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Lincoln’s Big Blind Memorandum Reveal Party

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Emancipation ProclamationNo doubt everyone in the Lincoln world has heard repeatedly about the document we’ve all come to know as the “blind memorandum.” But what about the “reveal party” when Lincoln showed his cabinet what he had written? That event happened on November 11, 1864.

As a quick reminder, on August 23, Lincoln had asked each of his cabinet secretaries to sign the outside of a sealed envelope. He didn’t show them what was inside, only promised to reveal it to them at a later date – after the November 8 presidential election. While this document is so familiar to us today, it turns out that it went unremarked at the time. Allen Guelzo, writing in Lincoln Lore, noted that neither Gideon Welles or Edward Bates – from whose contemporaneous diaries we have gained great insights – nor either of Lincoln’s personal secretaries, made any mention of it. In fact, it wasn’t until 1877 that any mention of the “blind memorandum” was made by anyone. That is when Gideon Welles, whose diary seemed to grow over time, wrote an article in Galaxy magazine in which he described an anxious Lincoln initiated:

a request that I would write my name across the back of it. One or two members of the Cabinet had already done so. In handing it to me he remarked that he would not then inform me of the contents of the paper enclosed, had no explanation to make, but that he had a purpose, and at some future day I should be informed of it, and be present when the seal was broken.

As Guelzo notes, the reverse of the “blind memorandum” does in fact contain the signatures of all seven cabinet secretaries, with “Welles fourth in order after Seward, Fessenden and Stanton, and dated in Lincoln’s hand again.”

Flash forward to November 11. Three days after his surprisingly easy reelection, Lincoln had a big blind memorandum reveal party. While no one bothered to mention the earlier signing requests, this time John Hay captured the moment in his diary:

At the meeting of the Cabinet today, the President took out a paper from his desk and said, “Gentlemen do you remember last summer I asked you all to sign your names on the back of a paper of which I did not show you the inside? This is it. Now, Mr Hay, see if you can get this open without tearing it!”: He had pasted it up in so singular [a] style that it required some cutting to get it open.

Lincoln then read the memorandum:

Executive Mansion

         Washington, Aug. 23, 1864.

    This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly

probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it

will be my duty to so cooperate with the Government President-elect,

as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he

will have secured his election on such ground that he can not

possibly save it afterwards.

The immediate reaction of the cabinet was somewhat confused. Why would Lincoln have written this, then gotten their endorsements without showing it to them? Lincoln, without explaining the secrecy, did explain that he would attempt to work with presumed President-Elect McClellan to raise as many troops as he could for a final trial to win the war, and Lincoln would use his power of office to aid in saving the Union. The cabinet was skeptical that McClellan would have held up his part of such a bargain, as was Lincoln. According to Hay’s diary entry, Seward noted that McClellan would simply respond to Lincoln’s offer with “Yes, Yes,” and the next day also “’Yes-Yes’ & so on forever and would have done nothing at all.”

Lincoln, who had fired McClellan earlier in the war for “having the slows,” knew that Seward was right. “At least,” Lincoln said, according to Hay, “I should have done my duty and have stood clear before my own conscience.”

After the big reveal, the “blind memorandum” took on a celebrity status of its own. Bates asked for a copy, then Welles wanted one too, “then everybody” wanted one, according to a letter Hay wrote Nicolay years later.

[Photo from Wikimedia Commons, “First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation” by Francis Bicknell Carpenter]

 

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is Immediate Past President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity andEdison: 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.

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What Does the Juneteenth Flag Mean?

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June 19th – Juneteenth – represents the end of slavery. But how did that come to be so? And what does the Juneteenth flag mean?

Juneteenth flag meaning

As the graphic above notes, Juneteenth is based on the date June 19, 1865, which is the date that Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas. As the Civil War was ending, Granger had been assigned to command the District of Texas. Upon arrival, he realized that word of emancipation had not filtered down to Texans, and white Texans continued to enslave African Americans. Granger issued General Order No. 3, which began:

The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.

The Proclamation to which he was referring was the Emancipation Proclamation, which Abraham Lincoln had issued on January 1, 1863. The Proclamation declared that all people held in slavery in states in rebellion were “thenceforward and forever free.” As one of the states of the Confederacy, Texas was included in the Proclamation and thus all enslaved people were free. White slaveholders kept that information to themselves and hoped to continue to enslave other Americans. Granger’s General Order No. 3 ended that practice.

