[VinnyTex]

Facts are facts and the facts are, Lincoln did more than anyone to destroy our decentralized Republic that the founding fathers established.

You can babble around all you want but it's true.

[HeadOn]

pssst - I think them yankees are gone, since we wouldn't "just shut up and take it"...

[justshutupandtakeit]

Wrong, the Slaveocrats rebellion did more to centralize the government than anything else. Lincoln had no plans to do anything about slavery in the South nor to increase the size of the government that happened because he had to defend the Union (as the Constitution made him swear to do). Had the lunatic not killed him I have little doubt that Abe would have gone about reunification much more humanely than the Radical Republicans. Of course, much of the hatred of the South resulted from Booth's actions and would not have existed had Lincoln lived. Even Davis recognized that the death of Lincoln would harm the South more than it did the North.

[stainlessbanner]

True - you can argue Lincoln's intentions all you want, but judge the man by his ACTIONS:

• 1 dead soldier for every 6 freed slaves
• One of the 2 slave-holding societies (US & Haiti), out of 20 worldwide that had violent abolition
• Federal spending of increase from 2% of the GDP in 1861 to over 20% in 1865
• Fivefold increase in Federal employees between 1861-1865
• Abuse of power in the Federal government