Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President

Book Description

Lincoln at Cooper Union explores Lincoln's most influential and widely reported pre-presidential address -- an extraordinary appeal by the western politician to the eastern elite that propelled him toward the Republican nomination for president. Delivered in New York in February 1860, the Cooper Union speech dispelled doubts about Lincoln's suitability for the presidency, and reassured conservatives of his moderation while reaffirming his opposition to slavery to Republican progressives.

Award-winning Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer places Lincoln and his speech in the context of the times -- an era of racism, politicized journalism, and public oratory as entertainment -- and shows how the candidate framed the speech as an opportunity to continue his famous "debates" with his archrival Democrat Stephen A. Douglas on the question of slavery.

The Cooper Union speech, which was carefully researched by Lincoln and refers often to the Founders and authors of the Constitution, is an antislavery lecture, capped by a ringing warning to would-be secessionists in the South. It reaches its climax with the assurance that "right makes might." Long held, inaccurately, to be an appeal to the conservatives, Holzer presents Lincoln's speech as a masterly combination of scholarship, a brief for equality and democracy, and a rallying cry to the country and the Republican party.

Holzer describes the enormous risk Lincoln took by appearing in New York, where he exposed himself to the country's most critical audience and took on Republican senator William Henry Seward of New York, the front-runner, in his own backyard. Then he recounts the brilliant and innovative public relations campaign, as Lincoln took the speech "on the road" in his successful quest for the presidency.

Customer Reviews:

How Lincoln got creditable...........2007-02-17

Harold Holzer's book on Abraham Lincoln's speech at Cooper Union gives a clarity to the importance of that speech and how it affected Lincoln as a speaker, politican and future candidate for his Republican Party. While Lincoln was well known among the western states, he wasn't that well regarded along the northeastern seaboard. One of the most important things about the book was how the author explained how this speech gave Lincoln so much creditability among the easterners and how that speech firmly put Lincoln on the political map national wide. This helped pave the way for Lincoln's nomination when others were looking for alternative choices beside William Seward who was at that time, the leading Republican front runner.

The book proves to be quite informative. Abraham Lincoln is obviously one person you cannot judge by your first impression. The author throughly explained the mannerism of Lincoln's speech skills and the way it contrast to his physical appearances which often led to initial misgiving by the audience before they roared in their approval at the end of the speech.

Its pretty clear that Mr. Holzer have complete command of his subject matter which is reflected on the superb writing and ease of reading material that only an expert can do to any subject. The book appears to be well researched and it was about time that a book on this subject came out (I think the last book about this speech came out before Mr. Holzer was born).

I would considered this book to be a mandatory reading material for anyone interested in Abraham Lincoln and probably a good background material for anyone interested in the coming of the American Civil War.

Another side of Lincoln.......2007-01-05

There are so many books written on Lincoln and many different prespectives on his life and presidency. Holzer looks at the Cooper Union Speech and shows how Lincoln, the master politician used the speech and his trip East to get the 1860 nomination. Many historians assert that the speech made Lincoln. However, Holzer shows a unique view of the trip and the speech and how Lincoln used the opportunity to campaign in the East before he was officially a candidate. Ironically, Holzer points out that Salmon Chase turned down the opportunity to speak at Cooper Union demonstrating just one more ocassion when Chase blew an opportunity to get to the White House.

While dispelling many myths about the speech and Lincoln's trip, Holzer also shows the brillance of Lincoln and the time and effort that he spent in preparation for this speech. He also shows how this speech became Lincoln's stump speech. Once nominated, Lincoln followed the tradition of the time and did not campaign but used the Cooper Union Speech as essentially his platform.

For the person just beginning their interest in Lincoln or the seasoned scholar, this book is well worth the read. To add to that it is a quick and enjoyable read.

"The Founding Fathers said . . .".......2006-02-24

For anyone who wants to use the founding fathers as a justification for their belief system should read this speech and this book.

Lincoln in tight, careful reasoning lays out exactly what the founding fathers believed in regard to slavery. Eloquent, exciting and challenging.

This is much needed study to the speeches of Lincoln.

Democracy in 1860.......2006-01-30

I enjoyed this book immensely and now look forward to reading more from Holzer about this period. It answered so many questions I had about the messy circumstances surrounding slavery and the formation of the country. What I had always thought of as such hypocrisy was, as I now understand it, an incredible lesson in the human tension between reality and ideals -- such a Christian tension and so true to life, and on such a grand and significant scale. Rather than merely acknowledging the "stain", as indeed it was, the focus today should be on the triumph of overcoming it.