Technically, the Emancipation Proclamation was a wartime measure, and its authority was in question at that point in time. However, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution had already been passed by Congress (and signed by Lincoln to show his support even though there is no requirement for the president to sign amendments). Several states had ratified it, but officially the 13th Amendment permanently ending slavery in the United States was fully ratified and went into force on December 6, 1865. This is the official end of slavery.

But African Americans have for many decades celebrated June 19th – Juneteenth – as Freedom Day, a day representative of achieving freedom from slavery. Some states had made it a state holiday. In 2021, President Joe Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Each portion of the Juneteenth flag carries a specific meaning. The red, white, and blue colors remind us that African Americans were, and are, Americans (most of those enslaved by the Civil War had been born in the United States, some tracing family lines back several generations). The arc represents a new horizon, the opportunities and promise that lay ahead for Black Americans. Think of Martin Luther King’s “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The white star in the center symbolizes both Texas (the Lone Star State) and the freedom of African Americans in all fifty states. The starburst reflects the new beginning offered by freedom. And, of course, the date of General Order No. 3.

Enjoy your federal holiday, but also remember the deep meaning behind the date.

 

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity andEdison: 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.

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MLK and ABE – Linked Forever

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Martin Luther KingAs we celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, MLK, it’s impossible not to reminisce on the connection with Abraham Lincoln, ABE. The two men are linked forever because of Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation and King’s reference to it in his “I have a dream” speech.

Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Announced as a necessary war measure in dry legal language because that was the authority Lincoln had for such a dramatic step, the Proclamation had ramifications far beyond the effect it had on the United States’ ability to win the Civil War. It continued, and hastened, the process of ending slavery in America, the slavery that the slaveholding Southern states had gone to war to protect and expand. The Proclamation, other acts of Congress, and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution ensured that slavery would end as an institution. It didn’t, however, end the forces of racism, discrimination, and the physical intimidation that to this day have blocked creation of a society of equality. Lincoln understood there was more to do but was assassinated by those forces to keep him from working toward a new birth of freedom.

Martin Luther King understood this as well. In 1963, MLK recognized the importance of the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King referenced the significance as he began his speech with:

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

King linked the continuing struggle for equal rights to the unfinished business of Lincoln’s proclamation. Again, forces had bludgeoned human rights through physical intimidation, discriminatory laws, and racial gerrymandering.

We are now three score and one years from King’s iconic speech. And still, we have the same forces using violence and law to restrict the rights of fellow Americans.

We have work still to do.

As Lincoln noted in his December 1862 message to Congress: “Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We…will be remembered in spite of ourselves….The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.”

The choices we make today will be remembered by our children and our grandchildren, just as the choices of our grandparents during Jim Crow, the rise of Naziism and Fascism, and the civil rights struggles of Dr. King and others are remembered by us. In Lincoln’s time, there were those who fought to save the Union and those who fought to destroy it. To which group do we now identify?

The answer, for each of us individually and as a nation, will determine if in another four score or five score or ten score years we are seeking another ABE, another MLK, to determine if we “shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.”

Martin Luther King had a dream. He now has his own monument on the National Mall, not far from the monument to Lincoln we call the Lincoln Memorial. It behooves us on this Martin Luther King Day to take the time to visit and think about both men, their contributions, and how each of us can emulate them to save us from ourselves. We must all have a dream.

[Photo of Martin Luther King in WikiCommons, public domain]

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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.

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John C. Fremont Was a Problem

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John C. FremontOn September 5, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln had a problem, and that problem was John C. Fremont. Seeking a solution, Lincoln conferred with Commanding General of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott. He wanted some input on what to do with Fremont. Here is what I wrote up for the Lincolnian.org website:

On August 30, 1861, General John C. Fremont, who Lincoln had put in charge of the Department of the West based in Missouri, issued what effectively was martial law and a proclamation of emancipation. President Lincoln was not amused.

Fremont was not just some appointed general. He had been the first Republican nominee for president in 1856. Lincoln had supported Fremont at that time and even received 110 votes in nomination to be Fremont’s vice-presidential running mate (he lost out to William Dayton). In the 1840s, Fremont earned his nickname “The Pathfinder” by leading several expeditions to California. He also married Jesse Benton, daughter of powerful Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Fremont served in the Mexican War and was briefly the territorial governor of California, later becoming one of its first two senators. But he was also no stranger to controversy, including being court-martialed for insubordination in 1847 (later commuted to merely a dishonorable discharge by President Polk).

