Chapter 618: Independence Trend

Chapter 611 Independence Trend

But the situation in Virginia is quite special. Virginia at this time is different from Virginia in later generations.

Virginia at this time includes Virginia and West Virginia in later generations, a state with a large area.

The western part of Virginia is a mountainous area (the West Virginia region in later generations), and the arable land is relatively scattered, so it is mainly based on small farmers. The eastern part is a plain, and the arable land is connected into one piece, forming a large number of plantations, so the attitudes of East and West Virginia towards slavery are completely different.

Virginia does not all support secession from the Union, but West Virginia advocates staying in the Union, and East Virginia advocates secession from the Union.

Maryland has a similar situation to Virginia.

Although Maryland is a slave state, it is also divided into two factions. There are basically no plantations in the rural areas in the west, and there is no slave economy, so slavery is not supported. But in Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, many people support slavery.

After learning that South Carolina had declared its secession from the Union, the pro-slavery militia in the Baltimore area of ​​Maryland was greatly encouraged, and even expelled the Northern troops stationed in Maryland, confiscated the navy's warships anchored in the port of Baltimore, and detained the navy sailors on the warships.

On December 22, 1860, Georgia held a special meeting as scheduled. Like South Carolina, Georgia also unanimously passed a resolution to secede from the federal government.

South Carolina and Georgia seceded from the Union at the speed of light. This sudden internal division crisis made James Buchanan, who was still sitting in the presidency, feel torn and helpless.

The inaction of the Buchanan government further fueled the arrogance of the Southern separatist forces. On Christmas Day in 1860, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana also announced that they would hold special meetings in early January after Christmas to decide whether to secede from the Union.

The remaining southern states, such as Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, etc., either because of the existence of liberal political forces in the state, or because of the consideration of bordering the North, once a full-scale military conflict breaks out between the North and the South, these states will become the main battlefields of the North-South competition.

Therefore, these states did not express their opinions immediately, but chose to sit on the fence and wait and see.

At this time, everyone's eyes were focused on Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, rather than Buchanan in the White House residence in Washington.

People knew that the Buchanan government, which was about to step down, had completely given up and had no intention of resolving the conflict between the North and the South.

The one who could decide the future of America was Abraham Lincoln, a politician who had won the election but had not yet been sworn in, a politician with little political experience and a low reputation in the political world.

These days, Lincoln still did not express his political views and remarks in public. Before being sworn in, any inappropriate remarks made in public would make the previous efforts come to naught. Therefore, Lincoln has been cautious since October.

After the Republicans won the election, letters from supporters flooded into Springfield.

Lincoln spent almost a morning every day replying to these letters with the help of his personal secretary Nikola.

Later, Nikola felt that as the personal secretary of the future president, he should not waste a lot of time dealing with these trivial letters every day, so he hired a college student named John Hay for almost free and outsourced the work to this Brown University student.

College students are still good, they have low salary requirements and are willing to work.

Seeing John Hay working hard without any complaints, Nikola was very satisfied.

John Hay followed Lincoln's instructions and divided the letters into three categories.

The first category is letters asking for Lincoln's signature. This type of letter is the easiest to deal with. Just put them in place and wait for Lincoln, the ruthless signature machine, to sign. Lincoln has now reached the point where he can complete a pretty good signature in two or three seconds.

The second category is congratulatory letters and letters requesting a position in Lincoln's government team. This type of letter is also very easy to deal with, just throw it into the trash can.

The third type of letter is the most troublesome. This type of letter often comes from reporters from major newspapers and prominent figures in various states. They often ask some more acute political questions, such as the issue of the South's secession from the Union.

John Hay and Nicholas have no right to deal with this type of letter, so they can only be handed over to Lincoln for personal review.

Lincoln usually finishes dealing with these letters before ten o'clock in the morning, because after ten o'clock, he has to receive all kinds of visitors.

There are all kinds of people who come to visit Lincoln, including politicians who come to give advice and give him advice, photographers and painters who want to take pictures and portraits of Lincoln, reporters who are looking for exclusive news, housewives who just want to come and shake hands with Lincoln and get an autograph, as well as street scoundrels and country bumpkins who come to see how strange Lincoln looks, and old friends who come to visit Lincoln and congratulate him.

