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Abraham Lincoln: a Legacy of Freedom Legacy of a Lincoln: Abraham Abraham Lincoln

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Abraham Lincoln: a Legacy of Freedom Legacy of a Lincoln: Abraham Abraham Lincoln ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A OF LEGACY FREEDOM ABRAHAM LINCOLN ABRAHAM LINCOLN a legacy of freedom Bureau of International Information Programs U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE http://www.america.gov a legacy of freedom 09-20167 AbrahamLincoln_cov.indd 1 2/6/09 11:51:30 AM “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” 'SRXIRXW Preface ............................................................................................................. 2 =[eh][9bWYa What Lincoln Means to Me ....................................................................... 4 ;_b[[dCWYa[l_Y^ What Abraham Lincoln Means to Americans Today ........................ 6 7dZh[m<[h]kied Groundwork for Greatness: Abraham Lincoln to 1854 .................... 14 :ek]bWiB$M_bied Path to the White House: Abraham Lincoln From 1854 ................. 22 C_Y^W[b@Wo<h_[ZcWd A New Look for Lincoln ........................................................................ 31 C[]^WdBe\jki Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief .............................................................. 32 F[j[h9epp[di Lincoln as Diplomat ..................................................................................... 40 >emWhZ@ed[i Lincoln as Emancipator .............................................................................. 46 C_Y^W[b@Wo<h_[ZcWd The Words That Moved a Nation ............................................................ 52 HedWbZ9$M^_j["@h$ Words of Wisdom ................................................................................... 61 Additional Resources .................................................................................. 62 46)*%') 8O=;EH=;9B79A he year 2009 marks the In Lincoln’s biography, Obama of this country — the self‒made 200th anniversary of the continued, his “rise from poverty, his man. In “The Words That Moved a birth of Abraham Lincoln, ultimate mastery of language and law, Nation,” Lincoln biographer Ronald the U.S. president his capacity to overcome personal C. White limns another of Lincoln’s 8often considered the greatest of loss and remain determined in the surpassing gifts — his eloquence, a this country’s leaders. Americans’ face of repeated defeat … reminded mastery of words encompassing the reverence for Lincoln began with me of a larger, fundamental element soaring biblical cadences that inspire his tragic death by assassination of American life — the enduring a nation and, equally, the homespun in 1865, at the end of a brutal civil belief that we can constantly remake wisdom of the common man. war in which 623,000 men died, ourselves to fit our larger dreams.” Three essays examine Lincoln’s the American Union withstood By bringing together leading role as leader through the great its greatest test, and slavery was historians and asking them to national crisis of the Civil War. In banished. And his hallowed place consider Lincoln from different “Path to the White House: Abraham in the iconography of America angles, we hope to help people Lincoln from 1854” and “Lincoln continues. More than 14,000 books around the world understand the as Emancipator,” this book’s editor, have been published on Lincoln to sources of the man’s greatness as well Michael Jay Friedman, lays out the date. Contemporary scholar Douglas as his place in Americans’ hearts. issues that led to the Civil War L. Wilson calls Lincoln the “best This volume, then, presents a sort and the events that led Lincoln known and most widely acclaimed of of pointillist portrait of Lincoln. Our to order the 1863 Emancipation all Americans.” introduction presents a personal view Proclamation, which freed the Why add one more volume of Lincoln, that of Eileen Mackevich, slaves of American South. Civil to the massive mound of Lincoln executive director of the Abraham War historian Peter Cozzens, in scholarship? Because we believe Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. “Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief,” that Lincoln embodies fundamental In our opening essay, “What American ideals that stretch from Lincoln Means to Americans the founding of this nation down to Today,” journalist Andrew the present. Ferguson considers the libraries Among the Americans embracing of Lincoln books, the collectors this vision of our 16th president is of Lincoln memorabilia, the the 44th president, Barack Obama. actors who present a reenacted Writing in 2005, as a newly minted Lincoln to the masses, and U.S. senator, Obama declared it hard the Lincoln Memorial in to imagine a less likely scenario than Washington, D.C., for what they his own rise — “except, perhaps, for say about Lincoln’s enduring