Political History Commons^™

Lincoln On The Abolition Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

That man who thinks Lincoln calmly sat down and gathered his robes about him, waiting for the people to call him, has a very erroneous knowledge of Lincoln," wrote Abraham Lincoln's long-time law partner, William Henry Herndon. "He was always calculating, and always planning ahead. His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest." And in no other pursuit was Lincoln more ambitious than in politics. As a lawyer and Whig political organizer in Illinois, "Politics were his life and his ambition and his motive power." [excerpt]

Understanding Emancipation: Lincoln's Proclamation And The Overthrow Of Slavery, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

The most common trope that governs understanding of Abraham Lincoln and emancipation is that of progress. The variations on that trope are legion, and they include notions of Lincoln's journey toward emancipation, his growth in understanding the justice of emancipation, and his path to the Emancipation Proclamation. "Lincoln was," as Horace Greeley put it, "a growing man"; growing from a stance of moral indifference and ignorance at the time of his election in 1860 toward deep conviction about African American freedom by the time of the Emancipation Proclamation less than two years later. That was a generous sentiment, since it …

Orville Elias Babcock (1835-1884), Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

Orville Elias Babcock (1835-1884) was an army general, engineer, and a private secretary to Ulysses S. Grant..

The Lincoln Enigma: The Changing Faces Of An American Icon, Gabor Boritt

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Nearly a century and a half after his death, Abraham Lincoln remains an intrinsic part of the American consciousness, yet his intentions as president and his personal character continue to stir debate.

Now, in The Lincoln Enigma, Gabor Boritt invites renowned Lincoln scholars, and rising new voices, to take a look at much-debated aspects of Lincoln's life, including his possible gay relationships, his plan to send blacks back to Africa, and his high-handed treatment of the Constitution. Boritt explores Lincoln's proposals that looked to a lily-white America. Jean Baker marvels at Lincoln's loves and marriage. David Herbert Donald highlights …

Holland's Informants: The Construction Of Josiah Holland's 'Life Of Abraham Lincoln', Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Abraham Lincoln's coffin had lain in the receiving vault in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery for less than three weeks when a dapper, walrus-mustachioed New Englander stepped off the train and checked into Springfield's St. Nicholas Hotel. He was Josiah Gilbert Holland, one-time editor (and still part owner) of the Springfield, Massachusetts, Republican, a nationally popular writer of advice books, and (what would turn out to be most memorably) part of a small circle of admirers and encouragers of an unknown Amherst poet named Emily Dickinson. None of those attributes, however, provided the slightest qualification for the task that brought …

Book Review: The Rise And Fall Of The American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics And The Onset Of The Civil War By Michael Holt, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

"An impartial history of American statesmanship will give some of its most brilliant chapters to the Whig party from 1830 to 1850," wrote James G. Blaine in his memoirs. This was not, unhappily, because of a great heritage of political achievement in American public life. The work of the Whigs was, as Blaine admitted, negative and restraining rather than constructive. Still, "if their work cannot be traced in the National statute books as prominently as that of their opponents, they will be credited by the discriminating reader of our political annals as the English of to-day credit Charles James Fox …

Apple Of Gold In A Picture Of Silver: The Constitution And Liberty, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

In the threatening winter of 1861, as the United States was being ~ inched ever- closer td the outbreak of civil war by the secession of the Southern states over the issue of black slavery, the newly elected president, Abraham Lincoln, opened up a confidential correspondence with a f6rmer Southern political colleague, Alexander Stephens of Georgia. Stephens had made headlines in November 1860, in a speech to the Georgia legislature, urging Georgia not to follow tlie South into secession. Lincoln sent him a friendly note, asking- for a printed copy of the speech-and perhaps warming Stephens to an invitation to …

0703: Rosanna A. Blake Collection, 1818-2000, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of manuscript and other paper items collected by Rosanna A. Blake. Included are letters, diaries, correspondence, unit rosters, Confederate imprint forms and currency, 1860-1865. Also included are 3D items including firearms, edged weapons, tin soldiers, original Civil War art work, the Volck shield, and Southern periodicals relating to the Civil War. Notably, the collection includes 3 original Robert E. Lee letters, 1 Jefferson Davis letter, and 2 general orders dictated by Lee. The O'Brien sub-collection contains Civil War pamphlets and booklets, over 300 monographs and books, photos, CDV's, original Civil War art work, the Volck shield, ambrotypes …

Come-Outers And Community Men: Abraham Lincoln And The Idea Of Community In Nineteenth-Century America, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

The most eloquent and moving words Abraham Lincoln ever uttered about any community were those "few and simple words" he spoke on the rear platform of the railroad car that lay waiting on the morning of February 11, 1861, to take him to Washington, to the presidency, and ultimately to his death. As his "own breast heaved with emotion" so that "he could scarcely command his feelings sufficiently to commence" (in the description of James C. Conkling), Lincoln declared that "No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting." To leave Springfield was to …

0697: Archibald Debow Norris Diaries, 1861-1863, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of copies and transcriptions of three diaries, spanning January 1861- April 1863, of Private, later Captain, Archibald D. Norris of the 7th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, Co. K during the Civil War, ending with the Fredericksburg campaign. The diaries are extensive, and cover details about the war and specific battles as well as camp life. There are also entries about Norris’ evolving feelings about the state of the union. According to a note in the collection, there are a significant proportion of West Virginia related content in the diaries.

