

B. “Old Hickory”—Andrew Jackson emerged from the War of 1812 as a war hero. Jackson self-consciously promoted himself as an advocate for the common frontiersman, where he grew up and made his considerable fortune. Jackson had an extremely volatile temper, and never forgave what he perceived to be a slight.

1. 1824 Election—Since Jefferson’s election in 1800, presidential elections had been relatively uncontested, with the Secretary of State usually slotted to be the next president; the 1824 election, on the other hand, was hotly contested, with four Democratic-Republican candidates vying for the position—John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Johnson, and Henry Clay. Jackson won the popular vote, largely on the strength of his western appeal. Adams solidly took all of the states of New England; as a result the election, for the first time since 1800, was thrown to the House of Representatives. Clay had enough support there to throw the election to Adams.

2. 1828 Election—Jackson won handily over the unpopular Adams, and promptly moved to even scores—“To the victor belong the spoils.”

C. New Factional Split

1. Jackson and the Democratic Party—the name Jackson’s larger faction of Democratic-Republicans assumes

2. Adams, Clay, and the Whigs—the smaller faction, followers of Adams and Clay, begin to call themselves “Whigs” after the British political party, which opposed the party of the king (“King Andrew,” as American Whigs began derisively calling Andrew Jackson)


D. “King Andrew”—Jackson moved decisively throughout much of his eight years in office to strengthen the executive branch, and to undermine the position of those he saw as his enemies.


1. Dismantling the “American System”—following the War of 1812, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and John C. Calhoun had cooperatively passed a series of legislative measures known collectively as the “American System”—the establishment of a national bank, tariff’s to promote and protect domestic industries, and congressionally funded internal improvements. Jackson’s dismantling of this neo-federalist system led to the creation of the Whig Party.


2. “Hard Cider and Log Cabins”—significantly, the elections that the Whigs won—like William Henry Harrison in 1840—were a result of being able to appeal to what later comes to be identified as “populist” sentiment—that these candidates rise to national office through the strength of their character, rather than on family connections.

E. Personality and Politics—the most successful political parties on the national stage run political campaigns on the personality of their candidates, rather than on a specific platform; this usually allows the candidates to act in a more pragmatic manner, rather than being bound by ideology

Lincoln and the Law

I. Early Political Career

A. New Salem Advocate

1. Failure of Lincoln’s store—not the best of businessmen, and burdened by the amount of debt they took on to by the general store, Lincoln and his partner lost the general store, and Lincoln had to rely on his local connections to be appointed postmaster and also surveyor for the area around New Salem.


2. Black Hawk War—Lincoln saw no real action in this war, but got his first taste of electoral success when the men called up to serve elected him an officer.

3. First run for office—his wrestling match with Jack Armstrong won him the allegiance of the Clary’s Grove Boys, but not enough support from others in the county to win the election. Lincoln finished solidly in the middle of the pack (8th out of 14 candidates); this finish seems largely due to his unabashedly proclaiming that he was an “anti-Jackson” man, which cost him votes in the rural districts that made up most of the county.

B. The Death of New Salem—because it never got the infrastructure needed to become a successful city, New Salem died a lingering death.


1. Business problems—although Lincoln and his partner were not good businessmen, their lack of experience was exacerbated by the lack of transportation infrastructure to get products into and out of the settlement. Then Sangamon River was not reliably navigable near the village, and there were never sufficient investors to make a viable rail connection when that technology became available on the prairie.

2. Ann Rutledge—his relationship with her has long been in dispute, but evidence points to the greater probability of there being an intimate (but chaste) relationship. Her death, however, put Lincoln into a state of deep depression; intimate friends, in fact, feared he would attempt suicide.

3. Second Election Campaign—Lincoln again ran for election in 1834. Learning from past mistakes, Lincoln played up his own rural roots (and familiarity with farm work), and was less forthright over his differences with the still-popular Andrew Jackson. This new strategy paid off in a victory in the election.

C. New Start in Springfield


1. Joshua Speed—one of the first people Lincoln meets upon arriving in Springfield is shopkeeper Joshua Speed, son of an old, well-to-do Kentucky family. Speed invites Lincoln to stay with him above the store, and Lincoln remains there until is marriage.

a. Recently, some historians have argued that the fact that Lincoln was awkward around women and that he and Speed shared the same bed for many years, to argue that Lincoln was either bisexual or a closeted homosexual as an adult. This, I argue, is an attempt to read the present into the past. In fact, Speed and Lincoln soon shared their upstairs room with three other males; differing standards of privacy prevailed in the antebellum period makes it difficult to project the social mores of today back to that time period.

