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Title details for Apostle of Union by Matthew Mason - Available

Apostle of Union

A Political Biography of Edward Everett

by Matthew Mason
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Known today as "the other speaker at Gettysburg," Edward Everett had a distinguished and illustrative career at every level of American politics from the 1820s through the Civil War. In this new biography, Matthew Mason argues that Everett's extraordinarily well-documented career reveals a complex man whose shifting political opinions, especially on the topic of slavery, illuminate the nuances of Northern Unionism. In the case of Everett — who once pledged to march south to aid slaveholders in putting down slave insurrections — Mason explores just how complex the question of slavery was for most Northerners, who considered slavery within a larger context of competing priorities that alternately furthered or hindered antislavery actions.
By charting Everett's changing stance toward slavery over time, Mason sheds new light on antebellum conservative politics, the complexities of slavery and its related issues for reform-minded Americans, and the ways in which secession turned into civil war. As Mason demonstrates, Everett's political and cultural efforts to preserve the Union, and the response to his work from citizens and politicians, help us see the coming of the Civil War as a three-sided, not just two-sided, contest.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Civil War America

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 2, 2016

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

      • ISBN: 9781469628622

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781469628615
      • File size: 4168 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781469628615
      • File size: 4168 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from August 1, 2016

      It is common knowledge that, in the years prior to the American Civil War, there was a fierce ideological struggle between pro-slavery and abolitionist forces. Yet in this eloquent biography of Massachusetts statesman Edward Everett (1794-1865), Mason (history, Brigham Young Univ.; Slavery and Politics in the Early American Republic) demonstrates that Unionism, a devotion to the preservation of the Union and the Constitution, was a crucial yet often overlooked third power in the strife of the antebellum period. Tracing Everett's varied career as a minister, congressman, orator, and secretary of state, Mason illustrates how an overriding desire to protect the Union led Everett to push for compromise and conciliation during the sectional crisis despite his own moral aversion to slavery. Although this moderate stance was often an unpopular one, earning Everett the ire of abolitionists and slave holders alike, Mason convincingly argues that Everett's Unionist sentiments helped prepare the Northern populace for the very conflict he had long anticipated and worked assiduously to prevent. VERDICT A solid choice for American history buffs and those with a penchant for politics in the antebellum era.--Sara Shreve, Newton, KS

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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