The Land of Lincoln

When going through history classes in school, we are constantly bombarded with the heroes of wars past. Wars almost always involve heroes on the ground, this is acceptable and deserved. History books tell us about the Presidents and Kings who lead their nations through the war. This is seldom justified, and wars will continue into the foreseeable future.

Growing up, I believed that the Civil War was a war of necessity, of a President that wanted nothing more than to free the slaves. There are great quotes from the president that make this case: "I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any abolitionist." His hatred of slavery is well known. The schools are the nation's propaganda machine, continuously telling us that this was the whole story. The schools tell us that Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents because slavery ended on his watch.

There are several quotes to the contrary however. Not of his hatred of slavery, but the true intentions of his war.

He was an anti-federalist, he viewed the Union first and the individual states second. The threat of war did not begin, until secession from the Union began. "I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the National Authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be 'The Union as it was.'" The nation divided, states exercised their Constitutional right to secession from the Union, and war began.

Lincoln gave a speech that is today famous: The House Divided. Basically, the fact that a house divided cannot stand. People tend to think this speech was naturally division into slave and anti-slave. What if this were not so? What if this speech was Federalist states and Union States, those who were Constitutionalists and those who wanted a centralized federal government?

The war was a tragedy. Over 1,000,000 soldiers lost their lives in the war. There was a great expense financially to fund such a war. The Union carried almost 70% of the soldiers who fought in the war, the South 30%. The Confederate flag, today all over the country, is viewed as a racist symbol against blacks. In the south, where it still flies, it represents individual statehood and independence to them.

What would be the ramifications of a modern President ruled over a domestic war where 3% of the total population lost their lives? Would this president be viewed as a great president when the history books are written? If a political difference lead to 9,000,000 people dying (the same percentage in today's figures) fighting amongst themselves, would we respect the leader who saw this happen?

The power of the education machine is quote astonishing. My perception of the Civil War and President Lincoln was always positive and that he fought for Human Rights. Why did the Union not simply spend the money that went to the war in purchasing the slaves, and making a Constitutional amendment outlawing the ownership and trading of slaves? If the war was for human rights, then why did it take so long to get equal rights and suffrage for blacks after the war had ended?

War is a power grab. Seldom can a ruler in war be viewed afterward favorably unless they have the power of the history book. Communist China, African Nations, Hitler's Germany, Stalin, and several others are viewed horribly in the world while the killing of their nation's people happened. Lincoln is a hero. Where does this hyprocisy come from?

Lincoln believed that the bond of the Union came first and the states that compose the Union came second. The Constitution created a very limited government with limited powers, the amendments were nothing more than human rights that would be protected and secured by the Federal Government, and it contained a final amendment that reserved all other rights to the states or the people.

The Civil War was a Federal War against States' Rights to Secession. Rights given to them by the founders. It was a huge power grab, one that is misrepresented enormously in the history books. It is really incredible, there are hundreds of quotes by the founders of our nation that identify peace, a small central government, and the rights of people and states. Lincoln exuded none of those characteristics, yet the history books tell us of his greatness.

He is in the Top 5 most dictatorial Presidents in the history of our nation, he presided over the greatest number of deaths in the history of the nation, and he cost the nation nearly as much in inflation adjusted dollars in battle of any president in history (as the only one fighting his own people).

The history books and the propaganda machine tell us one thing, but truth tells us something different. He was the first of a line of Presidents who would seek to centralize power. Lincoln started a trend, a very bad trend that centralized power which was a cornerstone in our need for secession from England.

Had Lincoln wisely bought the slaves prior to making them illegal, passed an amendment, and maintained liberty and sovereignty, he would be a hero. History books would ignore him, because war is sexy. Unfortunately they, like tabloids today, glamorize that which is sexy and ignore that which is noble and just.

Lincoln fits into the former, which is why he is less forgetable than the rest of the 19th century presidents in our history books. Who remembers anything from history class between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War anyways? The Constitutional Presidents are forgetable, war presidents will live on forever.