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To: davidjquackenbush

Very useful site you provided URL for:

http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/aboutinfo.html

Ironically, the very first result from my search using the words FREEDOM SLAVES took me to an 1832 speech to the people of Sangamo County. I don't see anything in the speech that has a thing to do with slavery but it has everything to do with "internal improvements" thus buttressing DiLorenzo's viewpoint, albeit somewhat tangentially, and not your own.

One thing I did note was the seeming "plasticity" with which the early Ape views "the law":

"In cases of extreme necessity, there could always be means found to cheat the law; while in all other cases it would have its intended effect. I would favor the passage of a law on this subject which might not be very easily evaded. Let it be such that the labor and difficulty of evading it could only be justified in cases of greatest necessity."

I am struck by how much that sounds like our own era's Caligula from Arkansaw and I, for one, look forward to a more comprehensive scrutiny of this "great man" of yours! Thanks again for the link!

174 posted on 03/28/2002 12:00:51 PM PST by one2many
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To: one2many
What did you expect him to say about slavery in a race for the Illinois legislature, at age 24, given that Illinois was a free state? That's like looking for comments on our relationship with China in a campaign speech for the city council.

Perhaps at some point you will rouse yourself to comment substantively on the manufacturing of evidence by DiLorenzo.

Nobody ever said that Lincoln was not a Whig in the matters of principle interest in Illinois politics in the 30's and 40's. And nobody ever said Lincoln was a great man when he was 24 years old.

His point about usury was obviously that law, being universal, cannot fit every particular circumstance, and that when people desparately need money, and are willing to pay high interest, they shouldn't be prevented by a law. He is calling for a law that will regulate interest rates in normal business, but which will not effectively constrain desparate borrowers. He puts it badly, and the whole issue has completely obscure context, as various biographers have said. No one knows why he even raised the issue.

Why don't you try using your powers of attention on the texts DiLorenzo offers as evidence, and see if we can reach a conclusion on those. If you want more reflection by Lincoln on rule of law, try the address to the Young Men's Lyceum, 1838.

177 posted on 03/28/2002 1:09:40 PM PST by davidjquackenbush
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