In the novel Abraham Lincoln by George S. McGovern we start to
read about Abraham Lincoln’s early life before he came to be what we
know as the 16th president of the United States and the
issues and challenges he faced and what he did to face these challenges.
People at the time saw Abraham Lincoln’s actions as unpatriotic. For
example, we learned that Lincoln was a member of the Whigs. The Whigs
didn’t support the war against Mexico because they were afraid that the
united states wasn’t ready for such a huge land expansion therefore
looking at the Whigs as unpatriotic for this. Lincoln also questioned
whether the war was necessary and if America had been the aggressor to
begin with. Either way he funded the troops. Another huge challenge
Lincoln faced was the topic on slavery. Lincoln firmly believed that
slavery in the various states was protected by the constitution, and
that congress had no power to interfere with it there. But he did seek
to end slavery in the District of Columbia, believing that slavery was
an embarrassment to the nation’s capital. The District of Columbia had
the largest slave trading warehouse. After the passing of the Missouri
Compromise which allowed slaves, Lincoln thought that it was a monstrous
injustice because it denied the humanity of the negro.
In class, we discussed a few certain qualities and went over some paintings. In the discussion, we came up with the thought that Abraham Lincoln was a very humble man who most certainly was not an abolitionist. The two paintings that we looked at showed Abraham Lincoln in a state in which we are not used to. When we think about Abraham Lincoln, we automatically picture him in his black suit and top hat but in these paintings, Lincoln is outside in overalls chopping wood and breaking a sweat. This gave insight to the fact that Abraham Lincoln has many sides to him. We also discussed the things that never come to mind when we think about Abraham Lincoln. For example, I never thought about people at the time thinking seeing him as unpatriotic. The man was the president after all! I feel like I have learned so much about Abraham Lincoln in the past few hours than I ever did in all my history classes growing up. It’s an interesting topic that touches morality and human rights and I cant wait to continue reading.
In class, we discussed a few certain qualities and went over some paintings. In the discussion, we came up with the thought that Abraham Lincoln was a very humble man who most certainly was not an abolitionist. The two paintings that we looked at showed Abraham Lincoln in a state in which we are not used to. When we think about Abraham Lincoln, we automatically picture him in his black suit and top hat but in these paintings, Lincoln is outside in overalls chopping wood and breaking a sweat. This gave insight to the fact that Abraham Lincoln has many sides to him. We also discussed the things that never come to mind when we think about Abraham Lincoln. For example, I never thought about people at the time thinking seeing him as unpatriotic. The man was the president after all! I feel like I have learned so much about Abraham Lincoln in the past few hours than I ever did in all my history classes growing up. It’s an interesting topic that touches morality and human rights and I cant wait to continue reading.