In his highly detailed telling, Holzer over and over exposes Linclon myths surrounding the event and that are, in themselves so revealing of human tendencies. While deflating so many of these myths, in the doing he does so much to explain the likely origins -- often humourous, sometimes self serving, but always understandable and enriching to his story.

And not just myths. One I found particularly poignant was repeated on occasion by son Robert who was at Exeter at the time of the speech. While it had been only about 4 months since they had seen each other, a visit to Robert was one of Lincoln's excuses for taking the time and incurring the expense of going East to speak. Lincoln ultimately made about 10 subsequent stops to speak in New England on his return trip to and from Exeter before heading home. While these speeches laid the foundation for his calculating father's ultimate nomination and election, Robert steadfastly maintained the purpose of the trip was to see him. I found that very touching -- it's one thing to be a father to your country, but still another to be so to your son.

At the heart of it all was the speech itself and the eager ears, eventually eyes, which took it in. While Lincoln's personality was a factor, the power of his words was what carried he day. I found this revealing and a tonic to today's politics -- an altogether different America then.

This was democracy at its best. There is clearly, to me at least, no ideal political system, as all can be manipulated. Now with Hamas the victors in Palestine, I guess even the current administration might be thinking this.

I could go on, but won't other than to quote the following recollection attributed to Lincoln and which might best be read with the thought of current schooling in mind:

I remember how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated when any body talked to me in a way I could not understand. I don't think I ever got angry at anything else in my life . . . I can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the neighbors talk of an evening with my father, and spending no small part of the night walking up and down, and trying to make out what was the exact meaning of some of their, to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep, though I often tried to, when I got on such a hunt after an idea, until I had caught it; and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until I had repeated it over and over, until I had put it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind of passion with me, and it has stuck by me; for I am never easy now, when I am handling a thought, till I have bounded it North, and bounded it South, and bounded it East, and bounded it West. Perhaps that accounts for the characteristic you observe in my speeches, though I never put the two things together before.

PS As a graduate of Cooper Union, I did find Holzer's account of Cooper's amazing building a bit thin. Plans and photos are available on the web. The stage is on the West, not the North as Holzer says, and there are 18 obstructing columns, not 16. These inaccuracies have not altered my faith in his account. I have inserted a plan of the hall in my copy.

Highly recommended.......2005-08-24

Another wonderful contribution to Lincoln scholarship by Harold Holzer! Like all of his previous contributions to our understanding of the Civil War president, this book is thoroughly researched, gracefully written, and richly informative.

Lincoln spoke on February 27, 1860, to a large crowd in New York's Cooper Union on the great political issue of the day, the extension of slavery into the American territories. The 90-minute speech was carefully researched, logically argued, and powerfully delivered, and, at its conclusion, the audience burst into cheers. The following day, it was printed in full in the major newspapers of New York City. In the weeks and months ahead, it was reprinted and avidly read in all parts of the country (except the slaveholding states of the South).

Holzer argues that the Cooper Union speech was, in a sense, both the first and the last of Lincoln's presidential campaign speeches, for it was the first major address in which he believed that he might actually be elected president, and after he returned to Illinois he never again delivered a campaign address (the custom of the time prohibited presidential candidates from actively seeking the office). But the speech was so warmly received and so widely read by voters from New England to California that it served its purpose over and over again, placing Lincoln's views before the electorate and demonstrating the formidable powers of reason and persuasion that he would bring to the presidency.

Holzer discusses the circumstances that led up to the Cooper Union speech, the time-consuming preparations Lincoln made for it, the effect that it produced (both in New York City and in the broader nation), and its historical significance. I was particularly fascinated by his description of New York in 1860, already the nation's preeminent metropolis, with a seething commercial, political, and journalistic life, and of Lincoln's experiences there, both inside and outside Cooper Union.

Highly recommended.

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Willowbrook
Cliched and Poorly Written

The Willowbrook Wars
Sheila M. Rothman , and David Rothman
Manufacturer: Aldine Transaction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0202307573

Customer Reviews:

Willowbrook.......2006-02-22

Maybe some people would like to know some of the specifics of Willowbrook? If so, this book might provide some insight into the movement called deinstitutionalization.

Cliched and Poorly Written.......2005-12-23

This is a horribly cliched and trite book.

Liberal activist do-good trial lawyers save the world. Mentally retarded living in their own feces, chained to the walls. Hell on earth!

