Gil Hahn's Blog, page 2

Writing Is Hubris – Part 4

Writing Is HubrisPart 4: A Simple Twist of Fate

All through this education, the Civil War was not far from my mind, for which I have maintained a continuing interest.  We made day trips to Gettysburg, Antietam, and Harpers Ferry.  The latter may be best known for the John Brown raid of 1859 (Harpers Ferry was in the state of Virginia at the time), but it is remembered as well as one of two Federal arsenals (the other in Springfield Massachusetts) that manufactured rifled muskets, using ...

Writing Is Hubris – Part 3

Writing Is HubrisPart 3: With Hammer in Hand

I undertook an informal course of reading to learn about the history and chemistry of black powder and the history and operation of machine tools, water wheels, water turbines and steam engines, almost anything I could lay my hands on concerning nineteenth century industry.  Winterthur was a further inspiration, not only for its collection of objects made and used in America up until about 1860 – including Argand lamps with their cylindrical w...

Writing Is Hubris – Part 2

Writing Is HubrisPart 2: Manhattan Transfer (to Delaware?)

After graduation I married while unemployed, then got work as a junior associate in the corporate securities department of a very large law firm in midtown Manhattan.  There, over the years, I drafted and edited prospectuses for junk bonds and tender offer documents.  When the economy turned sour, I followed the business into restructurings and bankruptcies for which I wrote disclosure documents.

During this period, Barbara and I...

Writing Is Hubris – Part 1

Writing Is HubrisPart 1: “No man but a blockhead …”

The hubris of writing is the expectation that a complete stranger will be engaged by something that you have written.

If writing is an act of hubris, then writing about the American Civil War is an act of hubris raised to the umpteenth power.  I have read or heard somewhere that the number of books written about the Civil War is equal to or greater than the number of days that have passed since the Civil War.  With so many volumes and pages ...

Writing Is Hubris

Writing Is HubrisPart 1: “No man but a blockhead …”

The hubris of writing is the expectation that a complete stranger will be engaged by something that you have written.

If writing is an act of hubris, then writing about the American Civil War is an act of hubris raised to the umpteenth power.  I have read or heard somewhere that the number of books written about the Civil War is equal to or greater than the number of days that have passed since the Civil War.  With so many volumes and pages ...

The Presidential Election of 1860 - Part 9

The situation at the time of President Lincoln’s inauguration was as follows. First, the seven states of the lower south seceded with wide support. Some residuum of pro-union sentiment persisted, but the hope that it would assert itself in any meaningful way was unrealistic. Secession in the lower south would not be undone voluntarily, which meant that war was all but certain if the federal government acted to preserve the union.
Second, the states of the upper south had not seceded, and the s...

The Presidential Election of 1860 - Part 8

Election, Secession, and War
Mr. Lincoln won the election by taking 180 of the 303 electoral votes. He won a simple majority in every free state except California and Oregon, where he won by pluralities, and New Jersey, where Senator Douglas won the popular vote. (A fusion ticket had been organized in New Jersey to oppose the election of Mr. Lincoln. Under the arrangement three electors were committed to Senator Douglas and two electors each were committed to Vice President Breckinridge and M...

The Presidential Election of 1860 - Part 7

A number of states had scheduled elections for state offices in advance of the federal Election Day, and the Republican victories in the northern states – in particular Pennsylvania, which the Democrats had carried in the 1856 presidential election – indicated the strength of the Republicans there and increased the likelihood that they would win the presidency. The stock market was trending lower through October but recovered some at the end of the month.
The climax of the Republican campaign...

The Presidential Election of 1860 - Part 6

The campaign against the Republicans in the south was meant to incite fears there of what a Republican victory would bring, based upon expectations of what the Republicans could do in power rather than limited by what they said they would not or could not do. While such an approach to evaluating the threat posed by an opponent may appear to be alarmist, it was entirely justified. The Republicans intended to calm the fears of a portion of the electorate, but their assurances did not limit the...

The Presidential Election of 1860 - Part 5

Money and organization were key ingredients in conducting an election campaign – money to finance activities and organization to provide the manpower to organize events, remain in touch with voters, get out the campaign message, and encourage its partisans to go to the polls. The Republicans came into the election with their organization intact and with the general belief that they were favored in the election, which facilitated their fundraising. They concentrated their funds in the states w...