Lincoln, the Preserver

On January 27th, we stopped in Springfield IL to see Lincoln’s home and museum.  I greatly admire this man, and it seemed fitting to start our Civil Rights-themed trip there.  

The Lincoln museum is definitely worth the stop. Half is dedicated to his early years.  Yes, he did grow up in a log cabin. (The entire cabin was approximately the same size as our kitchen today.)  He taught himself to read by the fireplace --- and to the end of his days, he preferred to stretch out his lanky frame in front of a fireplace to read. His mother died when he was young, but he did have a good relationship with his step-mother.  His relationship with his father was strained, due to his very strict rules.  Maybe because of this, neither of his parents were even invited to his wedding! 

At the museum, I was reminded of his perseverance even before his Civil War trials.  He ran for office more than once – and lost.  He opened a general store – and it went bust.  Even his last foray into politics immediately preceding his Presidential campaign he lost.  

He ran for President on a pro-Union ticket - emphasizing that the States must stay together ("a house divided against itself cannot stand"). However, he was unmistakably clear about his sentiments on slavery.   “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery,” he wrote, “I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”   I was shocked to read that at this point in time (between 1820 and 1860), a slave was sold every 3.6 minutes!  By 1860, almost four million men, women and children lived in bondage, representing one of every seven people in America.  

I also had forgotten (if I ever knew) that there was a four-party race for President that year, and Lincoln only won 39% of the popular vote.  Imagine his dismay, when six days after his election and before his inauguration, South Carolina became the first southern state to secede from the Union!  And, his Presidency was difficult.  He was assailed on all sides; his son Willie dies; his wife was not well - yet he persevered.  

Lincoln received much heated and conflicting advice about how to address slavery, but ultimately the decision to write and issue the Emancipation Proclamation was his alone. It became effective January 1, 1863, (155 years ago), but it freed no one, as it only applied to slaves held in the confederate states.  It was only after the War ended that slavery was permanently ended, with the 13th Amendment - ratified December 1865, after Lincoln's death.

This quote at the museum struck me as the most poignant, given today’s times: “Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid.  As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes.’  When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, expect negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.’  
It made me really want to buy the T-shirt in the gift shop that read simply: I miss Abe.

Jim and I also went to visit the Lincoln home.  Loved the simple nameplate on the front door.  Loved thinking that his hands had held onto the stair railings as he climbed the steps.  The home was lovely, having been added onto over the years of his residency there.  Yet, after I left, I found I had taken only two pictures – his study and his outhouse.  (Sorry about this ending, Abe!)

Lincoln study

Lincoln outhouse