Lincoln on Race and Slavery
- ISBN-10:
- 0691149984
- ISBN-13:
- 9780691149981
- Pub. Date:
- 03/27/2011
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- ISBN-10:
- 0691149984
- ISBN-13:
- 9780691149981
- Pub. Date:
- 03/27/2011
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
Lincoln on Race and Slavery
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Overview
Generations of Americans have debated the meaning of Abraham Lincoln's views on race and slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation and supported a constitutional amendment to outlaw slavery, yet he also harbored grave doubts about the intellectual capacity of African Americans, publicly used the n-word until at least 1862, and favored permanent racial segregation. In this book—the first complete collection of Lincoln's important writings on both race and slavery—readers can explore these contradictions through Lincoln's own words. Acclaimed Harvard scholar and documentary filmmaker Henry Louis Gates, Jr., presents the full range of Lincoln's views, gathered from his private letters, speeches, official documents, and even race jokes, arranged chronologically from the late 1830s to the 1860s.
Complete with definitive texts, rich historical notes, and an original introduction by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., this book charts the progress of a war within Lincoln himself. We witness his struggles with conflicting aims and ideas—a hatred of slavery and a belief in the political equality of all men, but also anti-black prejudices and a determination to preserve the Union even at the cost of preserving slavery. We also watch the evolution of his racial views, especially in reaction to the heroic fighting of black Union troops.
At turns inspiring and disturbing, Lincoln on Race and Slavery is indispensable for understanding what Lincoln's views meant for his generation—and what they mean for our own.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780691149981 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Princeton University Press |
Publication date: | 03/27/2011 |
Edition description: | New Edition |
Pages: | 416 |
Product dimensions: | 5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xiiiAcknowledgments xvAbraham Lincoln on Race and Slavery Henry Louis Gates, Jr. xvii
Chapter 1: Protest in Illinois Legislature on SlaveryMarch 3, 1837 1Chapter 2: Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Sringfield,January 27, 1838 3Chapter 3: AL to Mary SeedSeptember 27, 1841 9Chapter 4: Temperance AddressFebruary 22, 1842 11Chapter 5: AL to Williamson DurleyOctober 3, 1845 16Chapter 6: AL to Josephus HewettFebruary 13, 1848 20Chapter 7: Seech at Worcester, MassachusettsSeptember 12, 1848 23Chapter 8: Remarks and Resolution Introduced in United tates House of Representatives Concerning Aolition of Slavery in the District of ColumbiaJanuary 10, 1849 26Chapter 9: Eulogy on Henry Clay& January 4, 1855, Outline for Seech to the Colonization SocietyJuly 6, 1852 31Chapter 10: Hon. A. Lincoln's Address, Before the Sringfield Scott Club, in Reply to Judge Douglas' Richmond SeechAugust 14 and 26, 1852 43
Chapter 11: Fragments on SlaveryJuly 1, 1854 48Chapter 12: Speech at Bloomington, IllinoisSeptember 12, 1854 51Chapter 13: Speech at Peoria,October 16, 1854 56Chapter 14: AL to Ichabod CoddingNovember 27, 1854 69Chapter 15: AL to Oen LovejoyAugust 11, 1855 71Chapter 16: AL to George RobertsonAugust 15, 1855 73Chapter 17: AL to Joshua F. SpeedAugust 24, 1855 77Chapter 18: Speech at Kalamazoo, MichiganAugust 27, 1856 84Chapter 19: AL to Newton Deming and George P. StrongMay 25, 1857 90Chapter 20: Speech at Sringfield, IllinoisJune 26, 1857 92
Chapter 21: A House Divided, Speech at Sringfield, IllinoisJune 16, 1858 103Chapter 22: to John L. ScrippsJune 23, 1858 107Chapter 23: Fragment on the Struggle Against SlaveryJuly, 1858 109Chapter 24: Speech at Chicago, IllinoisJuly 10, 1858 111Chapter 25: Speech at Sringfield,July 17, 1858 119Chapter 26: Speech at Lewistown,August 17, 1858 124Chapter 27: First Debate ith Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, IllinoisAugust 21, 1858 127Chapter 28: Second at Freeport IllinoisAugust 27, 1858 137Chapter 29: Speech at Carlinville, IllinoisAugust 31, 1858 143Chapter 30: at Clinton, IllinoisSeptember 2, 1858 149
