[Clintonfatigued]

If I'm not mistaken, Lincoln did not plan for centralization of power to be permanent. He wanted to gradually restore states' rights once reconstruction was completed, and the reconstruction he supported was condemned by many in his own party as overly lenient and forgiving. The mass centralization of power in D.C. is unfortunate, but the Radical Republicans who came to power following Lincoln's death are responsible for starting that.

Incidently, the South didn't support states' rights until it was clear that the majority of the American public opposed slavery. In fact, the slave-owning territories had once attempted to have slavery Federally protected.

[DoughtyOne]

Not to be arguementitive, but it's a little difficult to put the object lesson (catsup) back in the bottle isn't it. Once this supreme demonstration of federal power was completed, that was the effective end of states rights. Whether the south plead that case before the war or not, that was the outcome.

[stevem]

If I'm not mistaken, Lincoln did not plan for centralization of power to be permanent.

Lincoln assumed somewhat despotic powers. The congress was happy to have him do it. Which congressman of the day would anyone choose to trade Lincoln for? What other national figure could one look to for guidance? Taney? What an inspiration that guy must have been.

My guess is Lincoln was first and foremost in his view that despotism is no way to run a railroad. The problem is in a real crisis, consensus has zero hope of getting anything done. I think he would be aghast at the centralization of powers today.

These days we could take a lesson from Lincoln on how to treat the judiciary.

[goldstategop]

Lincoln and the new Republican Party said they would respect the South's right to maintain its institution. But they did not accept the corollary that the South had the right to expand slavery to federal territories. Nor did they accept the notion the South was free to secede from the Union on its own and defy the very basis of constitutional government that secured their own rights simply because other Americans elected a government they disagreed with. The Constitution was posited on a design both of limited federal power and majority rule. It was not the Republicans who wanted to push what was objectionable to the rest of America into the territories; it was the South. It was the South that refused to accept the verdict of the country on Election Day to further its sectional interests.

Denny Crane: There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."