Fremont ran a strict operation in Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War. His proclamation included a rather problematic passage:

All persons who shall be taken with arms in their hands within these lines shall be tried by court-martial, and, if found guilty, will be shot. The property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri who shall take up arms against the United States, and who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use; and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free.

Lincoln quickly recognized this as a major conflict with the confiscation acts passed by Congress, not to mention that Missouri had remained in the Union even though it was a slave state. Emancipating enslaved people by edict would violate the Constitution as Lincoln (and most others) understood it. Furthermore, taking such extreme action in a loyal state would cause problems with the other border states, most especially Kentucky. As Lincoln reportedly said elsewhere, “I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky.”

Finding out about Fremont’s proclamation from the newspapers, Lincoln responded in his usual deferential way asking Fremont to reconsider. Fremont replied in his usual arrogant way by telling Lincoln he (i.e., Fremont) knew better than Lincoln and if Lincoln wanted Fremont to rescind the proclamation, he would have order it. Fremont sent his response with his wife, Jesse Benton Fremont, to be personally delivered on September 8. Equally self-assured, Jesse attempted to persuade Lincoln that Fremont’s action was correct. Lincoln disagreed, and on September 11, 1861, Lincoln called Fremont’s bluff and wrote:

Your answer, just received, expresses the preference on your part, that I should make an open order for the modification, which I very cheerfully do. It is therefore ordered that the said clause of said proclamation be so modified, held, and construed, as to conform to, and not to transcend, the provisions on the same subject contained in the act of Congress entitled “An Act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes” Approved, August 6. 1861; and that said act be published at length with this order. Your Obt. Servt A. LINCOLN.

Again, the rationale was clear. A general in the field may not issue proclamations that 1) are illegal in that they do not confirm to the laws, and 2) would cause tremendous national security issues that could result in the end of the United States. Not long after this incident, Lincoln sent envoys to assess the situation in Missouri. Their reports confirmed general disarray and Fremont “doing absolutely nothing.” One reported that Fremont was “wholly incompetent.” Seeing no other recourse, Lincoln removed Fremont from command. Fremont did get a second chance as commander of the forces on the Virginia and Kentucky border, but after being badly defeated in battle, Fremont eventually resigned. 

Not learning the lesson, one of Fremont’s division commanders at the time in Missouri, Major General David Hunter, also garnered President Lincoln’s castigation with his similar General Order No. 11 in May of 1862.

The rescinded Fremont proclamation was one of many factors that pulled the slavery question one way and another over the course of the next years, the culmination of factors which would lead to the end of slavery in the District of Columbia and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1862.

[Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons; This post is adapted from one written for Lincolnian.org]

 

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Happy Anniversary Lincoln Papers!

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Lincoln PapersToday, July 26, marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress.

A year ago, Lincolnian editor and longtime Lincoln Group of DC member Wendy Swanson wrote a post on Lincolnian.org about the anniversary. It was a huge event, drawing historians from across the country to the Library of Congress to examine for the first time all the papers Robert Lincoln had held back until then. As Wendy wrote:

Robert Todd Lincoln had deposited the Lincoln Papers with the Library of Congress in 1919 and on January 23, 1923, he deeded them to the Library. The deed stipulated that the Lincoln Papers remain sealed until 21 years after his own death. He died July 26, 1926, a week before his 83rd birthday. On July 26, 1947, the Lincoln Papers were officially opened to the public.

The younger Lincoln had arranged for the organization and care of the papers shortly after his father’s assassination. At that time, he had the Lincoln Papers removed to Illinois, where Judge David Davis of Bloomington, Ill., Abraham Lincoln’s longtime associate, directed the first organization of the documents. Later, Lincoln’s presidential secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, assisted in the project. In 1874, most of the Lincoln Papers returned to Washington, D.C., and Nicolay and Hay used them in the research and writing of their 10-volume biography, Abraham Lincoln: A History (New York, 1890).

The papers encompassed over 40,000 documents detailing the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln. They included both state papers like the drafts of the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, as well as correspondence Lincoln had with some of the most important figures of the day. To that collection the Library of Congress has added other documents from other sources, making it a place where all Lincoln scholars have made a pilgrimage (or ten) to see original manuscripts for their research. I’ve spent quite some time there myself. For those who live far away, much of the collection has been digitized and is available online. As Wendy notes:

The Library of Congress website contains extensive information about the Lincoln Papers and Lincoln Research Resources. If you haven’t already, take time to explore these historic treasures.

