the Bank a monster and
declared: 'I am ready with the
screws to draw every tooth and
then the stumps.' Voters
approved and re-elected him
by a large margin.
Nicholas Biddle was head of the
Second Bank of the United States.
With many Congessmen and
Senators financially beholden to
him, he wielded great political
power. He deliberately created a
banking panic and a depression
for the purpose of frightening the
voters and blaming Jackson's
anti-bank policy. Biddle declared:
'All other banks and all the
merchants may break, but the
Bank of the United States shall not
break.' In the end, he lost the
contest. The Bank's charter
expired in 1836.
During the Civil War, Lincoln
had an insurrection on his
hands in the North as well as
the South, These two Leslie's
engravings depict the 1863
anti-draft riots that occurred in
Ohio, Illinois, and New York. In
New York, over 1,000 civilians
were killed or wounded by
federal soldiers. The Civil War
was started over economic
issues, not slavery. The War
was not popular in the North
until the issue of slavery was
added at a later time to turn it
into a moral crusade.
Above and below: New YorV Historical Society
The crew of the Russian ship,
Virginia, in 1863. Tsar Alexander II had dispatched his Baltic fleet to Alexandria and his Asiatic fleet to San Fransciso where they were committed to assist the Unions blockade against the South. This had little to do with freeing the slaves. France l^'
designs on Mexico, and England wanted a divided America. Russia was merely reacting against France and England who were her enemies. The powers of Eur°Pe
