Free Republic

A statue of young Abraham Lincoln has been splashed with red paint with the words 'COLONIZER' and 'LAND BACK' written below it in Chicago. The statue, which has stood in the Edgewater neighborhood since it was donated to Senn Park in 1997, also had the words 'Dakota 38' written on it. Dakota 38 refers to Lincoln's ordered execution of 38 Sioux, who were publicly hanged for participating in the Sioux Uprising in the US-Dakota War of 1862 in Minnesota.

A nation that alters its history to fit current imaginary social constructs is doomed. This week, Nikole Hannah-Jones of the 1619 Project tweeted, "Black people posed a danger to the country's idea of itself; they held up a mirror into which the nation preferred not to peer. So the inhumanity visited on Black people by every generation of white America justified the inhumanity of the past and the inequality of the present." She added, "The North did not fight the Civil War to end slavery." At the start of the Civil War, she was, technically correct. The Union Army was...

On Thursday, the Bible will go on display for the first time at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. The 16th president was given the Holy Book on June 16, 1864, during a rare wartime trip to Philadelphia raising money for wounded soldiers, where Lincoln donated 48 signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation that were sold for fundraising. He was gifted the 18-pound, gilted Bible decorated with the words "faith," "hope," and "charity" by the hospital that treated wounded and ill soldiers during the Civil War. The cover of the Bible reads: “Presented to Abraham Lincoln,...

LANSING, MI -- Today is the 206th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, one of the greatest U.S. presidents. There's a lot to be thankful to Lincoln for: guiding the country through the Civil War and helping end slavery. But residents of Michigan have something special to thank the 16th president for. He coined the term many of us use to describe ourselves: Michigander. There is an ongoing debate about if Michigan citizens should be described as Michiganians or Michiganders. Lincoln coined the term Michigander when he was in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1848, Lincoln gave a speech against...

Secret Message in Lincoln’s Pocketwatch, 1861 ‘In 2009 the Smithsonian found a “secret” message engraved in Abraham Lincoln’s watch by a watchmaker who was repairing it in 1861 when news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Washington, D.C. ‘In an interview with The New York Times April 30, 1906, 84-year-old Jonathan Dillon recalled he was working for M.W. Galt and Co. on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, where he was repairing Lincoln’s watch. The owner of the shop announced that the first shot of the Civil War had been fired. Dillon reported that he unscrewed the dial of the watch,...

ANAHEIM – They adjusted their black-cotton beards and their Lincoln-stovepipe hats that stood almost as tall as them. Then, in unison, the 19 kindergarteners began: "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent ..." From beginning to end, Room 4 at Fairmont Private School recited from memory the entire Gettysburg Address – President Lincoln's 1863 speech, widely regarded as among the best speeches in American history. With words such as "endure," "dedicate" and "consecrate." The 5- and 6-year-olds got through them all. Their teacher, Patsy Bauman, began teaching her students the address in December, in...

Abraham Lincoln is known for many things. He led the nation through the Civil War, emancipated the slaves and delivered eloquent speeches about democracy and liberty. But Lincoln's religious views have long been a matter of debate. Now, a newly resurfaced letter from the 19th century is raising questions once again about the 16th president's relationship with God. The three-page letter, which was written by Lincoln's old law partner, William Herndon, and just went up for sale for a price of $35,000, claims that Honest Abe was driven not by faith, but by politics. Lincoln's attitude toward religion was clearly...

RUSH: John in Shreveport, Louisiana. Hello. CALLER: Mr. Rush, don't you think you're being a hypocrite when you're not -- when you don't want the Iraqis to decide the problems themselves, especially since Abraham Lincoln took two -- two generals named Lincoln [sic--Grant] and Sherman who were responsible for the deaths of 59,000 southern people? And since you hate Confederate heritage that much, don't you think that we should allow the people of Iraq to decide their own fate? RUSH: (Laughing.) Gee. I hate Confederate heritage? CALLER: No kidding. RUSH: On the basis of what do you say that? CALLER:...