2. The Apprentice Lawyer—Lincoln had engaged in an informal study of law while he lived in New Salem; upon arriving in Springfield, he was able to undertake a more systematic study.


a. Lincoln arrived in Springfield already a known quantity, and one of the most prominent lawyers in town, John Todd Stuart, readily took him on as a partner while Lincoln studied for the bar exam—lending him books from his personal library. The law partnership was an equal one—Stuart took the lion’s share of the fees generated, while Lincoln did most of the work—but it did give Lincoln a start above what he would have been able to do for himself, and a steady stream of clients came through the office door because of Stuart’s reputation, where Lincoln would have to hustle business on his own if not in an already established practice.

b. The experience Lincoln gained from his service as assistant surveyor was tailor-made for many of the disputes that arose in his early years as a lawyer, because many of the disputes were over land titles; in fact, Lincoln was called upon to testify and help adjudicate these disputes before he was even admitted to the bar.



3. The Springfield Politician—Lincoln’s reputation was made before his move to Springfield because of his role with the “Long Nine” group of Springfield-area politicians who maneuvered a bill through the Illinois legislature to move the state capitol from Vandalia to Springfield. Lincoln’s political skills were appreciated, and he quickly became one of the leaders of the Whig Party in Illinois, in one of the few reliably Whig districts in the state.

4. Law and Politics—Lincoln in the early years of his law practice at times confused his role as an advocate for a client with his role as politician, imputing political motives in his opponents’ personal matters.

5. Politics and Law—for most of the time immediately after Lincoln was admitted to the bar, most of his time was spent on political matters—organizing the Whigs in central Illinois, and campaigning himself and for other party candidates during elections. Before his marriage and subsequent family obligations that came with that came with marriage, Lincoln cared little for the compensation the law practice provided, and more about his political career.

II. Lincoln and the Practice of Law

A. Lawyering

1. Frontier professionals—there were few opportunities for those who did not want to work as a farmer in the West in the antebellum period. Lincoln had already failed at running a general store. He did find work as a surveyor and postmaster, but neither were renumerative nor of very high status.

2. Low bar of entry—the two highest status professions in the west were medicine and law.

a. Medicine required some formal training, even though that training was not yet completely tied to the scientific approach we associate it with today. There was still a belief in the powers of “miasma,” and “vapors,” little regard for sanitation. In the early years of medical practice, doctors probably killed more patients than they saved.

b. Law—if one learned to read and write, one could study the law and usually become a lawyer. Law required no formal training. Although Harvard had established a law school in 1806, most lawyers did not attend Harvard—and others did not follow suit until the 1870s and 1880s, when there is a greater push for credentialization to enter all of the professions.

B. The Appeal of Law to Lincoln

1. Equality Under the Law—A large part of the appeal of the practice of law to Lincoln was his belief that adherence to the law helped to equalize opportunity for everyone; that the law, under the best of circumstances, made no distinction between rich and poor.

2. Lincoln as Advocate—William Herndon, Lincoln’s second, long-term partner, claimed Lincoln was a poor advocate for his client if he did not believe in the innocence of that person; again, this probably reflects upon Lincoln’s sense of fair play and equality than on his ability as a lawyer.


C. Riding the Circuit—in much of the sparsely-settled west (and much of the rest of the country), court sessions were not a daily occurrence. Judges, accompanied by lawyers, “road the circuit” visiting the various county seats in the “circuit” to hear the various cases that arose since their previous visit.

Lincoln at New Salem

I. Self-Education
A. What Lincoln Read

1. Holy Bible

2. John Bunyan, Pilgrims Progress

3. William Scott, Lesson in Elocution

4. William Grimshaw, History of the United States



5. “Parson” Mason Weems, The Life of George Washington

B. Computation—although the schools he briefly attended in Indiana provided him with a solid background in simple arithmetic, Lincoln’s better than average abilities in this area were a result of his own efforts performing more complex multiplication and long division problems on his own. This demonstrates his determination, even at an early age, to make his way in the world via his brains rather than his brawn.