the one that allowed a child born in appeal. Next, in “Groundwork the backwoods of Kentucky with less for Greatness: Abraham Lincoln to 7jj^[^[Whje\j^[B_dYebdC[ceh_Wb than a year of formal education to 1854,” historian Wilson recounts the WXel[":Wd_[b9^[ij[h<h[dY^Êi iYkbfjkh[effei_j[Z[f_Yji end up as Illinois’ greatest citizen and story of a boy born to humble parents B_dYebd\WY_d][WijmWhZ"jemWhZj^[ our nation’s greatest president.” in a frontier cabin who wills himself MWi^_d]jedCedkc[dj$ to become that great archetype 2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A LEGACY OF FREEDOM considers the obstacles the president a sense of a mystery remains. In the not enough. The Union has to be had to overcome in developing an end the figure of Lincoln seems so dedicated to a proposition: that all effective Union army and a cadre grand, so varied, so susceptible to men are created equal.” of generals to command it. Finally, meaning that Americans of all stripes diplomatic historian Howard Jones, have often enlisted him in their in “Lincoln as Diplomat,” describes causes. Perhaps Andrew Ferguson the international pitfalls that Lincoln in a recent interview comes closest =[eh][9bWYa_iZ_h[Yjehe\j^[ as a war president needed to navigate to getting at the power of the icon: E\ÓY[e\FkXb_YWj_edi_dj^[ and how he did it. “Lincoln also returns us to something IjWj[:[fWhjc[djÊi8kh[Wke\ Despite all the Lincoln books, essential in our national creed. The ?dj[hdWj_edWb?d\ehcWj_edFhe]hWci$ articles, tributes, and conferences, iconic Lincoln reminds us of the idea that the Union, by itself, is ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A LEGACY OF FREEDOM 3 ;LEX0MRGSPR 1IERWXS1I 8O;?B;;DC79A;L?9> mong history’s heroes, Abraham Lincoln stands out as THE American original. Born to unaspiring parents on the hard-scrabble frontier, his meteoric rise was never less than inspiring. Lincoln continued to grow %and remake himself anew throughout his lifetime. Even 200 years later, we seek his guidance. In truth, we can do no better Only Lincoln could have steered us from the than to emulate our 16th president: a man of dogged, tragic course of race relations that followed his death. so very American, ambition, but also one whose As John Hope Franklin, the African-American resolve was always tempered by an unswerving scholar often called the dean of American historians, determination never to compromise his personal put it, “Of all the American presidents, only Lincoln integrity. stayed up nights worried about the fate of my people.” Never boring, our Lincoln. He is a simple man, While Lincoln today enjoys the near-universal a complex man, a roustabout, a jokester, a recluse, esteem of his countrymen, during his lifetime he was a man of action, a visionary. Just when we think we hardly a man for all seasons and all reasons. Many understand him, he eludes us. He is not a man to be southerners and abolitionists disliked him. Frederick pigeon-holed. There is a Lincoln for all seasons and Douglass, the former slave turned abolitionist author, all reasons. editor, and political reformer (also the most admired Scholars find rich soil in Lincoln’s many man in England), faulted Lincoln for failing to act manifestations. They debate the substance of his swiftly on emancipation. Douglass felt that Lincoln life and the larger meaning of his tragic death. How was too solicitous of the slave-holding border states did his views on race evolve? Why did he move so that refrained from joining the southern rebellion. cautiously on emancipation? Was he moved only Only later did Douglass perceive Lincoln’s political by the imperative of battlefield success and the artistry: The president, he came to understand, was a consequent need to gather support from abroad? masterfully pragmatic politician who knew just how When did he embrace the idea of full citizenship for fast and how far he could push the American people the former slaves? Would his Reconstruction plan toward abolition. have successfully reunited North and South while Ever anxious to learn, Lincoln invited outspoken ensuring the former slaves their full legal equality? people to the White House. He respected their honesty. Douglass was one. Another was Anna Dickinson, a Quaker activist abolitionist, women’s rights advocate, and intense Lincoln admirer. But she turned against Lincoln because he would not support 4 ABRAHAM LINCOLN: A LEGACY OF FREEDOM 9h[Wj[ZXoWdWYje\9ed]h[ii"j^[7XhW^WcB_dYebd8_Y[dj[dd_Wb9ecc_ii_edmehaije Y[b[XhWj[j^[b_\[WdZb[]WYoe\7c[h_YWÊi',j^fh[i_Z[djm^_b[h[_dl_]ehWj_d]^_ij^ek]^ji" _Z[Wbi"WdZif_h_jj^hek]^ekjj^[dWj_edWdZWhekdZj^[mehbZ$ her charge of treason against the pompous, politically On a sunny spring day shortly before his scheming General George B. McClellan. Lincoln assassination, Abraham and his wife, Mary Todd listened respectfully to Americans of different stripes, Lincoln, took a carriage ride. The war was
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