Posted on 02/01/2018 4:59:24 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1855-1860: Seminar and Discussion Forum
Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott, Lincoln-Douglas, Harper’s Ferry, the election of 1860, secession – all the events leading up to the Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: Sometime in the future.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed. To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.
* South Carolina Democrat J.L. Orr elected Speaker of the House.
From The President’s State of the Union Message: “The recent financial revulsion is ascribed to our extravagant and vicious system of paper currency and bank credits, which excite the people to wild speculation and gambling in stocks.”
“Our relations with foreign powers are in general satisfactory.”
“The Message dwells at length upon the affairs of Kansas.”
“The difficulties in Utah are detailed at length.”
“The Secretary of War reports that the army of the United States consists nominally of 17,984 men, but its present effective force is but 15,764.”
“The Secretary of the Navy reports upon the distribution of our naval force. Five vessels constitute the Home Squadron; five are on the Pacific station, three in the Mediterranean; three on the Brazil station; three on the African coast; and five on the Chinese station. He recommends the construction of ten new war steamers of light draught, the estimated cost of which will be $2,300,000.”
“That portion of the President’s Message which relates to Kansas has excited warm opposition. In the Senate, Mr. Douglas took an early opportunity of expressing his dissent from the conclusions of the President, urging that the principle of ‘popular sovereignty,’ as embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, required that the Constitution framed by the Lecompton Convention should be submitted to the people of the Territory. Subsequently, in a long and able speech, he assailed the Lecompton Constitution of the ground that it was obnoxious to the great majority of the people of Kansas, whom it deprived of the power of regulating their own domestic institutions.”
Plus plenty more news of current events.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
BUMP for later
I would have liked to read the rest of the book review on page 6 about the biography of Aaron Burr.
Thank you very much for your generosity. The reviewer shares my opinion of the fascinating Mr. Burr: brilliantly gifted, but, at bottom, quite a bad person.
Thank you very much for your generosity. The reviewer shares my opinion of the fascinating Mr. Burr: brilliantly gifted, but, at bottom, quite a bad person.
Really, I was teasing. It is but the work of a few minutes to prep, scan, upload and post the pages. And I would be happy to do it for most any curious reader but especially for one of my most insightful and loyal classmates.
You’re too kind!
The cartoons about Miss Fanny and her suitors are amusing, and I’m sure they’d be even more amusing if we could match the details of their clothing with their various nationalities and occupations. I wonder if the Irishman is supposed to be Thomas Meagher, who may do something interesting of a military nature in a few years. Iirc, Meagher was very famous at this time.
Thank you for reminding me to listen to the Hamilton soundtrack again. It is really outstanding.
The technology changes, but the obtuseness of university bureaucracy does not.
Continued from January 5 (reply #16) . The note to Congress from President Buchanan referenced by footnote #2 was written on this date.
Nicole Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era
. February 2. Very busy day in Wall Street; Trust Company meeting. Our losses by the late crisis seem wonderfully small. With millions invested (and near a million and a half called in to pay off two deposits since October), we’ve but $20,000 of suspended debt, of which one-quarter is considered a liberal allowance for probable loss.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
Continued from December 2, 1857 (reply #5).
Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
LOL!
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