Take a hop over to Lincolnian.org to read Wendy’s full article on the topic.

Before you leave, today, July 26, 2023, is also the anniversary of Robert’s death, which is what triggered the release of the Papers. I’ll have more shortly on Robert and Hildene, his summer home in Vermont, where I recently visited and toured.

[Photo from Library of Congress]

Fire of Genius

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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.

 

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Join Me for Two Special Abraham Lincoln Presentations This Week (Plus a Bonus)

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This will be a busy week, with two special Abraham Lincoln presentations coming up on Wednesday and Thursday. Both will be virtual, so take a look at the info and links below and join me! 
Wednesday, January 11, 8 pm EST/7 pm CST: I will give a special presentation on Wednesday as part of the Looking for Lincoln conversations program based in Springfield, Illinois. The topic is “How Abraham Lincoln Institutionalized Science and Technology in the Federal Government,” which builds mainly off of one chapter in my recent book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America. This virtual program is free to all on January 8th beginning at 8 pm EST/7 pm CST. A Q&A will be open to all virtual attendees. See it live on the Looking for Lincoln Facebook or YouTube pages.
 
Watch live on YouTube: https://youtu.be/y48_SKeRfqM
Watch on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/523737299725293
 
 
Thursday, January 12, 6:30-7:30 pm EST: President Lincoln’s Cottage presents a series of Scholar Sessions. The virtual program will feature a conversation between the Cottage’s President/CEO Michael Atwood Mason and Lincoln Group president David J. Kent. They will discuss a wide range of topics including Lincoln’s commitment to modernizing American and other aspects of Lincoln’s life. Following their conversation, the event will be opened up to all virtual attendees for a Q&A period. Lincoln Cottage members can participate for free; there is a $10 fee for non-members.
 
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scholar-sessions-david-j-kent-tickets-486902527567
 
And the bonus!
 
Tuesday, January 17, 6:00 pm EST: The Lincoln Group of DC holds its monthly Zoom meeting featuring Diana Schaub discussing her book, His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved a Nation. Dr. Schaub is a professor of political science at Loyola University Maryland and a member of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute. The Lincoln Group’s study forum analyzed her book in the spring of 2021, so we can safely say that this presentation is not to be missed. This is a free virtual event.
 
More details and to register: https://www.lincolnian.org/event-details/lincolns-greatest-speeches-6-pm-zoom-only
 
With Lincoln’s birthday, the 160th anniversary of the final Emancipation Proclamation, major Civil War events, and the 160th anniversary of the assassination all coming up soon, I’ll be incredibly busy over the next few months. Check out my Media page for upcoming events (and to see videos/audio links to previous events). 

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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.

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Abraham Lincoln Book Acquisitions for 2022

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Books 2019Even when I’m trying to reduce the number of books in my house I end up with more. My Abraham Lincoln book acquisition total for 2022 is 34, and that number includes some books that are Lincoln-ish. You can read about past years acquisitions by scrolling through this link.

Recall that in 2021 I acquired a ton of Lincoln books that weren’t actually mine but belong to the Lincoln Group of DC. I’ve been working since then to remove them from my office through a combination of donations to Lincoln Group members and libraries. As a group, we even donated a box to an organization that supplies prisons with reading materials for those incarcerated. I still have a lot left, but I’ve reduced the pile enough to move the remainder out of my office. I’ve also removed some duplicates from my own collection. I’ll celebrate reclaiming my office table by starting a Lincoln-themed puzzle over the holidays.

Ah, but no matter how many I removed, I added more. My biggest acquisition was my own book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, which was published in September. Mostly the sales are from the usual booksellers – Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Independent bookstores (including the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago, with whom I did a release day video interview that you can watch here), and even places like Walmart, Target, Books-A-Million, etc. You can even find it in bookstores in Canada, the UK, Australia, and elsewhere. In addition to the stores, I acquired a few boxes of Fire of Genius for sale at in-person events. I have plenty of such events coming up, as well as recordings of past events, all of which are listed on my Media page.

