Unnamed Politicians and Orators

In his conversation with Cass about human, and specifically Southern history, Ike generalizes about a number of different kinds of men who, according to his account, were part of the explanation for the Civil War. This entry refers to what he calls "the thundering cannonade of politicians earning votes and the medicine-shows of pulpiteers earning Chautauqua fees" (270) - by which he means the political men and popular orators who campaigned and spoke against slavery. (The "Chautauqua" circuit - named for the New York town where it began - was a shorthand way to refer to the many professional lecturers who spoke on a wide range of subjects to a huge number of audiences during the 19th and into the 20th centuries.)