The Childhood of Theodore Roosevelt

I. Earliest life

A. Birth--born in New York City on October 27, 1858

B. Father's family

1. Knickerbocker heritage--Roosevelt clan were established on Manhattan Island by the mid-1600s as Dutch traders.

2. Cornelius Van Schaact Roosevelt (CVS)--ran an importing firm and was a founder of the Chemical Bank. CVS was joined in the family firm by two sons--James and Theodore. CVS was well-off  enough financially that as wedding presents he gave each of his five sons a  brownstone in Manhattan to start off their married lives in.

3. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.--known in the family as Thee. By his children's accounts an extremely loving father who doted on his children--particularly the two eldest,  Anne (called Bamie) and Theodore (Teadie), who developed severe health problems while quite young.

C. Mother's family

1. Southern-bred--Martha Bulloch (called Mittie) was born to an old aristocratic Georgian family; an ancestor was  even the Revolutionary-era governor in Georgia.

2. Just 18--when she  married Theodore Roosevelt, and went  to live with him in NYC. She was remembered by her children as a terrific story-teller, and  regaled them with tales of her family and the life in the South.

3. James Bulloch--Martha's older brother was a dashing sea merchant, who became the premier blockade-runner for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

II. Civil War

A. "Rich Man's War and a Poor Man's Fight"

1. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.--chose to hire a replacement rather than fight in the war. Family stories claim Roosevelt was forever after  guilt-ridden over this decision; however, no one from his social circle volunteered, either, so his guilt was probably diminished. He probably felt little guilt while he and his associates canvassed the city for volunteers to fight in their stead.

2. Allotment Committee--Theodore Roosevelt was instrumental in convincing Congress to pass the Allotment Act, which provided a way for soldiers to send money home to support their families.

3. New York City Draft Riot--in July 1863, white working-class New Yorkers rioted in protest of the new Conscription Act as well as the change in war aims signaled by the Emancipation Proclamation.

a. Roosevelt Sr. was part of the contingent of upper class New Yorkers who organized themselves into militias to defend their homes and businesses from rioters.

b. After the riot was quelled, the upper class New Yorkers marched with the newly inducted black soldiers through the white working-class areas in a show of force.

III. Manliness

A. "Muscular Christianity"--in the years before the Civil War, masculinity underwent something of a change, and ideas of what constituted masculinity evolved.

1. YMCA--the Young Man's Christian Association was established in the United States in 1851, and Roosevelt Sr. became an enthusiastic supporter. The YMCA became a way to foster the  growth of "muscular Christianity," emphasizing the growth of a strong body to complimenta strong spiritual life.

B. Civil War--also helped to redefine masculinity, as those who participated in the fighting were viewed as being more masculine--and those who did  not participate had to find other ways of demonstrating their masculinity.

C. Neurasthania--the nervous disorder of the well-to-do. Although this largely afflicted women (although a small number of men were also diagnosed with the disorder, it necessitated retreat to a variety of spas and resorts to "take the cure." The development of this disease was believed by many to be the result of the upper class becoming "over-civilized," and in danger of losing out the the "under-civilized" peoples of the world.

IV Family Dynamics

A. Doting father--Theodore Roosevelt Sr. was by all accounts a doting, loving, father, willing to walk the floor with his children in his arms to comfort them when they were ill. He also accomodated his wife's frequent illnesses and assumed many of her duties in running the household. At the same time, he was very  demanding, especially on matters of morality.

B. Absent mother--the longer Martha and Theodore were married, the more debilitating and frequent her illnesses became. She probably used her illnesses--and those of 3 of her 4 children--as a way to keep her sister and mother living in her household, since they assisted in running the household and caring for the children. She spent a considerable amount of time at various spas and resorts, taking treatments. She also seems to have used her medical condition to limit sexual contact with her husband, since there were no more children or pregnancies after Corrine.

