Category: Abraham Lincoln

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Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln

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Mark Twain 1909 Wiki CommonsSamuel Clemens, known to most of us by his pseudonym Mark Twain, was born in Hannibal, Missouri on November 30, 1835, shortly after Halley’s Comet had made its regular but rare pass by the Earth. The 26-year-old Abraham Lincoln – an amateur astronomy buff who two years earlier had marveled at the Leonid meteor showers – may very well have been gazing at the skies when Mark Twain came into this world. At that age Lincoln lived in New Salem, Illinois, just a stone’s throw across the Mississippi River from Hannibal. In 1859, Lincoln rode the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad to give a speech in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The railroad just happened to be formed in the office of Mark Twain’s father thirteen years before.

Abraham LincolnLincoln floated flatboats down the Mississippi River to New Orleans as a young adult, then took steamboats back upriver. He often piloted steamboats around shoals near his New Salem home. Mark Twain had worked on steamboats on the river for much of his younger years, first as a deckhand and then as a pilot. Being a riverboat pilot gave him his pen name; “mark twain” is “the leadsman’s cry for a measured river depth of two fathoms (12 feet), which was safe water for a steamboat.” In 1883 Twain even titled his memoir, Life on the Mississippi. As we have already seen, Lincoln’s time traveling on and piloting steamboats eventually inspired his patent for lifting boats over shoals and obstructions on the river.

Lincoln would not have read any of Mark Twain’s stories (his first, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was published in 1865, about seven months after Lincoln had been assassinated). But Twain says his humorous writing style was strongly influenced by another pen named-humorist, Artemus Ward, and the Jumping Frog story was published in the New York Saturday Press only because he finished it too late to be included in a book Artemus Ward was compiling. This is the same Artemus Ward that was so often read by Abraham Lincoln to break the tensions of the Civil War.

In fact, Lincoln was so entranced by the humor of Ward that on September 22, 1862 he read snippets from one of Ward’s books to his cabinet secretaries before settling into the business of the day – the first reading of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Ironically, Mark Twain’s piloting job ended when the Civil War started, as much of the Mississippi River became part of the war zone. So what is a writer/river-boatman to do? Well, join the Confederate army of course. His unpaid service lasted only two weeks in 1861 before disbanding. He then left for Nevada to work for his older brother, out of harm’s way for the rest of the war, though his brief service for the confederacy did give him material for another of his humorous sketches, The Private History of a Campaign That Failed.” Later, Mark Twain would publish the memoirs of Civil War hero and President, Ulysses S. Grant.

Like Lincoln, Mark Twain was very interested in science and technology. Twain actually had three patents of his own, for a type of alternative to suspenders, a history trivia game, and a self- pasting scrapbook.

Lincoln and Twain never met, but I think they would have gotten along famously.

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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Lincoln in Ecuador – Wiegers Calendar February

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Lincoln in QuitoAs Lincoln’s birthday week begins I turn to the David Wiegers calendar for another international statue of Abraham Lincoln. This one is in Quito, Ecuador.

Shockingly, I have yet to make it to Ecuador. I say shockingly because the Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador and my past history as a marine biologist almost demands I make a pilgrimage. I have two potential options for doing so this year, which makes David’s February calendar photo even more appropriate.

So why does the capital of a South American country have a statue of the 16th President of the United States? Certainly the Union had diplomatic relations with Ecuador during the war. Lincoln authorized a “Convention for the mutual adjustment of claims between the two parties,” although it’s unclear what claims he was referring to. Oddly, Frederick Hassaurek, editor of a German-language newspaper in Cincinnati, was appointed Minister to this Spanish-speaking nation. [Lincoln would later free Hassaurek’s half-brother from Libby Prison at his request]

But that isn’t why there is a statue in Quito. Instead, in 1959, to mark the sesquicentennial of Lincoln’s birth, the statue was donated by a committee of Americans living in Quito. The dedication was part of a city-wide renovation to make way for a large international conference. A re-dedication ceremony was held on Lincoln’s 200th birthday in 2009.