C. Socialization—Lincoln excelled at the social aspects of school during his brief sojourns, despite his awkward physical appearance and ill-fitting, homemade clothes, Lincoln was able to win people over with his story-telling and wit, and was hugely popular at after school get togethers, as well as other social events.

II. Growing Family Conflict

A. The Blended Family

1. Increased pressure on the breadwinner—Thomas Lincoln, with his remarriage, suddenly had eight mouths to feed rather than four or five. Sarah Bush Lincoln was also more demanding than Nancy Hanks Lincoln had been—a floor for the cabin, etc.


2. Thomas Lincoln’s health was in decline from shortly after his second marriage. Already blind in one eye, Thomas Lincoln’s sight began fading in the “good” eye as well; by the end of his life he was blind.

3. Abraham Lincoln, Teenager—during Lincoln’s teenage years, he reached the height of 6’4” by 16. This growth spurt would have been accompanied by an increased desire for sleep, and is in part responsible for this reputation for laziness.


4. Lincoln and the Life of the Mind—contributing to this idea that Lincoln was lazy was the fact that he actively pursued the life of the mind—writing down phrases that he wanted to remember, contemplating what he read and/or was trying to memorize, working on mathematical equations, etc.

B. Family tensions

1. Father as tyrant—by most accounts, Thomas Lincoln was fairly easygoing as a father. Sarah Bush Lincoln argued that her husband only forced Abraham Lincoln to work reluctantly if it meant taking him away from his reading. Others dispute that account. Although Thomas Lincoln was not generally physically aggressive, he did on occasion use physical punishment to insist upon his point of view.

2. Thomas Lincoln also seemed to prefer his stepson over his own flesh and blood—probably because Thomas Lincoln shared more common interests with John Johnston than he did with his own son. Abraham Lincoln did not enjoy hunting and other outdoor activities as did his father and stepbrother. Their common interests led Thomas Lincoln to have a closer relationship with Johnson than with his own son, with whom he shared few interests.

C. Death of Sarah Lincoln—Lincoln’s older sister married when Lincoln was 17 (and she was 19). Although the marriage was into one of the leading families in the area, Sarah Lincoln’s death during childbirth—and Lincoln’s feeling that the family had not done enough to assist her during that time—led to an increasing sense of isolation from the community at Pigeon Creek, and led to his first trip downriver to New Orleans.


III. The Move to Illinois

A. The Lincoln’s move westward again—another onset of the “milk sickness” impelled Thomas Lincoln to move westward once again, while he could still count on the labor of his son. Once the new farm was cleared near present-day Decatur, however, Lincoln increasingly began operating independently from his family.


B. Second New Orleans trip—Lincoln jumped at the chance to make a second trip to New Orleans. He, his stepbrother, and a cousin had to build the flatboat, which navigated the Sangamon River through the frontier village of New Salem. Lincoln’s cool-headed handling of a treacherous situation there involving the flatboat attracted a good deal of positive attention; after his return from New Orleans, in fact, a local merchant in the village offered Lincoln a job in a general store there, which he accepted.

C. Life in New Salem—Lincoln spent the next six years of his life in New Salem.


1. The General Store—Here he helped run a general store, and succeeded his employer there when he abandoned the store after a financial downturn (Lincoln’s attempt to run the store faired no better, and the debt he had to take on to buy the store eventually pulled his enterprise under)

2. Runs for Political Office—despite the assistance of the Clary Grove Boys, Lincoln’s first election campaign does not go well; in his second attempt, he was elected to the state legislature from New Salem.


3. The “Fairer Sex”—Lincoln has his first serious romances while in New Salem, first with Ann Rutledge, and then with Mary Owen. Rutledge died either just before or just after her engagement to Lincoln; he was inconsolable over her death, and friends feared that he would take his own life. This is the earliest evidence we have of Lincoln’s problems with what we today recognize as depression.

4. Failure at business—when Lincoln’s store fails, he has to declare bankruptcy. He takes on the job of postmaster for New Salem (using his political connections), and also acquired the tools to become a surveyor, which not only allows him second source of income, but a chance to broaden his acquaintances.


5. Reading the Law—although New Salem is miniscule and provincial by modern standards, people with books did populate the area, and Lincoln took the opportunity to read most of them, as well as the newspapers that came through the post office. In this way, Lincoln began to prepare himself for his new career.