Month: September 2019

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Lincoln vs Slavery: The Mary Speed Letter

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Abraham Lincoln Joshua SpeedOn September 27, 1841, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Mary Speed, the half-sister of his good friend Joshua Speed. He spoke up about slavery, knowing that the Speed’s had been raised as slaveowners and having just returned from a long visit to their home in Kentucky. On the trip home he contemplates the inequities of life:

A gentleman had purchased twelve negroes in different parts of Kentucky and was taking them to a farm in the South. They were chained six and six together. A small iron clevis was around the left wrist of each, and this fastened to the main chain by a shorter one at a convenient distance from, the others; so that the negroes were strung together precisely like so many fish upon a trot-line. In this condition they were being separated forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, their fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters, and many of them, from their wives and children, and going into perpetual slavery where the lash of the master is proverbially more ruthless and unrelenting than any other where; and yet amid all these distressing circumstances, as we would think them, they were the most cheerful and apparently happy creatures on board. One, whose offence for which he had been sold was an over-fondness for his wife, played the fiddle almost continually; and the others danced, sung, cracked jokes, and played various games with cards from day to day. How true it is that “God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,” or in other words, that He renders the worst of human conditions tolerable, while He permits the best, to be nothing better than tolerable.

Lincoln loathed slavery as far back as the late 1830s, but he rarely spoke out about the slavery question until the 1850s. There were several reasons for his silence, starting with his belief that the institution was dying out. In a response to Stephen A. Douglas in June 1858, he told a Chicago audience that the Republican Party was made up of people “who will hope for its ultimate extinction.” How could it not be so, he thought, given that slavery is morally wrong and politically unsustainable?

This belief proved to be naïve. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 had made it possible to separate cotton fibers from its seeds mechanically; previously this painstaking process was performed entirely by hand and involved hundreds of hours of manual, usually slave, labor. Most northern states had banned slavery, but most southern states saw an expansion of slavery correlated with the growth of “King Cotton.” With the separation (ginning) process speeding the rate of production, plantation owners could dramatically increase the acreage on which they grew cotton. As cotton acreage expanded, more and more slaves were needed for cultivation. Rather than being on the cusp of extinction, slavery was booming.

Once he recognized this reality, Lincoln focused on how to stop its expansion. I talked about some of the ways, in particular his long road to emancipation of enslaved people in the District of Columbia, during my recent keynote address  on Lincoln-Thomas Day at Fort Stevens in the District. I talked about other ways in my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. I’ll have more on this website in the future.

[Partially adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

[Note: Photo is of Joshua Speed and Abraham Lincoln]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Chasing Classic Art – Art Institute of Chicago

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We all grow up with some sort of art appreciation. Recently I was able to realize my dream of seeing some classic art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Building on my odd taste in art as a teen, I specifically wanted to visit the Art Institute because I knew they held several of the original paintings I cherished.

I’ve been lucky. My three years living in Brussels and widespread travel in the world has allowed me to see some of civilizations’ greatest art: Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus in Florence’s Uffizi, Da Vinci’s Last Supper in Milan, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s School of Athens in the Vatican, Munch’s The Scream in Oslo, Picasso’s Guernica at the Reina Sophia in Madrid, Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat in Brussels, and many others. But there were more classic paintings that I had never seen in person – and several were at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Picasso Guitarist Art Institute of Chicago

I’ve had a thing for Picasso’s The Old Guitarist since my undergraduate days. Ironically, it was hanging in the Carriage House, a just-off-campus BYOB hangout built in, you guessed it, an old carriage house. Gone were the horses and hay, replaced by a small kitchen and an even smaller stage where a variety of unknown acts would play for broke students. So while a singer crooned folk songs or the naked piano player (yes, there was such a thing) cracked jokes to music, a print of Picasso’s masterpiece from his blue period gazed down from the side wall. Perhaps the oddity of the situation was what locked the painting into my mind.

Wood American Gothic Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute is also the home of Grant Wood’s much parodied American Gothic. Posing his dentist and his sister in front of an old carpenter gothic style house, Wood created one of America’s most recognized paintings.

Hopper Nighthawks Art Institute of Chicago

Another American artist, Edward Hopper, is best known for Nighthawks, his ambiguous statement on late night life is his most famous painting and likely second only to American Gothic in being repurposed and parodied.

