Abraham Lincoln: The man, the myth

By Alice Thomas-Tisdale

JA Publisher Emerita

“I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.”

– Abraham Lincoln, from the July 10, 1858, Speech at Chicago, Illinois 

As we approach 168 years after Lincoln’s Chicago speech, doubt remains that African Americans are entitled to the same liberties as their white counterparts. Therefore, his lamp of liberty still burns. However, the election of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris as America’s first President and Vice President of color have at least made the flame flicker. 

While the majority of history books credit Abraham Lincoln with dashing the hopes of white supremacy, he, too, doubted his own contention that “men are created free and equal.” Honest Abe was quite convincing when he said, “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. 

“And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.”

This year marks the 217th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president (1861-1865). He came into this world February 12, 1809, in a log cabin nestled in the backwoods of Hardin County, Kentucky. No one witnessing his birth envisioned his greatness, not even his parents, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hank, who would have only two years to nurture her child. She died in 1811. Thomas later married Sarah Bush Johnson, who readily embraced little Abe’s desire to be well educated. His father held that backwoodsmen should not concern themselves with such trivial things as book sense.

The Lincoln family was too poor to afford slaves. They used their own hands to make a living, chopped their own wood for a night fire, and stuffed their own bed ticking with dried forest leaves and husks. However, Lincoln did not let his circumstances impede his progress. He found time for studies in between learning from his father how to be self sufficient. He became proficient in boatbuilding and sailing, carpentry, hog-sticking, sawmilling, blacksmithing and river-pilot. He even tried his luck as a logger.

For a backwoodsman, Lincoln was quite the gentleman with an enormous sense of humor. The problem was, living in the backwoods, there was no one around to enjoy his company. He decided to go where the people were. He traveled by foot to nearby villages. He was a great storyteller, and had to do little prodding to get a group to gather around to hear one of his many jokes. When he talked about wanting to be President, people thought he was joking, but he wasn’t.

The first time he spoke of becoming president was after attending a court trial in Booneville, Indiana, about 15 miles from his home. This was his first time in a courtroom and was amazed at the arguments presented by both parties. He was most taken by the defense attorney. At the conclusion of the trial, Lincoln, although barefooted, walked across the courtroom to shake hands with the lawyer. “That was the best speech I ever heard,” he said.

From that moment on, Lincoln wanted to be a lawyer and make great courtroom speeches. He walked twelve miles, again barefooted, to borrow a copy of the laws of Indiana. Day and night he read and studied. “Some day I shall be President of the United States,” he told his friends. Two of his favorite readings were the life of Henry Clay and George Washington. He was also inspired by Parson Elkin, a Baptist preacher he would walk long distances to hear. Lincoln referred to Elkin as the most wonderful man known to his boyish experience.

Lincoln’s adventurous youth well prepared him for a life of hope and promise.

At the age of 22, he moved to New Salem, Illinois, and was hired by a cargo ship to sail down the Mississippi to New Orleans. It was here he got a close up look at the inhumane treatment of slaves. It was a short journey for him, and when he returned to Illinois, he took a job as a sales clerk. 

In 1832, the governor of Illinois called for 2,000 volunteers to help the army drive back Native Americans fighting to return to their hunting grounds. Illinois residents were in a state of panic. Lincoln answered the call and was given the title of captain. His men didn’t see any action, other than a number of wrestling exhibitions by Lincoln, who was always the favorite to win. When the war was over, Lincoln’s men returned home but he chose to re-enlist as a private in the mounted rangers. 

Of interest is that Lincoln’s grandfather, also named Abraham, was killed by Native Americans in the backwoods of Kentucky around 1784. His uncle saved his father from the same feat by killing their attacker. Yet, it was Lincoln who saved the life of a starved Native American who came into camp seeking food and shelter. He was jumped on by Lincoln’s men and nearly killed before he stepped in. “Boys, you shall not do this thing,” he told them.

Lincoln returned from military duty in 1833. With hopes of becoming a lawyer, he took on work as a surveyor to raise money for his education. If there is such a thing as a self-made man, Lincoln would qualify.

His political career began in 1834 when he was elected on the Whig ticket to serve in the state legislature. He quickly became a party leader, and moved to Springfield, Illinois, the state capital. In 1835, President Andrew Jackson appointed him New Salem postmaster. By 1841, Lincoln’s law practice was booming. He took on three partners: John L. Stuart, S.T. Logan, and W.H. Herndon.

In 1842, he married Mary Todd of Kentucky. Of their four sons, Edward died in infancy; William (“Willie”) at twelve at Washington; Thomas (“Tad”) at Springfield, aged twenty. Robert M. T. became minister to Great Britain, was a presidential candidate and secretary of war to President Garfield. Lincoln’s only grandson, Abraham, died in London, March, 1890.

Lincoln would become the single Whig Illinois member of Congress in 1846. He took the position of antislavery and sought abolition in the District of Columbia. “Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally,” he said. In his frustration he declined reelection.  

In 1856, Lincoln organized the Republican Party and became its chief. Although he was nominated vice-president, he was not chosen by its first convention. He wound up working for the Fremont-Dayton presidential ticket.

Two years later, Lincoln lost a heated battle for the U.S. senate against Stephen A. Douglas, who declared: “I do not care whether slavery is voted into or out of the territories. The question of slavery is one of climate. Wherever it is to the interest of the inhabitants of a territory to have slave property, there a slave law will be enacted.” 

Lincoln’s reply was, “The men who signed the Declaration of Independence said that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…. I beseech you, do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of Independence.”

America finally heard his cry. In 1860, he was nominated for President, shutting out Steward, Chase, Cameron, Dayton, Wade, Bates, and McLean. The Republican victory in that election resulted in seven Southern states declaring their succession from the Union even before Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861. Both outgoing President James Buchanan and Lincoln, along with Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, rejected secession, regarding it as rebellion.

Five weeks later, Confederate forces attacked U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state, leading to declarations of secession by four more Southern slave states. Both sides raised armies as the Union assumed control of the border states early in the war and established a naval blockade.

In 1862, ending slavery became Lincoln’s war goal, which dissuaded the British from intervening. Lincoln was heralded as a liberator. In his annual message to Congress in December 1862, Lincoln said: “In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.” 

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, is regarded as his best speech. Lincoln boldly proclaimed that because of the sacrifices of those who died during the Civil War “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” It cleared the way for him to receive an unanimous nomination as Republican presidential candidate for re-election on June 7, 1864, to which he was re-elected Nov. 8. On March 4, 1865, Lincoln was inaugurated for the second term. Andrew Johnson would replace Hamlin as his vice president.

In his last public address on April 11, 1865, Lincoln expressed his support for Black suffrage. This statement incensed John Wilkes Booth, a member of the audience, who vowed, “That is the last speech he will make.” A white supremacist and Confederate activist, Booth made good on his threat three days later. He shot Lincoln in the back of the head while he was watching “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.