audiobook The Weston Sisters: An American Abolitionist Family by Lee V. Chambers in History

Description

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.