Lincoln in Quito

The statue itself depicts Lincoln from belly-button up hovering over the top of a lectern, presumably giving one of his great speeches. He is beardless so he had not yet been elected President. The half-figure sits on top of a stone pedestal. In the background stands a wall with a plaque, although the wall sits back a ways and off to the side so is only visible in photos taken from a certain angle. As you might expect, the statue sits in Abraham Lincoln Plaza just off Calle Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln in Quito

Unlike last month’s photo from Scotland (and some upcoming photos), I didn’t miss seeing this because I haven’t been there yet. But I will (go there, not miss it). I’m thankful that David Wiegers has been to these places and taken such great photos.* For more of his wonderful Lincoln photos, check out his Facebook page, “Images of Abraham Lincoln.”

Until next month!

*In a comment left on Facebook, David clarifies: “This picture is of the original statue on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. The one in Ecuador is a copy of this original.” After checking my photos I realized I had seen the original at LMU during my visit a couple of years ago.

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!

Photo credits: Two photos by me of David Wiegers 2020 calendar photos. Photo on pedestal from Frederic Calvat on Twitter.

 

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Black History – Abraham Lincoln and Black Voting Rights

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Lincoln MemorialAbraham Lincoln is best known for his Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, and saving the Union during the Civil War. But in this Black History Month it’s important to remember that Lincoln also pushed for black voting rights.

The Emancipation Proclamation declared “that all person held as slaves” within the states in rebellion “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Issued as a war measure – the only authority he had under the Constitution – Lincoln then began work that led to the 13th Amendment to permanently end slavery in all the United States. The struggle to pass the amendment was dramatically characterized in Steven Spielberg’s 2012 movie, Lincoln.

These two major steps set the stage for further African-American rights, which were enhanced by passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. While these two acts occurred after Lincoln’s assassination, they were set in motion by Lincoln’s leadership at the end of the Civil War.

Most notable was Lincoln’s April 11, 1865 speech from the White House. Among other points, Lincoln spoke about reconstruction efforts in Louisiana. He encouraged all Louisianans to join in the process of bringing the state back into the Union. He pressed for black voting rights:

It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers.

While this seems a rather mild support for African-American suffrage, it was actually radical for its time. Lincoln understood that for many, if not most, Northerners, being anti-slavery did not necessary mean they were for equal rights for free or freed black men. [The fact that women of any color were not allowed to vote was not lost on Lincoln, who years before had suggested women might also be allowed to cast their ballots. This is an important point in this 100th anniversary year of women’s suffrage.] In any case, Lincoln was pushing as gently as he could the idea that black men should have the same rights under the law as did white men, including but not exclusively the right to vote.

His inclusion of this point in the speech was not an ad lib. The previous night when a gathering crowd had asked for a speech he deferred, stating that such a speech should be thought out and not given off-the-cuff. He spent the next day carefully wording his remarks, from which he read verbatim, dropping each page behind him as he orated out the White House window. He meant to push the idea of black voting rights. This was his first public statement of such, and one member of the audience on the White House lawn who heard it – John Wilkes Booth – stated that Lincoln’s advocacy for the black vote was what made Booth decide to assassinate the President.

Lincoln had also been pressing the Louisiana government and the U.S. Congress in private letters to allow African-American voting. It was not a popular sentiment, and as such Lincoln walked a fine line between pushing the idea and not wanting to force the issue for fear of losing any progress toward reconstruction. He was careful, but he still encouraged the idea. April 11th was his way of bringing the pressure public so the public themselves could start getting used to the idea. He knew, like the Emancipation itself, that leading the public with small doses of progressivism made it easier to swallow large changes. Pressing too hard created defensive postures and worked against progress.

Black leaders like Frederick Douglass were understandably impatient with incremental approaches like Lincoln’s, but Douglass himself understood the limitations of coercive force. It would be for Douglass and his fellow activists to keep the issue public, while allies like Lincoln pushed internally for change. We see this repeatedly in history, including the sometimes painful but effective interactions between Dr. Martin Luther King and President Lyndon Johnson to pass the 1960s era Civil Rights Acts.

Current presidential candidates would be wise to study Lincoln and his times (and Lyndon Johnson and his times) as they deal with a resurgence in voter suppression activities that strive to disenfranchise the votes of racial, religious, and other minorities in this nation.

