ebooks Big Enough to Be Inconsistent: Abraham Lincoln Confronts Slavery and Race (The W. E. B. Du Bois Lectures) by George M. Fredrickson in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. as best they can be determinedBy Kent StaffordI was looking for a book that would give me the facts; as best they can be determined; about Lincoln's views and attitudes on slavery and race; without bias either way. This book met that criteria for me. The evidence of Lincoln's views and attitudes is presented to the reader in an objective way; and then you as the reader are allowed to make up your own mind as to whether you would call Lincoln a "racist" as some people do. I think it's a great book and a must read for any Lincoln fan who truly wants to get beyond the Lincoln myth and understand the man in the context of his own time.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Great; if Very Short; AnalysisBy Clifton C. HawkinsThis short book is the published version of Fredrickson's W.E.B. Du Bois lectures; and as such it is a quick and easy read. The first chapter ably discusses the historiograpical debates about Lincoln's values; intentions; and acts; the last two treat Lincoln's racial attitudes; statements; and actions in chronological order. Fredrickson packs lots of information and analysis into a compact space; this is a great introduction to a long debate. After digesting this work; readers should turn to Eric Foner's much more detailed treatment; *The Fiery Trial*; which takes a position similar but not identical to that of Fredrickson.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. About Lincoln's flip-floppingBy Barrie W. Brackenthere is only one thing to say. He was big enough to be inconsistent. He was not going to be caught up in hobgoblins of little minds; apologies to RWE. It seems timely that we should consider this issue in our presidents when we are besieged by frightful scenarios of a president who might change his mind. How wonderful if we could have politicians who; regardless of what common sense; intelligence; and changing circumstances might indicate; hold true to their original engraved in stone views of the revealed truth. Perhaps reading and digesting this little book can put some of our fears to rest.Unless you are a fan of George Fredrickson; an avid student of Lincoln's thoughts; and interested in projecting a true picture of 19th century America--I am guilty of all counts--you may hesitate to purchase this 126 page (text pages only) large print and small page book even for the fair price lists. Be assure; this book is valuable enough to make it worth more than the publisher's price. When we are faced with a barrage of anti-Lincoln literature compensated for by an equal barrage of myth making of our sixteenth president; an open; well researched; thoughtful book that does neither is of real value. Particularly now. The political threat to Lincoln's presidency was not whether he favored free choice on abortion; but something a bit more urgent to living individuals and those to be born--should slavery cease to exist through the mandate of government. Had Lincoln been faced with Roe v Wade he; like any other thinking person; probably would change his mind a few times before settling on a "final" stand."The first public statement of [the disapproval of slavery] came when Lincoln was serving his first term in the Illinois state legislature in 1837: he voted against a resolution condemning the abolitionists and their doctrines and affirming the right under the Constitution to hold slaves where permitted by state law. It is unclear why Lincoln voted against the resolution; for the next twenty-five years he would maintain that the Constitution protected slavery in the states and that abolitionists did more harm than good (pp. 43-44)." The turning point for Lincoln seems to have been the Kansas-Nebraska Act which opened the door for the spread of the peculiar institution. Fredrickson points out that the Lincoln family left Kentucky for Illinois because free farmers could not compete with slaveholders. There is nothing to show Lincoln did not abhor the practice of slavery on moral grounds; but as a politician he fought against it on a practical level. The war experience during his presidency; a period when many men alter or reverse their previous thinking; showed him the value of using the slaves against the Confederacy. That the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation was a tactical move rather than a humanitarian move does not make the president less courageous. He was an extraordinary man of his time. One who had the courage to "flip-flop" on his original views and rethink the meaning of the Constitution on the question of state rights and slavery. And he still pushed for colonization of the freed blacks. Yet again he submitted no to the pressures of his constituents but to political reality of the 1860's.The author concludes his work with a quotation from Frederick Douglass; not one known for mincing words. Douglass's evaluation was "Viewed from genuine abolition ground; Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy; cold; dull; and indifferent; but measuring him by the sentiment of his country; a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to consult; he was swift; zealous; radical and determined."