Chapter 6, page 169.
Dorothea Dix was a native of Hampden. She was a tireless advocate for the mentally ill, and focused particularly on prison and hospital reform. In 1861 Dix was appointed Superintendent of Nurses for the Union Army.
Dix illustrates that there were other reform issues besides slavery and temperance in play in the mid-1800's.
Primary Sources for Finding Katahdin Chapter 6, Section 2
Item 5539
Item 5583
Chapter 6, page 169-171.
Hannibal Hamlin, born in Paris Hill, served as a senator and a congressman for the state of Maine before becoming Vice President under Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.
Hamlin did not believe in slavery; however, he did not advocate complete abolition. Hamlin believed the preservation of the Union to be the top priority, and therefore fought to confine slavery within the boundaries it already occupied.
Item 9278
Chapter 6, page 170-171.
This 1851 letter, written by Hannibal Hamlin, discusses the coalition of Whigs, Woolhead Democrats, and Free Soilers who had joined together to advocate for abolition. In this document, Hamlin expresses opposition to the Democratic presidental nominee, because the candidate is in favor of extending slavery into the new western territories.
The Democratic party, with the exception of the Woolhead Democrats, was traditionally pro-slavery. In 1856, Hamlin decided to switch to the anti-slavery Republican party from the Democratic.
Transcription
The link above will download a PDF file. Help with PDF.
Item 6425
Chapter 6, page 171.
Along with Hannibal Hamlin, William Pitt Fessenden (1806-1869) was a powerful political figure from Maine during the Civil War era.
Fessenden served on the Senate Finance Committee, the Committee on the Conduct of the War, and eventually became Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln.
Item 9244
Chapter 6, page 169-172.
This is an invitation to Rufus Choate to speak at an 1856 meeting of the Whig State Committee of Maine.
Choate was a Massachusetts State Senator who was instrumental in organizing the Whig Party in Massachusetts.
Transcription
The link above will download a PDF file. Help with PDF.
Item 9345
Chapter 6, page 169-171.
Rufus Choate replied to the invitation of the Whig State Committee of Maine with this famous letter. Choate writes his opposition to the newly founded Republican Party, and encourages Maine Whigs to do all they can to prevent the permanent formation of this party.
The Whigs were for a united and slavery-free country for moral and commercial reasons. The Whigs felt threatened by the Republican party, for the third party threatened to tear the traditional two-party system apart.
Transcription
The link above will download a PDF file. Help with PDF.
Item 5382
Chapter 6, page 171-173.
This military broadside was posted on the Park Street Church in Portland on April 21, 1861. The persuasive tone of the call to arms urges Portlanders to take up arms in the newly declared Civil War.