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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Lincoln in Scotland – Wiegers Calendar January

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Wiegers calendar JanuaryDavid Wiegers is a photographer. He is also an Abraham Lincoln fan. He has combined those two interests into a calendar featuring photos of Lincoln statues from around the world. January is the statue in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This particular statue represents one of those “argh” moments for me. I was in Edinburgh and yet didn’t see the statue. And when I say I was “in” Edinburgh, I don’t just mean for a few days on vacation – I actually lived there for three months in the summer of 2005. The company I worked for at the time had an office in Edinburgh. As manager of the Washington DC office I had the opportunity to work out of the Edinburgh office for that summer (which I’m told was the sunniest summer they had had in a decade, and that’s all I’m going to say about that). I lived in an apartment about a mile or two away from the center of town, so although the actual work facility was a drive in the opposite direction, I did hike downtown fairly often.

On one such foray I walked up to the top of Calton Hill, one of seven in the city. What I didn’t know at the time was that right across the street was Old Calton Burial Ground. And that is where the Lincoln statue stands.

Old Calton Burial Ground

 

When I found out years later I had missed the statue I was, let’s say, more than a little disappointed. I had literally been steps from it without noticing. Worse, that was the first summer I had finally ditched my old 35-mm film SLR and purchased a digital SLR, only to have most of my photos lost in a once-in-a-lifetime comedy-of-errors involving my computer and all of my layered backup options. [A story for another time]

Which means I need to get back to Edinburgh.

Luckily, David Wiegers has been there and has photographed the statue. Seeing it in the very first photo of his calendar brings back both good and bad memories of my brief life in Edinburgh.

Wiegers Calendar January

So why is there a Lincoln statue in Scotland? Because of the six Scottish men who fought on behalf of the Union during the American Civil War. The names of those men are etched into the large dual-figure monument erected in 1893. The lower figure represents an enslaved man being released from shackles at the feet of Lincoln. A bronze shield bears the flag of the time, with thistles to the left and cotton to the right. Two regimental flags complete the grouping.

As I flip through the calendar I see many places that I’ve visited and realize that I missed Lincoln in a few of them. Each month I’ll write one of these posts featuring David’s calendar photo and my own story associated with the statue and/or location. One thing is sure – I’m getting many more ideas for future Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours.

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!

Photo credits: Two calendar photos are my photos of David Wiegers calendar photo; Old Calton Burial Ground photo by Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17821287.

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Abraham Lincoln and the Forces of Nature

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Lincoln Quote BustSeveral times in 1858 Lincoln delivered a lecture he called “Discoveries and Inventions.” Not a particularly successful lecture – the fragments we have remaining suggest it was a bit rambling and lacking in his later eloquence – it presented what was essentially the “American System” of economics based on continuing intellectual and technological improvements.

In his lecture he notes that man has figured out to substitute for his own brawn other “forces of nature” such as “the power of the wind” and of “running streams.” Lincoln strongly highlights the power of the wind:

“Of all the forces of nature, I should think the wind contains the largest amount of motive power—that is, power to move things. Take any given space of the earth’s surface—for instance, Illinois—- and all the power exerted by all the men, and beasts, and running-water, and steam, over and upon it, shall not equal the one hundredth part of what is exerted by the blowing of the wind over and upon the same space. And yet it has not, so far in the world’s history, become proportionably valuable as a motive power. It is applied extensively, and advantageously, to sail-vessels in navigation. Add to this a few wind-mills, and pumps, and you have about all. That, as yet, no very successful mode of controlling, and directing the wind, has been discovered; and that, naturally, it moves by fits and starts—now so gently as to scarcely stir a leaf, and now so roughly as to level a forest—doubtless have been the insurmountable difficulties. As yet, the wind is an untamed, and unharnessed force; and quite possibly one of the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made, will be the taming, and harnessing of the wind. That the difficulties of controlling this power are very great is quite evident by the fact that they have already been perceived, and struggled with more than three thousand years; for that power was applied to sail-vessels, at least as early as the time of the prophet Isaiah.”

Here is Lincoln fifty years before Nikola Tesla, using much of the same language, referring to motive power and the taming of the power of the wind. He also advocated for the power of running streams as “a motive power,” in particular its “application to mills and other machinery by means of the “water wheel” – a thing now well known, and extensively used.” In fact, Lincoln supposedly invented a water wheel as early as the spring of 1834, long before his lecture on Discoveries and Inventions.