Who comes in on the white horse to save the day? Why the class-action liberal trial lawyer of course!

Yeah for the liberal trial lawyers. Yeah for the crusading journalist who exposed this horror. Boo for the mean evil bureaucrats! Boo for the currupt and inept politicans!

This is an endless stories told by many liberals 60's do-gooders themselves. Ahhh, if only the world was like it was back then. If only the courts were so friendly to righting the wrongs as they were then. If only Bush wasn't in office.... Wait, I digress.

And the Rothmans are liberal do-gooders. David sits on the board of George Soros's foundation (does it get any more liberal and biased these days?!?) and once was on the Board of the ACLU. Sheila is one of the travel-loving Human Rights type (human rights activist just another phrase for someone who loves to travel to exotic places and get other people to pick up the tab). She works on projecs with phrases like the "Socially Disadvanted" and worries about "the poor" from her Ivory Tower perch at Columbia.

Look, this is a badly written, highly cliched, highly biased book.

If you want to read something good on a topic like this, at least spend your money on something well writeen:

Simple Justice by Richard Kluger
Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald Stern
A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
The Other Side of the River by Alex Kotlowitz
The Lost Children of Wilder by Nina Bernstein

Just read anything but this.

The Fiery Trail: A Union Officer's Account of Sherman's Last Campaigns

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The Fiery Trail: A Union Officer's Account of Sherman's Last Campaigns
Thomas Ward Osborn
Manufacturer: University of Tennessee Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Swamp Doctor: The Diary of a Union Surgeon in the Virginia and North Carolina Marshes

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The Swamp Doctor
A Civil War Snapshot
Superb look at Civil War reality

Swamp Doctor: The Diary of a Union Surgeon in the Virginia and North Carolina Marshes
William Mervale Smith
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Customer Reviews:

The Swamp Doctor.......2002-05-13

Dr. Lowry's latest in a series of excellent books represents an edited version of the diary of Dr. William Marvel Smith, Surgeon of the 85th New York Volunteer Infantry (85th NYVI). Readers of this book will get a glimpse of the very private thoughts of a civilian doctor-turned-army surgeon doing the best he can to care for his men, while struggling with personal problems at home and in camp.

William M. Smith was born in New Jersey, the son of a practicing physician, and moved to southwestern New York State at an early age. After attending local schools until his mid-teens, he apprenticed himself to a local physician and studied medicine at Castleton College in Vermont.

He opened his own practice, and after some gaining some experience and success, Smith began to involve himself in local politics. He rose from being a local county supervisor, to election to the State Assembly, and finally as delegate to the 1860 Republican Convention in Chicago, where he cast a vote for the nomination of Abraham Lincoln.

Parallel with this success was tragedy: Smith's first wife died four years after the birth of their son, and his second wife died only months after the birth of another. In September 1861, Smith helped raise a company of the 85th NYVI and marched off to war, leaving behind his two sons and a new fiancée. The diary covers his service from June 1862 through May 1863, with entries for nearly every day.

Readers, perhaps lured by the title, should not expect a detailed treatise of the minutiae of battlefield medicine. After active participation in the Peninsula and Seven Days campaigns, Smith and the 85th spent most of their time "behind the lines" in Virginia and North Carolina. Indeed, many of the diary entries are simple recounting of daily sick calls or hospital visits. Still, there is plenty to satisfy the medical enthusiast.

The diary reveals that Dr. Smith had an excellent intuition regarding the dangers inherent in camping in the Virginia swamps. It was Smith's official report that finally convinced the brigade commander to allow the regiment to move to higher, and healthier, ground. An entry later in the diary, detailing an amputation procedure, shows that Smith was a capable surgeon as well. Other entries confirm the prevalence of venereal disease, especially among officers.

During his service, Dr. Smith was given the opportunity to appear before the Army Medical Examining Board in Washington, DC, to take a five-day test for promotion to a higher rank. The entire written part of the examination is reproduced in one of the appendices. Smith's detailed answers to the anatomical, medicinal, and surgical questions, provides an excellent perspective of the "knowledge bank" of a Civil War-era surgeon.
Dr. Smith had plenty on his mind above and beyond his medical duties. Indeed, Lowry contends that the diarist was fighting several "wars" at the same time: conflicts with officers in the regiment, struggles with political enemies at home, agony over leaving his young boys, and doubts about the fidelity of his fiancée; all compounded by idleness and loneliness when the regiment is not active in the field. These personal "battles" make for reading every bit as interesting as poignant as a combat diary.

