"Now, he belongs to the ages"
On this Abraham Lincoln's 198th birthday we should remember with gratitude that we would not be living and enjoying this place called the United States of America had he not humbly served as our 16th President. Elected as a self-educated, relatively unknown outsider from Illinois, he was immediately thrust into solving the crisis of the seceding southern states. As a member of the newly formed Republican party, which was widely seen as an abolition movement, Lincoln's life was threatened even before he arrived in Washington. A plot to assassinate the newly elected President was revealed so that Lincoln had to pass through Baltimore in the middle of the night as to elude the conspirators. As president, Lincoln was largely unpopular, and often despised by both Radical and Conservative factions in his own party, as well as Southern sympathizers and Peace Democrats. However, Lincoln wisely guided the country through the bloody years of the Civil War by effectively ending slavery while at the same time preserving the Union, and for this reason he is seen by many as the greatest American President (though probably not Gramie). As I read about his life, I didn't expect the sadness, grief, and admiration for 'Ole Abe' that came with reading the last chapter. We all know how the story ends. (By the way I defer to our new expert on Lincoln's Assassination [wp gaines] and our resident historian [norm] on this subject) But as his Secretary of War Edward Stanton stated after Lincoln drew his last breath, "Now, he belongs to the ages", Lincoln's legacy, which still has a profound impact on our country today, belongs to all of us, and so today take time to honor and remember him. Happy Birthday Abe!!!!
11 comments:
wes neglected to tell you that he just finished a 600-page lincoln biography and--to celebrate--spent yesterday afternoon at the fort's lincoln museum--along with a parade of in-costume civil war reenactors!
i gotta admit I felt the draw of becoming a Civil War re-enactor, and I have an "in" since one of my co-workers fights for the Union every summer.
Norm can I borrow your musket?
waaaait, norm has a musket?
Wes was right. If anyone wants to know about Lincoln and his relationship with John Wilkes Booth, fire the questions.
Here is a trivia question, who was the first doctor to tend to Booth's leg after the assasination? How did he hurt his leg?
Yeah, but one may not know....or what Norm may chime in on..."Many people believe that even in the darkest days of the Civil War Lincoln was steadfast in his resolve to free the slaves. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Lincoln was walking a political tight rope. He had to keep his powerful abolitionist supporters happy, but was fearful of losing the support of the loyal border states whose economy was still based on slavery. His real resolve was to win the war. He had to balance the support of those who wished to destroy the South with those who were increasingly alarmed by the bloodshed and looked to comprise as a solution to ending the war."
HOnest Abe? Just playin Devil's Advocate
This may come as news to you Wes, but we do have an ancestral link to Abe.
I got out the Tallman geneology (Grandma Fritz was a Tallman). O.K. here's the thread; "William Tallman, our next grandfather, was the fourth child of Benjamin and Patience Tallman and was born 25 March 1720 at Portsmouth, RI....he was married to Ann Lincoln on 20 October 1740. Incidentally President Abraham Lincoln is a lineal descendent of Ann Lincoln's brother, John Lincoln."
So there you go!
Bring it Lamps!!!
That is precisely the genius of Lincoln. He was always opposed to slavery but knew that if he acted too soon the rest of the middle south would secede and assure a Confederate victory. So Lincoln waited until decisive battles were won before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, and when the war was virtually over persuaded Congress to pass the 13th Amendment. And even in his last speech recommended that blacks should have the right to vote (the first president to even go near that subject). One of the audience members for that speech, given from a White House window, was John Wilkes Booth. Four days later Booth killed him precisely for his statement that blacks should have the right to vote.
Alright fellas, back to your corners. You may just have to tangle this one out next time the Lampi's head to the Fort or vice versa!
i never thought i'd see my family fighting over the political strategies of abraham lincoln.
You don't mess with Abe! Period.
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