C. Anne (referred to as Bamie)-- probably afflicted with Pott's Disease, which eventually caused a curvature of her spine. The treatment she received for this disease as a young child caused her severe pain, which could only be relieved by lying face down. Bamie was her father's favorite. Despite her affliction, she was viewed by others in the family as having the sharpest mind--and was the rock upon who everyone elso could lean on.

D. Theodore--fathers namesake, but his mother's favorite. Roosevelt acquired his skills as an orator from his mother, who encouraged him to engage with her  in repartee. His childhood bouts of  asthma left him a sickly, feeble  child--but he compensated by engaging in a life of the mind well beyond his tender years.

E. Elliot--the best athlete of the children, and the most well-tempered, as well. Very early in life he became larger than his big brother, and the target for many of his barbs--but also served an Teadie's  protector.

R. Corinne--the youngest member  of the family. She was also afflicted with asthma, although not as severely as Teadie.

V.  Conclusion--Although born into a great deal of affluence, Roosevelt also experienceda great deal of fear and pain as a youngster. His mother's favorite, he had to compete with his siblings for the attention of the father they all adored--something that the asthma attacks helped accomplish.

The Progressive Era

More to follow

The Gilded Age

Historians have given the time period between then end of Reconstruction in 1877 and approximately 1889 the moniker "The Gilded Age," after a humorous novel written by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley  Warner of the same name. Twain and Warner lampooned the avarice and greed that they saw as pervasive during this era. This time period did witness the rise of the "robber barons" who used their great wealth to make themselves even wealthier. Twain and Dudley chose the term "gilded" because of the connotation that by applying a thin veneer of gold to something, it could be made more attractive--implying that these men believed that gaining great wealth, they could eventually make their unsavory actions appear in a better light.

The United States was moving toward a capitalist economic system in the years before the outbreak of the American Civil War, but the changes in the political and economic systems that developed because of the war helped make conditions ripe for capitalism to take off as an economic system in the years after the war ended. The war promoted the growth of rail transportation in particular, and this became the "engine" of economic growth for much of the era.

Building a railroad necessitated the expenditure of huge amounts of capital. State and local governments in the years before the Civil War helped railroad companies raise this capital by giving them land along railroad right-of-ways, which the companies could then sell to investors or interested settlers. With this money, railroad companies could purchase necessary equipment--engines, rolling stock, rails. Companies also gained the ability to sell stock to raise capital. Selling stock, companies promised to pay dividends from future earnings in return for this investment. The fact that this practice was unregulated, however, allowed companies to sell more stock than they could hope to pay back--they promised to make payments that they had little hope of actually making. This practice was known as "watering" the stock, and was the cause of much of the economic chaos that characterized this era.

Economic hardship is always most difficult upon the poorest, and the process of capitalist industrialization helped to create a large class of people who were extremely poor. The jobs created during boom times led people (largely males) to leave their homes and migrate to the United States to take advantage of these new economic opportunities. These people tended to live in the growing cities, where the jobs were. When they had money to spend, they tended to spend in those establishments that catered to their needs. Saloons provided not only a place to drink beer, but offered cheap meals, and often acted as a permanent address for the transient people who frequented these establishments. Brothels also prospered during this time, since they offered sex and female companionship. These practices led many native whites to see moral failings in a large (and growing) portion of the population, and to begin to legislate against these practices; this leads eventually to their adaption by Progressives.

Theodore Roosevelt and Jane Addams--A Brief Comparison

The Great Americans Class for the Spring Semester of 2010 will examine the lives of two of the most influential persons of the Progressive Era--Theodore Roosevelt and Jane Addams. These two were chosen because of the interesting way their lives intersect and diverge. They were also the most influential man and woman of this age, and I think that they way their lives intersect and diverge can tell us a lot about the lives of less prominent Americans of this era, as well.

Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27,1858, into a well-connected old New York "Knickerbocker" family. Roosevelt's father, a New York City banker, did not volunteer for the war of his generation--the American Civil War. Roosevelt's mother was a native of the South, and openly cheered for that region to prevail in the conflict. Although Roosevelt was less than three when the hostilities began, and less that seven when they ended, it is generally agreed by his biographers that this event helped shape Roosevelt to a large degree--and contributed to his attitudes on all things military, since he determined that if the chance arose in his life, he would not sit on the sidelines through a war that involved the United States.

Roosevelt was a sickly child, probably suffering from allergy-induced asthma in his early life. He spent much of this time traveling with his mother, who herself suffered from a number of debilitating nervous disorders that affected women of means during this time period. His own extended illnesses, coupled with Roosevelt's concern that his time with his mother was emasculating him, embraced the "vigorous life" of the outdoorsman that we associate with him today. Undoubtedly, Roosevelt's move away from the smog endemic in large cities improved his health; that he was able to also prove his masculinity in a variety of ways was just as important for his psychic health.

Jane Addams was also born into comfortable circumstances, although far less opulent than Roosevelt. Addams was born in Cedarville, Illinois, on September 6, 1860. Her father was a prominent local businessman, and became one of the early bankers in nearby Freeport, Illinois. Addams' mother died in childbirth when she was only two years old; her older sister briefly served as woman of the house, but her father remarried within a couple of years of his first wife's death. Addams; life was dealt a severe blow, however, when here father died just after she graduated from the Rockford Seminary.

Addams had planned to enter Harvard after graduation, but her father's death altered those plans. Addams briefly went on a "grand tour" of Europe, but was stricken with a debilitating illness, including severe back pain, and returned to the United States for years of treatment. After her recovery, Addams went on a second grand tour, and on this trip she visited an early settlement house in England called Toynbee Hall. Upon her return to the United States, Addams, along with her friend Ellen Starr, founded the first settlement house in the United States, Hull House.

Roosevelt and Addams shared a number of concerns, but addressed these concerns in divergent ways. The "labor question," immigration, social welfare, and world peace are among the topics that we will explore through their lives. There was enough agreement between the two that Addams actually gave the nomination speech for Roosevelt at the Progressive Party convention in 1912. They diverged again when the United States entered the First World War. Both Addams and Roosevelt were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (Roosevelt in 1905, Addams in 1931). Much of their divergence, I argue, can be explained by their understanding of the role of gender in their lives--another important topic we will be discussing this semester.

This class will deepen our understanding of the Progressive Era, and its importance to the world we live in today. You will leave this class, I hope, with a deeper appreciation for the complexity of the problems faced by the world then emerging--and for the complexity of the problems we face today.

With Malice Toward None

I. Presidential Reconstruction

A. 13th Amendment

1. National Union Party platform--at Lincoln's insistence, the National Union Party adopted a resolution calling for the end of slavery in the United States

2. James M. Ashley--one of the leading Radical Republicans in the House of Representatives, re-introduced the 13th Amendment in that body.

3. 1864 Annual Message--Lincoln attempted to reach out to Democrats of the lame-duck session of the 38th Congress to pass the amendment, since all but four had voted against the amendment in the previous session.

4. Using Presidential "Influence"--Lincoln used a variety of methods to enhance his influence with members of Congress.

B. Peace Overtures--at the time of the Congressional debate over the 13th Amendment, there were also negotiations ongoing with Confederate representatives over ending the war; Lincoln used some obfuscation to calm Democrats excited about the possibility of achieving peace without ending slavery.

1. 1864 Annual Message to Congress--while maintaining that there was no point negotiating with Jefferson Davis, who demanded independence for the South, Lincoln promised generous terms for those states that broke with the Confederacy and rejoined the Union.

2. Northern Peacemakers


3. Southern Peacemakers--While rejecting Blair's plan, Lincoln sent him back with a message that he would be willing to receive a Confederate commission to negotiate peace. By doing so, Lincoln hoped to be able to divide the Confederate government internally, and thus hasten the end of the war.

