A reaction to the split of the Democratic party, North and South, in response to the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln for president. A response as well to the rumors of the secession of the Southern States, which led to the Civil War, after the election of President Lincoln.

"Samuel (1725-1800) was great grandson of George and Sarah Shoemaker. He was an attorney and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Served as Councilman, Treasurer and Mayor of Philadelphia. As a Quaker he opposed the Revolutionary War and the desire to break away from the King. Part of his estate was confiscated and he left Philadelphia when the British army evacuated. Later he and his youngest son, Edward, sailed for England. There he was received by King George III and the royal family. In 1786 he returned to America." - Alexander Scott

The third diary (January 1785 – July 1786) documents negotiations with Native American tribes after the Revolutionary War, which Finney either witnessed or actively took part in. Finney provides detailed notes on the January 1785 Treaty of Fort McIntosh between Commissioners representing the United States and the Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa Nations. The first part of the diary records what was said and exchanged during these negotiations, in some cases reading as transcripts of meetings on January 9, 12-13, 15, and 18. This is followed by a transcription of the July 1785 contract for Samuel Osgood, Walter Levingston, and James O’Hara to negotiate with the Shawnee Nation near the Miami River in Ohio. The rest of the diary consists of Finney’s diary entries from September 1785 to Jan. 1786, as well as transcribed copies of letters and documents, including those to and from General George Rogers Clark and Colonel Josiah Harmer. These materials detail specific events leading to increasing tension between the two negotiating parties in 1786.

The first diary (June 1778 – December 1780) records Walter Finney’s Revolutionary War experiences primarily in the northern states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. In this volume, Finney rarely mentions doing battle with the British. Instead, he frequently chronicles the movement of American troops from one encampment to another. Additionally, he notes when he saw George Washington, the times he spotted Lafayette, and comments about countless military exercises. In April 1780, in a field near Morristown, New Jersey, such exercises attracted several hundred civilian spectators. A farmer, Finney also writes about the condition of the soil he marched over, sometimes noting how challenging it would be to farm. Finney laments the loose morals and swearing of his fellow soldiers and records instances of punishments for their malfeasance. Lastly, Finney occasionally remarks about cities and towns he passed through. For example, Danbury, Connecticut was a convenient place to conduct trade until the tyrannical British arrived and set it afire. The end of the volume includes two transcribed poems of the day, “The Maid’s Soliloquy” and Thomas Paine’s “Death of General Wolfe.” Joseph Lee Boyle, a military historian who worked at Valley Forge Historical Park for more than a dozen years, transcribed the first two volumes of Finney’s diaries and published them with commentary in New Jersey History, vol. 121, nos. 1-4, 2003, pp. 23-81 and South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 98, no. 2, 1997, pp. 126-152.

This speech contains a discussion of the problem of the Irish in America. Pro-Irish, it cites such remarkable traits as adaptability and the organization of the Irish community for political purposes. Mentions Cromwell's Navigation Laws and the Irish community of Logan founded in Pennsylvania in 1699. Speaks of the Quebec Act, which allowed Catholics to hold positions in business and politics in English colonies. Points to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the original colonies, which they attempted to overcome in their appeal to Quebec during the Revolution. Notes the anti-Presbyterian sentiment in England and the work of the members of the sect in the Revolutionary War. Discusses the immigration laws of the newly formed republic and the early Alien and Sedition laws. Mentions the uprising of anti-Irish feeling as immigration grew, and the 1834 burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown. Speaks of the Native American movement, its attempted takeover of local government and its role in the split of the Whig party. Notes the Protestant Know-Nothingism movement of the mid-19th Century. Gives the figures for American-born Irishmen and their various industries. Speaks of Fenianism and the Land League, as well as James Stephens and Charles Stewart Parnell, as well as Michael Davitt and the Fenian Brotherhood. Discusses sharecropping in Ireland and the Land Bills of 1870 and 1881. Ends with a discourse on Parnell and the other Irish in Parliament.

