- 14 Mar, 2021
- 0 Comments
- 1 Min Read
Abraham Lincoln
In 1876, over 10 years after the Civil War ended and President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, in his “Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln”, which is in this folder, Frederick Douglass, the greatest African American abolitionist and the nation’s first prominent civil rights leader, opined: “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 to consult, he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined.” Although he met Lincoln only a few times, Douglass was a well-known speaker, writer, and public intellectual, and he was a shrewd observer of events during the greatest crisis in United States history.
Using only Eric Foner’s The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery and other materials assigned in this class this week, assess the accuracy of Douglass’s observations about President Lincoln, beginning by answering these questions: What probably would have happened if Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on April 15, 1861, days after the Civil War began? What probably would have happened in the border states? Would the Union war effort have benefitted from an early, firm commitment to ending slavery? Why or why not? If Lincoln had issued his Proclamation in 1861, would it have included orders to the War and Navy Departments to actively recruit African American soldiers and sailors? Why is that significant?
Focus on the facts and be specific: Vague, broad generalizations will not suffice.