One of the reasons I acquired fewer books this year was that I was not on the ALI book award review committee this year, mainly because I wanted Fire of Genius to be considered for the award. Nevertheless, I still acquired many of the key books that came out in 2022, including some by big name authors. Early in the year I purchased CNN commentator John Avlon’s Lincoln and the Fight for Peace. I enjoyed the book and to put an exclamation point on it I actually moderated a discussion with Avlon for the Lincoln Group in March. The biggest name in Lincoln books this year is clearly Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, whose And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle topped the New York Times bestseller list. I had the privilege of meeting Meacham at a special event at St. John’s Church across the street from the White House, as well as a couple of other events. Another Jon (this was a big year for authors named John/Jon), Jonathan W. White also had a book come out that I enjoyed, A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the White House. When it comes to big names in Lincoln studies, there is of course Harold Holzer, whose 2009 book The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now has found a place on my shelves. All of these, by the way, also were signed to me by the authors. Being president of the Lincoln Group of DC and winning an award at the Lincoln Forum has its perks.

Other notable books acquired this past year include some related to my own book research topic, including Carol Adrienne’s Healing a Divided Nation: How the American Civil War Revolutionized Western Medicine and Kenneth Noe’s The Howling Storm: Weather, Climate, and the American Civil War. I also picked up The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, with Nikole Hannah-Jones as project leader. The book is a much-expanded version of the original New York Times series of essays that garnered a Pulitzer Prize despite (or perhaps because of) the raging controversy over misrepresentation/misinterpretation of the founding fathers’ motives and of Lincoln’s views on race. Hannah-Jones tweaked her lead essay in an attempt to correct unsupportable positions even as she stood by them, which unfortunately distracts from the rest of the book, which is a worthwhile, and largely fact-based, discussion of systemic racial discrimination that continues to this day.

I acquired two special books from Lincoln Group members. Ross Heller produced by Abraham Lincoln: His 1958 Time Capsule, which faithfully captures a campaign notebook he provided to a colleague in the year he ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senate. The book adds in the intriguing history of the notebook’s travels and reproduction. The second is by Daniel R. Smith, Sr., whose Son of a Slave: A Black Man’s Journey in White America is a memoir of the life of a man whose father was born enslaved in 1863 and who sired Dan at the age of 70. Dan, who has been called the Black Forrest Gump because of how often he was a part of historical events, was a long-time member of the Lincoln Group until he passed away at the age of 90 just two weeks before the book was released. His widow Loretta Neumann, also a long time Lincoln Group member, was gracious enough to inscribe my copy of the book yesterday during the Group’s annual holiday luncheon. I’ll have reviews of both these books in the next Lincolnian newsletter.

As can be seen in the list below, my definition of “Lincoln” books is a bit fuzzier in some cases this year. Some are more Civil War-centric than specifically Lincoln, but nevertheless are Lincolnesque. Others may be more obliquely related to future book projects. One interesting book I picked up is called The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power by Jules Witcover. Published in 2014, it gives fairly short (several pages) overviews of the lives of all the vice presidents up through Biden (as VP). Some VPs became president either by the death of their predecessor (e.g., Andrew Johnson, Lyndon Baines Johnson) or future election (e.g., Nixon), but their vice presidency is often overlooked. I fortuitously came upon this book just days after deciding to look deeper into a particular VP for a likely future project. Funny how that works. And of course, I also acquired books that are not at all Lincoln-related that I do not put into my spreadsheet. The spreadsheet itself is now 1639 lines, with some of those lines being multiple volume books such as the 10-volume Nicolay and Hay series.

In anticipation of 2023 acquisitions, it’s time to make some more space on the shelves.

See the 2022 list showing author/title/publication date below my signature blurb below.

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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.

 

Here is the 2022 list! [Author, Title, Date of Publication]

