What Is the Connection Between Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence?

My VIP for this week is President Abraham Lincoln and his connection to the Declaration of Independence. According to Justin Collings in his article titled “Lincoln transformed the Declaration of Independence” published in the Deseret News, “Lincoln placed the Declaration’s ideals at the moral heart of America – and he was willing to defend them in the name of ‘all men.’” Collings wrote, “Abraham Lincoln arguably advanced the cause of the Declaration of Independence more than any other American – even the Declaration’s author.

The setting was as symbolic as the moment was tense.

On February 22, 1861, a crowd gathered in Philadelphia’s Independence Square for a flag-raising ceremony in honor of George Washington’s birthday. The speaker – tall and gangly, with a craggy visage and a high-pitched voice – was Abraham Lincoln, president-elect of the United States.

Over the previous nine weeks, seven Southern states had seeded from the Union. Many feared that more would follow. Before exiting the south entrance of Independence Hall for the ceremony, Lincoln spent a few reflective moments in the Assembly Room – the storied space where the Declaration of Independence had been signed and where the Constitution had been crafted.

Perhaps he thought of Thomas Jefferson, who had composed the declaration’s first draft, or of Washington, who had done more than any other to secure independence on the fields of battle and to establish the Constitution in the councils of state. Liberty and union – these were the high ideals that Lincoln had long championed.

These were the principles that secession imperiled.

Lincoln stood on a temporary wooden platform draped in bunting. As he looked out over the crowd, Independence Hall – the shrine of the founding – stood behind him. The future before him was profoundly uncertain; the prospect of national ruin was real. He spoke without notes.

The setting all but compelled Lincoln to speak about the Declaration of Independence. What surprised his audience was not the subject he chose, but the fervor with which he addressed it.

“I have never,” he intoned, “had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” Rather than surrender the declaration’s core principles, he continued, “I would rather be assassinated on this spot.”

These were not idle words at a time when the risk of assassination was clear, present and pervasive. Lincoln summarized the declaration’s principles as an overarching commitment to “liberty for all.” The stakes of secession’s threat to those principles were colossal – almost cosmic.

Accordingly, Lincoln affirmed and extolled “that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men.”

Lincoln was not exaggerating when he said that the whole of his political thought derived from the Declaration of Independence. For Lincoln, the declaration was more than revolutionary.

To Lincoln, the declaration was the “apple of gold”; the Constitution and Union were the “picture of silver” framed around it. Lincoln’s life and thought present an extended commentary, in word and deed, on the declaration’s key clauses. It is the richest and most consequential commentary in our history.

The principle of liberty “clears the path for all; gives hope to all, and, by consequence, enterprise and industry to all.” – Abraham Lincoln

It is a commentary worth revisiting as we commemorate our national semiquincentennial – the declaration’s 250^th birthday. For Lincoln not only expounded the declaration; he transfigured it. When we celebrate the declaration this year, it is Lincoln’s declaration that we honor.

Lincoln’s understanding of the declaration evolved over time, finding its fullest formulation in his most canonical statements – the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural speech.  Intriguingly, the textual arc of his understanding proceeded in reverse, emphasizing the declaration’s sonorous clauses in the opposite order from how they appear in the text….

  

Savior of the Nation

                One hundred and fifty years ago on May 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was buried.  Tens of thousands of people paid their respects to the late President in the Illinois State Capitol and read the words “Washington the Father, Lincoln the Savior.”

                “Millions more encountered similar sentiment in the nation’s papers, pews, and parlors.  To a distant and more secular generation, eulogizing Lincoln as a national savior might seem like embellished hero worship, but understanding the context of such praise reveals profound and seldom-told meaning in the Civil War.”

                Thus Michael K. Erickson began his article entitled “The Providence of God and the Civil War.”  Erickson’s article explains how President Lincoln’s understanding of the purpose for the Civil War evolved “from saving the Union, to freeing the slaves, and finally to redeeming the nation.”  “For many Bible-believing Americans, the assassination of the venerable commander-in-chief became a last sacrifice to redeem the nation for its original sin of slavery…..”

                The article is very interesting and sheds much light on those who are far removed from the Civil War.  I personally believe the “offense” of the nation includes more than the sin of slavery; I believe it includes the persecutions of the Mormons who escaped from the horrors of the Civil War by moving to the Rocky Mountains.  At any rate, the price of slavery was paid by the blood of 620,000 Americans, mostly white men.  Ironic, isn’t it?

Lincoln at Gettysburg

                Today marks the 150^th anniversary of the address that President Abraham Lincoln gave at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863.  Only a few days after the Battle of Gettysburg, plans were made to establish and dedicate the first military cemetery.  Apparently, David Wills of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was tasked with finding a speaker.  He chose Edward Everett, the former president of Harvard University, to give the main address.  After Everett had agreed to speak, Wills asked the President of the United States to “give a few appropriate remarks.”

                Everett spoke from memory for two hours and eight minutes about the history of the battle.  As he spoke on and on, the crowd grew restless.  Finally, he was quiet, and Lincoln stepped forward.  His speech was short and to the point.  He spoke for less than three minutes, and his talk consisted of 272 words.  His speech was a handful of lines with carefully chosen words, and it quickly spread through the media.

