Edward Everett and Ante-Bellum Conservatism

Abstract

As a child, I continually heard tales of some distant ancestor of mine who was a great orator and gave a two hour speech at the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg. The man's name was Edward Everett, and outside of my family, I encountered very few people who had ever heard of him. In the Junior History Seminar, a research project was assigned which afforded me the chance to do some research on my illustrations ancestor, the "Silver-Tongued" orator. After locating a biography of Everett written by Paul R. Frothingham, I began to realize that he was much more than a mere orator. He was a national leader who held political offices from the state representative to Secretary of State. It is my hopes that this paper will breathe some life into a now obscure figure who was a nationally known figure in his own time. I also hope that it will help explain the problems of Ante-Bellum America that led to the Civil War.