Every drop of blood : the momentous second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln / Edward Achorn.
"By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans and left intractable wounds on the nation. That day, after a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washington's Capitol grounds to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation by arguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the war's unimaginable horrors-every drop of blood spilled-might well have been God's just verdict on the national sin of slavery. Edward Achorn reveals the nation's capital on that momentous day-with its mud, sewage, and saloons, its prostitutes, spies, reporters, social-climbing spouses, and power-hungry politicians-as a microcosm of all the opposing forces that had driven the country apart. Achorn weaves together the stories of the host of characters, unknown and famous, that had converged on Washington-from grievously wounded Union colonel Selden Connor in a Washington hospital, embarrassingly drunk new vice president Andrew Johnson, and poet-journalist Walt Whitman, to soldiers' advocate Clara Barton, African American leader Frederick Douglass (who called the speech "a sacred effort"), and conflicted actor John Wilkes Booth-all swirling around the complex figure of Lincoln. In indelible scenes, Achorn vividly captures the frenzy in the nation's capital at this crucial moment in America's history and the tension-filled hope and despair afflicting the country as a whole, soon to be heightened by Lincoln's assassination. His story offers new understanding of our great national crisis, and echoes down the decades to resonate in our own time"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780802148742
- ISBN: 0802148743
- Physical Description: xxxvi, 376 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.
Content descriptions
General Note: | Subtitle from pre-publication: Hatred and healing at Lincoln's second inauguration. |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-321) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Bloody Gashes on the Face of Heaven -- One and a Half Times Bigger -- A Message from Grant -- The Real Precious and Royal Ones -- Meditation on the Divine Will -- Public Sentiment Is Everything -- Indefinable Fascination -- The Blighting Pestilence -- There Was Murder in the Air -- A Future with Hope in It -- Andy Ain't a Drunkard -- An Excellent Chance to Kill the President -- With Malice toward None -- A Truth That Needed to Be Told -- A Sacred Effort -- Epilogue: The Stuff to Carry Them Through. |
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Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
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Cambria County Library | 973.7 A179e (Text) | 85131001720185 | CACM Non-Fiction | Available | - |