Harper’s Weekly – July 2, 1859

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | July 2, 1859

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[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.

Posting history, in reverse order

To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.

Link to previous thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Army Printing-Press – 2
The Emperor’s Camp Tent – 2-4
To the Public – 4
Editorials – 4-6
The Lounger – 6-7
The Race on Eclipse Course – 8-9
A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, Book II, Ch VII-VIII – 9-12
The Fourth July – 12
The Emperor and Empress of the French – 13-15
A Night With a Crusader – 15-18
The Councilman’s Ballad – 18
The Weekly Farmer – 18
A Tyrolese Rifleman – 19-20
Trumps, by George William Curtis, Ch. XXXV-XXXVI – 20-23
Humors of the Day – 23-24
The Way American Citizens are Treated Abroad – 25

[colorado tanker]

I have to think the cartoon is referring to some letter Secretary of State Cass wrote that had something to do with an American being drafted into the Austrian Army, but I can't find any reference to it online.

I actually expected the Emperor's camp tent would be more gaudy than is depicted.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I couldn’t find anything either. I looked for a letter from Cass to Mr. Leclerc. No luck.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 19 (reply #12) .

Nicole Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Charles L. Robinson to Amos A. Lawrence, about July 1859

You may not know it and the people of Kansas may not be sensible of it, but I am very much mistaken in my estimate of the influences that have contributed to the freedom of Kansas, if we are not far more indebted to you than to any other man for our success. Without your name, the Emigrant Aid Company would have been a cipher, and without your encouragement, courage, and support, what little I have been able to do would have been left undone.

SOURCE: William Lawrence, Life of Amos A. Lawrence: With Extracts from His Diary and Correspondence, p. 112-3

civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com

[centurion316]

The Battle of Kansas was almost over by this time. Certainly, Bushwacker raids would continue and the Quantrill raid on Lawrence was several years away, but Kansas was firmly a Free State. Leavenworth remained a stronghold for the slavery cause, but Daniel Anthony, the owner of the Leavenworth Times, was an avowed abolitionist. As the Colonel of the 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, he would take the border war to the Missouri side where he paid little attention to the allegience of farmers when he burned their homesteads. Both Union and Confederate supporters had their farms put to the torch by Anthony troops.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Thanks for fleshing out the story.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of John Brown, July 5, 1859

Wrote John and Jason about freight, etc.; also wife; also Charles Blair to forward freight; also to write I. Smith & Sons at Chambersburg. Gave Oliver for expenses $160. Gave Stephens for expenses, June 17, at West Andover, $25.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 520

civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from June 23 (reply #16).

Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from June 22, 1858 (reply #9)

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Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, by Jack Hurst

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from June 22 (reply #15).

July 7. There has been another battle on the largest scale and Austria beat again. Poor Austria! – “Bella gerant alii” indeed. Only a brief telegram had reached London. It was on the banks of the Mincio. Two hundred and eighty thousand Austrians (it’s said) concentrated on that line (but this must include the garrisons of the four strongholds there); a complete victory after sixteen hours of fighting and immense carnage. There will be another Te Deum in Notre Dame, and, I think, a Te Diabolum down below.

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[colorado tanker]

At the time Lincoln wrote him, Schuyler Colfax was an Indiana congressman and founder of the Republican Party. He became Grant's Vice President during his first term.

The name Colfax became an integral part of Colorado history when Denver named what would become its main east-west street for him, Colfax Avenue. The original city plat followed Cherry Creek, which made the streets run more or less Northwest and Southeast. As Denver grew, that plat was abandoned for a conventional North South East West grid. Downtown still uses the original grid, which makes driving in from the conventional grid interesting for us and sometimes maddening for visitors.

Anyhow, Colfax became the main thoroughfare on the east west grid. It's about 50 miles long, including suburban stretches. It goes past landmarks like the Capitol and City County Building and yes that uniquely Denver spot, Casa Bonita.

Colfax is US 40 and used to bring tourists and other visitors to town, but was bypassed by the building of I-70. By the 1970's, Colfax had fallen on hard times. Playboy supposedly called it the longest, wickedest street in America, known for strip clubs and streetwalkers.

Colfax today is vastly improved, even gentrified in places. The strip joints are gone and hookers have moved on. A former strip joint is now a family friendly cafe, comfort food and breakfast served all day.

So, Denver was named for a man who served as Governor of Kansas only long enough for the town to be named after him; and the namesake of the main drag was a Vice President mostly remembered for being a one-termer caught up in the Credit Mobilier scandal.

[colorado tanker]

The Austrians do seem a hapless bunch. Napolean beat them like a drum. The 1848 uprising forced them to cede half their empire to the Hungarians to save it. They’re getting beat up again in this war. In a few years, the Prussians will beat them, leading to the unification of Germany with the Austrians on the outside.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of John Brown, July 8, 1859

Wrote John, enclosing two fifty-dollar drafts. Gave John Henrie forty dollars for expenses.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 520

civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I have to think the cartoon is referring to some letter Secretary of State Cass wrote that had something to do with an American being drafted into the Austrian Army, but I can't find any reference to it online.

We get some follow up in the July 9 issue I just posted. Editorial on pp 4-5 and a cartoon on p 19.