Original scientific paper

“Root, Hog, or Die”: A Republican Proverb

Barry Shelton

Abstract

The American proverb, “root hog or die,” though popular in the early nineteenth century, gained widespread use after President Lincoln used it at the Hampton Roads Conference. Newspapers across the country then published contradictory anecdotal accounts of how Lincoln had used the proverb, incensing the citizenry of both Northern and Southern states. The proverb then became a contentious political rallying cry used frequently in the racially charged rhetoric of the Re-construction Era.

Keywords

American Proverbs; Abraham Lincoln; U.S. Civil War; Re-construction Era; Political Rhetoric; Wellerisms; Folksong; Broadsides; Minstrelsy

Hrčak ID:

278372

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/278372

Publication date:

31.8.2014.

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