0685: United Daughters Of The Confederacy. W. Va. Division Records, 1898-2004, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Includes minutes, rosters of Confederate veterans, programs of meetings and proceedings of state conferences of women’s organization established to promote historical, benevolent, educational, patriotic and memorial objectives and honor the men and women of the confederacy.

Holland's Life Of Abraham Lincoln, Josiah Gilbert Holland, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

"Soon after the assassination of President Lincoln in April 1865, newspaper editor Josiah Gilbert Holland traveled to Illinois to talk with people who had known Abraham Lincoln “back when.” In 1866 Holland published the earliest full-scale life of the fallen leader. A great popular success, Holland’s biography introduced American readers who were hungry for personal information about Lincoln’s early life to some of the most famous and enduring Lincoln stories. From Holland the reader learned about Lincoln making restitution for a ruined book, the railsplitter earning his first silver dollar, the millhorse’s kick to his head, the wrestling match with …

Worrying About The Civil War, Edward L. Ayers

History Faculty Publications

There is no animosity in any of these historical or practical interpretations of the Civil War. It is clear that the North fought for purposes entirely good--for Union and the end of slavery--but Confederate soldiers also win respect for their bravery, their devotion, and their struggle against long odds. They seem to have been playing historical roles for which they are not to blame. The reenactors, the books in stores, and the battlefield tours generally avoid talking about the cause of the war, focusing instead on the common bravery and hardships of soldiers North and South.

Abraham Lincoln And The Doctrine Of Necessity, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Abraham Lincoln was a fatalist. That, at least, was what he told many people over the course of his life. "I have all my life been a fatalist," Lincoln informed his Illinois congressional ally, Isaac Arnold. "Mr. Lincoln was a fatalist," remembered Henry Clay Whitney, one of his Springfield law clerks, "he believed ... that the universe is governed by one uniform, unbroken, primordial law." His Springfield law partner William Henry Herndon, likewise, affirmed that Lincoln "believed in predestination, foreordination, that all things were fixed, doomed one way or the other, from which there was no appeal." Even Mary Todd …

0661: Elizabeth Cometti Collection, 1861-1869, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of a microfilm copy of items selected by Elizabeth Cometti about West Virginia taken from the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, specifically materials taken from the W. R. Redding Papers, 1861-1865 and the William Thomas Sutherlin Papers, 1842-1892. The Redding materials are from 1861 while Redding was stationed in Virginia, to his wife, Elizabeth M. Redding, in Randolph County, Ga.. He discusses camp life, troop movements and skirmishes, and conditions at home. Sutherlin materials date from 1868 to 1869 and may include correspondence and other papers relate to the varied business …

Book Review: The Presidency Of Abraham Lincoln, By Phillip Shaw Paludan, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Americans have had a highly complex love-hate relationship with politics, especially with political ideology. Recent books on the state of American politics underscore the resentment Americans feel at governments that have grown bloated and indifferent. And the groundswell of complaints about congressional "gridlock" and budgetary "train wrecks" seems to show that Americans are particularly impatient with political ideologues who insist on letting their philosophies, economics, or values get in the way of consensus and problem solving. Yet tumbling out of every newspaper, radio, and television, now as never before in this generation, is evidence of Americans' possession by political polarizations …

0547: Morrow Family Papers, 1775-1938, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The collection is divided into two series: Series I: Special Commission on Boundaries, Tacna-Arica Arbitration Papers and Series II: Morrow Family Personal Papers.

The first series pertains the 1922 request by Chile and Peru for the United States to arbitrate their land dispute over the provinces of Tacna, Arica, and Tarata. Jay Johnson Morrow was the chairman of the special commission arbitrating the boundary dispute between Chile and Peru from 1925 to 1929. Collection materials include historic maps and treaties, copies of geological surveys, field reports, annexation documents, and reports of arbitration meetings. This series includes materials in Spanish.

The …

0480: Harold C. Smith Typescript, 1955, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of a 26 page typescript titled “A Historical Survey of Lexington During the Civil War”. The paper includes no sections to assist in determining content, but there is a focus on slavery. A note on the folder states that the paper was possibly written for a class taught by Dr. Sam Clagg at the University of Kentucky.