Abraham Lincoln: Selected Writings 2013
Adrienne, Carole Healing a Divided Nation: How the American Civil War Revolutionized Western Medicine 2022
Alford, Terry In the Houses of Their Dead: The Lincolns, The Booths, and The Spirits 2022
Avlon, John Lincoln and the Fight for Peace 2022
Ballard, Colin R. The Military Genius of Abraham Lincoln 1952
Brewster, Todd Lincoln’s Gamble: The Tumultuous Six Months That Gave America the Emancipation Proclamation and Changed the Course of the Civil War 2014
Brooks, Paul The People of Concord: American Intellectuals and Their Timeless Ideas 1990
Conner, Jane Hollenbeck Lincoln in Stafford 2006
Eggert, Gerald G. The Iron Industry in Pennsylvania 1994
Escott, Paul D. “What Shall We Do with the Negro?”: Lincoln, White Racism, and Civil War America 2009
Goodwin, Cardinal John Charles Fremont: An Explanation of His Career 1930
Hannah-Jones, Nikole and many others The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story 2021
Heller, Ross E. (editor) by Abraham Lincoln: His 1858 Time Capsule 2022
Henson, D. Leigh Inventing Lincoln: Approaches to His Rhetoric 2017
Holzer, Harold (Ed,) The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now 2009
Hord, Fred Lee and Norman, Matthew D. Knowing Him by Heart: African Americans on Abraham Lincoln 2023
Kent, David J. Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America 2022
Lewis, Lloyd Myths After Lincoln 1973
Manning, Alan Father Lincoln: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and His Boys-Robert, Eddy, Willie, and Tad 2016
Martin, William The Lincoln Letter: A Peter Fallon Novel 2012
McCormick, Anita Louise The Industrial Revolution in American History 1998
Meacham, Jon And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle 2022
Mearns, David C. Largely Lincoln 1961
Nelson, Megan Kate The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West 2020
Noe, Kenneth W. The Howling Storm: Weather, Climate, and the American Civil War 2020
Rubenstein, David M. The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream 2021
Schwartz, Barry Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory 2000
Smith, Daniel R. Sr. Son of a Slave: A Black Man’s Journey in White America 2022
Taaffe, Stephen R. Commanding Lincoln’s Navy: Union Naval Leadership During the Civil War 2009
Trachtenberg, Alan Lincoln’s Smile and Other Enigmas 2007
Walker, David and Smyth, Damon The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave’s Journey from Bondage to Freedom 2018
White, Jonathan W. A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the White House 2022
Willis, Deborah The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship 2021
Witcover, Jules The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power 2014

 

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Abraham Lincoln’s Scientific Approach to the Civil War

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Coast Survey Slavery MapLincoln took a scientific approach to military strategy. The Anaconda plan’s focus was on securing the coastlines and the Mississippi River. Recognizing New Orleans as the hub of the cotton trade and commerce, Lincoln saw it as the first port to be targeted for blockade. He also hoped to block southern ship traffic from Charleston, South Carolina to cut off Confederate attempts to woo Great Britain and France to their side. Helping him make this happen was Alexander Dallas Bache and the Coast Survey. The Coast Survey had been authorized by Thomas Jefferson, and Bache, who was Benjamin Franklin’s great-grandson, was quick to send nautical charts of the Chesapeake Bay to Lincoln. He also forwarded two terrestrial maps produced by the Survey that had far-reaching influence on Lincoln’s decisions on emancipation and military strategy.

The first map was of the state of Virginia. A relatively new technique of color-coded shading was used to show the percentage of enslaved population in each county based on the 1860 census. The darker shaded counties reflecting higher percentages of enslaved persons were primarily in the tidewater region and toward the southern part of the state. The mountainous western counties held only small percentages of enslaved. That told Lincoln the western counties were less likely to support the insurrection, and indeed, those counties rejoined the Union as the new state of West Virginia.

The second map showed the entire slaveholding portion of the country. Lincoln quickly recognized that the four “border” states—Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware—had relatively few slaves in most of their counties. That fact helped inform Lincoln’s strategies to retain the border states in the Union, including proposals for gradual compensated emancipation in an effort to stimulate the process of freeing the enslaved. The map also clearly showed that eastern Tennessee had relatively few slaves, which again allowed him to target that region for initial military and diplomatic forays in the hope many of the residents would retain their Union sentiments. Also clear was that the highest densities of enslaved populations were in the cotton belt of the deep South and along the Mississippi River borders of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, where over 90 percent of the populations of some counties were enslaved. The map reinforced the importance of capturing New Orleans to cut off the main supply and transport line for the Confederate economy. Controlling the Mississippi was the key to the war, which “could never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.” It also reinforced the belief that the deep South was so dependent on slavery it would never willingly give it up. Lincoln found this second map especially fascinating, according to Francis Carpenter, who spent six months at the White House preparing his famous painting, “First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln.” Carpenter added the southern slavery map to the lower right corner of his painting, reflecting its significance to the decision-making process.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America, now available at booksellers everywhere.]

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America was released on September 1, 2022.

The book is available for purchase at all bookseller outlets. Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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.

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Up Close and Personal – The Lincolnian Interview, Part 3 (The Final Part)

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Lincoln: The Fire of GeniusI was interviewed for the summer 2022 issue of The Lincolnian, the newsletter of the Lincoln Group of DC. This is Part 3, the final part. Here is Part 1 and Part 2. The focus was on my new book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. The interviewer was Wendy Swanson, editor of The Lincolnian.

What’s next? Do you have plans/ideas for your next book?