Of course, Lincoln’s water wheel provided mechanical power. We would have to wait a few more decades before Nikola Tesla invented a means for large-scale use of the motion of water to create hydroelectric power, but Lincoln was already anticipating the idea. A few years later in the Civil War Lincoln worked closely with Joseph Henry, who prior to becoming the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution had developed the precursors to the induction motor.

Ah, but this wasn’t the first foray into science for Abraham Lincoln. More to come.

[The above is adapted from my e-book, Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate, available for download on Amazon.com.]

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 and DC Emancipation

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Lincoln and slaveryAbraham Lincoln signed the Compensated DC Emancipation bill into law about five months before he released his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. But that wasn’t the first time he tried to free enslaved people in the Washington, D.C.

On January 10, 1849 Lincoln proposed a bill (as an amendment to a resolution) that would have provided a mechanism for the freedom of slaves within the District of Columbia. The amendment and the bill went nowhere, and three days later Lincoln gave notice that he intended to introduce a bill himself to accomplish this goal. That never happened either. In 1861, Lincoln explained that upon “finding that I was abandoned by my former backers and having little personal influence, I dropped the matter knowing that is was useless to prosecute the business at that time.”

It would be April 16, 1862 before, as President, he was able to sign a law that freed enslaved people in the District.

There were significant differences between the 1849 effort and the final 1862 law, most notably that the emancipation would occur immediately whereas the earlier bill would have had some form of gradual emancipation. This was a function of the timing more than any particular ideology. In both cases there would be compensation for the owners as an incentive to provide freedom.

On April 4, 2020 I will be giving an expanded version of my “Lincoln’s Long Road to Emancipation” talk at the Rock Creek Civil War Roundtable in the District. Some have suggested that Lincoln’s views on emancipation “evolved” throughout his life, but I show that he was remarkably consistent about his belief that the Constitution prohibited the federal government from banning slavery in the states wherein it already existed. But he also argued adamantly that the federal government did have the authority to remove slavery from the federal territories, including the District of Columbia.

Rock Creek CWRT

Abraham Lincoln has been claimed by both political parties, and yet is often attacked by the current entity carrying the name of his party [it should be noted that the two are very different]. Lincoln was a man of his times, and yet a man ahead of his time. We are lucky to have had him when we did, and many, including myself, long for his leadership during our current fiery trial.

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 Book Acquisitions for 2019

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Books 2019This was a big year in Abraham Lincoln book acquisitions. My average number of new books acquired has been a fairly consistent 58 books over each of the last five years. This year was 82. While that’s a big jump from my average, it still falls short of the 98 I acquired back in 2013.

Part of the reason was that I started receiving books from publishers because of my book reviews. I write two book reviews per quarter (eight per year) for The Lincolnian, the Lincoln Group of DC‘s newsletter. I’ve also had two reviews published in Civil War Times this past year and expect to have more next year. The magazines, journals, and newspapers in which I publish reviews should expand in 2020. I also received books as part of my responsibilities for the Abraham Lincoln Institute book award evaluation committee. Still, most of the books I purchase through various bookselling outlets, including the onsite bookstore at the annual Lincoln Forum.

Of the total acquired in 2019, 18 are new books published this year. Ten books on the list are signed, most directly to me by the author (e.g., during this year’s Lincoln Forum or when they are guest speakers for the Lincoln Group of DC’s monthly dinners). While many of the books are new, most go back in time. The oldest acquired this year is a 1944 pamphlet style book by Isaac Frost comparing Oliver Cromwell and Abraham Lincoln. The next oldest is a classic book by Lincoln scholar J.G. Randall called Lincoln: The Liberal Statesman, published in 1947. There are also important reference works like Fehrenbacher’s Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln and Boritt’s book of Lincoln quotations.

With over 15,000 books on Lincoln extant, this seemed to be the year for books on peripheral figures close to Lincoln. Newspapermen were well covered, including books on Horace Greeley, Charles A. Dana, Noah Brooks, and Lincoln’s private secretary, John G. Nicolay. Books ranged from blockbuster’s like Sidney Blumenthal’s All The Powers of Earth to the lesser known but important Timothy Good’s We Saw Lincoln Shot. Books also covered Abe’s Youth in Indiana and Lincoln and the Blackhawk War in Illinois. On the more technical side was the most recent assessment of Lincoln’s use of Euclid in his speeches by David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften called The Tyranny of Public Discourse.

