Book Review: Lincoln's Pathfinder by John Bicknell
By the mid-1850s almost everyone in the United States knew that the issue of slavery, and the threat of disunion posed by it, was coming to a head. The uneasy peace that had followed the Compromise of 1850 was being severely tested as settlers moved into the new territory in Kansas and Nebraska. Sectionally-based tensions were rising as Congress wrestled with the question of whether or not slavery would be permitted to exist as part of America's manifest destiny of expansionism. It was a dangerous and violent time in the nation, and one often overlooked or glossed over by historians in their rush to tell the story of the Civil War.
Author John Bicknell has once again shared his wonderful gift of being able to place his readers in the midst of a fascinating and misunderstood chapter of American history in his latest work Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856. As the title suggests, Bicknell tells the story of the pivotal election of 1856, the first in which the Republican Party ran a national candidate for President. The author tells the story of the dashing and daring explorer Colonel John C. Fremont and his charismatic and confident wife, the former Jesse Benton, the political power couple of their era. Fremont became the first Republican candidate for President, and the author describes how previously scattered abolitionist and anti-slavery factions were able to achieve a measure of unity in the formation of the new party that offered the first serious challenge to the status quo that had permitted slavery to continue long after other parts of the globe had acknowledged its immorality.
Bicknell tells the story of the contemporary political movers and shakers of the time, Republicans, Democrats and others. He describes how anti-slavery politicians such as Ohio Governor Salmon P. Chase, New York Senator William Henry Seward (two members of Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals"), Thurlow Weed, Francis Preston Blair, Judge John McLean and Lincoln himself played a role in the creation of the new political party, and how some sought the nomination for president, while others chose to bide their time and wait for more fertile political times. Meanwhile there were those in the Democratic Party who tried to keep the union together by compromise and by seeking to appease the slaveholding interests. First and foremost among these was "doughface" President Franklin Pierce, followed by candidate in waiting James Buchanan, and party leaders Stephen Douglas, Howell Cobb and Alexander Stephens. There are also an assortment of former Whigs, "Know-Nothings", Nativists and other players who are part of this interesting and complex political calculus, including former president Millard Fillmore, and Thomas Hart Benton, the Republican candidate's father-in-law, but a Buchanan supporter.
It was a time of rampant violence, both in Washington and elsewhere in the nation. Bleeding Kansas was the term used to describe the bloodshed occurring between those who did not want slavery to make its way into the territory, and the pro-slavery border ruffians who came from Missouri and other slave states, intent on making Kansas a slave state. John Brown and his sons were taking their revenge on pro-slavery opponents in and around Kansas. In Wyoming, Lakota Sioux clashed with US Cavalry, and in San Francisco, the Vigilance Committee administered a perverse form of justice. In Ohio, Margaret Garner killed her infant daughter, rather than have the child return to a live of slavery, leading to a sensational trial. In the nation's capitol, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate with his cane, and California Congressman Philemon Herbert shot and killed an Irish waiter in an argument over a late breakfast. Even weather conditions turned violent against Mormons attempting to head west pulling hand carts and against those on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
These were indeed dangerous times and John Bicknell weaves all of these stories and more into his chronicle of the 1856 presidential election campaign, creating a fascinating tapestry of this era of antebellum America. Bicknell's tremendous strength as a historian is his understanding that presidential elections are not one-dimensional and that while election campaigns are occurring, life goes on. Bicknell is able to tell those interesting collateral stories and make ordinary Americans as interesting as their more famous contemporaries. He has once again provided his readers with an outstanding account of an critical but overlooked period, as the nation lit the fuse for civil war. This book is a delight for American history enthusiasts and political history junkies and a pleasure for readers in general. John Bicknell has once again earned and established his place in the upper echelon of US history authors.
Author John Bicknell has once again shared his wonderful gift of being able to place his readers in the midst of a fascinating and misunderstood chapter of American history in his latest work Lincoln's Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856. As the title suggests, Bicknell tells the story of the pivotal election of 1856, the first in which the Republican Party ran a national candidate for President. The author tells the story of the dashing and daring explorer Colonel John C. Fremont and his charismatic and confident wife, the former Jesse Benton, the political power couple of their era. Fremont became the first Republican candidate for President, and the author describes how previously scattered abolitionist and anti-slavery factions were able to achieve a measure of unity in the formation of the new party that offered the first serious challenge to the status quo that had permitted slavery to continue long after other parts of the globe had acknowledged its immorality.
Bicknell tells the story of the contemporary political movers and shakers of the time, Republicans, Democrats and others. He describes how anti-slavery politicians such as Ohio Governor Salmon P. Chase, New York Senator William Henry Seward (two members of Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals"), Thurlow Weed, Francis Preston Blair, Judge John McLean and Lincoln himself played a role in the creation of the new political party, and how some sought the nomination for president, while others chose to bide their time and wait for more fertile political times. Meanwhile there were those in the Democratic Party who tried to keep the union together by compromise and by seeking to appease the slaveholding interests. First and foremost among these was "doughface" President Franklin Pierce, followed by candidate in waiting James Buchanan, and party leaders Stephen Douglas, Howell Cobb and Alexander Stephens. There are also an assortment of former Whigs, "Know-Nothings", Nativists and other players who are part of this interesting and complex political calculus, including former president Millard Fillmore, and Thomas Hart Benton, the Republican candidate's father-in-law, but a Buchanan supporter.
It was a time of rampant violence, both in Washington and elsewhere in the nation. Bleeding Kansas was the term used to describe the bloodshed occurring between those who did not want slavery to make its way into the territory, and the pro-slavery border ruffians who came from Missouri and other slave states, intent on making Kansas a slave state. John Brown and his sons were taking their revenge on pro-slavery opponents in and around Kansas. In Wyoming, Lakota Sioux clashed with US Cavalry, and in San Francisco, the Vigilance Committee administered a perverse form of justice. In Ohio, Margaret Garner killed her infant daughter, rather than have the child return to a live of slavery, leading to a sensational trial. In the nation's capitol, South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate with his cane, and California Congressman Philemon Herbert shot and killed an Irish waiter in an argument over a late breakfast. Even weather conditions turned violent against Mormons attempting to head west pulling hand carts and against those on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
These were indeed dangerous times and John Bicknell weaves all of these stories and more into his chronicle of the 1856 presidential election campaign, creating a fascinating tapestry of this era of antebellum America. Bicknell's tremendous strength as a historian is his understanding that presidential elections are not one-dimensional and that while election campaigns are occurring, life goes on. Bicknell is able to tell those interesting collateral stories and make ordinary Americans as interesting as their more famous contemporaries. He has once again provided his readers with an outstanding account of an critical but overlooked period, as the nation lit the fuse for civil war. This book is a delight for American history enthusiasts and political history junkies and a pleasure for readers in general. John Bicknell has once again earned and established his place in the upper echelon of US history authors.