1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 611 The trend of independence

But the situation in Virginia is special. Virginia at this time is different from Virginia in later generations.

Virginia at this time included the later states of Virginia and West Virginia, making it a fairly large state.

The western part of Virginia is a mountainous area (later known as the West Virginia region), and the arable land is relatively scattered, so the small farmer economy is dominated. The east is a plain, and the arable land is connected together to form a large number of plantations, so East and West Virginia have completely different attitudes towards slavery.

Not all of Virginia supported secession from the Union, but West Virginia advocated remaining in the Union and Eastern Virginia advocated secession.

The situation is similar to Virginia's in Maryland.

Although Maryland was a slave state, it was divided into two factions. There are basically no plantations in the rural areas in the west. It is not a slave economy, so it does not support slavery very much. But in Baltimore, Maryland's largest city, many people supported slavery.

After learning that South Carolina had seceded from the Union, the pro-slavery militiamen in the area around Baltimore, Maryland, were so encouraged that they even expelled the Northern troops stationed in Maryland, confiscated Navy warships anchored in Baltimore harbor, and detained Navy sailors on a warship.

On December 22, 1860, Georgia held a special session as scheduled. Like South Carolina, Georgia unanimously passed a resolution to secede from the federal government.

South Carolina and Georgia seceded from the Union at the speed of light. This sudden internal crisis caused James Buchanan, who was still sitting in the presidency, to feel trapped and helpless.

The Buchanan government's inaction further fueled the arrogance of the southern separatist forces. On the occasion of Christmas 1860, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana also successively announced that they would seize the opportunity in early January after Christmas. , held a special session to decide whether to secede from the Union.

The remaining southern states, such as Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and other states, are either restrained by liberal political forces in the state or due to the consideration of bordering with the north. A full-scale military conflict breaks out between the north and the south, and these states will become the main battlefields between the north and the south.

Therefore, these states did not take a stand immediately, but chose to sit on the fence and wait and see.

At this time, all eyes were focused on Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, rather than Buchanan in the White House residence in Washington.

People knew that the Buchanan administration, which was about to step down, was completely broken and had no intention of resolving the conflict between the North and the South.

The person who can determine the future of the United States is Abraham Lincoln, who has won the election but has not yet been sworn in. This politician has neither rich political experience nor high political reputation.

These days Lincoln still does not express his political views and remarks in public. Any inappropriate remarks made in public before taking the oath of office will undo all the previous efforts. Therefore, Lincoln has been cautious in his words and deeds since October.

After the Republicans won the election, letters from supporters poured into Springfield.

Lincoln spent almost every morning answering these letters with the help of his personal secretary, Nicholas.

Later, Nicola felt that as the personal secretary of the dignified future president, he should not waste a lot of time dealing with these trivial letters every day, so he hired a college student named John Hay for almost free to outsource this work. to this Brown University college student.

It’s better to be a college student, with low salary requirements and willingness to work.

Seeing John Hay working hard without any complaints, Nicola felt very satisfied.

John Hay followed Lincoln's instructions and divided the letters into three broad categories.

The first was letters requesting Lincoln's signature. These letters were the easiest to deal with; just lay them out and wait for Lincoln, the ruthless signature machine, to sign them. Lincoln has now reached the point where it takes two or three seconds to complete a pretty good signature.

The second category consisted of letters of congratulations and requests for an official position in Lincoln's administration. This type of letter is also very easy to dispose of, just throw it in the trash.

The third type of letters is the most troublesome. These letters often come from reporters from major newspapers and prominent figures in various states. They often ask some more acute political questions, such as the issue of the South's secession from the Union.

Neither John Hay nor Nicholas had the authority to handle such letters, and could only be handed over to Lincoln to personally review and handle.

Lincoln usually finished processing these letters before ten o'clock in the morning, because after ten o'clock, he had to receive all kinds of visitors.

There were all kinds of people who came to visit Lincoln. There were politicians who made a special trip to offer advice and give him advice, there were photographers and painters who wanted to take photos and portraits of Lincoln, there were reporters looking for exclusive news, and there were also people who just wanted to come and shake hands with Lincoln. There were housewives who wanted to get autographs, street hoodlums and country bumpkins who came to see how skeletal Lincoln looked, and old friends who came to visit Lincoln specifically to express their congratulations.

