INTRODUCTION: WOUNDED UNION, DIVIDED NATION – EARLY YEARS 1830s TO 1880s
Albert Pike’s editorial career exhibits a philosopher highly in conflict with himself, and it is hoped his inner conflicts alongside his philosophical legacy may provide us the chance for reflection about similar intellectuals of our day. This article however does not base its view of Pike’s life on the argument that Pike was a “man of his time.” It rejects selective interpretation or simplistic villain caricatures of Pike, while also refuting or settling several fabrications and controversial statements falsely attributed to him. This story of Pike’s life takes us from his early anti-slavery attitude to a pro-slavery secessionist against racial integration, unlike abolitionists and radical republicans of his time. The issue is that Pike is used very often as a controversial figure through which to inject anti-republican or anti-revolutionary view and conspiracy into dialogue about the historical roots of American political heritage and the role of Freemasonry. He is not a figure adopted by conservatives to give them an air of philosophical depth, prestige and legitimacy. People fixate on Albert Pike’s pro-slavery stance (and often exaggerate or distort it) for a combination of historical, ideological, and cultural reasons.
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