C. Setting Up Loyal Southern Governments

1. Louisiana--one of the earliest "loyal" governments established in the seceded South, both and the state and local level (New Orleans). Lincoln insisted that he would veto any legislation that did not include recognition of the free-state governments that his administration had established.

2. Presidential Reconstruction--Lincoln's victory in November changed the dynamics of his relationship with Congress, because that body was now more likely to go along with Lincoln's proposals than in his first administration

II. Lincoln's Second Inauguration


A. Lincoln's Turn Toward God--since the death of his young son Willie, Lincoln had increasingly turned to the Bible for solace and strength. The second inaugural address is steeped in biblical imagery.

1. Lincoln's fatalism--Lincoln's fatalism dovetailed with his new-found religious ardor that informs the argument he makes in the Second Inaugural Address, particularly his explanation of why the war has lasted so long and cost so much.

2. "With Malice Toward None ..."--Lincoln also used his 2nd Inaugural Address to encourage the process of sectional reconciliation.

III. The Dead-Enders

A. The Plots to Kidnap Lincoln--as the war went from bad to worse for the Confederacy, plots to kidnap Lincoln and hold him for ransom and the release of prisoners underwent serious consideration

1. Union antecedent--while it is unclear how involved Lincoln was, there was an apparent plot to kidnap Jefferson Davis and other high Confederate officials that failed, and may have prompted consideration of their own plots.


B. John Wilkes Booth--a member of the first family of the American theater, Booth was an ardent white supremacist who viewed slavery as beneficial for both the slave owner and the slave.

1. Delusional alcoholic--a talented actor, Booth became increasingly delusional and spent much of his time while conscious drinking.

IV. Assessing Lincoln

The 1864 Election

I. Republican challengers

A. John C. Fremont--never really became a serious challenger, although he had the backing of a large contingent of German-Americans in Missouri, who were angered by how Fremont was treated in 1861 (as he was), and had always been suspicious of Lincoln and the Know-Nothing rumors that swirled around him.

B. Salmon Chase--the most serious Lincoln challenger--even though he was still serving as Lincoln's secretary of Treasury at the time. By early 1864, Chase had come to respect Lincoln's abilities, but still felt that he was more intelligent and would make a better president. Chase also felt he got little credit for the tremendous job he was doing as Secretary of the Treasury--a slight he attributed to Lincoln's lack of administrative ability, since the departments of War and Navy spent money faster than Chase could raise it.

1. Lincoln's supporters--had been working assiduously to get Lincoln renominated at the upcoming Republican convention (which was renamed the Unionist convention, in an attempt to persuade War Democrats to vote for Lincoln in the fall). William E. Chandler used the occasion of the New Hampshire Republican Convention--set to nominate Gov.Joseph Gilmore for another term--to push through a resolution declaring Lincoln "the people's choice for re-election to the Presidency in 1864." Simon Cameron, Lincoln's first War Secretary, obtained signatures from all Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania requesting that Lincoln allow himself to be re-nominated. Other political activists in the North used the Union Leagues to organize support for Lincoln in their states.

2. Chase's supporters--were caught off-guard by this early action on the part of Lincoln supporters, and had to scramble to catch up. Chase had built a base of support within the Treasury Department, which with the expansion of the department with patronage jobs due to the passage of the Internal Revenue Act of 1862. Chase also had considerable support among Radical Republicans who, like Chase, considered Lincoln too cautious and meek on the issue of the abolition of slavery.

a.Pomeroy Circular--in February 1864, Chase supporters--including Ohio Sen. John Sherman and Rep. Thomas Ashley--circulated a pamphlet entitled The Next Presidential Election, which claimed that "The people have lost all confidence in [Lincoln's] ability to suppress the rebellion and restore the Union," and that the next Republican candidate must be "an advanced thinker; a statesman profoundly versed in political and economic science, one who fully comprehends the spirit of the age." This pamphlet came on a little too strong for many, however, and Chase quickly disavowed any responsibility for it.

