Title: Apostle of Union : a political biography of Edward Everett /
Authors: Mason, Matthew, 1968-
Year: 2016
Subjects: Everett, Edward,; Everett, Edward,; United States. Biography.; United States.; Legislators United States Biography; Statesmen United States Biography.; Governors Massachusetts Biography; Governors; Legislators; Politics and government.; Statesmen; United States Politics and government; United States History; Massachusetts; United States
Abstract: 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. -- Inside jacket flap.
Contents: Scholar, preacher, and paper warrior -- The House : doughface -- The House : Whig nationalist -- The governor and the abolitionists -- Good cop : minister to Great Britain -- Harvard president and semi-private citizen -- Shooting star in Washington : secretary of state and senator -- Saving Mount Vernon -- Last ditches : Union meetings, the election of 1860, and the secession crisis -- Civil warrior.