The History Book Club discussion

This is the reading assignment for week ten - (January 4, 2010 - January 10, 2010):

Chapters 22 (end) - 24 (pages 531 - 616 )

Remainder of Chapter 22 and....

Chapter 23

You Say that You Will Not Fight to Free Negroes: May 1863 - September 1863 - page 563

Chapter 24

A New Birth of Freedom: September 1863 - March 1864 - page 591

Hello Everyone,

We will open up a thread for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers.

This book was kicked off on November 1st.

We look forward to your participation. Barnes and Noble and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, or on your Kindle.

Since we only started this book on November 1st, there is still time remaining to obtain the book and get started.

There is no rush and we are thrilled to have you join us. It is never too late to get started and/or to post.

This thread starts today January 4, 2010.


Welcome,

~Bentley


TO ALWAYS SEE ALL WEEKS' THREADS SELECT VIEW ALL



Ronald C. White Jr.

Folks, do not worry if you have gotten a bit behind...these threads will still be available and you have plenty of time to finish either before the end of January and/or by the time the next Presidential read begins on Jefferson (February 1st).

If you are just getting caught up, we always leave the threads open...so not to worry.

So just continue to read along; while we keep up the pace. Once we get the full schedule going for the Presidential reads, you will find that each PS discussion will take at most three months with a month off in between selections; this will provide the needed catch up time that some of you might need and it also provides our assisting moderators some time to catch their breath and be able to participate in other History Book Club selections.

The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation consists of two executive orders issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. The first one, issued September 22, 1862, declared the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. The second order, issued January 1, 1863, named ten specific states where it would apply. Lincoln issued the Executive Order by his authority as "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy" under Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution.

The Emancipation Proclamation was criticized at the time for freeing only the slaves over which the Union had no power. Although most slaves were not freed immediately, the Proclamation brought freedom to thousands of slaves the day it went into effect in parts of nine of the ten states to which it applied (Texas being the exception).

Additionally, the Proclamation provided the legal framework for the emancipation of nearly all four million slaves as the Union armies advanced, and committed the Union to ending slavery, which was a controversial decision even in the North. The proclamation did not name the slave-holding border states of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, or Delaware, which had never declared a secession, and so it did not free any slaves there. The state of Tennessee had already mostly returned to Union control, so it also was not named and was exempted. Virginia was named, but exemptions were specified for the 48 counties that were in the process of forming West Virginia, as well as seven other named counties and two cities. Also specifically exempted were New Orleans and thirteen named parishes of Louisiana, all of which were also already mostly under Federal control at the time of the Proclamation.

However, in other Union-occupied areas of Confederate states besides Tennessee, the Proclamation went into immediate effect and at least 20,000 slaves were freed at once on January 1, 1863. Hearing of the Proclamation, more slaves quickly escaped to Union lines as the Army units moved South. As the Union armies conquered the Confederacy, thousands of slaves were freed each day until nearly all (approximately 4 million, according to the 1860 census) were freed by July 1865.

Near the end of the war, abolitionists were concerned that while the Proclamation had freed most slaves as a war measure, it had not made slavery illegal. Several former slave states had already passed legislation prohibiting slavery; however, in a few states, slavery continued to be legal, and to exist, until December 18, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was enacted.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipa...

The Emancipation Proclamation
January 1, 1863

A Transcription

By the President of the United States of America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[):], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

These chapters show the war really heating up and the Union not necessarily doing well. In our modern times I am afraid we (the Union) would have given up with the mounting deaths. So if you lived in DC at that time what would you do? Let me tell you now what Jefferson Dugger did, an ancestor of mine…..

Remember, Jefferson knew Lincoln as a Lawyer, someone with the same politics, and (I believe) as a friend in Illinois and in Kansas. Soon after the war began, Jefferson Dugger and his wife Mary moved to Washington DC from Leavenworth Kansas. Jefferson must have been motivated to help Lincoln in any way he could. He would have naturally been indebted to Lincoln for all the legal help Lincoln provided to him in the past. It is believed that Jefferson went to Lincoln and asked for a job. Lincoln was well known in helping his friends obtain government jobs. Jefferson soon became a clerk in the Treasury Department in Washington DC.