Undeterred, Chase's backers attempted a second circular just weeks later, mailed out under the signature of Sen. Samuel C. Pomeroy of Kansas, mailed to hundreds of Republicans that claimed that re-electing Lincoln was "practically impossible." Chase again had to disavow any knowledge of the letter, and offered his resignation as Treasury secretary. Lincoln left Chase dangling for several week. By the time Lincoln wrote a letter asking Chase to stay on, his forces in Indiana and Chase's home state of Ohio had petitioned Lincoln to run again, and Chase had been savaged on the floor of the Senate by Frank Blair. Tired of the abuse, Chase withdrew his name for consideration for nomination on March 5

C. U.S. Grant--Grant, a hero when he arrived in the East from the West after Vicksburg, was the candidate favored by Radicals after Chase dropped out of consideration--but Grant had no political ambitions before the war was concluded--which he stated to Lincoln both before and after he assumed command of the Army and particularly the Army of the Potomac.

C. Winning the Nomination

1. Baltimore Convention--held in early June 1864, the convention nominated Lincoln by unanimous consent.


2. Nominating the Vice-President--some historians claim the nomination of Andrew Johnson to be Lincoln's greatest mistake. The evidence suggests that Lincoln simply had no preference for his vice-presidential running mate--because the job was not very important, and Lincoln had no idea that he would be killed in office. Hannibal Hamlin was an ardent abolitionist, and the other viable candidate was from New York, which would mean that William H. Seward would have to resign because by tradition no state held more than one high federal office at a time. This left Johnson, who proved loyal to the Union and to Lincoln--and his nomination was hoped to encourage the border states not to secede, and to encourage seceded states to re-enter the Union.

II. Grant Takes Command


A. Strategy--Grant initially planned a multi-front attack to use the superior numbers of the Union forces to wear down the Confederates; the political generals (Banks, Sigel, and Butler) were not up to the task, however, and the war bogged down as the summer months progressed.

B. Battle Losses--Lincoln found in Grant his ideal general, one who was willing to carry the fight to the Confederates. Grant's tenacity had severe consequences, however, as the Army of the Potomac took nearly 100,000 casualties in the first half of 1864.

C. Civilian Morale--many in the North lost confidence in the abilities of Grant; even Mary Lincoln referred to him as "a butcher, unfit for command." Lincoln retained his confidence in Grant, however--perhaps because he had to, since there were no other generals to turn to.


1. Wade-Davis bill--the growing frustration on the part of Radical Republicans with the course of the war, and with what they saw as Lincoln's foot-dragging on abolition, found an outlet with the Wade-Davis bill. Named after its two principal sponsors, Radical Republicans Sen. Benjamin Wade and Rep. Henry Winter Davis, the bill asserted the primacy of Congress over reconstruction, rather than the Executive Branch. It stipulated that any state seeking readmission to the Union had to first abolish slavery; that 50 percent of 1860 voters must participate in elections to reconstitute their state governments, rather than the 10 percent in Lincoln's plan; and that the electors of the state conventions to vote on these matters had to take an "iron-clad" pledge that they had never voluntarily borne arms against the United States, or aided the rebellion--rather than the simple promise not to do so in the future, as the Lincoln plan required.

The severity of this bill caused Lincoln to oppose it. Because it was voted on near the end of the first session of that Congress, Lincoln simply "pocketed" the veto--although he issued a statement giving his reasons for acting in that manner; both actions were highly unusual, and further angered Radicals, who began to work against his nomination once again.

D. Peace Overtures--war weariness on both sides prompted calls for peace negotiations; both the Union and Confederate sides agrees several negotiation sessions, but the seriousness of their negotiations remains in question.


