"We Cannot Escape History": Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of EarthJames M. McPherson In "We Cannot Escape History" a remarkable group of top Lincoln and Civil War scholars come together to explore the meaning of Lincoln for the destiny of the United States. They focus on Lincoln's view of American history and on his legacy - for Americans and for the world. In the process they deepen the reader's understanding of and appreciation for the complexity of the problems Lincoln faced and for the genius of his leadership, which surmounted these obstacles and preserved the United States as one nation indivisible while purging it of slavery, which had marred the democratic and egalitarian promise of America from the beginning. The contributors develop themes including Lincoln's conception of the United States as the last best hope for the preservation of democratic government and a republican polity, his view of American history and its meaning, his international impact, Lincoln and slavery, Lincoln and the uses of political power, and Lincoln as commander-in-chief in time of war. |
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Page 3
... principles of liberty and self government at stake , for should we fail , the onward march of Liberty in the Old World will be retarded at least a century , and Mon- archs , Kings , and Aristocrats will be more powerful against their ...
... principles of liberty and self government at stake , for should we fail , the onward march of Liberty in the Old World will be retarded at least a century , and Mon- archs , Kings , and Aristocrats will be more powerful against their ...
Page 6
... principle in the Southern states . " 11 While these emperors were fishing in troubled New World waters , the most autocratic of them all , Czar Nicholas of Russia , proved to be the Union's most steadfast friend . This friendship did ...
... principle in the Southern states . " 11 While these emperors were fishing in troubled New World waters , the most autocratic of them all , Czar Nicholas of Russia , proved to be the Union's most steadfast friend . This friendship did ...
Page 9
... principle asserted is not that a human being cannot own another , but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States . " Even the most radical British labor newspaper lamented that " Lincoln offers freedom to the negroes ...
... principle asserted is not that a human being cannot own another , but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States . " Even the most radical British labor newspaper lamented that " Lincoln offers freedom to the negroes ...
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Contents
Lincoins History | 17 |
Lincolns Narrative of American Exceptionalism | 33 |
Emancipating the Republic Lincoln and the Means and Ends of Antislavery | 45 |
LINCOLNS LEADERSHIP | 61 |
Abraham Lincoln and Presidential Leadership | 63 |
The Civil War and the TwoParty System | 86 |
Avoid Saying Foolish Things The Legacy of Lincolns Impromptu Oratory | 105 |
LINCOLNS LEGACY | 125 |
What Is an American? Abraham Lincoln and Multiculturalism | 127 |
Abraham Lincoln Our EverPresent Contemporary | 139 |
The International Lincoln | 158 |
Contributors | 175 |
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Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Papers African Americans American Civil American Civil War American exceptionalism Boston Globe British cabinet coln Confederacy Confederate conflict Congress Constitution created equal crisis criticism culture Declaration of Independence delivered democracy Democrats Douglas Dred Scott effort election Emancipation Proclamation ethnic federal Francis Lieber George Gettysburg Address historians hope of earth House Divided Ibid idea ideals Illinois impromptu institutions issue James Jefferson Jefferson Davis June Kansas-Nebraska Act last best hope leaders leadership legislature liberals liberty Lincoln-Douglas Debates ment military Missouri multiculturalism narrative nation never North northern opinion Oxford University Press party political politicians popular president presidential principles quoted regiments Republic Republican resolutions role Seward slave slavery society southern speech Springfield Stampp Stephen Douglas Taney territories tion two-party system Union United victory Virginia Williams Collection vols voting Washington White House words wrote York
Popular passages
Page 2 - Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.