Since I’m a big fan of both, one of my favorite books acquired this year is Abraham Lincoln Crossword Puzzles, although I have as yet not figured out how to do the puzzles but leave the book unblemished.

Collecting all these books means I do a lot of reading. While I can’t claim to have read all of them, I have read many of them and plan to read the rest over time. And, of course, acquire even more. Note to publishers: I’m always open to receiving books in return for an honest review via my various venues, including Goodreads and Amazon.

See the 2019 list showing author/title/publication date below my signature blurb below.

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!

Here is the 2019 list! [Author, Title, Date of Publication]

The Lincoln Country: From These Humble Beginnings…to Immortality
Abraham Lincoln Crossword Puzzles 2014
Bartelt, William E. and Claybourn, Joshua A. (Eds) Abe’s Youth: Shaping the Future President 2019
Bartelt, William E. and Claybourn, Joshua A. (Eds) Abe’s Youth: Shaping the Future President 2019
Bayard, Louis Courting Mr. Lincoln (A Novel) 2019
Bayne, Julia Taft Tad Lincoln’s Father 2001
Bennett, Jr., Lerone Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln’s White Dream 1999
Blumenthal, Sidney All the Powers of Earth 1856-1860: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 3 2019
Blumenthal, Sidney All the Powers of Earth 1856-1860: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 3 2019
Blumenthal, Sidney All the Powers of Earth 1856-1860: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 3 2019
Bordewich, Fergus M. America’s Great Debate: Henry Clay, Stephen A. Douglas, and the Compromise that Preserved the Union 2012
Boritt, Gabor S. (ed) Of the People, By the People, For the People and other Quotations 1996
Brands, H.W. Heirs of The Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, The Second Generation of American Giants 2018
Brown, Thomas J. The Public Art of Civil War Commemoration: A Brief History with Documents 2004
Carden, Allen and Ebert, Thomas J. John George Nicolay: The Man in Lincoln’s Shadow 2019
Cartmell, Donald The Civil War Up Close 2005
Casson, Herbert N. Cyrus Hall McCormick: His Life and Work 1971
Chadwick, Bruce Lincoln For President: An Unlikely Candidate, An Audacious Strategy, and the Victory No One Saw Coming 2009
Conwell, Russell H. Why Lincoln Laughed 1922
Coulson, Thomas Joseph Henry: His Life & Work 1950
Delbanco, Andrew The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War 2018
Donald, David Herbert and Hozler, Harold (Eds) Lincoln in the Times: The Life of Abraham Lincoln as Originally Reported in the New York Times 2005
Efflandt, Lloyd H. Lincoln and the Black Hawk War 1991
Eifert, Virginia S. The Buffalo Trace 1957
Fehrenbacher, Don E. Lincoln in Text and Context: Collected Essays 1987
Fehrenbacher, Don E. and Fehrenbacher, Virginia (Compiled and Edited by) Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln 1996
Fleischner, Jennifer Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave 2003
Foot, Isaac Oliver Cromwell and Abraham Lincoln: A Comparison 1944
Freehling, William W. The South vs The South: How Anti-Confederate Southerners Shaped the course of the Civil War 2001
Gates, Henry Louis Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow 2019
Good, Timothy S. We Saw Lincoln Shot: One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts 1995
Grafton, John (Compiler and Historical Notes) Abraham Lincoln Great Speeches 1991
Guarneri, Carl J. Lincoln’s Informer: Charles A. Dana and the Inside Story of the Union War 2019
Guelzo, Allen C. Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President 1999
Handlin, Oscar and Lilian Abraham Lincoln and the Union 1980
Harris, Laurie Lanzen How to Analyze the Works of Abraham Lincoln 2013
Hirsch, David and Van Haften, Dan The Tyranny of Public Discourse: Abraham Lincoln’s Six-Element Antidote for Meaningful and Persuasive Writing 2019
Hirsch, David and Van Haften, Dan The Tyranny of Public Discourse: Abraham Lincoln’s Six-Element Antidote for Meaningful and Persuasive Writing 2019
Horner, Harlan Hoyt Lincoln and Greeley 1953
Jefferson, Thomas (edited and notes by David Waldstreicher) Notes on the State of Virginia 2002
