Extra Credit Questions

[David Lockmiller]

President Lincoln on the question of whether or not England would declare war upon the United States as a result of the Trent affair:

Agitated by the vituperative attacks by the British press, Seward burst into Lincoln's office on Sunday afternoon, December 15, [1861]. Orville Browning, who was taking tea with the president at the time, dismissed Seward's worries, insisting that England would not do "so foolish a thing" as to declare war. Lincoln was not so sure. He recalled a ferocious bulldog in his hometown. While neighbors convinced themselves that they had noting to fear, one wise man observed: "I know the bulldog will not bite. You know he will not bite, but does the bulldog know he will not bite?"

Team of Rivals, page 398.