Secession Crisis and Views On Slavery
Maynard's complex views on slavery reflected shifting sentiments that were common among East Tennessee Unionists. During the 1830s, Maynard, the son of an abolitionist, found slavery contemptible, calling it "a curse to the country." By 1850, however, Maynard was defending the practice of slavery in letters to his father, arguing there was a "bright as well as a dark side to slavery." In 1860, Maynard owned four slaves, and while he opposed secession as a congressman, he nevertheless defended slavery. Toward the end of the Civil War, Maynard again adopted an abolitionist viewpoint, and supported Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
Along with fellow Unionists Andrew Johnson, T.A.R. Nelson, and William G. Brownlow, Maynard worked feverishly to keep Tennessee in the Union amidst the secession crisis of 1860 and 1861. In the weeks leading up to the state's June 8 referendum on secession, Maynard travelled across East Tennessee, giving dozens of pro-Union speeches. Maynard was also a member of the Knox County delegation to the East Tennessee Union Convention, which sought to create a separate Union-aligned state in East Tennessee.
Read more about this topic: Horace Maynard, Biography
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