                President Lincoln spoke his words slowly and meaningfully.  Please read the following address slowly in order to have the appropriate appreciation for his words.  President Lincoln wrote and spoke his words for an important purpose, the survival of our nation.  His words meant something to him.  What do they mean to you and me?

                “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

                “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.  We are met on a great battlefield of that war.  We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

                “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure or devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

               

                The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell called Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg “the greatest speech in American history and reminded us that “Lincoln urged the fractured nation to dedicate itself to the `unfinished work’ of the battle.  In only 10 sentences – 272 words in all – he made clear the far-reaching implications of the Civil War:  `that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.’

                The Morning Bell continued their article by reminding readers that the Progressive movement emerged in America in the late 19^th century and likened the Progressives of that time to the liberals of our day in their “paradoxical relationship to democracy.”

                “On the one hand, they championed democratic reforms, like the referendum, the ballot initiative, and the direct election of Senators (liberal today favor the popular election of the President).

                “On the other hand, the Progressives -- again like their liberal heirs – harbored a deep-seated distrust of the unwashed masses.”

                Liberals today try to convince Americans that everything they do is “for the people” because the people are not smart enough to choose their own food, light bulbs, or health care.  “Liberalism has in effect redefined democracy along paternalistic lines:  enacting, through whatever means necessary, what the people would vote for – if only they were enlightened enough to know what’s best for them.

                “This, of course, is not democracy….  Simply claiming to be for the people does not make a government democratic.  As Lincoln taught us in his Gettysburg Address, it must also be of and by these people.”

                Our nation is now greatly divided over many issues; one of those issues is race.  Barack Obama campaigned on being a person who could unite our nation; instead he has done more to divide us and make matters worse in almost every area of our nation.  Even though Mr. Obama read a version of the Gettysburg Address today, he is a far different President than was Abraham Lincoln.  If we want to have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, we must look to leaders like Abraham Lincoln and not Barack Obama.

Mary Todd Lincoln

                    Mary Anne Todd Lincoln was born December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert Smith Todd (February 25, 1791-July 16, 1849) and Elizabeth Parker Todd (1794 or 1795-July 6, 1825/Lexington, Kentucky).  Robert and Elizabeth were parents of seven children, three boys and four girls, with Mary being their fourth child.  The other children were Elizabeth Todd Edwards (1813-1888), Frances "Fanny" Todd Wallace (1815-1899), Levi O. Todd (1817-1865), Robert P. Todd (1820-1822), Ann Todd Smith (1824-1891), and George Rogers Clark Todd (1825-1900).

Robert was a banker, merchant, lawyer, officer during the War of 1812, and member of the Kentucky legislature.  He died of cholera, which required immediate burial; due to his cause of death, there are questions about whether he was buried in Springfield, Illinois, or Lexington, Kentucky.  Robert and Elizabeth were married on November 26, 1812. 

                    Mary came from English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.  Her paternal great-grandfather was David Levi Todd:  born February 8, 17__, in Longford County, Ireland; immigrated to Pennsylvania and then moved to Kentucky.  Her maternal great-great-grandfather was Samuel McDowell:  born in Scotland and immigrated to Pennsylvania where he died.  Other Todd ancestors came from England.

                    When Mary was six years old, her mother died.  Her father married Elizabeth "Betsy" Humphreys Todd on November 1, 1826, and had seven more children.

                    Mary was reared in comfort and refinement, but she did not get along well with her step-mother.  Mary is described as being five feet two inches tall and having blue eyes and reddish-brown hair.  She left home early to attend finishing school; the school was owned by a French woman and its curriculum was based on French and dancing.  Mary learned to speak French fluently; she studied dance, drama, music and social graces.   Mary was thought to be "witty and gregarious, with a grasp of politics".

                    Mary began living with her sister Elizabeth Edwards in Springfield, Illinois, in October 1839, and Elizabeth became Mary's guardian while Mary lived with her.  Mary was popular in the social circles of Springfield and was courted by several promising young men, including Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln who were both rising young lawyers. 

Abraham, age 33, and Mary, age 23, were married on November 4, 1842, in the home of her sister Elizabeth in Springfield.  They became parents of four boys, all four born in Springfield:  Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926; lawyer, diplomat, businessman); Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-1850; known as "Eddie"); William Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862; known as "Willie"; died while Lincoln was President); Thomas Lincoln (1853-1871; known as "Tad").  Robert and Tad were the only sons to live to adulthood, and Robert was the only one to survive his mother.  

                    Lincoln became a successful Springfield attorney and spent years as an Illinois circuit lawyer.  Mary was often left alone to run the household and rear the children.  She supported her husband both socially and politically, particularly when he was elected President of the United States in 1860.  The Lincoln family home from 1844 until 1861 in Springfield, Illinois, is now the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.

                    Abraham Lincoln became a political rival of Stephen A. Douglas for a seat representing Illinois in the United States Senate in 1858.  After the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Illinois legislature chose Douglas to represent their state in the Senate, but Lincoln became famous and received national support for his position on slavery.

