A new podcast called Henry Wilson and the Civil War is out focusing on Ulysses S. Grant’s Vice President Henry Wilson. The Massachusetts politician was an advocate for “the workingman,” and abolitionist, and leader of the bigoted anti-immigrant Know Nothings. During the Civil War he served as a Radical Republican in the Senate, backing immediate Emancipation.
The podcast tells Wilson’s story step-by-step from his youth as the neglected child of an alcohol obsessed father, to his work as a shoemaker, to his rise in New England’s political arena. I will post the episodes of the podcast as I finish them, but you can find them at iTunes and other podcast outlets.
The host, Lincoln Anniballi, grew up in Nantick, Massachusetts on the same road where Henry Wilson lived and he even went to Wilson Middle School. He later attended Hofstra University on Long Island, where I teach at the Law School!
Introduction
This twelve minute introduction is useful if you are trying to decide if you want to listen to the podcast. Otherwise, if you know you want to check it out, you can skip the Introduction.
Episode 1
Henry Wilson rose to the heights of political power, but he started off small. Growing up in a poor family in rural New England as the son of an often unemployed alcoholic father, Wilson was helped by female relatives to get an education and he would learn a trade to support himself.
Episode 2
Henry Wilson moved to Natick, Mass. where he entered the new working class making shoes. He also began to take part in politics there.
Episode 3
In the mid-1840s Texas became a focus of anti-slavery agitation. The Texas revolt again Mexico led to fear by many abolitionists that if Texas became an American state, it would enter as a slave state and tip the balance towards slavery. The war over Texas heightened Wilson’s involvement in politics.
Episode 4
Henry Wilson started out as part of the established two-party system as a Whig. He soon broke with the Whigs because they failed to take on slavery. He became a Free Soiler, opposing the extension of slavery into the territories. This move was the first of Wilson’s political migrations.
Episode 5
This Episode looks at Henry Wilson’s attempt to form a coalition with anti-slavery Democrats. In the early 1850s, political upheaval was undermining the Whig Party and Wilson did everything he could to kill that dying party off.
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