I have several books in various stages of planning and writing. I’m currently scoping out a book version of my “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” blog series. The hope is to examine the soul of America through Lincoln.

And what’s next for the Lincoln Gp?  Any thoughts on future events?  What else do you want to accomplish during your presidency?

The Lincoln Group has a long history of promoting Lincoln scholarship and public education and modern communication options are helping us grow into a truly national organization. This coming year is the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, so I expect us to address that in several ways. The Group will also build closer working relationships with other Lincoln organizations in the area plus the DC school system. The country needs to learn from Lincoln, and the Lincoln Group is best positioned to help guide that learning.

Anything else you wish to add on these topics?

I was thrilled that Sidney Blumenthal agreed to write the Foreword for my book. He wrote an article on Lincoln and technology while my book proposal was circulating publishers, and his foreword is perfect for introducing the book. I was equally excited that many of Lincoln scholarship’s most renowned experts wrote back cover blurbs for me, including Harold Holzer, Michael Burlingame, scientist-turned-historian Ed Steers, former National Academy of Sciences historian Marc Rothenberg, James Cornelius, and several others. That support and confidence is extremely encouraging as the book finally makes it into stores.

Release date for the book is September 1st, but it is already available for pre-order at Rowman & Littlefield’s website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all other book outlets. It’s available as hardcover and e-book (Kindle and Nook), with hopefully a paperback to come out next year. I’ve also seen it listed by booksellers based on Canada, the UK/Europe, and Australia, so you can probably find it on shelves or online if you live in any predominantly English-speaking country worldwide. My earlier books were translated into multiple languages (Tesla even got translated into Czech), so I’m hopeful Lincoln: The Fire of Genius will be as well.

Not part of the interview, but I often get asked: What’s next?

Right now, I’m preparing for quite a few upcoming presentations, as you can see from the list on my Media page. That includes keynote speeches in January, February, March, and April of 2023. I’ve also started traveling again. I went to Iceland in early July and am scheduled for a trip to Tanzania right after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, my editor has expressed interest in getting to work on my next book. And, of course, there are plenty of Lincoln Group of DC events coming up (with more to be added soon).

Finally, a reminder: If you’ve read Lincoln: The Fire of Genius and liked it, please leave ratings and reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and elsewhere (you can copy and paste the same review if you want). It helps more people learn about the book and is very much appreciated by all authors.

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America was released on September 1, 2022.

The book is available for purchase at all bookseller outlets. Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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.

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My Busy Week at the Lincoln Memorial Centennial

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David J Kent Lincoln Memorial centennialThe Lincoln Memorial reaches its centennial this month and this past week was the culmination of a year’s worth of work to celebrate the iconic structure’s 100th birthday. Around this time last year, the Lincoln Group of DC, of which I am the current president, decided that we must have a magnificent event on the Memorial steps. We had done something similar in 2015 for the sesquicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural speech so we followed the basic format. There were differences of course. We couldn’t really have a Lincoln reenactor for a memorial to his life and death, especially since it wasn’t dedicated until 57 years after his assassination. We also couldn’t just recapture the Civil War theme, nor did we want to exactly recapture the segregationist Jim Crow-era time of 1922. Plus, we would be working with the National Park Service, which would prefer not to be overly controversial. Still, there were issues from that 1922 dedication we wanted to address and there has been 100 years of history we wanted to show.

You can read background on the dedication ceremony on the Lincoln Group of DC website here, and here, and here. Click on the events tab on that website for more information about the speakers and the follow ups. In short, Chief Justice (and former president) William Howard Taft gave a speech and officially handed over the Memorial to then-current President Warren G. Harding. Lincoln’s son Robert was also there but did not speak. The only other speaker was Dr. Robert R. Moton, director of the Tuskegee Institute, a predominantly Black university in Alabama. Dr. Moton was not allowed to sit with the other dignitaries. He was forced to walk to the speaker stand, give his speech – which was censored to remove suggestions that Jim Crow laws were counter to the nation’s unfinished business – and then returned to the segregated section of the audience.

