Please try to understand. Lincoln had a mountain of a problem when a NATION that was only about 70-years-old began to disintegrate shortly before he became president. Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States, did nothing and in March 1861, Lincoln did what he thought he had to do.
I have three major complaints:
(1) History has elevated Lincoln and the NORTH to Sainthood.
(2) Abraham Lincoln acted like he had the 'right' to kill Southerners (ie: 16-year-old Wilson Jenrette, CSA)who through elected legislated action, voted to change the vote on the ratification of the US compact; the Constitution; and become the legitimate independent Republic of South Carolina, with the consent of the people it governed.
(3) Slavery, became 'the issue' after January 1863 with the partial freedom of the Emancipation Proclamation. (much like the war in Iraq has 'changed' in it's justification over time.
Sir, I respect your depth of knowledge and your position. I am, and was a soldier; I stand for my God, my family, my home, my community, my neighbors, my state, my nation...in that order. I resent and will do everything to present the 'truth' of that war and of Abraham Lincoln, who was neither a Saint or a complete sinner.
I, like you, search for the small forgotten 'Truths' of that terrible time in our Nations history, and I put it all on the 'table' in my college classroom. My wife, who teaches African American history, is also determined to present the best information and history of that part of American hisory which has been 'embelished' and 'spun' by many - both North and South...
respect,
Van
http://www.jenerette.com
You didn't address any of my questions.