                    Mary Lincoln was the first presidential wife to be known as the "First Lady", and she faced numerous difficulties during her White House years.  As Lincoln was the first "western" president, the society in Washington, D.C. - dominated by eastern and southern culture - often criticized Mary's "western" manners as coarse and pretentious.  Mary had a difficult time dealing with White House social responsibilities, which were made worse due to the intrigue of the Civil War.

  

                    A devoted supporter of her husband, Mary was strictly loyal to his policies as he fought to save the Union.  She was in a very difficult position due to the fact that her home state of Kentucky was a border state where slavery was legal.  Several of Mary's half-brothers served in the Confederate Army and were killed in action; one of her brothers was a surgeon for the Confederacy.  The husband of one of her half-sisters was killed in action and several others supported the Confederate cause.  

In spite of the fact that she had family members fighting for the Confederacy, Mary often visited Union soldiers in Washington hospitals; there she distributed flowers and fruit to wounded soldiers and helped them prepare letters to send home.  Some times she accompanied President Lincoln when he made military visits to the field.  She also hosted many social functions.  She was severely criticized for spending too much on the White House but felt it was necessary to maintain the prestige of the Presidency and the Union.

                    Mary suffered severe headaches as an adult and had other mental and physical problems.  Her "behavior suggests severe depression, anxiety and paranoia, migraine headaches, even possibly diabetes.  Certainly all of her ills were exacerbated by a series of tragic circumstances during her White House tenure:  the trauma of Civil War, including the allegiance of much of her family to the Confederacy and their death or injury in battle; an 1863 accident which threw her from a carriage and knocked her unconscious; the accusations by northerners that she was sympathetic to the Confederacy and the ostracizing of her as a `traitor' by southerners; the sudden death of her son Willie in 1862; and, of course, the worst incident of all, the assassination of her husband asshe sat beside him in the Ford's Theater."   Some historians and psychologists speculate that Mary suffered from bipolardisorder.  

                    After the assassination of President Lincoln, Mary returned to Illinois.  The death of her son Thomas (Tad) in July 1871 plunged Mary into deeper grief and increasing paranoia.  Her son Robert was so concerned about her that he had her committed to a psychiatric hospital in Batavia, Illinois, in 1875.  She was so angry with the court order that she went to a pharmacy and ordered enough drugs to kill herself.  The pharmacist realized what she was planning and filled her order with a placebo.   Three months after being committed in a private sanitarium, Mary smuggled letters to her lawyer and the editor of the Chicago Times.  The ensuing publicity put Robert's character and motives in question and caused the sanitarium to publicly declare that Mary should be sent to Springfield to live with her sister.  In 1876 Mary was declared competent enough to manage her own affairs, but the estrangement between Mary and her only living son was never fully reconciled.

                    Mary traveled throughout Europe for the next four years, during which time she settled for a time in Pau, France.  Her declining health and severe cataracts affecting her eyesight made her more susceptible to falls.  In 1879 she fell from a step ladder and suffered spinal-cord injuries.  In the early 1880s Mary was confined to the residence of her sister Elizabeth Edwards in Springfield, Illinois.  There she died on July 16, 1882 at age 63.  She was interred beside her husband in the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.   

    

Gettysburg Address

There are few people in America who have not heard the words that began, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal ….." and ended "… and that governments of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1 and ended on July 3, 1863, and marked a turning point in the Civil War in favor of the North. The Northern army of about 90,000 men was led to victory by General George G. Meade against the Southern army of 75,000 men led by General Robert E. Lee. The battle began when the two armies accidentally met in the little town of Gettysburg.

In the battle, the Confederate army took the town, but the Union army took a better and stronger position on high ground south of town. About 3,000 Union soldiers and 4,000 Confederate soldiers were killed in the battle. The total number of casualties - those killed, wounded, missing, or captured - was about 23,000 for the Northern army and 25,000-28,000 for the Southern army.

The Gettysburg Address was a short speech given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. This speech was delivered at the place of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania at ceremonies to dedicate part of the battleground as a cemetery for those who died there. Lincoln wrote the speech because he wanted to define the purposes for the Civil War for those people who lived in the North. His simple and inspired words are among the most remembered in American history.

Lincoln wrote five versions of the speech and signed the fifth version. The version given below is based on shorthand notes of a reporter who heard Lincoln deliver the speech. In a comparison of the two speeches, I found a few minor differences but nothing major. Some examples of the differences are "We are met…" instead of "We have come…" and "carried on" instead of "advanced." Historians are reasonably sure of what he actually said because several reporters attended the ceremonies and wrote his words as he spoke. The nobility of Lincoln's brief remarks were recognized by many people and newspapers of the time.

"Four score and seven year ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
"But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain - that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom - and that governments of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Facts for this blog post are from articles by Gabor S. Boritt, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 8, 176-177.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was one of the greatest men who ever lived. As the first Republican to become President of the United States, he led our nation during the Civil War, the bloodiest war and greatest crisis our country has known. Through his great leadership, Lincoln ended slavery and kept the Union from splitting apart. Americans and all people who love freedom should have a special place in their hearts for Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln on February 12, 1809, in Hardin (now Larue), Kentucky, on a farm located on the South Fork of the Nolin River, about five miles south of Elizabethtown. His ancestry has been traced to a weaver named Samuel Lincoln who emigrated from Hingham, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1637. The Lincoln's lived on the farm where Abraham was born for two years and then moved to another farm about ten miles away. Abraham and his older sister Sarah went to a long schoolhouse where they learned reading, writing and arithmetic. The Lincolns were apparently as well off as any of their neighbors. Sarah and Abraham were well fed and well clothed for the times. A third child, Thomas, died in infancy.