Lincoln received all these visitors with different purposes one by one and tried his best to meet the visitors' requirements.

Even though Lincoln didn't like some of the visitors, because they had spent money to buy a train ticket to Springfield, Lincoln patiently invited them into the office and chatted with them for a while.

Lincoln's office was not very large and could only accommodate twelve or three people at a time. Even so, Lincoln patiently received all kinds of visitors here every day.

Lincoln's close attitude surprised many visitors. After all, in the past, not all visitors were lucky enough to meet even Fillmore, a civilian president known for his closeness to the people.

Many of these visitors had close contact with the president for the first time. This makes them very excited and excited.

Because Lincoln was weathered and his face looked older than his actual age, many visitors affectionately called Lincoln "Old Abel."

Although Lincoln was only 51 years old, he was in his prime, nearly 20 years younger than the current president, James Buchanan.

Lincoln himself did not reject this title at all. On the contrary, he really liked this title that could bring him closer to the people.

In the office, in addition to avoiding the sensitive political topic of southern secession from the Union, Lincoln was very willing to share anecdotes with visitors and even tell each other jokes for entertainment.

When Lincoln heard a funny joke, he couldn't help but slap his legs and laugh loudly. He didn't have the airs of a president at all.

Lincoln had to receive a large number of visitors every day, which made his personal secretary Nicholas and his bodyguards miserable.

The extreme slaveholders in the South had repeatedly threatened to kill Lincoln before he was sworn in.

Therefore, Nicola and the bodyguards could only carefully identify the visitors one by one and conduct a detailed search of the visitors before they dared to allow Lincoln to receive these visitors to prevent anything unexpected from happening to Lincoln.

However, Lincoln received a large number of visitors every day, and the intensity of this job is self-evident.

"It's already half past five. Your Excellency, the President, needs to have a meal. He still has important official business to deal with in the evening. Please come back tomorrow." Nicholas pinched the time on his pocket watch and saw that Lincoln's time for visiting guests today was over. Visitors lining up in the lobby were ordered to be kicked out.

After hearing the news, the visitors complained a few times and left. Only an old man wearing a suit, holding a gold-encrusted civilization staff in his hand, and his hair combed meticulously did not leave.

Nicola saw that the other party was well dressed and had an extraordinary temperament. He knew that the other party's identity was definitely not simple. He stepped forward to apologize in person: "Old gentleman, I'm very sorry. The time for visiting the President is over. You can come back tomorrow. I will Arrange for you to meet with the President as soon as possible.”

"I am Charles Moorhead, the former governor of Kentucky. I have important matters to attend to tomorrow, so I'm afraid I won't be able to come." The old man revealed his identity.

After confirming the identity of Charles Moorhead, Nicola showed Charles Moorhead a very professional smile: "Please wait a moment, let me inform the President."

When Lincoln learned that former Kentucky Governor Charles Moorhead was visiting, he decided to meet Kentucky.

Kentucky was a swing state in the South, and Lincoln did not want his failure to receive the former governor of Kentucky to have a negative impact and push Kentucky completely to the South.

Lincoln's footprints are all over the United States, including Maine in the northeastern corner, Liangzhou in the northwest corner, Florida in the southeast corner, and California, which was once the southwest corner.

Unlike many previous presidents who only looked at the mountains and rivers of the United States on a map, Lincoln actually measured these magnificent mountains and rivers with his own feet, and even worked as a land surveyor for a period of time.

Lincoln was very familiar with the mountains and rivers of the United States, and he knew the importance of Kentucky.

The Ohio River is exactly the northern border of Kentucky. If Kentucky fell to the south, the south could resist the river and defend the central hinterland with the natural danger of the Ohio River. This is extremely detrimental to the North.

On the other hand, if Kentucky joins the North, the North will not have to worry about the natural dangers of the Ohio River. So where Kentucky ultimately chooses to fall is crucial.

When Lincoln was 18 years old, he sailed down the Ohio River as a crew member and sailed thousands of miles to New Orleans, the largest port in the South. He knows the importance of this river better than anyone else.

"I hope God is on our side, but I hope Kentucky is on our side." Lincoln shook hands with Charles Moorhead cordially and got close to Charles Moorhead.

"Seeing you reminds me of my childhood in Kentucky. At that time, like every child in a pioneer family in the West, I spent my time fetching water, chopping firewood, grazing cattle, and farming."