Chapter 31: Speech at Edwardsville, IllinoisSeptember 11, 1858 152Chapter 32: Fourth Debate ith Stephen A. DouglasSeptember 18, 1858 156Chapter 33: Fragment on Pro-slavery TheologyOctober 1, 1858 160Chapter 34: Seventh and Last Debate with Stephen A. Douglasat Alton, Illinois, & October 18, 1858, AL to James N. BrownOctober 15, 1858 163Chapter 35: to Salmon P. ChaseJune 9, 1859 174Chapter 36: Speech at Columbus, OhioSeptember 16, 1859 177Chapter 37: Speech at Cincinnati, OhioSeptember 17, 1859 187Chapter 38: Fragment on Free LaborSeptember 17, 1859 191Chapter 39: Address at the Cooper Institute, New York CityFebruary 27, 1860 193Chapter 40: Speech at Hartford, ConnecticutMarch 5, 1860 202
Chapter 41: AL to John A. GilmerDecember 15, 1860 210Chapter 42: First Inaugural AddressMarch 4, 1861 214Chapter 43: AL to Orville H. BrowningSeptember 22, 1861 218Chapter 44: Message to CongressMarch 6, 1862 222Chapter 45: AL to James A. McDougallMarch 14, 1862 225Chapter 46: AL to Horace Greeley & Aril 16, 1862, Message to CongressMarch 24, 1862 228Chapter 47: Appeal to Border State Representatives to Favor Compensated EancipationJuly 12, 1862 231Chapter 48: Address on Colonization to a Deputation of NegroesAugust 14, 1862 235Chapter 49: AL to Horace GreeleyAugust 22, 1862 242Chapter 50: Reply to Eancipation Memorial Presented by Chicago Christians of All DenominationsSeptember 13, 1862 245
Chapter 51: Preliminary ProclamationSeptember 22, 1862 250Chapter 52: Annual Message to CongressDecember 1, 1862 255Chapter 53: Eancipation ProclamationJanuary 1, 1863 265Chapter 54: AL to AndrewJohnsonMarch 26, 1863 270Chapter 55: Resolution on SlaveryApril 15, 1863 272Chapter 56: AL to John M. SchofieldJune 22, 1863 274Chapter 57: Order of RetaliationJuly 30, 1863 276Chapter 58: AL to Nathaniel P. BanksAugust 5, 1863 279Chapter 59: AL to Gen. Ulysses S. GrantAugust 9, 1863 282Chapter 60: AL to James C. ConklingAugust 26, 1863 284
Chapter 61: FragmentAugust 26, 1863 290Chapter 62: Annual Message to CongressDecember 8, 1863 292Chapter 63: Reply to Nework Workingmen's Democratic Republican AssociationMarch 21, 1864 295Chapter 64: AL to Albert G. HodgesApril 4, 1864 298Chapter 65: AL to Edwin M. StantonMay 17, 1864 302Chapter 66: Interviewith Alexander W. Randall and Joseph T. MillsAugust 18, 1864 305Chapter 67: Resolution Submitting the Thirteenth Aendmentto the StatesFebruary 1, 1865 308Chapter 68: Second Inaugural AddressMarch 4, 1865 310Chapter 69: Speech to One Hundred Fortieth Indiana RegimentMarch 17, 1865 313Chapter 70: Last Public AddressApril 11, 1865 316
Appendix: Lincoln, Race, and Humor 321Index 329
What People are Saying About This
An essential volume for anyone who knows Lincoln or, more crucially, thinks he knows Lincoln, this eye-opening collectionso carefully selected, judiciously edited, and wisely assembledfully evokes the complexities of the mid-nineteenth century and its most famous American personality. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s piercing introduction is a dazzling piece of original, provocative, and in the end deeply felt scholarship.
Harold Holzer, cochairman of the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
How amazing that after 150 years, we as Americans still look back to Abraham Lincoln, above all, for guidance in our national dilemmas! Not that Lincoln provides us with easy answerssomething that Henry Louis Gates, Jr., shows us in this shrewd and thoughtful selection of Lincoln's writings on our longest-bleeding national dilemmas. Frederick Douglass once spoke of Lincoln's words as 'a sacred effort.' Gates's anthology of Lincoln's words is, likewise, a sacredand a sane and balancedeffort to introduce us to the greatest American's greatest words on our greatest problems.
Allen C. Guelzo, author of "Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America"
In Lincoln on Race and Slavery, the distinguished historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has collected and ably edited all of Lincoln's public and private statements on the greatest issue of nineteenth-century American history, which he introduces with a luminous essay. This is an important book that belongs in the library of every serious student of the American Civil War.