Knox-Wise Family Papers - Accession 591, Knox-Wise

Manuscript Collection

The Knox-Wise Family Papers includes a land grant issued to John Knox in 1768; diaries written by Dr. John Knox [1792-1859] covering the 1840s and 1850s; James N. Knox [1806-1880] covering 1859-1880; and William D. Knox [1847-1928] covering 1869-1928; indentures, deeds, receipts, court summonses and other papers of Hugh Knox [1757-1821], sheriff and justice of the peace in Chester County, South Carolina (ca. 1780s and 1790s); correspondence of James N. Knox, correspondence, and other professional papers of Dr. John Knox; correspondence, and other papers of William D. Knox, Superintendent of Education in Chester County from 1896-1928. Papers of various other …

0301: Samuel Rothgeb Papers, 1862-1864, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of copies of Civil War orders written to Captain Samuel Rothgeb sending supplies and orders for troop movements. Also included is a copy of an 1862 letter to “Friend Rothgeb” from R. L. Stewart regarding a steamboat shipment. Also included are copies of envelopes, a pay stub/check, an Army 50 cent note, and promotion form for Thomas A. Mau(l?)sly to the rank of Colonel in the 18th Regiment of West Virginia Militia.

Given that all collection items are copies, legibility can be limited but is overall high.

0321: Enos Amos Oath, 1864, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of an oath of allegiance for Enos Amos’ election to the office of second lieutenant, 17th Regiment, 3d Brigade, 1st Division, West Virginia Militia, Marion County, West Virginia on August 22, 1864. It is also signed by John B. Crane, recorder.

0248: James N. Potts Papers, 1861-1906, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection predominately consists of a Civil War diary by James Potts. Legibility of the copy of the diary is limited given that it is a xeroxed black and white copy.

The cover of the diary says, “Romance of the War by James N. Potts [illegible] Commissary [illegible] Book Commencing Dec. 12th, 1861 Hunter’sville, Va, Pocahontas Co., Virginia”. The first thirty-one pages consist of a ledger tracking provisions for 1861-1862. In order, the contents after are as follows: recipes, ciphers or “enigmas”, journal entries from 1861 to 1867, an 1869 letter to the editor of the “Herald” from Williamsville, VA, …

0224: Milton Newman Discharge Paper, 1865, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection contains the discharge paper for Milton Newman from Company C, 3rd Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry Volunteers.

0205: Alfred Perkins Rockwell Letter, 1865, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of only one letter. In it, Rockwell discusses Wheeling, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh and coal towns more generally. The letter is addressed to future wife Kate and describes Wheeling, West Virginia, as `dingy, dirty, smoky and busy.' He discusses his travel plans and search for a place to establish a home.

Ua68/8/2 John Rodes Oral History, Wku Oral History Committee

WKU Administration Documents

Oral history interview of John Rodes by unidentified interviewer. Rodes discusses Bowling Green, Kentucky history from its founding, the Civil War and his political career.

0076: Confederate States Of America, Army, Medical Department, 1862-1864, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Register/copybook of letters and orders of Hospital number four, Army of the New River, medical director Dr. John A. Hunter, with hospitals in Pearisburg, VA., Dublin Depot, VA., Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, Va, Red Sulpur Springs and Union, (West), Va. as well as the copybook of Will Jennings, medical director of the Department of Southwestern Virginia. Volumes contain copies of letters and orders sent and received. The register for Hospital number four also contains lists of patients.

0065: Dr. Richard Curry Papers, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of research materials and the personal and professional papers of historian Richard Orr Curry. The collection spans the years 1952-1983, with the bulk of material from the 1970s and early 1980s. The research material in Series 1 on West Virginia statehood, the Civil War, and Reconstruction are all copies, transcripts, and photoduplicates. The only original letters and papers are contained in Box 1, Folder 3, as described below in the finding aid. Much of the Series 2 material focuses on Curry’s anger at his treatment by the USIA, and it contains many letters and copies of published …

The Constitutional Union Party In Kentucky, John Lawrence Kelly

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

During the period immediately preceding the Civil War, there arose a new political party, the Constitutional Union party. While nearly every other phase of the era around the Civil War has been covered exhaustively, comparatively, very little has been written about the Union movement and its attempt to prevent the war. What has been written about the Union party deals primarily with the movement at the national level. It is the goal of this author to present a history of the Union movement in Kentucky and the part played in the national party by Kentuckians.

Ua37/37 The Year 1861 In Brief Review Of American Civil War With Emphasis On Kentucky, Arndt Stickles

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Article regarding Civil War events occurring in Kentucky during 1861.

The Union Occupation Of Bowing Green, Department Of Library Special Collections

Research Collections

Article mentions General Beauregard, A. S. Johnston, Hardee, martial law, destroyed bridge, depot, Baker Hill, Terry's Texas Rangers, Dr. L. C. Porter, Horatio Allen, Tom Mallory, General Mitchel, Colonel Turchin, Colonel Kennett, Elizabeth Wright Thomas, Ella Wright Smith, Margaret McFerrin Bagby, David Silby, John and Jane Atkinson, Evaline Speight, Dr. Goodwin, John Burnam, Josiah Pillsbury, Dr. S. W. Coombs, Dr. David Yandell, and Wirt Adams.