Jack Furniss Publishes in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography

Thursday, April 13, 2017

University of Virginia Ph.D. Candidate Jack Furniss recently published an article in the April 2017 edition of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Furniss’s article explores the important role of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin during the Civil War. According to the article abstract:

“This article examines the elections and tenure of Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania, who secured election in 1860 and reelection in 1863 at the head of a centrist political coalition that first dubbed itself the People's Party and later became the Union Party. Although Republicans constituted the largest proportion of Curtin's supporters, his overall success hinged on Democrat and Whig converts who refused to back a straight Republican ticket. The governor appealed to these voters by embodying a nonpartisan patriotism in rhetoric and policy. His campaigns appealed across party lines to loyal Democrats, and in his governance he regularly clashed with Washington over a host of unpopular wartime policies. Curtin's record suggests the fluidity of Republicanism and provides powerful evidence for the underappreciated prevalence and significance of political centrism in wartime northern politics.”

The entire article is available (with a subscription) along with the rest of the April 2017 edition at the journal’s website.