Whirlwind

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Today was a whirlwind tour of Seneca Falls the home of the women’s right movement, Stanton house, M’Clintock house where Memorial Day started, Seward’s house, Harriet Tubman’s house, and a barge ride on the Erie Canal in Rochester, New York.  We made it to Syracuse, New York in time to check into the Sheraton Hotel and hunt down a decent restaurant.  Most places were closed or were closing so we settled on the Cosmo Café.  I won’t do another food post so let’s just say it was food; we ate; we paid the bill; and then we had a few at the hotel. 

I really enjoyed Seward’s house.  Ever since I read Doris Kearns Team of Rivals, I have been a big fan of William Seward.  When touring the house, I had the impression that he was very much like a president in decisions he helped make and did make as well as the diplomats he entertained at the house and in his house in Washington D.C.  He assumed he would be president in 1860, but his ultra-abolitionist stance was viewed as too radical and would cause the South to succeed.  Lincoln was the compromise candidate, but even his moderate views along with choosing abolitionist Harry Hamlin as his running mate caused the South to succeed anyway.  Lincoln chose well in selecting Seward, perhaps the sharpest politician in the country at that time, as his Secretary of State.  I know that in basic psychology that friends usually seek people with about the same IQ as themselves.  Great friends rarely vary by a few points on the IQ scale, and it is no wonder to me that Lincoln, rough around the edges, but extremely sharp –minded, and Seward would be such good friends.  It is also no wonder that arguably the best lawyer at the time, Edwin Stanton, would also be close to both as Secretary of War.

Seward’s respect for Lincoln was evident in the places of prominence he displayed the bust of Lincoln and the pictures and drawings of Lincoln in Seward’s home.  Our elderly but energetic guide sprang alive when talking of Seward’s accomplishment n the Alaska Purchase.  I did not know the exact details of the purchase, and enjoyed the displays in the room as well as the newspapers at the time showing their contempt for the decision.  I find it interesting that Seward is given credit for this although it happened during President Johnson’s watch.  I think it was viewed so negatively at first that Johnson was happy to give credit to Seward.  Years before, John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State really drafted the Monroe Doctrine but is given virtually no credit.

The next room was dedicated to the assassination attempt on Seward by a man named Powell.  The guide told the story fairly accurately about the conspiracy, but fell short (according to James Swanson’s terrific book Manhunt: the 12 Day Chaseh for Lincoln’s Killer) when talking about the attempt on the Vice President’s life.  She told it as if George Adzot was gong to kill the Vice President, but that Johnson was out of his room so Azdot left.  Swanson tells that Johnson was asleep in his room at the hotel, and Azdot was at his door at the agreed upon time, but got cold feet at the last moment and left.  I also know the Constitution was different then in terms of succession for the presidency and the Secretary of State figured in the succession more prominently that he does now (even though he/she is now 4^th in line).

The barge ride on the Erie Canal and through one of the numerous locks on the canal provided the best type of first-hand knowledge that just can’t be found in books.  I do not usually teach much about the Erie Canal and did not realize just how important it was.  I am amazed by the fact it is still used a great deal today.  I will now expand our chapter of westward expansion with a further explanation to my students of exactly how important it was; how the lock system works; and how it was constructed.

If anybody knows the exact succession to the presidency in 1865, please let me know.

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