In 1863, motivated by the fact that the war continued to ragged on or by other factors, Jefferson, now 37 decided to ask Lincoln for a commission and to join in the actual fighting. On March 7, 1863, Lincoln sends several War Department nominees to the Senate for appointments in the volunteer service and among them was Jefferson Dugger who, on March 11th, becomes an assistant adjutant-general with the rank of captain on the staff to Major General Prentiss. Prentiss was the Union Commander of the Eastern Division of Arkansas. Jefferson’s military career did not last long since on July 16, 1863 he dies of chronic dysentery. Sickness, not bullets are what kill 70% of the men in the war.

James wrote: "These chapters show the war really heating up and the Union not necessarily doing well. In our modern times I am afraid we (the Union) would have given up with the mounting deaths. So if you lived ..."

What an amazing story, James. For some reason, I didn't expect him to die before the war ended.

I have a friend who is sharing with me some Civil War letters that she found in her father's attic. Her ancestor talks about the battle of Seven Pines, and even draws a detailed map of the battle. We even found a similar map in Shelby Foote's Civil War. Very interesting stuff!

There is a little more to the story.... On March 21, 1864 Lincoln sees two Illinois woman, Susan Dugger and Letitia Beattie. They had come from Illinois to the big city looking for a job. Susan was a niece of Jefferson (her father’s brother). As meetings like this almost invariably go, Lincoln probably asked about how the family was doing. It is at this meeting that Lincoln may have heard for the first time about the death of Jefferson. Lincoln would write hundreds of letters to spouses and parents of fallen soldiers over the war years. Since there is no letter of record for Jefferson he probably didn’t know of his death. Lincoln may also have learned about Susan’s brother John Wesley Dugger (Sgt., Co. C, 32nd IL Infantry) who was wounded at Shiloh and discharged with a permanent limp and disability. Lincoln must hear these stories all the time. His face from the photos of the time clearly shows he takes the weight of these sad situations on his shoulders. You can just see it in his eyes.

As perhaps he did with Jefferson, Lincoln is determined to help Susan and her friend Letitia find a job. Lincoln sends a letter to Montgomery Blair, stating “These young ladies, Miss Dugger and Miss Beattie, are from Illinois and want employment. They are loyal and worthy and I shall be glad indeed, if places can be found for them.” Blair finds clerk jobs for both Susan and Letitia. Susan works in DC all her life and never marries, dying on December 28, 1911. She is buried at Glenwood Cemetery, Washington DC. I drive by her grave on the way to work every day... I only discovered this about a month ago.

Lincoln's letter to Blair is found at http://www.thelincolnlog.org/view
using "Dugger" as search and finding the dates. Jefferson;'s story comes from his pension record that Mary his wife filed.

Mary, Jefferson’s wife writes Lincoln in July 1864, but I will keep that story until we get to those chapters.

The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-- Abraham Lincoln

The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address is a speech by Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.

Abraham Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, came to be regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history. In just over two minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and that would also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant.

Beginning with the now-iconic phrase "Four score and seven years ago," Lincoln referred to the events of the Civil War and described the ceremony at Gettysburg as an opportunity not only to consecrate the grounds of a cemetery, but also to dedicate the living to the struggle to ensure that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Despite the speech's prominent place in the history and popular culture of the United States, the exact wording of the speech is disputed. The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address differ in a number of details and also differ from contemporary newspaper reprints of the speech.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysbu...

The following book, "Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America" by Warry Wills won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1993 and the National Book Critics' Circle Award in 1992. It comes highly recommended to anyone interested in further study of Lincoln's Gettysburg address.


Garry Wills

A former professor of Greek at Yale University, Wills painstakingly deconstructs Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and discovers heavy influence from the early Greeks (Pericles) and the 19th century Transcendentalists (Edward Everett). The author also probes Lincoln's decision to rely more on the Declaration of Independence than the U.S. Constitution, a decision Wills says represented a "revolution in thought." He speaks effusively of the 272-word address: "All modern political prose descends from [it:]. The Address does what all great art accomplishes. [I:]t tease[s:] us out of thought." Wills' book won the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.

Also, here are a few more:

[image error]

Gabor Boritt
Steven P. Olson
Professor A. E. Elmore
Louis A. Warren

Joe wrote: "The following book, "Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America" by Warry Wills won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1993 and the National Book Critics' Circle Award in 1992. ..."

Please don't forget White's other book ..."The Eloquent President"
I found his chapter on the Gettysburg address to be an outstanding analysis of how Lincoln's choice and usage of words to be so telling of his command of the language and the politics of the time....

Ronald C. White Jr.