Author: Matthew Mason File Type: pdf Known today as the other speaker at Gettysburg, Edward Everett had a distinguished and illustrative career at every level of American politics from the 1820s through the Civil War. In this new biography, Matthew Mason argues that Everetts extraordinarily well-documented career reveals a complex man whose shifting political opinions, especially on the topic of slavery, illuminate the nuances of Northern Unionism. In the case of Everett--who once pledged to march south to aid slaveholders in putting down slave insurrections--Mason explores just how complex the question of slavery was for most Northerners, who considered slavery within a larger context of competing priorities that alternately furthered or hindered antislavery actions. By charting Everetts changing stance toward slavery over time, Mason sheds new light on antebellum conservative politics, the complexities of slavery and its related issues for reform-minded Americans, and the ways in which secession turned into civil war. As Mason demonstrates, Everetts political and cultural efforts to preserve the Union, and the response to his work from citizens and politicians, help us see the coming of the Civil War as a three-sided, not just two-sided, contest. **Review Explores in full Everetts life in politics, with special concentration on his stances on weighty national issues related to slavery and Union.--Civil War Books and Authors [An] eloquent biography. . . . A solid choice for American history buffs and those with a penchant for politics in the antebellum era.--Library Journal starred review Anyone who thinks traditional political history is dead should read Matthew Masons magnificent biography of Edward Everett. Deeply researched and skillfully written.--New England Quarterly Highly recommended for both a general and an academic audience.--Gettysburg Magazine Decisively restores the political significance of Everett. . . . Political historians and scholars of culture and nationalism will learn much from this superbly crafted, intensely researched, engagingly written, and thoughtful book.--Journal of American History Brings Everett back into focus with the fullest political biography of Everett since 1925.--Journal of Southern History Review This is an excellent, revelatory, and rare scholarly work that operates at many levels and in ways that give us new perspectives on events, people, and sectional issues that remain problematic for historians. By looking at a political moderate, Mason tells us as much about extremists North and South as he does about Everetts sense of political compromise and moderation. By arguing that slavery (or antislavery) was a persistent, consistent, and divisive political issue in national politics and political discourse, Mason gives us a much better sense of the shifting nature of the spirit and persistence of Unionism from the early Republic to the sectional crisis.--Michael A. Morrison, Purdue University Matthew Mason has written a critical book on a key figure in the pantheon of nineteenth-century politics. This is a well-crafted, well-written account of a seeming paradox why was a conciliatory, doughface Whig invited to speak with Lincoln at Gettysburg in 1863? In answering this question, Mason opens a window onto a wide swath of public opinion in the 1850s and 1860s. Apostle of Unionwill be an essential contribution to the new and the classic literature on the origins of the American Civil War.--John Brooke, The Ohio State University