Johannsen, Robert W. (Ed.) The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 1965
Kalten, D.M. The Duel: Abraham Lincoln and Rebecca 2016
Kantor, MacKinlay Andersonville 1955
Kimmel, Stanley Mr. Lincoln’s Washington: A Panorama of Events in Washington from 1861 to 1865 Taken From Local Newspapers and with over 250 Illustrations 1957
Klingaman, William K. and Klingaman, Nicholas P The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History 2013
Knoles, George Harmon (Ed) The Crisis of the Union 1965
Larson, John Lauritz Internal Improvement: National Public Works and the Promise of Popular Government in the Early United States 2001
Lonn, Ella Salt as a Factor in the Confederacy 1965
Lorant, Stefan Lincoln: A Picture Story of His Life 1979
Lowry, Thomas P. Don’t Shoot That Boy!: Abraham Lincoln and Military Justice 1999
Lundberg, James M. Horace Greeley: Print, Politics, and the Failure of American Nationhood 2019
McCormick, Cyrus The Century of the Reaper 1931
Meltzer, Milton (ed) and Alcorn, Stephen (illustrator) Lincoln in His Own Words 1993
Myers, James E. The Astonishing Saber Duel of Abraham Lincoln 1969
Nevins, Allan and Irving Stone (Eds) Lincoln: A Contemporary Portrait 1962
Olmstead, Frederick Law (with Arthur Schlesinger, Editor) The Cotton Kingdom: The Classic First-Hand Account of the Slave System in the Years Preceding the Civil War 1969
Patterson, Matt Union of Hearts: The Abraham Lincoln & Ann Rutledge Story 2000
Paull, Bonnie E. and Hart, Richard E. Lincoln’s Springfield Neighborhood 2015
Phillips, Ulrich B. Life & Labor in the Old South 1963
Puleo, Stephen American Treasures: The Secret Efforts to Save the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address 2016
Randall, J.G. Lincoln: The Liberal Statesman 1947
Randall, J.G. Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln 1964
Reninger, Marion Wallace My Lincoln Letter 1953
Rhoads, Mark Q. Land of Lincoln: Thy Wondrous Story: Through the Eyes of the Illinois State Society 2013
Roske, Ralph J. and Van Doren, Charles Lincoln’s Commando: The Biography of Commander W.B. Cushing, U.S.N. 1957
Shaw, Robert (photographer) and Burlingame, Michael (text) Abraham Lincoln Traveled This Way: The America Lincoln Knew 2012
Sideman, Belle Becker and Friedman, Lillian (Eds) Europe Looks at the Civil War 1960
Soodhalter, Ron Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader 2006
Spielvogel, J. Christian Interpreting Sacred Ground: The Rhetoric of National Civil War Parks and Battlefields 2013
Splaine, John A Companion to the Lincoln Douglas Debates 1994
Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright Abraham Lincoln and the Union, A Chronicle of the Embattled North 1918
Tagg, Larry The Battles that Made Abraham Lincoln: How Lincoln Mastered His Enemies to Win the Civil War, Free the Slaves, and Preserve the Union 2012
Taylor, John M. While Cannons Roared: The Civil War Behind the Lines 1997
Temple, Wayne C. “The Taste Is In My Mouth A Little…”: Lincoln’s Victuals and Potables 2004
Temple, Wayne C.; Edited by Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis Lincoln’s Confidant: The Life of Noah Brooks 2019
Varon, Elizabeth R. Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War 2019
Weber, Karl (Ed.) Lincoln: A President for the Ages (Companion Essays to the Movie) 2012
Weiner, Greg Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln, and the Politics of Prudence 2019
Wert, Jeffry D. Civil War Barons: The Tycoons, Entrepreneurs, Inventors, and Visionaries Who Forged Victory and Shaped a Nation 2018
Wilson, Steven President Lincoln’s Spy 2008
Winkle, Kenneth J. The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln 2001
Zimmerman, Dwight Jon; Illustrated by Wayne Vansant The Hammer and the Anvil: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the End of Slavery in America 2012
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Happy Birthday, Mary Todd Lincoln

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Mary LincolnMary Todd, the future Mary Lincoln, was born on December 13, 1818 in Lexington, Kentucky. She would go on to become one of the most broken-hearted, and often reviled, women in history.