In 1816 when Abraham was about seven, the family moved to Indiana where they could buy land directly from the government. Thomas did not believe in slavery, and Indiana had no slavery. They arrived in early winter. Abraham helped his father clear trees from the 160 acres of land and build a three-sided shelter of logs. A fire on the fourth side burned continually. The family lived in the shelter until they finished a cabin and moved into it in February 1817.

By that time Abraham was eight years old and was large enough to swing an ax. He carried an ax with him most of the time that he lived in Indiana and considered it to be "the most useful instrument." Maybe he carried it for protection because bears and other wild animals roamed the remote area.

Life improved and became happier until Nancy died in October 1818, apparently from "milk sickness," an illness probably caused by poison that the cows ingested when eating snakeroot. She was buried on a hill by the cabin. Sarah, age 12, kept the house for more than a year before Thomas returned to Kentucky and married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow, on December 2, 1819. Thomas had known the widow before her first marriage. She brought her three children, aged 12, 8, and 5, with her. The blended family apparently lived together in harmony.

Abraham lived on the Indiana frontier until he was 21, but long before he was 20, he was 6 feet 4 inches tall. He was thin, awkward, big-boned and str5ong, with his strength in his chest, legs and especially in his arms. He had coarse black hair that stood on end, dark skin and a homely face.

Abraham had less than one year of formal schooling. Because books and paper were scarce, he made his own arithmetic textbook - and several pages still exist. He worked his arithmetic problems on a wooden board which he "erased" by shaving the board clean so he could use it again and again. He walked long distances to borrow books. Some of the books he borrowed were Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, Aesop's Fables, a history of the United States and a schoolbook or two.

When Abraham was 14 91823), his parents joined a Baptist church, but Abraham never joined a church and never attended church regularly. The bitter rivalry among the denominations might be the explanation for his lifetime avoidance of church. He was very religious and knew the Bible thoroughly. His later writings and speeches had many Biblical quotes. He kept a Bible on his desk in the White House and read it often for comfort and guidance.

Abraham read another book while young that really impressed him. He spoke about it in later years before the New Jersey Senate: "May I be pardoned if, on this occasion, I mention that away back in my childhood, the earliest days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such a one as few of the younger members have ever seen, Weem's Life of Washington. I remember all the accounts there given of the battle fields and struggles for the liberties of the country…. And you all know, for you have all been boys, how these early impressions last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that those men struggled for."

Abraham was a good speaker and story teller and was a favorite in his neighborhood. He also was a hard worker. He made his first money rowing passengers out to a steamboat waiting mid-stream in the Ohio River. He later (1828) helped take a flatboat loaded with farm produce to New Orleans. This trip was his first view of life beyond his community. His sister died in childbirth this same year.

In 1830 Thomas moved his family to a farm ten miles west of Decatur, Illinois. Lincoln moved with his family and stayed a year to help plant the first crops and split rails for a cabin and fences. In the spring of 1831 he was hired by a trader to take a flatboat to New Orleans and later to clerk in his new store in New Salem, Illinois. In New Salem, Abraham read the writings of the English dramatist William Shakespeare and the Scottish poet Robert Burns. These works and the Bible were his favorite things to read. The clerking job did not last long so Abraham joined the militia during the Black Hawk War and served for 90 days. After the war he had a chance to buy a New Salem store on credit in partnership with another man. The partnership got deeper and deeper in debt and eventually failed. Abraham was appointed post master of New Salem and worked with the county surveyor. He earned his living from odd jobs and the fees from his two public offices. His partner died, leaving Abraham with the debts of the partnership . It took Lincoln several years to pay off the debts, but his integrity in doing so helped earn him the name of "Honest Abe."

Abraham studied law and became a lawyer in New Salem. He moved to Springfield with everything he owned in his saddlebags. In Springfield, Lincoln met a visitor from Kentucky by the name of Mary Todd. After a stormy courtship, they married on November 4, 1842. Lincoln was 33, and Mary was 23. They had contrasting personalities but a loving marriage. The couple had four sons: Robert Todd, Edward Baker (died at age 4), William Wallace (died at age 11 in the White House, and Thomas, usually called Tad, died at age 18 in 1871).

Lincoln became a successful lawyer and politician. The family lived comfortably and usually employed a servant to help with the housework although Lincoln often milked the family cow and cared for his horse. He served four terms in the Illinois legislature. While in Springfield, Lincoln made a connection with my family. One of my great-great-grandfathers moved to Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, about 1838 and lived there about two years before moving to Nauvoo, Illinois. While living in Sangamon County, my ancestor drove a carriage for Abraham Lincoln during the time that Lincoln was a member of the State Legislature. Lincoln served a term in the United States House of Representatives and campaigned for various presidential candidates. He always opposed slavery but never became an abolitionist. He considered slavery to be evil (morally, socially, and politically) and something to be eliminated.