For these visitors with different purposes, Lincoln receives them one by one and tries his best to meet the requirements of the visitors.

Even though Lincoln didn't like some visitors, he patiently invited them into his office and greeted them for a while because they had spent money to buy a train ticket to Springfield.

Lincoln's office was not very big and could only accommodate twelve or thirteen people at a time. Even so, Lincoln patiently received all kinds of visitors here every day.

Lincoln's intimate attitude surprised many visitors. After all, in the past, even the civilian president Fillmore, who was known for his closeness to the people, was not someone that all visitors had the honor to meet.

Many of these visitors had their first close contact with the president. This made them feel very excited and excited.

Because Lincoln was weathered, his face looked older than his actual age, so many visitors affectionately called Lincoln "Old Abe".

Although Lincoln was only 51 years old, in his prime, he was nearly 20 years younger than the current president James Buchanan.

Lincoln himself did not reject this title at all. On the contrary, he liked this title that could bring him closer to the people.

In the office, in addition to avoiding the sensitive political topic of the South's secession from the Union, Lincoln was very happy to share anecdotes with visitors, and even told jokes to each other for entertainment.

When he heard a funny joke, Lincoln couldn't help but slap his legs and laugh out loud, without any presidential airs.

Lincoln had to receive a large number of visitors every day, which made his personal secretary Nicholas and bodyguards miserable.

The extreme slaveholders in the South had repeatedly threatened to kill Lincoln before he was sworn in.

Therefore, Nicholas and the bodyguards could only carefully identify the identities of the visitors one by one, and conduct a detailed body search before they dared to let Lincoln receive these visitors to prevent Lincoln from getting into trouble.

However, Lincoln had to receive a large number of visitors every day, and the intensity of this job was self-evident.

"It's half past five. The President needs to have dinner. There are important official business to deal with in the evening. Please come back tomorrow." Nicola checked the time on his pocket watch and saw that Lincoln's meeting time today was over. He ordered the visitors who were queuing in the hall to leave.

After hearing the news, the visitors complained a few times and left. Only an old man in a suit, holding a gold-studded civilized cane in his hand and combing his hair meticulously did not leave.

Nicola saw that the other party was well-dressed and had an extraordinary temperament. He knew that the other party's identity must be extraordinary, so he personally stepped forward to apologize and said: "This old man, I'm very sorry, the President's meeting time is over. You can come back tomorrow. I will arrange for you to meet the President as soon as possible."

"I am Charles Moorehead, the former governor of Kentucky. I have something important to do tomorrow, so I'm afraid I can't come." The old man stated his identity.

After confirming Charles Moorehead's identity, Nicola showed Charles Moorehead a very professional smile: "Please wait a moment, let me inform His Excellency the President."

Lincoln decided to meet Kentucky after learning that former Kentucky Governor Charles Moorehead was visiting.

Kentucky is a swing state in the South. Lincoln did not want to cause negative impacts and push Kentucky completely to the South because he did not receive the former governor of Kentucky in time.

Lincoln's footprints are all over the United States. He has been to Maine in the northeast corner, Liangzhou in the northwest corner, Florida in the southeast corner, and California in the southwest corner.

Unlike many presidents who only looked at the mountains and rivers of the United States on the map, Lincoln actually measured this magnificent mountain and river with his own feet, and even worked as a land surveyor for a period of time.

Lincoln is very familiar with the mountains and rivers of the United States, and he knows the importance of Kentucky.

The Ohio River is just the northern border of Kentucky. If Kentucky sided with the South, the South could defend the river and rely on the natural barrier of the Ohio River to defend the central hinterland. This would be extremely disadvantageous to the North.

On the contrary, if Kentucky joined the North, the North would not have to worry about the natural barrier of the Ohio River at all. Therefore, it was crucial for Kentucky to choose which side it would eventually side with.

When Lincoln was 18 years old, he sailed down the Ohio River as a crew member and sailed thousands of miles to New Orleans, the largest port in the South. He knew the importance of this river better than anyone else.

"I hope God is on our side, but I hope Kentucky is on our side even more." Lincoln shook hands with Charles Moorhead cordially and got close to Charles Moorhead.

"Seeing you reminds me of my childhood in Kentucky. At that time, like every child in a western pioneer family, I spent my time carrying water, chopping wood, herding, and farming."