Scurrilous Copperhead pamphlet from 1864
If we think that our current political discourse has sunk to an all-time low, a look at the editorializing and pamphleteering by the Copperheads in the North against Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War might cause us to rethink.
From Wikipedia:
Wisconsin newspaper editor Marcus M. Pomeroy called Lincoln:"Fungus from the corrupt womb of bigotry and fanaticism" and a "worse tyrant and more inhuman butcher than has existed since the days of Nero... The man who votes for Lincoln now is a traitor and murderer... And if he is elected to misgovern for another four years, we trust some bold hand will pierce his heart with dagger point for the public good."
Weeks and Pomeroy didn't hold back, and neither was from the South.
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing new under the sun.
(Ecclesiastes 1:9)
H/T to The Writer's Almanac.
While I despair at the level of current political debate, I do chuckle when some claim that it has never been worse. Oh, it's seldom been good, and often a whole lot worse.
ReplyDeleteKJ, I chuckled, too. Why such a reminder as this should lift my spirits, I can't say.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving.
If you ever have the opportunity, a visit to the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois well illustrates what you are saying. The museum is "state of the art" and as you enter the section that documents his political career, you're overwhelmed with original racist pamphlets, simulations of the loud raucous catcalls and taunts he received up to his assassination, (including slanders against his poor wife). Here is the website for those who may be interested: www.alplm.org
ReplyDeleteJohn, upon your recommendation, I will visit the Lincoln Library and Museum if I'm ever nearby. We tend to think of our present incivility as the worst of times in our political history, so its good to take a look backwards from time to time to put things in perspective.
ReplyDelete