LINCOLN LINKS TO THE AMERICAN WEST
- Lincoln had strong connections to every western state and territory (trans-Mississippi West). Anyone dealing with any of these states could treat Lincoln's patronage dealings in western states and territories. He made numerous patronage appointments in the West.
- Lincoln was linked through dozens of friendships with persons in the West. Often these were his family, lawyer, political, or Illinois friends he appointed to public office. For example, his doctor (Anson G. Henry), his newspaper editor (Simeon Francis), his lifelong Whig/Republican political friend and the man who introduced him as the new president in 1861 (Edward D. Baker),and the son of his law partner (David Logan) all came to Oregon. So did several other Illinois friends. Similar networks existed in other western areas.
[2] He was linked with western areas through national controversial questions: for example, (a) slavery and no extension of slavery; (b) military operations; (3) Reconstruction policy.
- Presidential/Congressional legislation provided other ties: (a) the Pacific RR Act of 1862 and the first transcontinental RR; (b) the Homestead Act of 1862; (3) the Morrill Land Act of 1862; and the organization of the Department of Agriculture. These notable pieces of legislation linked Lincoln with virtually every state and
territory.
- Lincoln and Indians. Here we see one of the weak points in Lincoln's administration and personal views. He didn't know much about Indians, yet he tried to be fair in the horrendous Sioux uprising in Minnesota in 1862, with John Ross and the Cherokee in Indian Territory, and in his reactions to the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in 1864.
- Lincoln and Mormons: The president's reactions to Brigham Young, as well as his earlier reactions to Mormons in Illinois, are revealing about Lincoln, his willingness to compromise, and his reactions to polygamy.
- Lincoln and Mexicans/Hispanics: Lincoln was guilty of referring to some Mexicans as "Greasers," but he also wanted New Mexico, with its Hispanic population, to be well looked after.
- Lincoln and Party Politics: Lincoln dealt with Republican Party politics in virtually every new western state and territory. His political connections, as well as western politicians' attitudes toward him, are an interesting topic not yet thoroughly examined.
- Lincoln's role in and reactions to specific western events provide still another area needing examination: his reactions to the Oregon Question, the Mexican-American War, the California Gold Rush, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, for instance, need further discussion.
- Finally, Lincoln's attitudes about race, slavery, and civil rights had national significance, and they are central to understanding what happened west of the Mississippi in the years from the 1850s onward. Many historians realize that Lincoln came into the White House in March 1861 favoring no extension of slavery as his stance on this momentous question. But rarely have they seen that this is as much a WESTERN as a SLAVERY question since all unorganized territories yet deciding on slavery were in the West, save the area that broke from Virginia to become the new state of West Virginia during the Civil War.
These are but 10 topics and several other subtopics that presenters, writers, and researchers might undertake in tracing Lincoln links with the American West.