This speech contains a discussion of the problem of the Irish in America. Pro-Irish, it cites such remarkable traits as adaptability and the organization of the Irish community for political purposes. Mentions Cromwell's Navigation Laws and the Irish community of Logan founded in Pennsylvania in 1699. Speaks of the Quebec Act, which allowed Catholics to hold positions in business and politics in English colonies. Points to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the original colonies, which they attempted to overcome in their appeal to Quebec during the Revolution. Notes the anti-Presbyterian sentiment in England and the work of the members of the sect in the Revolutionary War. Discusses the immigration laws of the newly formed republic and the early Alien and Sedition laws. Mentions the uprising of anti-Irish feeling as immigration grew, and the 1834 burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown. Speaks of the Native American movement, its attempted takeover of local government and its role in the split of the Whig party. Notes the Protestant Know-Nothingism movement of the mid-19th Century. Gives the figures for American-born Irishmen and their various industries. Speaks of Fenianism and the Land League, as well as James Stephens and Charles Stewart Parnell, as well as Michael Davitt and the Fenian Brotherhood. Discusses sharecropping in Ireland and the Land Bills of 1870 and 1881. Ends with a discourse on Parnell and the other Irish in Parliament.

This speech contains a discussion of the problem of the Irish in America. Pro-Irish, it cites such remarkable traits as adaptability and the organization of the Irish community for political purposes. Mentions Cromwell's Navigation Laws and the Irish community of Logan founded in Pennsylvania in 1699. Speaks of the Quebec Act, which allowed Catholics to hold positions in business and politics in English colonies. Points to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the original colonies, which they attempted to overcome in their appeal to Quebec during the Revolution. Notes the anti-Presbyterian sentiment in England and the work of the members of the sect in the Revolutionary War. Discusses the immigration laws of the newly formed republic and the early Alien and Sedition laws. Mentions the uprising of anti-Irish feeling as immigration grew, and the 1834 burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown. Speaks of the Native American movement, its attempted takeover of local government and its role in the split of the Whig party. Notes the Protestant Know-Nothingism movement of the mid-19th Century. Gives the figures for American-born Irishmen and their various industries. Speaks of Fenianism and the Land League, as well as James Stephens and Charles Stewart Parnell, as well as Michael Davitt and the Fenian Brotherhood. Discusses sharecropping in Ireland and the Land Bills of 1870 and 1881. Ends with a discourse on Parnell and the other Irish in Parliament.

This speech contains a discussion of the problem of the Irish in America. Pro-Irish, it cites such remarkable traits as adaptability and the organization of the Irish community for political purposes. Mentions Cromwell's Navigation Laws and the Irish community of Logan founded in Pennsylvania in 1699. Speaks of the Quebec Act, which allowed Catholics to hold positions in business and politics in English colonies. Points to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the original colonies, which they attempted to overcome in their appeal to Quebec during the Revolution. Notes the anti-Presbyterian sentiment in England and the work of the members of the sect in the Revolutionary War. Discusses the immigration laws of the newly formed republic and the early Alien and Sedition laws. Mentions the uprising of anti-Irish feeling as immigration grew, and the 1834 burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown. Speaks of the Native American movement, its attempted takeover of local government and its role in the split of the Whig party. Notes the Protestant Know-Nothingism movement of the mid-19th Century. Gives the figures for American-born Irishmen and their various industries. Speaks of Fenianism and the Land League, as well as James Stephens and Charles Stewart Parnell, as well as Michael Davitt and the Fenian Brotherhood. Discusses sharecropping in Ireland and the Land Bills of 1870 and 1881. Ends with a discourse on Parnell and the other Irish in Parliament.

This speech contains a discussion of the problem of the Irish in America. Pro-Irish, it cites such remarkable traits as adaptability and the organization of the Irish community for political purposes. Mentions Cromwell's Navigation Laws and the Irish community of Logan founded in Pennsylvania in 1699. Speaks of the Quebec Act, which allowed Catholics to hold positions in business and politics in English colonies. Points to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the original colonies, which they attempted to overcome in their appeal to Quebec during the Revolution. Notes the anti-Presbyterian sentiment in England and the work of the members of the sect in the Revolutionary War. Discusses the immigration laws of the newly formed republic and the early Alien and Sedition laws. Mentions the uprising of anti-Irish feeling as immigration grew, and the 1834 burning of the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown. Speaks of the Native American movement, its attempted takeover of local government and its role in the split of the Whig party. Notes the Protestant Know-Nothingism movement of the mid-19th Century. Gives the figures for American-born Irishmen and their various industries. Speaks of Fenianism and the Land League, as well as James Stephens and Charles Stewart Parnell, as well as Michael Davitt and the Fenian Brotherhood. Discusses sharecropping in Ireland and the Land Bills of 1870 and 1881. Ends with a discourse on Parnell and the other Irish in Parliament.