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The War for Liberty & Union: Contesting Daniel Webster’s Memory in the Civil War North

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This paper explores Daniel Webster’s (1782-1852) contested memory during the U.S. Civil War. By analyzing newspaper articles, speeches, and political campaigns, it explores how disparate factions manipulated the statesman’s memory to espouse competing definitions of liberty and Union. Partisans, abolitionists, and soldiers all utilized Webster’s past to comprehend the U.S. Constitution and describe the Union they were fighting for. Examining Webster’s memory as a distinct theatre of politics provides us with an analytical window into a divided North and the precarious state of America’s institutions during the Civil War.

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