Van Gogh Bedroom Art Institute of Chicago

Heading back to Europe, The Bedroom is one of three versions of Van Gogh’s bedroom in the “yellow house” of Arles, in the south of France. Joined for several tension-filled months by fellow artist Paul Gauguin, it was here that Van Gogh, prone to periodic psychotic episodes, cut off part of his left year, an event that ended his friendship with Gauguin. The Art Institute also has a wonderful self portrait of Van Gogh.

Seurat Sunday Jatte Art Institute of Chicago

Another masterpiece I’ve always wanted to see was French painter Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (sometimes simply called A Sunday on La Grande Jatte). Seurat’s most famous painting, at nearly 7 feet high by over 10 feet wide it is also his largest, a size that is even more remarkable given it is painted using the pointillist technique. Think of pointillism as an early form of pixilation, where small dots of paint are applied to the canvas such that the eye blends them into perceived color patterns.

There were many other wonderful paintings and sculptures at the Art Institute. One thing in particular that struck me was the number of paintings that reflected on science. I’ll have more about that in a future science traveling of art post.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

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Keynote Speaker: Lincoln-Thomas Day

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Join me as I give the keynote address at the annual Lincoln-Thomas Day event to be held Saturday, September 21, 2019 from 12 noon to 2 pm at Fort Stevens, Washington, D.C. The event jointly honors Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862 and Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, the free African-American owner of the land that became Fort Stevens (where Lincoln was chastised with “Get down you fool” as he stood in enemy fire on the Fort’s wall).

This event is also free to the public so please come on down and support me, the National Park Service, and the Military Road School Preservation Trust. More information can be found on the flyer below and the Civil War Defenses of Washington Facebook page.

Lincoln-Thomas Day flyer

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln in Chicago

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In 1860 the city of Chicago hosted the Republican National Convention nominating Abraham Lincoln for President. But Lincoln’s presence is pervasive throughout the city today. Here are a few examples.

The Wigwam where Lincoln was nominated was a temporary structure, long since torn down to make room for skyscrapers and the “L” train overpasses. But recently they installed a marker stone with plaque at the location.

Wigwam marker Chicago

A seated Lincoln as “Head of State” graces Grant Park, not far from the Buckingham Fountain. Designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, this statue is “intended by the artist to evoke the loneliness and burden of command felt by Lincoln during his presidency.” It sits on a pedestal and a 150-foot wide exedra designed by famed architect Stanford White.

Abraham Lincoln Chicago

Another Saint-Gaudens design known by most as the “Standing Lincoln” (officially, “Lincoln: The Man”) can be found further up the lake in Lincoln Park. The sculpture shows a contemplating Lincoln, rising from a chair to give a speech. Copies of this statue stand in London’s Parliament Square and Mexico City’s Parque Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln Chicago

A lesser known statue is in Garfield Park, a short “L” ride west of downtown. Sculpted by Charles J. Mulligan, “Lincoln the Railsplitter” depicts a younger Lincoln, axe in hand, taking a break after splitting rails for fences on the farm.

Abraham Lincoln Chicago

These are the main statues of Lincoln in the windy city, but he appears in many other places as well. That’s him dominating the side of a building down the street from the Chicago History Museum. Inside the Museum itself you can find the actual bed that Lincoln died in after being carried across the street from Ford’s Theatre into the Petersen House in Washington, D.C. At the Art Institute of Chicago I also found miniature versions of two sculptures by Daniel Chester French. One was the familiar seated Lincoln known to all visitors of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The other is a lesser known standing Lincoln statue, the original of which can be found in Lincoln, Nebraska. The newest Lincoln in Chicago is a huge bust located in the lobby of the Palmer Hotel.

Even that wasn’t the last of the Lincoln connections. While in Chicago I also visited an obscure area called Canal Origins Park. Here was the beginnings of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, an internal improvement project that Abraham Lincoln was instrumental in creating, and which helped grow Chicago from a tiny lakeside village to the dominant powerhouse city it is today. The park and its bas-relief sculptures are, sadly, poorly maintained.

Canal Origins Park Chicago

I ran out of time before I could visit another statue of a young Lincoln located about an hour north of town, so perhaps I’ll be visiting Chicago again soon. For now, there are more Chasing Abraham Lincoln plans in the works. Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Chasing Lincoln’s Wigwam

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Wigwam_(Chicago)I’m currently chasing Abraham Lincoln’s wigwam, the name given to the building in which Lincoln received the Republican nomination for President in 1860. Here’s the backstory:

Lincoln’s preparation for the Republican National Convention actually began in the fall of 1859, with old friend Norman Judd serving on the committee to decide when and where to have the assembly. Each of the main contenders for the nomination wanted a site that best benefitted him: New York’s William Seward wanted New York City, Ohioan Salmon P. Chase wanted Cleveland, and Missouri’s Edward Bates wanted St. Louis. Judd suggested Chicago. After all, he explained, there was no prominent candidate from Illinois, so Chicago would be a neutral site. The committee agreed to have the convention in Chicago, demonstrating how little they considered Lincoln a viable candidate.

