Abraham Lincoln: The Enigmatic President

In 1864, an anonymous hardbound pamphlet was published entitled Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro . The word "miscegenation" was coined by the authors who claimed it was a scientific theory describing how racial blending enhances humanity. The pamphlet encouraged the interbreeding of people from different racial or ethnic groups through marriage or sexual relations. During the Civil War period, the North was terrified that freed slaves would swarm their states. Racial bigotry was real and serious. Northerners were frightened for good reasons. For seven decades, slaveholders and their Democratic Party sympathizers had exclaimed on the floor of Congress, in newspapers, in churches, and in pubs that emancipation would cause hordes of black men to migrate north to take the White man’s job and daughters. Tribal instincts were fanned until they were burned into the subconscious of most Americans. After their defeats ...

Constituting America Watch a "Constitutional Chat" video about Lincoln's Cooper Union Address. I was honored to be a guest for this "chat." What was so great about his speech at the Cooper Union? It was earth-moving because it was highly unusual. It was a call for his party to stand on principle—God’s principles, the Founders’ principles, and the founding principle of the Republican Party—the abolition of slavery. Read the essay at Constituting America.

Ted Widmer made a great choice of subject matter. Lincoln on the Verge concentrates on the thirteen days it took Lincoln to journey by train from Springfield to Washington. It’s a fascinating story that illustrates the political savvy of this supposed country bumpkin. Widmer introduces us to the president-elect as he travels across a great land he knows will soon be thrown into turmoil. What could Lincoln accomplish on this tedious trip? You’ll discover he could do quite a bit. Foremost in his mind was solidifying his support in the North for the coming maelstrom. His twisted path took him to state capitals and major cities where he could converse with political power brokers and influencers. He engineered the Presidential Special’s journey in preparation to govern the nation after inauguration. Widmer has a clear, concise writing style that keeps the narrative moving, and his matter-of-fact presentation allows the reader to mine for new insights without being led to the trough. ...

In early 1860, Abraham Lincoln was a little-known regional politician from Springfield, Illinois. The Republican Party was new and had failed running national hero John C. Frémont for president in 1856. Lincoln's chances of ascending to the presidency under the Republican banner were slight. All that changed in New York City on February 27, 1860. That afternoon, Lincoln had his photograph taken by Mathew Brady, and in the evening, he gave a historic speech at the Cooper Union. Lincoln often claimed that Brady’s photograph and his Cooper Union address propelled him to the presidency. Here is the full speech . Below is a highly abridged version of Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech.  We hear that you will not abide the election of a Republican president! In that event, you say you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, ‘Stand and deliver, or I...