Abe Lincoln was a dictator??? (Need Help combating loony argument)

[erod]

Hi FRiends,

I have two brothers who I love very much, they’re young and libertarian Ron Paul supporters, sigh. We get along and I’m hoping that one day they’ll come back to conservatism, but they have bought into a theory that I don’t think makes much sense:

Abe Lincoln was a dictator.

There are many websites dedicated to this nonsense you can Google "Abe Lincoln dictator" and get some weird stuff, if you want to check it out.

I need your help in busting this myth are there any books I can read on this subject to dispel this stuff? Do you know any of the arguments to combat this nonsense? Ie. Lincoln did not want to free the slaves.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to help me out, -Erod

[SoothingDave]

Ask yourself one simple question, why did Yankees hate black people so much? Simple, they had never lived with them. Blacks and Whites in the South have been one culture since Jamestown.

That's funny. Very funny. You had me going there for a minute. What a perfect caricature. Bravo!

[Non-Sequitur]

Try “Abraham Lincoln” by David Herbert Donald or “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

[krb]

Like it or not, Lincoln did a lot of icky stuff to hold the union together, including some stuff that would make a good dictator blush.

[Canedawg]

Wait!- I must assume my usual position for reading these threads.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

I cannot believe how factual you are and a stickler for details!

You make me sick! /S/S/S/S

There once was an America that recognized States as the arbiters of choice versus a Central Government. This America actually had a document that outlined this relationship. When Lincoln chose to ignore this document that America was forever changed. Look at todays argument, States who had always governed Insurance within their State has now been reduced to merely administrative functions on the order of one party. Sound familiar?

[mojitojoe]

Tell your brothers they are wrong. He wasn’t a dictator, he was just your old run of the mill terrorist, but they are on the right track.

[Vendome]

I completely forgot about that. LOL

If Lincoln wanted to evolve his position, he should have done so expeditiously upon commencement of hostilities. Instead, it seems he was putting his foot in the water a little at a time.

[mojitojoe]

Is you other name on FR Non-Sequitur?

[rockrr]

Grant didn’t own slaves.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Grant didn’t own slaves.

Yes he did. Where do you think the expression “good help is hard to find” came from?

[Vendome]

Tag line is too funny. LOL

[Vendome]

If it wasn’t for the serious question you asked I would give you a proper nOOb noggie.

You are safe....today. LOL

[Vendome]

Ahhhh, so you are a Yankee from Illinois.

Have you ever read the about the prison for Confederate Soldiers in Chicago and their squalid conditions?

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Have you ever read the about the prison for Confederate Soldiers in Chicago and their squalid conditions?

Don’t forget the torture.

[Vendome]

Here is a quick tutorial. There are better ones out there but you can read this in less than two minutes.

http://www.altonweb.com/history/civilwar/confed/

[SoothingDave]

Don’t you find it ironic that a person called “equalitybeforethelaw” is a defender of slavery?

[mojitojoe]

Obama has more respect for the Constitution than Lincoln did.
_____________
No, he doesn’t. They are tied at this point.

[Idabilly]

Ping

[Ditto]

What is the USA, the mafia?

No, but it is also not a social club. It is a contractual compact between the states. To dissolve that contract requires the approval of the other parties to that contract to make it legal. Unilateral secession is simply anarchy.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Don’t you find it ironic that a person called “equalitybeforethelaw” is a defender of slavery?

Geez, Soothingdave is about as nuanced as a democrat calling people racists if they don’t agree with them. Eat it hack.