David Herbert Donald, author of "Lincoln"
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Donald Yacovone have produced an invaluable and timely book, indispensable for anyone interested in race relations in the United States. Gates's introductory essay is simply brilliant, the best essay there is on Lincoln's views of race and slavery. Beautifully written and penetrating in its insights, it is a fitting counterpart to Lincoln's own words on these vexed subjects.
John Stauffer, author of "Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln"
"An essential volume for anyone who knows Lincoln or, more crucially, thinks he knows Lincoln, this eye-opening collection—so carefully selected, judiciously edited, and wisely assembled—fully evokes the complexities of the mid-nineteenth century and its most famous American personality. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s piercing introduction is a dazzling piece of original, provocative, and in the end deeply felt scholarship."—Harold Holzer, cochairman of the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission"How amazing that after 150 years, we as Americans still look back to Abraham Lincoln, above all, for guidance in our national dilemmas! Not that Lincoln provides us with easy answers—something that Henry Louis Gates, Jr., shows us in this shrewd and thoughtful selection of Lincoln's writings on our longest-bleeding national dilemmas. Frederick Douglass once spoke of Lincoln's words as 'a sacred effort.' Gates's anthology of Lincoln's words is, likewise, a sacred—and a sane and balanced—effort to introduce us to the greatest American's greatest words on our greatest problems."—Allen C. Guelzo, author of Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America"In Lincoln on Race and Slavery, the distinguished historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has collected and ably edited all of Lincoln's public and private statements on the greatest issue of nineteenth-century American history, which he introduces with a luminous essay. This is an important book that belongs in the library of every serious student of the American Civil War."—David Herbert Donald, author of Lincoln"Of all the great Lincolnian questions, perhaps the most vexed and interesting is his evolving attitudes about race, slavery, and the future of African Americans after abolition. In his new book, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., presents vital evidence for the reader's judgment. Just as important, in his introduction he offers a pained, exact, careful, and persuasive account of how Lincoln's economic faith in free labor underlay his opposition to slavery—but also of how that narrow faith in the free market grew over time to become a moral position of compassion and courage. For all those who wish to believe in the capacity of public men to change their views through the force of moral argument, this book will be one of the most cheering of this Lincoln year."—Adam Gopnik, author of Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life"Lincoln on Race and Slavery is a brilliant collection of historical documents that set a critical context for the American Civil War era. Its introduction is a striking and particularly valuable contribution to the 2009 bicentennial year commemoration of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Donald Yacovone provide some of Lincoln's most powerful words to help us understand this most significant period of the nation's history and to more fully appreciate its legacy for America's present."—James Oliver Horton, coauthor of Slavery and the Making of America"Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Donald Yacovone have produced an invaluable and timely book, indispensable for anyone interested in race relations in the United States. Gates's introductory essay is simply brilliant, the best essay there is on Lincoln's views of race and slavery. Beautifully written and penetrating in its insights, it is a fitting counterpart to Lincoln's own words on these vexed subjects."—John Stauffer, author of Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln"Frederick Douglass once spoke of Lincoln's words as 'a sacred effort.' Gates's anthology of Lincoln's words is, likewise, a sacred—and a sane and balanced—effort to introduce us to the greatest American's greatest words on our greatest problems."—Allen C. Guelzo, author of Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America
Of all the great Lincolnian questions, perhaps the most vexed and interesting is his evolving attitudes about race, slavery, and the future of African Americans after abolition. In his new book, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., presents vital evidence for the reader's judgment. Just as important, in his introduction he offers a pained, exact, careful, and persuasive account of how Lincoln's economic faith in free labor underlay his opposition to slaverybut also of how that narrow faith in the free market grew over time to become a moral position of compassion and courage. For all those who wish to believe in the capacity of public men to change their views through the force of moral argument, this book will be one of the most cheering of this Lincoln year.
Adam Gopnik, author of "Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life"
Lincoln on Race and Slavery is a brilliant collection of historical documents that set a critical context for the American Civil War era. Its introduction is a striking and particularly valuable contribution to the 2009 bicentennial year commemoration of Abraham Lincoln's birth. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Donald Yacovone provide some of Lincoln's most powerful words to help us understand this most significant period of the nation's history and to more fully appreciate its legacy for America's present.
James Oliver Horton, coauthor of "Slavery and the Making of America"