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Horace Greeley

horace greeley
editor

quote
"Go West, young man, go West!"

biography
Born in poverty in New Hampshire on Feb. 3, 1811, Greeley became an apprentice printer at the age of 15 in East Poultney, Vt. He was an insatiable reader, and early in life he developed a consuming interest in politics and social issues. He went to New York as a penniless young printer in 1831. Ten years later, after several publishing ventures brought him considerable prominence but little financial gain, he founded the Tribune. With heavy emphasis on serious news and open to a wide variety of opinions, the Tribune represented a new step forward in journalism. It was successful from the start, especially the weekly edition, which circulated widely throughout rural America and in time made "Uncle Horace" a household name.

In 1831 he went to New York City with $10 in his pocket and his clothes in a bundle carried over his shoulder. After several newspaper ventures he started the New York Tribune. In spite of the success of the Tribune and the large sums Greeley made as a lecturer, he was never wealthy. He always aided everyone who asked for help, not only with advice but also with money.

Greeley was forceful and outspoken on the many causes he espoused, sometimes with apparent inconsistency. He championed equality for women in employment and education but was adamantly opposed to women's suffrage and liberalized divorce laws. He advocated agrarianism but recognized the need for industrialization, and although he believed in free trade, he favored protective tariffs. Favorite targets for his condemnation included monopolies, liquor and tobacco, capital punishment, and the theater. He gave generous space in the Tribune to the socialistic doctrine of Charles Fourier. Above all, Greeley fought unceasingly against slavery.

Greeley was a great molder of public opinion in the period just before and during the Civil War. He used his newspaper for this purpose. He started it as a Whig daily in 1841. He wrote in favor of a high protective tariff, aided the temperance movement, and opposed slavery. At first he believed that the differences between the North and the South could be settled peacefully. Shortly before the Civil War, Greeley and his newspaper dropped their pacifist role. When the war began he disagreed with President Lincoln's conduct of it. He also urged the emancipation of the slaves before Lincoln was ready for the step.

In 1860, as a delegate to the convention of the new Republican party, which Greeley, long a loyal Whig, had helped form, he was instrumental in securing the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. Later, as the war progressed, he was somewhat erratic in his support of the president's policies. His influence on Lincoln has thus been the subject of much debate. For taking several unpopular stands, Greeley and the Tribune were the targets of much abuse, the most violent being two mob attacks on the Tribune building during the bloody New York draft riots of 1863.
 

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