did anyone catch the history channel special on lincoln last night? i thought it was pretty revealing. i havent studied him closely, but i thought it was a pretty even handed portrayal of a guy who was under an extreme amount of stress. did anyone watch it? any thoughts?

Watched some of it. Didn't care that much.
Don't like Lincoln all that much. Sure, he started the impetus that later led to Civil Rights, but the bad things he did overshadow those, I think...you know, war crimes and all that.

I never much cared for Lincoln, either. I didn't watch the special, although I'd meant to. I always had the impression that he didn't free the slaves out of a sense of freedom and humanity so much as it was to destroy the already flagging economy of the South. Am I wrong?

Well, he did think that slavery was a bad thing, but he really just wanted to stop it spreading, not stop it entirely. He said that "if I could save the union without freeing a single slave, I would do it."
His primary task was reuniting the two nations.

In Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of Sept. 1862 he said: "I have urged the colonization of the Negroes, (back to Africa), and I shall continue. My Emancipation Proclamation was linked with this plan (of colonization). There is no room for two distinct races of White men in America, much less for two distinct races of Whites and Blacks. . . . I can think of no greater calamity than the assimilation of the negro into our social and political life as our equal . . . Within twenty years we can peacefully colonize the Negro . . . under conditions in which he can rise to the full measure of manhood. This he can never do here. We can never attain the ideal union our fathers dreamed, with millions of an alien, inferior race among us, whose assimilation is neither possible nor desirable."

Lincoln actually proposed an amendment to the constitution that would've authorized congress to recolonize all freed Blacks back to Africa. On Aug. 15, l862, Congress did appropriate over half a million dollars for that purpose. Thousands of Negroes had been shipped back when Lincoln was shot.

Put up or shut up, J.B. You should know the drill by now, dumbass.

http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1997/ihy970228.html

Why is that relevant, J.B?

The yanks voted in Lincoln with the idea of him createing a pure white society.

Keep slavery out of the west, then you keep the dirty negro out of the west, that was their thinking.

Another part of their plan was to deport every black, to either Panama, Haiti, or Liberia, that they could find, just in case they ever tried to sneak into their pure white society.

How much have you studied about the history of the American west? There was too much land out here for folks to worry too much about it. Those that came out here were focused on one color, gold. I'd elaborate, but I've got to get back to work right now.

In Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of Sept. 1862 he said: "I have urged the colonization of the Negroes, (back to Africa), and I shall continue. My Emancipation Proclamation was linked with this plan (of colonization). There is no room for two distinct races of White men in America, much less for two distinct races of Whites and Blacks. . . . I can think of no greater calamity than the assimilation of the negro into our social and political life as our equal . . . Within twenty years we can peacefully colonize the Negro . . . under conditions in which he can rise to the full measure of manhood. This he can never do here. We can never attain the ideal union our fathers dreamed, with millions of an alien, inferior race among us, whose assimilation is neither possible nor desirable."

Lincoln actually proposed an amendment to the constitution that would've authorized congress to recolonize all freed Blacks back to Africa. On Aug. 15, l862, Congress did appropriate over half a million dollars for that purpose. Thousands of Negroes had been shipped back when Lincoln was shot.

thats how we got liberia. you know, that country in africa thats had like a 200 year long civil war. and its funny, because the freed slaves from america went to liberia and then enslaved some of their own people. Lincolns view seems to have changed on slavery toward the end of the war however, because many historians believe that his assassination was mainly due to the fact that he was pressing for equal voting rights for blacks at the time of his death.

Off the slavery topic, but didn't he also have Marfan syndrome?

How much have you studied about the history of the American west? There was too much land out here for folks to worry too much about it. Those that came out here were focused on one color, gold. I'd elaborate, but I've got to get back to work right now.

That sure explains the Missouri compramise and the problems that faced the annexation of Texas...

thats how we got liberia. you know, that country in africa thats had like a 200 year long civil war. and its funny, because the freed slaves from america went to liberia and then enslaved some of their own people. Lincolns view seems to have changed on slavery toward the end of the war however, because many historians believe that his assassination was mainly due to the fact that he was pressing for equal voting rights for blacks at the time of his death.

Lincoln made it quite clear time and time again that the blacks were inferior to him thus should never be allowed to vote.

What I wonder is if the wealthy land owning blacks in the south were ever allowed to vote...

I'm sure that one reconstruction came and the mass victimization of the blacks came, that it would have happened, but before all of that crap.

Get your head out of the hate, sprout. Study how the states and territories came to be. There was a delicate balance between slave states and free states, but as agriculture was king, the slave states had a bit more muscle than they did after the industrial revolution took hold. When the machines took over the old jobs of the slaves, many made their way out west and made something of themselves. Sure, they faced discrimination (and sometimes worse), mostly by displaced and disillusioned former rebels who vented their frustrations on the former slaves, but a lot of them found strength and pride in the freedom they were handed and they didn't waste it. They carved out decent, upstanding lives for themselves and their families. I was fortunate enough to grow up with the descendants of some of these people as family friends, and the stories we heard from two in particular whom we only knew as Mr. Jones and LC (we were just little kids at the time) would have made a great documentary. In fact, Mr. Jones still owned the 200+ acres in Texas that his family had owned since after the Civil War.

Off the slavery topic, but didn't he also have Marfan syndrome?
I did a science project on Marfan yesterday, and yeah, he did. So did Caesar and Akhenaten.
Seems like a common trait in dictators, eh? :D

Why is that relevant, J.B?I posted the truth after Hapsburg made up this statement all on his own:

"Well, he did think that slavery was a bad thing, but he really just wanted to stop it spreading, not stop it entirely".

No use hating black people, JB.

I posted the truth after Hapsburg made up this statement all on his own:

"Well, he did think that slavery was a bad thing, but he really just wanted to stop it spreading, not stop it entirely".
Yes, he did think it was wrong, and I admire his later conviction to end it. However, I do not respect his earlier convictions of merely "slowing" slavery, for that was not far enough for true progress in this country.