There was one problem: Chicago did not have a building big enough to handle all the delegates, so the national committee allocated funds for building a suitable temporary space. In a credit to engineering, the hastily erected convention hall—nicknamed the Wigwam—provided seating space for more than 10,000 delegates and observers, all with good views of the speaker’s platform and excellent acoustics.

As was the custom, Lincoln stayed at home in Springfield while David Davis and a cadre of others who knew Lincoln from the Eighth Judicial Circuit took the train to Chicago. Their strategy was to stop the default support for William Seward, then line up around 100 delegates willing to vote for Lincoln on the first ballot, make sure he gained votes on the second ballot, and win the nomination on the third ballot. For two days before the voting began, Davis and his colleagues talked with delegations from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Massachusetts to encourage them to fall to Lincoln if their preferred candidate failed to get enough support. Lincoln’s team was coached to talk about Lincoln’s life, character, and great ability. They were instructed to always commend Seward in the highest terms, but point out that he would have difficulty winning the swing states. In stark contrast, Thurlow Weed and other Seward men put on airs of inevitability and put off delegates by telling everyone Lincoln was “greatly the inferior.”

In a letter to Samuel Galloway, Lincoln instructed his campaign committee to consider:

My name is new in the field; and I suppose I am not the first choice of a very great many. Our policy, then, is to give no offence to others—leave them in a mood to come to us, if they shall be compelled to give up their first love.

The strategy worked. As expected, Seward received 173.5 votes on the first ballot. Lincoln surprised many by receiving 102, while Cameron, Chase, and Bates attracting only around 50 apiece. On the second ballot, Seward picked up a few votes to 184.5 while Lincoln surged up to 181 as he siphoned votes from the others. After the third ballot Lincoln took the lead with 231.5 out of the 233 needed, with Seward decreasing slightly to 180 and the others falling completely out of contention. Seeing how close Lincoln was, the Ohio delegation switched four votes to give Lincoln enough for the win, further supplemented by a huge wave of changed votes to total 364. Abraham Lincoln was the Republican nominee for President. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was selected by the delegations as Lincoln’s running mate.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. I’ll soon be in Chicago seeking the new stone and plaques marking the location of the Wigwam.]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Sailing the Caribbean on Windstar

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Wind StarIt seems my travel this year has been heavy on places starting with “C.” Soon I’ll add Caribbean Cruise on one of the Windstar sailing vessels.

The “C” places have included Costa Rica, Cuba, Charleston, Coatesville, Chicago, and Chasing Abraham Lincoln (a road tour of Lincoln sites in Illinois). The upcoming Caribbean cruise will take me to Curacao (and all the ABC islands) with touches in Colombia and Colon (Panama). Yes, more “C”s.

This will be my fourth Windstar cruise, and by coincidence my fourth ship of their six-ship fleet. My first trip with them was on their flagship Wind Surf, a five-mast sailing vessel carrying just over 300 passengers. The smaller – more intimate and more luxurious – experience was far more appealing than the big hotel ships stuffed with 2000-4000 passengers. Wind Surf took us to several islands between St. Maarten and St. Lucia. The upcoming cruise is on the company’s namesake ship, Wind Star, a four-mast sailing ship about half the size (148 passengers). Both ships (and the Wind Star‘s sister ship, the Wind Spirit) have a signature “sail away” song they broadcast on the outside speakers as they hoist the full sails to everyone’s delight, both on deck and on shore.

In between the two sailing cruises we traveled on two of their three yachts without sails, Star Breeze and Star Legend. These took us to the Baltic Sea and the Philippines, the latter including dinner with the captain. All three of their sail-less yachts are in the process of being enlarged, upping their capacity from 212 to 312 guests. We thoroughly enjoyed the larger cabins and yacht club and look forward to trying out the new Star Pride in the future. Eventually the plan is to cruise on all six of Windstar’s ships.

As my science traveling adventures continue I realize there are so many more places yet to see (and surprisingly, not all begin with the letter “C”). My travel list seems to get longer rather than shorter, but I’m working on it. I might even write a book about my travels some day.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!