1. The Greeley negotiations--word was passed to Greeley, editor of the influential New York Tribune that negotiators from the Confederacy were in Canada to negotiate the end of hostilities. Lincoln already had a team meeting secretly in Richmond, but knew that Greeley could expose these new negotiations--which Lincoln suspected were more meant to influence the fall elections, rather than any serious peace negotiation--instructed Greeley to act as emissary, and stated that the US was willing to negotiate as long as the Confederacy met two preconditions--the "restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole union, and the abandonment of slavery." Lincoln new this last pre-condition would never be met; he wanted to avoid this so that the South would not ask for an armistice. Outraged, the Southern representatives saw that Lincoln's "To Whom It May Concern" letter was quickly published; this cost him support by both War Democrats (who had no interest in fighting for African American freedom), and Radical Republicans, who so the move as a clumsy ploy for their support in the upcoming elections.

III. Democratic Convention


A. Peace Candidate/War Platform-by the time the Democratic Party met for their nominating convention in late August 1864, the tide of the war had turned once again; Sherman captured Atlanta just as the convention was ending, making much of the peace platform moot.

B. War Candidate/Peace Platform--McClellan was a compromise candidate of a badly divided party. While he himself favored the war, part of a compromise that handed him the nomination left the writing of the platform to prominent Copperhead Clement Vallandigham.

C. McClellan's Dilemna--McClellan still viewed Lincoln as a fool, who meddled too much in military afairs, but even though he repudiated this party's platform, it still hung like a millstone around his neck during the campaign

IV. Grant Takes Command--Redux


A. Strategy--with the coming of fall, the constant contact that Grant and his generals maintained with the opposing Confederate forces (along with Jefferson Davis' replacement of Joseph Johnston with John Bell Hood in the defense of Atlanta) led to Union forces regaining momentum.

B. Battle Victories


1. Sheridan at Cedar Creek--Sheridan's battlefield leadership turned certain defeat against the forces led by Jubal Early into one of the most decisive victories the Union forces experienced

C. Civilian Morale--the string of decisive Union victories led many three-year volunteers, who had been leaving the Union army, to re-enlist to get in on what they undoubtedly saw as payback for the many defeats they had suffered for the previous three years.

V. The Fall Election--and Its Aftermath

A. Lincoln's Victory--Lincoln won the popular vote by more than 400,000, and took all states casting electoral votes (that is, all but the seceded states) except Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey; for the first time, states allowed soldiers in the field to vote, and Lincoln gained 70 percent of those votes.

1. Military success--bred electoral success. When the Union army began piling up victories, it became much easier to reconcile both wings of the party. Lincoln also made concessions to both wings of the party, asking for the resignation of Montgomery Blair (whose family made enemies of the Radical wing), and eventually appointing Salmon Chase chief justice when Roger Taney died; with Chase out as Treasury secretary, it was also easier to keep Thurlow Weed happy in New York.

B. Republican Victory--the Republican Party not only retained the White House, but also made significant gains in both the House and the Senate.


C. 13th Amendment--was first introduced in January 1864, and passed in the Senate--but failed to pass in the House of Representative. The amendment was subsequently re-introduced by Rep. James M. Ashley (of Toledo), and subsequently championed by Pres. Lincoln during the summer of 1864. The amendment passed in January of 1865, and was ratified by the states by the end of that year.

Final (Optional) Writing Assignment

CSA: Confederate States of America (the movie we watched in class) engaged in what is known as “alternative” history—that is, history that did not happen, but could have occurred had conditions been different. In a 4-5 page paper, I would like you to explore some alternative history, as well. In late 1863, Lincoln proposed a plan for reconstruction of the South—of transforming Southern society without slavery. Based upon your reading, and the lectures in class, how would Lincoln’s implementation of reconstruction differed from what actually occurred? Give specific reasons for these differences based upon Lincoln’s statements.

This final paper is due at the same time as the take-home final exam—December 15, 2009, at 10:15 am.