As the book begins, Author Thomas DiLorenzo opens by talking about Lincoln through the mainstream point of view. He talks about Lincoln as who everybody thinks he is. The great emancipator who freed slaves for the greater good oh human kind. A man who waged one of the bloodiest wars in American history to abolish slavery. However, this tone is soon dropped as Thomas begins talking about the real Lincoln. A man not so worried about humanity, but more about image and politics.
As for chapter 2, the author discusses Lincoln’s political backstory and where he had come from. Originally starting his career in Illinois, it is clear that he also believed what Illinois did. Within the novel, the author writes, ” Lincoln’s view on race were consistent with those of the overwhelming majority of white northerners, who discriminated against free blacks so severely, that several states including Illinois, amended their constitution to prohibit the emigration of black people into those states.”
As for my personal opinion, I am not surprised that an American politician had skeletons like this in his closet. Almost every person in a place of power plays the minds of the people He/She controls. From this, Lincoln seems to be no different. Throughout all of my studies in history, it appears no one is who they seem to be. What seems to me is that Lincoln was used to propel an agenda in America that a lot of presidents before him did not agree with. This agenda is the Henry Clay model. President Jefferson was strictly against this model because of the Tariffs and Taxes that would have been put in place on everybody. Lincoln was a political puppet being used to enslave the nation in taxes and tyranny. He used Slavery to get his foot in the door. While some can argue with that, the book points out an important question. If Lincoln was this great peacemaker who freed the blacks from their home, why didn’t he just do what the rest of the world did with “Compensated emancipation.” I guess than that way he wouldn’t be able to kill 600,000 men who opposed tax tyranny. I believe what the book has said thus far and look forward to reading the rest.
JBSchool 