The fourth of seven children, Mary Todd was born into a wealthy slave-holding family. Her mother died when she was only 6 years old. Within two years her father, Robert Smith Todd, remarried and had another nine children with his new wife. Mary Todd and her siblings all had difficult relationships with their stepmother, who essentially ignored them while favoring her own growing brood. Despite these difficulties, Mary grew up in comfort and privilege. The celebrated statesman Henry Clay owned a plantation called Ashland down the road from the Todd household. When she was 13, Mary rode her new pony to Ashland, and Clay, the perennial presidential candidate, noted to his guests, “If I am ever President I shall expect Mary Todd to be one of my first guests.” The precocious Mary said she would enjoy living in the White House.

Robert Todd was rather progressive for a nineteenth-century southern slave owner, and he encouraged his daughters as well as sons to get an education. In part because her stepmother wanted her out of the way, 14-year-old Mary was sent to live at Madame Mantelle’s finishing school for young ladies. There she received a classical education that concentrated on French and literature. She became fluent in French and also studied dance, drama, music, and, of course, the social graces needed to attract a suitable husband. Unlike most women of the time, she also took a keen interest in politics, becoming both knowledgeable and ambitious—and Whiggish. But like all women, politically she had to live vicariously through her husband.

In the fall of 1839 Mary moved from Kentucky to Springfield to live with her older sister Elizabeth, who had married Ninian W. Edwards, son of the former Governor of Illinois. The Edwards home was the center of Springfield’s social scene, and given that the city had far more single men than eligible women, their home was the place to shop for a well-heeled husband. Mary was in her element. Her advanced education gave her the advantage of choosing which of her many suitors she might spend time with, among them Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.

Although Lincoln’s six-foot-four-inch lankiness towered over Mary’s five-foot-two-inch roundness, the two began courting over the winter of 1839–40. The courtship was somewhat one-sided. Lincoln remained a rough, uncouth, awkward man who alternated between sitting quietly and blurting out inappropriate faux pas. He was charmed by Mary’s knowledge and wit, often staring at her in apparent awe as she led the conversation. Still, she saw something in him and their unlikely courtship blossomed…and eventually became engaged.

A Hiatus

And then they stopped. Somewhere between late 1840 and early 1841 they abruptly, although mutually, called off the engagement. Many agreed that Lincoln backed out, fearing he could not suitably meet any wife’s needs as a husband because of his distracted nature. Whatever the reason, they were no longer courting throughout 1841 and into 1842.

Marriage and Family

Sometime in 1842 Mary and Lincoln began secretly courting again. To the astonishment of the Springfield social set, Lincoln and Mary suddenly decided they would get married—that night. Elizabeth Edwards claimed the wedding occurred with only two hours’ notice, and indeed the marriage license was issued that very day. Lincoln had a “deer in the highlights” look as he approached the hurried ceremony in the Edwards parlor. According to friends, when Lincoln was dressing for ceremony he was asked where he was going, to which he replied, “I guess I’m going to hell.” At least one Lincoln scholar believes Mary may have seduced Lincoln the night before into doing something that obligated him to marriage. Whatever the reason, they were married on November 4, 1842. A week later he seemed resigned to the fact, closing a business letter with, “Nothing new here except my marrying, which to me, is matter of profound wonder.”

A Sad Life

Mary lived a life of recurring sadness. Her husband spent six months out of every year on the circuit, traveling from town to town as a lawyer…that is, when he wasn’t away as  a state legislator, then U.S. Representative, or stumping for other candidates. Their son Eddy died as a toddler. Willie would die in the White House. And then the tragedy of having her husband assassinated next to her as they watched Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. [Tragedy would extend to their companions that night: Major Henry Rathbone would later kill his then-fiancée, Clara Harris and spend the rest of his days in an insane asylum.] Mary would find herself in an asylum as well, put there by her only remaining son, Robert, as her life spiraled out of control. Eventually she would settle with her sister in Springfield, where she would die of a stroke on July 16, 1882, passing away in the very same house where she and Abraham Lincoln had been married so many years ago.