Lincoln revered the Founding Fathers and believed they had promised freedom and equality in the Declaration of Independence. He looked to Thomas Jefferson for his democratic principles and Alexander Hamilton for his economic principles.

Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature again but resigned to run for United States Senator. He lost the first election, joined the two-year-old Republican Party and campaigned for Republican candidates. In another campaign for United States Senate against Senator Steven A. Douglas, Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other…."

Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates, and seven were scheduled. Douglas won the election, but their debates made Lincoln a national figure. Lincoln received the Republican nomination for President and easily won the election. By the time he became the 16th President on March 4, 1861, seven Southern states had withdrawn from the Union and four more states followed later. These eleven states became the Confederate States of America.
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Lincoln did everything he could to keep the Union together. He felt that the breakup of the American nation would be a tragedy for all Americans and cause all people to suffer. He believed that the United States was an experiment to see if people could govern themselves. He considered the central issue of the Civil War to be the fate of world democracy.

The Civil War probably destroyed any hope Lincoln had for happiness in the White House. Besides dealing with the Civil War, he wrote most of his own letters and all of his speeches. He spent hours each week visiting with anyone who chose to call. In all his years as President, he spent less than a month away from Washington. He found carriage rides relaxing and enjoyed the theater. White House dinners and receptions were simply duties to be performed, and his frequent visits to army hospitals brought great pain to his gentle soul. He read Shakespeare or the Bible for solace late at night.

Mrs. Lincoln was suspected by many as being disloyal because she had close family members fighting in the Confederate army. Lincoln grieved deeply at the death of their son "Willie" on February 20, 1962, but Mrs. Lincoln could not be comforted.

Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. He named the states and parts of states that were in rebellion and said that slaves there "are, and hence forward shall be, free." In reality, the proclamation freed no slaves. It applied only to territory controlled by the Confederates and could not be enforced by federal officers. Lincoln encouraged slave owners in Union states to free their slaves in exchange for government financial help, but his advice was not followed. The Emancipation Proclamation did however have long range effects. It showed other nations that the war had a high purpose. It also prepared the way for the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment was adopted in December 1965 and ended slavery throughout the United States.

Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at dedicatory services for a cemetery on the Gettysburg battle field. He prepared his address carefully and made final changes at Gettysburg. People who heard him speak knew that his declaration that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" would last as long as democracy lived.

With a few Union victories behind him, Lincoln won reelection. His second inauguration took place on March 4, 1865. In his address, he explained that the Civil War was being fought to abolish slavery. He said that the Civil War was the result of the nation allowing slavery and urged the people to keep their faith in God strong.

The war wore on Lincoln. He didn't sleep well during crises, his eyes were ringed with black, his face was gaunt and deeply lined. He had no time for relaxation and ate irregularly. He continued to receive widows and soldiers who came to the White House. He was very humble but had confidence in his own judgments. He used persuasion to lead the people.

General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Lincoln gave his last public address on April 11, 1865.
On the evening of April 14, 1865, Lincoln attended a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Just after 10:00 P.M., John Wilkes Booth shot the President in the head from the rear of the presidential box. Booth was a well-known actor and broke his leg leaping to the stage to escape.

Lincoln was carried unconscious to a nearby house. He was surrounded by his family and governmental officials when he died at 7:22 A.M. on April 15, 1865. Even enemies praised his selflessness and kindness. Millions lined the railroad tracks to watch his burial train go past. He was buried May 4 in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.

Booth fled to Maryland on horseback but was later trapped in a barn in Virginia where he was killed. Eight people were accused of conspiring to kill Lincoln and other governmental leaders. After being tried, four were hanged on July 7, and four were sent to prison. One of those four died in prison, and the other three were pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1869.

Facts and information for this blog post are from an article by Gabor S. Boritt, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 12, pp 310-327.

Mount Rushmore

The name Mount Rushmore is used when referring to a huge carving on a granite cliff in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore National Memorial shows the faces of four American Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Washington's head is as high as a five-story building and is to the scale of a human being 465 feet tall.

The American sculptor Gutzon Borglum designed Mount Rushmore and supervised most of its work. Workers obtained measurements for the figures by using models that were one-twelfth actual size. They used drills and dynamite to cut the figures from Mount Rushmore's granite cliff. Work on the memorial began in 1927 and continued over 14 years with a few lapses in work. Borglum died in 1941 before seeing the memorial completed, but his son finished the work.

Mount Rushmore is located in the mountains twenty-five miles from Rapid City. The memorial rises 5,725 feet above sea level and more than 500 feet above the valley. Mount Rushmore is taller than the Great Pyramid of Egypt and is part of the National Park System.

Facts for this post came from an article in World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 13, pp 887-888, that was critically reviewed by the National Park Service.