Smith resigned from the service in mid-1863, returned home to marry his fiancée, and reopened his medical practice. His good reputation earned him the appointment of Surgeon General of the State of New York in 1872. In 1880 he was named the health officer of the Port of New York, a position he held for a dozen years. With more than a half million immigrants flooding the port each year, many disease-ridden, it was a position of immense responsibility. Smith earned praise for his work, a job made even harder by the scheming of politicians.

Dr. Lowry, best known for his own interesting and original works, such as The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell and Tarnished Eagles, has proven himself to be an adept editor. He is at his best when goes beyond merely providing geographical or biographical references to names and places in the diary. As an experienced clinical psychiatrist, he is uniquely qualified to evaluate Smith's emotional and psychological state throughout the narrative. He is not afraid to chide the diarist when he is uncharitable, or diagnose morose entries as symptoms of depression.

In the humble opinion of this reviewer, the book does suffer a few faults. Though the maps are generally well drawn, one entitled "The Siege of Washington, NC" shows the general theater of operations, but no siege lines, making interpretation of the narrative more difficult than need be.

The nearly two-dozen photographs are well chosen, especially those of officers mentioned in the diary, although some of the captions result in confusion (one caption introduces an incident that does not occur for another hundred pages). A photograph or two of actual diary pages would have helped to personalize the narrative even more.

The book is somewhat "end-heavy" with six appendices, only a few of which add substantively to the narrative (for example, several pages are devoted to detailed descriptions of each transport ship and gunboat mentioned in the diary). Nevertheless, these distractions are minor, and do not detract from the narrative itself or from this reviewer's hearty recommendation.

In a history of the 85th NYVI, a writer noted that the day Dr. Smith left the regiment, the men all felt they were losing a "royally good man." Fortunately, Dr. Tom Lowry has brought Dr. Smith's story to light by writing a "royally good" book.

A Civil War Snapshot.......2001-11-21

Swamp Doctor is filled with tidbits of Civil War life in 1862-63. Here is a 36-year-old doctor from Western New york, already twiced widowed and two young sons at home with live-in caregivers. Dr.Smith is regimental surgeon for a while, then goes home for a while to check on his boys and court his third wife, and returns to the often slow-paced War of the Rebellion. Surgeon Smith is a captivating storyteller and once you get the vision of life in camp and at home, it is hard to put the book down. Author Lowry has enriched the story with historical events, which adds to the relevance of Dr. Smith's experiences. If you have a passion for the Civil War, or are interested in what it was like being a surgeon in the swamps of Virginia and North Carolina, or just enjoy good non-fiction reading, Swamp Doctor is a book for you.

Superb look at Civil War reality.......2001-07-20

This is my candidate for Civil War book of the year. Dr. Lowry, perhaps the most accomplished researcher in the field, has published a series of books on the period, all of which are worthwhile, but this time he's done something a bit different. Publishing, for the first time, the Civil War diary of a regimental surgeon, Lowry has shown admirable restraint in adding only the introductory and bridge material (as well as the best footnotes I've ever seen) necessary for all readers to follow the flow of events in the context of the greater war. Surgeon William M. Smith, having lost his first diary during the initial fighting on the Peninsula, began another in time to capture the frustrations and confusion of the first great struggle for Richmond; thereafter, his regiment was posted to the Carolinas, an under-studied, but fascinating theater of war. The diary's value lies in its straightforward readability, as well as in its frankness. Dr. Smith worries over the loyalty of a fiancee left behind in New York, and wrestles with his religious beliefs; he observes rarely-reported battles and skirmishes, such as the inconclusive operations on the Virginia-Carolina line in 1862, then the subsequent forays from New Bern. In between, the reader gets the best account I've seen of the routines of camp life, of daily behavior in occupied territory, of how officers amused themselves (reading Les Miserables, for one thing), and even what room and board cost in the low country. The political nonsense that penetrated even the lowest levels of both armies is there, along with a rich variety of personalities, from selfless patriots to drunks and whoremongers. Throughout, I felt as if I were seeing the real Civil War at last, not some historian's vision through a high-powered telescope. As trite as it is to say this, I could not put it down. This well-written, understated book offers an incomparable window into the times, and I, for one, am grateful to Dr. Lowry for making this diary available to the rest of us. Very highly recommended!

