The Real Lincoln

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Recommended: The reconstruction after the American civil war

Abraham Lincoln’s presidential career was full of questionable actions. Thomas DiLorenzo author of, The Real Lincoln discusses Lincoln’s actions regarding racism, his refusal to emancipate the slaves, his continual tendency to act independently of Congress, and his radical reconstruction after the Civil War. DiLorenzo attacks each of these topics in his book and proves that Lincoln had his own agenda, and was not the picture perfect president everybody thought that he was.

The overall theme of chapter two is the opposition that Abraham Lincoln and most Northerners had about racial equality. This theme is made clear very early on in the chapter. Lincoln himself states: “the best use of the new territories is housing for free white people” (DiLorenzo 10). Even though Lincoln makes no references to blacks in his statement, DiLorenzo seems to put emphasis on how it is being inferred that Lincoln thinks that they are inferior. However, Lincoln’s true views on racial equality are revealed during a debate with Senator Stephen Douglas in 1858. Lincoln states:

I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality; and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position…(11)

Once again, DiLorenzo makes it clear that Lincoln views blacks as inferior and that he is contradicting the words of the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal…”

In this chapter, there are numerous quotes about Lincoln’s views ...

... middle of paper ...

... all. All of these issues are linked with the “Whig philosophy of an American System” (236), which was ultimately Lincoln’s goal.

In conclusion, I believe that DiLorenzo made very good points, which were always backed up with a prolific amount of researched evidence. His evidence all seems to be from primary sources from the time periods that all of these events took place. I really like how DiLorenzo even discovered some specific occasions where Lincoln managed to admit to his own personal political agenda. Thomas DiLorenzo makes it clear that Abraham Lincoln does not really deserve the heroic image that he has always been associated with. Lincoln was a believer of White Supremacy and DiLorenzo makes that very clear and proved he is not to be associated with a man who upheld freedom and the constitution.

Works Cited
Thomas DiLorenzo. The Real Lincoln. Print

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