Gettysburg Address

There are few people in America who have not heard the words that began, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal ….." and end "… and that governments of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1 and ended on July 3, 1863. It marked a turning point in the Civil War in favor of the North. The Northern army of about 90,000 men was led to victory by General George G. Meade against the Southern army of 75,000 men led by General Robert E. Lee. The battle began when the two armies accidentally met in the little town of Gettysburg. In the battle, the Confederate army took the town, but the Union army took a better and stronger position on high ground south of town. About 3,000 Union soldiers and 4,000 Confederate soldiers were killed in the battle. The total number of casualties - those killed, wounded, missing, or captured - was about 23,000 for the Northern army and 25,000-28,000 for the Southern army. The Gettysburg Address was a short speech given by President Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863. This speech was delivered at the place of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania at ceremonies to dedicate part of the battleground as a cemetery for those who died there. Lincoln wrote the speech because he wanted to define the purposes for the Civil War for those people who lived in the North. His simple and inspired words are among the most remembered in American history. Lincoln wrote five versions of the speech and signed the fifth version. The version given below is based on shorthand notes of a reporter who heard Lincoln deliver the speech. In a comparison of the two speeches, I found a few minor differences but nothing major. Some examples of the differences are "We are met…" instead of "We have come…" and "carried on" instead of "advanced." Historians are reasonably sure of what he actually said because several reporters attended the ceremonies and wrote his words as he spoke. The nobility of Lincoln's brief remarks were recognized by many people and newspapers of the time. "Four score and seven year ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain - that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom - and that governments of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Facts for this blog post are from articles by Gabor S. Boritt, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 8, 176-177.

The Civil War

I questioned the name of this war because I connected the word "civil" with "civility," which means polite behavior or courtesy. I discovered that "civil" means having to do with citizens, such as civil service or civil rights. This definition means that the name of the war makes sense: it was a war between the citizens of the nation.

The Civil War was the greatest crisis and bloodiest war that the United States has ever experienced. It took more American lives than any other war in history and divided families and communities as well as the nation. It was basically between people in the Southern States who wanted to preserve slavery and an agricultural way of life and people in the Northern States who wanted a more modern way of life and to end slavery.

The Civil War started on April 12, 1861, when Southern troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. It ended four years later on April 9, 1865, when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The United States in 1861 had 19 free states and 15 slave states.

Abraham Lincoln said that the country was "a house divided." There were many basic differences between free and slave states besides slavery; therefore, there were numerous reasons for the war. The root cause was slavery but there were differences in economies, ideals, and ways of living.

The conflict over slavery began in colonial times when most Americans considered slavery to be evil. Numerous of our Founding Fathers wanted to end slavery, but they had to compromise over it to get the Constitution written and ratified. Many Northerners in the early 1800s thought slavery was wrong, and Abolitionists there started a movement to end slavery. Most Southerners believed slavery was good even though only 25-35 percent of them were members of slave-owning families.  

The Compromise of 1850 was made in Congress in an attempt to settle the slavery question. It allowed new territories to decide for themselves whether to permit slavery. It also admitted California as a free state. This compromise included a fugitive slave law that required Northerners to return runaway slaves to their owners. Northerners resisted this law by operating the underground railroad, a system of safe houses and escape routes for runaway slaves. Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was one of the most effective attacks on slavery and the fugitive slave law. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend that you read it.

In 1854 Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act created Kansas and Nebraska as territories and allowed slavery in them. It also said that when the people in the territory organized as a state, the people could decide whether to continue slavery. Kansas voted against slavery and joined the Union in 1861 as a free state.

In 1857 the United States Supreme Court tried to settle the slavery issue with its Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott was a slave who claimed freedom because he lived in a free state and territory for a time. The Court ruled that no black could be a United States citizen and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories. This ruling aroused anger in the North and showed that the courts didn't have the answer.

In 1859 John Brown and his followers tried to start a slave rebellion by seizing the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, VA (now West Virginia). Brown was captured by Colonel Robert E. Lee the next day. He was soon convicted of treason and hanged. Many Southerners blamed the North for plotting to force an end to slavery.

Abraham Lincoln joined a new political party called Republicans and was elected President in 1860. He won all the electoral votes from every freed state except New Jersey, which gave him four of seven votes. He won the electoral vote but gained only 40 per cent of the popular vote. Almost none of the popular vote came from Southerners because they were afraid he would end slavery or at least restrict it. By the time he was inaugurated, seven Southern states - South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas - had seceded and established the Confederate States of America. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter, for a total of eleven Confederate states.

Staying loyal to the Union were California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The territories of Colorado, Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington were also on the Union side. Each side included slave states located on the border where some citizens supported the North and some supported the South. Border states on the Southern side were Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The western part of Virginia remained loyal to the Union and formed the new state of West Virginia in 1863. Border states that stayed in the Union were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, but groups in both Kentucky and Missouri seceded, set up state governments and sent representatives to the Confederate Congress.

When the Civil War first started, neither the North nor the South planned to draft soldiers, but as the war continued both sides started drafting men. The Confederate army reached its peak in 1863 and then started declining in numbers. The Union army continued to grow. After the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln announced his decision to use black troops. About 180,000 blacks served in the Union army, two-thirds were Southerners who had escaped to the North. About 20,000 blacks were in the Union navy.

Most of the Civil War was fought from Pennsylvania to Georgia and from Virginia to Memphis and New Orleans. By 1864 the Confederate army was declining due to battle losses, war weariness, and Northern occupation of large areas of the Confederacy. Southern railroads had almost stopped running, and supplies were short. The war finally ended when Union armies crushed Confederates enough to force surrender.