War Journal of Louis N. Beaudry, Fifth New York Cavalry: The Diary of a Union Chaplain, Commencing February 16, 1863

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War Journal of Louis N. Beaudry, Fifth New York Cavalry: The Diary of a Union Chaplain, Commencing February 16, 1863
Louis N. Beaudry
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Book Description

From the time of his departure on February 16, 1863, to join the Union Army until he returned home on July 18, 1865, Louis N. Beaudry kept a detailed diary of the day-to-day events of the Fifth New York Cavalry. The unit was a participant in the Battle of Gettysburg, and Beaudry writes of it in great detail. As the unit's chaplain, Beaudry was very observant of those factors that influenced morale, such as fighting, disease, boredom, hunger and weather conditions; his diary is thus uniquely focused on the daily routine of the Fifth New York.

The Union Preserved: A Guide to the Civil War Records in the New York State Archives

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The Union Preserved: A Guide to the Civil War Records in the New York State Archives

Manufacturer: Fordham University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0823219003
Release Date: 1999-01-01

Book Description

The Union Preserved: A Guide to the Civil War Records in the New York State Archives is a comprehensive reference work that, for the first time, makes available to a wide public one of the most important and extensive Civil War resources in the nation: the collections of the New York State Archives and Records Administration. The guide also seeks to make readers aware of the vast collections of wartime manuscripts, newspapers, maps, rare books, ephemera, and artifacts held by the New York State Museum, The New York State Library, and The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs. Collectively, the holdings of these four institutions constitute one of the largest and most significant collections of Civil War materials available to the public. Unlike similar guides that have been published by other archival institutions, The Union Preserved contains eleven appendices that are intended to facilitate and further the research of those interested in New YorkÂ's role in the Civil War. Much of the information contained in these appendices either has been long out of print or has never been published and should prove to be an invaluable source to researchers.

Blue for the Union & Green for Ireland: Civil War flags of the 63rd Regiment New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade

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Blue for the Union & Green for Ireland: Civil War flags of the 63rd Regiment New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade
Peter J Lysy
Manufacturer: s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0970343000

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Engaging book, preachy introduction

Diary of a Union Lady, 1861-1865
Maria Lydig Daly
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0803266235

Book Description

Rumor, gossip, and innuendo are the weapons of the home front, and no one wielded them with quite the aplomb of Maria Lydig Daly. Her richly detailed comments on everything from inept Union generals to Dorothea Dix’s appearance provide the liveliest memoir to emerge from a Northern noncombatant. Daly was the wife of a prominent New York City judge whose connections allowed her to meet many major figures involved in Northern military and diplomatic strategy. Despite catty comments about Mrs. Lincoln and less-than-flattering appraisals of Union generalship, Daly could be sympathetic toward the suffering of the soldiers. She noted the fear with which many viewed the draft, seeing it as a terrible incursion on liberty, but she understood that the times called for severe measures.

Customer Reviews:

Engaging book, preachy introduction.......2001-01-23

Maria Lydig Daly seems to have had an opinion about just about anything and did not hold back from sharing them in her diary. Sometimes she's just dead wrong, other times she issues a telling observation. We need all we can get about Northern women, and this diary testifies to their diversity of voices. However, as for the introduction, what's got Jean Berlin in a snit? The introduction is preachy and sanctimonious, and that's the good part. Maybe she had better go to Tiffany's and mingle with the people she mocks.

The One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment New York State Volunteers: A narrative of its services in the war for the Union

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The One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment New York State Volunteers: A narrative of its services in the war for the Union
C Van Santvoord
Manufacturer: Press of the Kingston freeman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Seymour Dexter, Union Army: Journal and Letters of Civil War Service in Company K, 23rd New York Volunteer Regiment of Elmira, With Illustrations

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Seymour Dexter, Union Army: Journal and Letters of Civil War Service in Company K, 23rd New York Volunteer Regiment of Elmira, With Illustrations
Seymour Dexter
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786401974

Book Description

"Freedom, the true government, has called upon her loyal sons, and as our response to this call and also to the demands of truth and humanity, seven of us determined on the 26th day of April 1861 that we would immediately volunteer our services in the defense of the stars and stripes." So wrote Seymour Dexter in the opening pages of his Civil War journal. A student at the time of Fort Sumter, Dexter joined Company K in Elmira, New York. Private Dexter, who would enjoy a distinguished career as a lawyer following the unpleasantness, gives us an unusually keen view of the war, capturing the emotions of the men in the field and the camaraderie of Company K.

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