William H. English was a prominent Democratic politician who represented eight southern Indiana counties in the United States Congress from 1853 to 1861. Raised in a strong Jacksonian environment, Mr. English early exhibited a marked attachment both to the Democratic party and to the glory of the Union. First politically employed at fifteen years old, he held an array of important official positions on both the state and federal level until his election to Congress at the age of twenty-nine. As a congressman, he took part every step of the way in the great debate on the issue of slavery in the territories. Throughout that debate he gamely tried to hold together the party of his patrimony, believing always that this would ensure the prosperous progress of the republic. His most famous moment came during the Lecompton controversy. It was then that he reputedly authored the bill bearing his name, winning him so much notoriety that his image appeared on the cover of Harper's Weekly. An early and strong supporter of Stephen Douglas's conception of popular sovereignty, Mr. English nevertheless eventually realized that the southern Democrats would never consent to its majoritarian core. Consequently, by 1860 he was reduced to trying to unite the party around its pronounced racism. But even that proved unsuccessful. / This work is not only concerned with the slavery issue. Also discussed in detail are Mr. English's four campaigns for the House of Representatives, his tenure as chairman of the House's Post Office Committee, and his position within the Indiana Democratic party. Moreover, the socio-economic background of Mr. English's district is analyzed, as is also his repeated attempts to enhance his constituents' economic prospects. These topics are based principally on primary sources--including Mr. English's private correspondence, his public pronouncements, debates in the Congressional Globe, and various newspaper accounts. The whole picture is of a congressman desperately seeking to solve the slavery question so that the country could return to its destined pursuit of material exploitation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4496. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76000 |
| Contributors | SCHIMMEL, ELLIOTT LAWRENCE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 1043 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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