The Union won the war and THEN started showing their humanity by helping to rebuild the South. The Civil War took a great toll on our nation. About 620,000 soldiers died, almost as many as the combined American dead of all other wars from the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) through the Vietnam War (1957-1975). Both North and South suffered economically, but direct damages were most severe in the South. Towns, farms, industry, and trade as well as lives of men, women and children were ruined in the South. The entire way of life in the South was destroyed.

The Declaration of Independence states "all men are created equal," but America remained the largest slave-owning nation in the world until the Civil War. Soon after the end of the Civil War, Americans ratified the Thirteen Amendment to the Constitution, which officially abolished slavery throughout the United States. Even though Congress passed the Civil Rights Amendment in the 1960s, there are still problems in our nation about a real or at least perceived inequality for blacks.

The Civil War did establish two facts: 1) Every human being has the right to be free and 2) No state has the right or power to end the Union. Many of the facts and information for this blog post are from an article written by Gabor S. Boritt, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, 614-635.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was one of the greatest men who ever lived. He was the first Republican to become President of the United States. He was President of our nation during the Civil War, the bloodiest war and greatest crisis our country has known. Lincoln ended slavery and kept the Union from splitting apart. Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln on February 12, 1809, in Hardin (now Larue), Kentucky, on a farm located on the South Fork of the Nolin River, about five miles south of Elizabethtown. His ancestry has been traced to a weaver named Samuel Lincoln who emigrated from Hingham, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1637. The Lincoln's lived on the farm where Abraham was born for two years and then moved to another farm about ten miles away. Abraham and his older sister Sarah went to a long schoolhouse where they learned reading, writing and arithmetic. The Lincolns were apparently as well off as any of their neighbors. Sarah and Abraham were well fed and well clothed for the times. A third child, Thomas, died in infancy. In 1816 when Abraham was about seven, the family moved to Indiana where they could buy land directly from the government. Thomas did not believe in slavery, and Indiana had no slavery. They arrived in early winter. Abraham helped his father clear trees from the 160 acres of land and build a three-sided shelter of logs. A fire on the fourth side burned continually. The family lived in the shelter until they finished a cabin and moved into it in February 1817. By that time Abraham was eight years old and was large enough to swing an ax. He carried an ax with him most of the time that he lived in Indiana and considered it to be "the most useful instrument." Maybe he carried it for protection because bears and other wild animals roamed the remote area. Life improved and became happier until Nancy died in October 1818, apparently from "milk sickness," an illness probably caused by poison that the cows ingested when eating snakeroot. She was buried on a hill by the cabin. Sarah, age 12, kept the house for more than a year before Thomas returned to Kentucky and married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow, on December 2, 1819. Thomas had known the widow before her first marriage. She brought her three children, aged 12, 8, and 5, with her. The blended family apparently lived together in harmony. Abraham lived on the Indiana frontier until he was 21, but long before he was 20, he was 6 feet 4 inches tall. He was thin, awkward, big-boned and str5ong, with his strength in his chest, legs and especially in his arms. He had coarse black hair that stood on end, dark skin and a homely face. Abraham had less than one year of formal schooling. Because books and paper were scarce, he made his own arithmetic textbook - and several pages still exist. He worked his arithmetic problems on a wooden board which he "erased" by shaving the board clean so he could use it again and again. He walked long distances to borrow books. Some of the books he borrowed were Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, Aesop's Fables, a history of the United States and a schoolbook or two. When Abraham was 14 (1823), his parents joined a Baptist church, but Abraham never joined a church and never attended church regularly. The bitter rivalry among the denominations might be the explanation for his lifetime avoidance of church. He was very religious and knew the Bible thoroughly. His later writings and speeches had many Biblical quotes. He kept a Bible on his desk in the White House and read it often for comfort and guidance. Abraham read another book while young that really impressed him. He spoke about it in later years before the New Jersey Senate: "May I be pardoned if, on this occasion, I mention that away back in my childhood, the earliest days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, such a one as few of the younger members have ever seen, Weem's Life of Washington. I remember all the accounts there given of the battle fields and struggles for the liberties of the country…. And you all know, for you have all been boys, how these early impressions last longer than any others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that those men struggled for." Abraham was a good speaker and story teller and was a favorite in his neighborhood. He also was a hard worker. He made his first money rowing passengers out to a steamboat waiting mid-stream in the Ohio River. He later (1828) helped take a flatboat loaded with farm produce to New Orleans. This trip was his first view of life beyond his community. His sister died in childbirth this same year. In 1830 Thomas moved his family to a farm ten miles west of Decatur, Illinois. Lincoln moved with his family and stayed a year to help plant the first crops and split rails for a cabin and fences. In the spring of 1831 he was hired by a trader to take a flatboat to New Orleans and later to clerk in his new store in New Salem, Illinois. In New Salem, Abraham read the writings of the English dramatist William Shakespeare and the Scottish poet Robert Burns. These works and the Bible were his favorite things to read. The clerking job did not last long so Abraham joined the militia during the Black Hawk War and served for 90 days. After the war he had a chance to buy a New Salem store on credit in partnership with another man. The partnership got deeper and deeper in debt and eventually failed. Abraham was appointed post master of New Salem and worked with the county surveyor. He earned his living from odd jobs and the fees from his two public