1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 612 The Story of Beauty and the Beast

"But the difference between you and the children of the western pioneer families is that you are a person who likes to read and think." Charles Moorhead complimented the future President of the United States and said immediately.

"I am also a child of a pioneer family in the West, but I live in a large family. When I was very young, my grandfather taught my father and uncles that as a member of the family, we should help each other and stick together. "

"Nicholas, serve tea to Mr. Moorhead. I want to have a serious talk with Mr. Moorhead about the family feud in Kentucky." Lincoln called his personal secretary to serve tea to Mr. Moorhead.

Charles Moorhead's family was a large family in Kentucky, and Lincoln lived in Kentucky for a period of time when he was a child. He had naturally heard about the affairs of Charles Morehead's family, so he had already guessed what Charles Morehead was going to say next.

"But you know that it is difficult to coordinate conflicts among the various members of a large family." Charles Moorhead changed the subject and said.

"My father wanted to open up new land in Owensboro, but my uncle wanted to use the little capital at home to do business in a few shops in Lexington. For this reason, my father often quarreled with his uncles. It’s overwhelming.”

"What happened to your father and uncles?" Lincoln asked knowingly.

"Thank God, when I was 12 years old, my grandfather finally agreed to separate the family. As you can see, my father became a famous plantation owner in Kentucky, and my uncle also became a very famous big businessman in the central region. , he not only has several large stores in Lexington, but also stores in Louisville, Cincinnati and other places." Charles Moorhead said pointedly.

"Our family's success is due to the wise decision my grandfather made when I was 12 years old. Instead of being entangled under the same roof or even fighting, it is better to separate and live in separate ways. My father Even after we separated from my uncles, we didn’t keep in touch with each other forever. We would still help each other when we needed help. Isn’t that good? We all have a bright future, Mr. President, don’t you think so?”

"I disagree with your point of view. As far as I know, your grandfather, Mr. Alan Moorehead, was a very weak man, so weak that he couldn't even control his own children. This is the final division of your family. Home." Lincoln said bluntly.

"Charles Moorhead, I don't want to talk about your family's unbearable internal strife in front of you. It will embarrass you and me. I am a person who likes to listen to fables. I wonder if you are interested in hearing what I tell you. Tell an interesting fable?”

Lincoln had thought that Charles Moorhead would be a viable Southern swing-state politician.

It turned out that he was wrong. Charles Moorhead was a famous large plantation owner in Kentucky. In other words, a large slave owner in the North. A big slave owner will not give up his vested interests and change his political stance easily.

Charles Moorhead compared the southern states' secession from the Union to the separation of a large family and suggested he was compromising with southern secessionists. This made Lincoln very angry.

However, Lincoln still could not break his promise to his friends in the Republican Party not to directly express his political views on the independence of the southern states before officially taking office.

After much thought, Lincoln decided that it would be safer to express his position more tactfully to Charles Moorhead, a southern Kentucky sage, through a fable.

"Please speak." Charles Moorehead blushed, took the tea from Nicola's hand, and said coldly.

"This is a story about Beauty and the Beast. A long time ago, a beauty and a lion fell in love." Lincoln said slowly.

"But the beauty's family objected to her marrying a lion. At the same time, they were afraid of the lion's sharp teeth and claws. So they thought of a way. They asked for the lion's sharp teeth to be pulled out and the lion's sharp claws to be cut off. Claw, only in this way can they ensure that the lion will not hurt their daughter, and they will agree to the marriage.

For the sake of love, the lion compromised and agreed. But as soon as the lion lost its fangs and claws, the family immediately beat the lion to death with a stick. "

Lincoln liked to listen to "Aesop's Fables" since he was a child. The images of these fables were as if they were carved in his mind and he could recall them at his fingertips at any time.

After listening to this alternative fable, Charles Moorhead looked displeased, stood up angrily and said: "This is indeed a very interesting story, but your metaphor is not very appropriate. The southerners are not the vicious ones in the story. The cunning family members, the northerners are not lions with sharp teeth and claws. Your Excellency, I don’t like this metaphor very much.”

The conversation between Charles Moorhead and Lincoln ultimately ended on bad terms.

Christmas in 1860 was destined not to be a pleasant holiday for most Americans. Due to the tension between the North and the South and the independence of South Carolina and Georgia, the entire eastern region was shrouded in the clouds of war. , so that the festive atmosphere has faded a lot.

Shortly after Christmas, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana declared independence.

At this point, before Lincoln was sworn in, six southern slave states had publicly declared independence, officially seceded from the Union, expelled local federal customs office staff, and taken back the right to collect tariffs.

There are many reasons why these six states dared to take the lead in decisively declaring their secession from the Union. First, these six states have a long tradition of slavery. The slaveholding factions in the states have strong political power. Secession from the Union does not have any political power within the states. obstacle.

Second, because these six states do not directly border the north, the sky is high and the president is far away. The Northern Army cannot reach these states directly for a while. By seceding from the Union, there would be no need to directly face the military threat from the north in the short term.

As for the swing states among the remaining nine slave states, they did not immediately choose independence because they were too close to the north. Instead, they maintained a wait-and-see attitude, waiting for the north's response.

Politicians in these states know that once independent, there will be repression from the north, and those border states will be the first to be suppressed.

The psychology of politicians and people in these southern border states is complicated at this moment. They also hope to become independent from the federal government like the six independent southern slave states.

The Republican Party won the election, and Lincoln, the representative of the abolitionists, was elected president, which meant that the South and the North had completely lost the political competition in Congress.

The southern states could no longer use the power of the federal government to protect the interests of southern slave owners by passing bills like the Kansas Act and the Fugitive Slave Act that were beneficial to the South as before. Therefore, staying in the federal government no longer makes much sense to them.

You can declare secession from the Union. These states that are very close to the north or even directly border the north are worried about being affected by the war and becoming a war zone between the north and the south.

Of course, there are also exceptions among the southern slave states that have not officially declared their secession from the Union. This special case is Texas.