By the way, Mary never went by Mary Todd Lincoln. She was Mary Lincoln or Mrs. Lincoln. Only after her death did her family, the still influential Todds of Kentucky, start referring to her at Mary Todd Lincoln in an effort to firmly connect the wealthy family to the Lincoln name.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

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 and the Supreme Court

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Abraham Lincoln may have been a “merely country lawyer,” as some of his critics avowed, but he had many far-reaching interactions with the  U.S. Supreme Court that changed the face of jurisprudence. I’m reminded of this today because on December 6, 1864, Lincoln nominated former Treasury Secretary, and constant foil, Salmon P. Chase to be the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Chase was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and thus ended the nearly 30 year reign of the recently deceased Roger B. Taney.

As much as Chase had been an irritant while sitting in Lincoln’s “team of rivals” cabinet, Taney had been a major thorn, twisting the wounds as much as he could possibly do. As Commander-in-Chief during a time of insurrection, Lincoln felt he could take drastic steps to save the Union, including the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus when necessary. Taney disagreed, and in his duel role as circuit court judge ruled against Lincoln. Lincoln ignored Taney but did get Congress to pass the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act to officially legalize his actions.

Taney’s earlier Dred Scott Decision in 1857 had an even greater impact on Abraham Lincoln’s career. This widely despised decision played center stage in the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, and while Lincoln lost that Senate race on the vagaries of state-legislature-picked Senators, it set him up as the Republican party’s leader on the slavery question. In a sense, it helped make him President.

Even earlier, Lincoln had tried two cases in the U.S. Supreme Court to go along with his 175 cases pled at the Illinois State Supreme Court.

But Lincoln also had another major influence on the U.S. Supreme Court while President. The two dissenting judges on the Dred Scott case needed to be replaced (one died within weeks of Lincoln’s inauguration while the other had quit the court in disgust after the Dred Scott decision). One of the majority judges in the Dred Scott case also needed replacement; he quit the court after Lincoln’s inauguration and became the Confederate Assistant Secretary of War. So Lincoln filled three Supreme Court judgeships with Noah Haynes Swayne, Samuel Freeman Miller, and David Davis.

Ah, but this is where it gets interesting. The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to determine how many Supreme Court justices will sit. That number had ranged from five to nine during our history, but Congress decided to deal with the many leftovers from the Dred Scott case by adding a tenth justice. Lincoln thus was able to appoint an extra new justice to the court, which he did in 1863 with Steven Johnson Field. It should be noted that Congress, in order to keep Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, from appointing pro-slavery justices to the court, reduced the number of justices down to seven. Immediately after Johnson was out of office, Congress reset the number once again to nine, so since 1869 that number has been the standard up to today.

With Salmon P. Chase’s appointment as Chief Justice, Lincoln put a total of five judges on the Supreme Court, one of the most prolific appointer-in-chief in our history.

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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GivingTuesday Fundraiser for the Lincoln Group of DC

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The Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia is an incredibly active group supporting the study and dissemination of information on the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Regularly chosen as the most admired and best President in national polls, with both current major political parties claiming the mantle of Lincoln.

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Which is why on this #GivingTuesday I’m raising money on Facebook for The Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. And on GivingTuesday Dec 3, Facebook will match a total of $7 million in donations first come, first served.

You can donate via this link. Thank you for your support.

The Lincoln Group brings in noted Abraham Lincoln scholars to present on their work. The Group also sponsors public events at the National Archives and Ford’s Theatre, tours of local Civil War battlefields and Lincoln sites, and helps fund scholarships for teachers to learn about how best to teach Lincoln and the Civil War to their students. We’re currently planning a program to fund student participation in educational events.

Today, in fact, I’m attending a lecture by the world’s foremost expert on the Lincoln assassination, Dr. Ed Steers. He’ll be talking about “Getting Right With Lincoln: Challenging Misconceptions About Our Greatest President.” If you’re in Washington, DC this morning, come on up to the Friendship Heights Metro stop and join us.

More on the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia FB page and website: http://lincolngroup.org/ 

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!