Posted on 02/01/2016 5:09:00 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
But then I contemplate where we would be if the 5-4 split had been in the other direction the last 30 years and it doesn't seem quite so bad.
We have been dealing with fundamental things in this country for all our history.
No mention of slavery at all in the Presidential proclamation.
The following mentions Lincoln's long-time law partner, William "Billy" Herndon. Outside his family Herndon may have been the most important person in Lincoln's life.
David Herbert Donald, "Lincoln" (1995)
Morning, Homer. I’m behind on the news ... just read the Frederick Douglass book a couple of weeks ago.
Not to worry. There isn’t that much news to get behind on at this point so it doesn’t take long to get caught up.
I’m more partial to “A. Lincoln: A Biography” by Ronald White myself.
I don't remember if I considered that one when I was selecting. I'm now in the middle of Sandburg's "The Prairie Years." It is different, but I am enjoying it. I'm almost through Volume 1 now. Volume 2 will get me to where we are now (1856).
Sandburg is where a lot of the Lincoln mythology got it’s start. It’s entertaining but not great history. I’ve read Donald’s Lincoln and White’s Lincoln, and while both are excellent I just found White’s to be more interesting.
I will keep that in mind if and when I decide to post excerpts from it. Sandburg occasionally embarks on obvious flights of imagination which can be a little annoying and he puts himself in Lincoln's head more than one would expect from an objective account. But Sandburg researched it exhaustively. It also helps that it was written in 1926 when there were still a few people from Lincoln's time around to interview. There are reproductions of letters and other items that may be worth posting here. Sandburg focuses on "the times" as well as "the life" in his biography. More so than the Donald bio does. That is helpful for readers like me who are not that well grounded in world history. Sandburg devotes whole chapters to describing what is going on in the U.S. and the world entirely apart from Lincoln. An example I recall is his description of the nascent globalization occurring in 1831, the year Lincoln left the family home and set out on his own.
Have you also read “The War Years”? I was planning in investing in that 4 volume set also, since it has been recommended by others. I wonder if the history in that is tolerably objective or is it reader beware?
Sandburg was a poet more than an historian. And I think it shows in both Prairie Years and War Years. Both are interesting reads but they aren't serious history, at least that's how they struck me.
Unfortunately, history is often written selectively, with an agenda. This is particularly true of what I call “popular history.” Before I make a judgment of historical “truth,” I usually do not rely upon one source, but several. It’s like doing trial work. You hear wildly conflicting accounts, and have to sift through them to find where the truth really lies.
My favorite way to post excerpts is to get different accounts of the same event. That helps to zero in on what really happened as well as giving alternate, but factual looks at something. I have to much reading to catch up on to get another Lincoln bio, so if you or anyone else wants to post excerpts from other works it will be appreciated. Especially date-specific stuff that we can cover from different angles.
I have “With Malice Towards None: A Biography of Abraham Lincoln” by Stephen Oates.
Lincoln surprised people by selecting Herndon as his new partner because he just was just recently licensed, but Lincoln needed a good record keeper in the office, which Lincon was not. More importantly, Herndon was also a Whig and Lincoln needed his politcal support. Herndon turned out to not be a good record keeper and soon the office was in chaos. Lincoln even kept documents filed inside his stovepipe hat at this time.
Oates-p 71-73
But where to go? Lincoln knew he did not belong with the No Nothings but was reluctant to join with the Republicans who he thought too radical.
But at the end of the day there was nowhere else for the Northern Whigs to go.
From the Gettysburg, PA Adams Sentinal
Evidence that the overall economy in 1856 is booming:
And in Congress, Kansas is number one on their agenda:
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