We also understood that much has changed over the 100-year history of the Memorial. While the original focus was on unity – the reconciliation between (whites in) the North and South – the meaning has grown and broadened into a symbol of civil rights and hope for all Americans. Famed contralto singer Marian Anderson sang on its steps in 1939 after having been refused a concert at the “whites only” Constitution Hall. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps in 1963, the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Most modern presidents incorporate the Memorial in their inauguration programs, including that of Barack Obama, our nation’s first African American president. We wanted to capture this evolution as well as the design and art of the building and its iconic seated Lincoln statue. To cover the art and architecture we brought in Lincoln and Daniel Chester French expert Harold Holzer. Edna Greene Medford traced the evolution in meaning over the last century. Frank Smith discussed the U.S. Colored Troops role in the fight for freedom. Our keynote speaker was Charlotte Morris, the current president of Tuskegee University, the institution run by Robert Moton 100 years ago when he spoke at the dedication. Morris contrasted that time, and unlike Moton’s censored speech, was forthright in both the greatness of Lincoln and the dangers to his vision expressed by today’s society. She received a standing ovation. We had representatives from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. to cover their involvement in the memory of Lincoln. The first Native American director of the National Park Service, Chuck Sams, offered some history of the Memorial. Sarah Johnson of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (“Lincoln’s Church”) gave a Lincoln-inspired invocation. We also had music. The national anthem and two songs from Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert were sung by the amazing Felicia Curry while the United States Marine Band “The President’s Own” Brass Quintet provided pre-, inter-, and postludes. The words of poet Edwin Markham and Lincoln’s own words etched in the walls of the Memorial were powerfully performed by stage and screen actor Stephen Lang. We were also able to bring in four descendants of Robert Moton to be present at the event.

The program was broadcast on C-SPAN, CBS, and ABC. Not only was I the main organizer of the event, I was also the Master of Ceremonies. 

That was Sunday morning on May 22nd. But that was only one of the series of events the Lincoln Group organized to celebrate the centennial of the Lincoln Memorial.

On Tuesday (5/10), we sponsored and I moderated a virtual presentation by the authors of a book on the Lincoln Memorial, a sort of prelude to the festivities.

On Thursday (5/19), I attended a special Library of Congress one-night-only exhibit of Lincoln’s reading copy of the Gettysburg Address and many other documents related to the Memorial.

Also, on Thursday (5/19), I attended a program at the Arts Club of Washington that the Lincoln Group supported featuring Harold Holzer.

On Saturday morning (5/21), I joined the Lincoln in Washington walking tour led by the Lincoln Group’s immediate past president John O’Brien.

Saturday afternoon (5/21), I attended a special showing of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” at the AFI Silver Theatre, which the Lincoln Group co-sponsored and Ed Epstein of our group introduced.

Sunday morning (5/22), the program described above, which I emceed.

Sunday afternoon (5/22), we hosted the speakers and members of the Board for a luncheon at Clyde’s in downtown Washington, DC

Monday evening (5/23), I spoke a few words to open a special dramatic reading of a new play called “Freedom’s Temple” by Bryce Stenzel. The Lincoln Group co-sponsored this event with the DC Civil War Roundtable. The event was produced by the Lincoln Group’s Debbie Jackson.

Tuesday (5/24), I attended virtually a program developed by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society and which the Lincoln Group supported.

In between, there were plenty of emails flying back and forth on other issues.

So, if you’ve noticed I hadn’t written much in the last week, that was why. Things won’t necessarily be getting less busy in the weeks to come, although the emphasis will shift. Most immediately is paying the bills for all of the above. One of the flying emails was to add an event in September that I’ll write more about later. We also have an in-person dinner event scheduled for June 14th that will require some significant organization. There’s a Lincoln Group board meeting scheduled for June 25th that I will chair. I have two travel trips coming up soon. Two other Lincoln Group members and I will be repeating a four-session course (two of which are mine) in October for Encore Learning. The Lincoln Forum is in November, which should have events both for me personally and the Lincoln Group. I’m hoping for another big trip in December.

And, of course, my new book, Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, will be released on September 1st. I have a book launch and several presentations scheduled for September (with likely several more to come), and at some point soon I need to prepare them for delivery.

I’ll have more photos from the Lincoln Memorial Centennial up on this website and on Facebook soon, as well as on the Lincoln Group of DC website: Lincolnian.org. The photo of me at the Lincoln Memorial above is courtesy of Bruce Guthrie.

Fire of GeniusThe book is available for pre-order on the Rowman & Littlefield website (Lyons Press is a trade imprint of Rowman). You can also pre-order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (click on the respective links to pre-order). Release date is scheduled for September 1, 2022.

The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. That will also ensure you get informed of the release date AND will let you try for one of ten free hardcover copies of the book that I’ll be giving away this summer. I’ll also be giving away as many as a hundred e-books. [The book will also be put out on audio]

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

I’ll have much more about the book over the next few months, so join my mailing list here to keep informed.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. 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!