offices. His partner died, leaving Abraham with the debts of the partnership . It took Lincoln several years to pay off the debts, but his integrity in doing so helped earn him the name of "Honest Abe." Abraham studied law and became a lawyer in New Salem. He moved to Springfield with everything he owned in his saddlebags. In Springfield, Lincoln met a visitor from Kentucky by the name of Mary Todd. After a stormy courtship, they married on November 4, 1842. Lincoln was 33, and Mary was 23. They had contrasting personalities but a loving marriage. The couple had four sons: Robert Todd, Edward Baker (died at age 4), William Wallace (died at age 11 in the White House, and Thomas, usually called Tad, died at age 18 in 1871). Lincoln became a successful lawyer and politician. The family lived comfortably and usually employed a servant to help with the housework although Lincoln often milked the family cow and cared for his horse. He served four terms in the Illinois legislature. While in Springfield, Lincoln made a connection with my family. One of my great-great-grandfathers moved to Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, about 1838 and lived there about two years before moving to Nauvoo, Illinois. While living in Sangamon County, my ancestor drove a carriage for Abraham Lincoln while Lincoln was a member of the State Legislature. Lincoln served a term in the United States House of Representatives and campaigned for various presidential candidates. He always opposed slavery but never became an abolitionist. He considered slavery to be evil (morally, socially, and politically) and something to be eliminated. Lincoln revered the Founding Fathers and believed they had promised freedom and equality in the Declaration of Independence. He looked to Thomas Jefferson for his democratic principles and Alexander Hamilton for his economic principles. Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature again but resigned to run for United States Senator. He lost the first election, joined the two-year-old Republican Party and campaigned for Republican candidates. In another campaign for United States Senate against Senator Steven A. Douglas, Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other…." Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates, and seven were scheduled. Douglas won the election, but their debates made Lincoln a national figure. Lincoln received the Republican nomination for President and easily won the election. By the time he became the 16th President on March 4, 1861, seven Southern states had withdrawn from the Union and four more states followed later. These eleven states became the Confederate States of America. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Lincoln did everything he could to keep the Union together. He felt that the breakup of the American nation would be a tragedy for all Americans and cause all people to suffer. He believed that the United States was an experiment to see if people could govern themselves. He considered the central issue of the Civil War to be the fate of world democracy. The Civil War probably destroyed any hope Lincoln had for happiness in the White House. Besides dealing with the Civil War, he wrote most of his own letters and all of his speeches. He spent hours each week visiting with anyone who chose to call. In all his years as President, he spent less than a month away from Washington. He found carriage rides relaxing and enjoyed the theater. White House dinners and receptions were simply duties to be performed, and his frequent visits to army hospitals brought great pain to his gentle soul. He read Shakespeare or the Bible for solace late at night. Mrs. Lincoln was suspected by many as being disloyal because she had close family members fighting in the Confederate army. Lincoln grieved deeply at the death of their son "Willie" on February 20, 1962, but Mrs. Lincoln could not be comforted. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. He named the states and parts of states that were in rebellion and said that slaves there "are, and hence forward shall be, free." In reality, the proclamation freed no slaves. It applied only to territory controlled by the Confederates and could not be enforced by federal officers. Lincoln encouraged slave owners in Union states to free their slaves in exchange for government financial help, but his advice was not followed. The Emancipation Proclamation did however have long range effects. It showed other nations that the war had a high purpose. It also prepared the way for the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment was adopted in December 1965 and ended slavery throughout the United States. Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at dedicatory services for a cemetery on the Gettysburg battle field. He prepared his address carefully and made final changes at Gettysburg. People who heard him speak knew that his declaration that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" would last as long as democracy lived. With a few Union victories behind him, Lincoln won reelection. His second inauguration took place on March 4, 1865. In his address, he explained that the Civil War was being fought to abolish slavery. He said that the Civil War was the result of the nation allowing slavery and urged the people to keep their faith in God strong. The war wore on Lincoln. He didn't sleep well during crises, his eyes were ringed with black, his face was gaunt and deeply lined. He had no time for relaxation and ate irregularly. He continued to receive widows and soldiers who came to the White House. He was very humble but had confidence in his own judgments. He used persuasion to lead the people. General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Lincoln gave his last public address on April 11, 1865. On the evening of April 14, 1865, Lincoln attended a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Just after 10:00 P.M., John Wilkes Booth shot the President in the head from the rear of the presidential box. Booth was a well-known actor and broke his leg leaping to the stage to escape. Lincoln was carried unconscious to a nearby house. He was surrounded by his family and governmental officials when he died at 7:22 A.M. on April 15, 1865. Even enemies praised his selflessness and kindness. Millions lined the railroad tracks to watch his burial train go past. He was buried May 4 in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Booth fled to Maryland on horseback but was later trapped in a barn in Virginia where he was killed. Eight people were accused of conspiring to kill Lincoln and other governmental leaders. After being tried, four were hanged on July 7, and four were sent to prison. One of those four died in prison, and the other three were pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1869. Facts and information for this blog post are from an article by Gabor S. Boritt, World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 12, pp 310-327.