The Metaphysical Club – The Politics of Slavery

The first chapter discusses the political climate that shaped the beliefs and thinking of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. with the Civil War being the central experience of his life. Holmes’ mother was an abolitionist (primarily moral concerns regarding slavery) while his father was a unionist (primarily economic concerns regarding slavery).  Holmes enlists to fight in the war because of his moral beliefs, but his experience in the war causes him to both lose his beliefs and get a sense of the limit of ideas.

            Menand points out that Holmes’ father used both his own instincts as well as public tendencies to form his political views. He offers the story about Dr. Holmes’ experience as dean of the Harvard Medical School when there was one female applicant as well as three black applicants to the school as an example of this as Dr. Holmes originally sees no problem with admitting all of them but changes his stance due to outcry by the student body. This story, along with the fact that there were no abolitionist protests because of it, shows that many were more worried by the North being forced to play police for the South than they were by any moral objection to slavery. Additionally, Menand may be drawing some comparison between Dr. Holmes’ thinking and Holmes’ thinking after experiencing war.

-Tim Connolly