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Lincoln and Black Freedom: A Study in Presidential Leadership
Reveals the political savvy and egalitarian convictions behind Lincoln's racial policies
In the midst of America's civil rights movement, historians questioned the widely-held belief that Abraham Lincoln was the "Great Emancipator." They pictured him as a white supremacist moved by political expediency to issue the Emacipation Proclamation. In Lincoln and Black Freedom LaWanda Cox, a leading Reconstruction historian, argues that Lincoln was a consistent friend of African-American freedom but a friend whose oblique leadership style often obscured the strength of his commitment. Cox reveals Lincoln's cautious rhetoric and policies as deliberate strategy to achieve his joint goals of union and emancipation, and she demonstrates that his wartime reconstruction efforts in Louisana moved beyond a limited concept of freedom for the former slaves.
Cox's final chapter explores the "limits of the possible," concluding that had Lincoln lived through his second term, the conflict between his successor and Congress could have been avoided and the postwar Reconstruction might have resulted in a more lasting measure of justice and equality for African Americans. Lincoln emerges from Cox's study as a masterful politician whose sure grasp of the nature of presidential leadership speaks not only to the difficulties of his age but also to the challenges of our own time.
In the midst of America's civil rights movement, historians questioned the widely-held belief that Abraham Lincoln was the "Great Emancipator." They pictured him as a white supremacist moved by political expediency to issue the Emacipation Proclamation. In Lincoln and Black Freedom LaWanda Cox, a leading Reconstruction historian, argues that Lincoln was a consistent friend of African-American freedom but a friend whose oblique leadership style often obscured the strength of his commitment. Cox reveals Lincoln's cautious rhetoric and policies as deliberate strategy to achieve his joint goals of union and emancipation, and she demonstrates that his wartime reconstruction efforts in Louisana moved beyond a limited concept of freedom for the former slaves.
Cox's final chapter explores the "limits of the possible," concluding that had Lincoln lived through his second term, the conflict between his successor and Congress could have been avoided and the postwar Reconstruction might have resulted in a more lasting measure of justice and equality for African Americans. Lincoln emerges from Cox's study as a masterful politician whose sure grasp of the nature of presidential leadership speaks not only to the difficulties of his age but also to the challenges of our own time.
- GenresHistory
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 18, 2018
A thought provoking book centering on President Lincoln's Louisiana policy of re-integration into the US and the factions of the GOP working on behalf of the Blacks. With the assassination of Lincoln, Democrat Andrew Johnson replaced the Lincoln men with his own who then worked to either stop the progress or undo the policies.
April 2, 2014
During the civil rights movement that--ironically--climaxed during the one hundredth anniversary the Civil War (1961-1965) many scholars began to challenge President Lincoln's commitment to freedom. Often these scholars would lack understanding of civil war politics, use anachronisms, and present the emancipation narrative as Lincoln vs. the Radicals as opposed to Lincoln having to deal with the multiple forces, some often stronger than the radicals. In 1981, the year I was born, LaWanda Cox shattered the revisionist view with this work detailing how Lincoln's Reconstruction ideas evolved, and how the cause to equality in the nineteenth century was blown when John Wilkes Booth made Andrew Johnson the president.
I decided to read this book because it is cited so often in other Civil War books that I have read, most notable in Eric Foner's Reconstruction. The consequence to reading a book so often cited was that the first four chapters were just review for me because I have been exposed to this information so often before. The final chapter was more fascinating a direct comparison and contrast with the Lincoln and A. Johnson Administrations.
"Lincoln had recognized the historic challenge. He was prepared to implement, so far as he would find practicable, `the principle that all men are created equal.' The nature of presidential leadership helped shape events, and the leadership of Andrew Johnson and of Lincoln diverged markedly. Johnson lacked Lincoln's political skill, finesse, and flexibility; more importantly, he did not face in the same direction. Lincoln would expand freedom for blacks; Johnson was content to have their freedom contained." (p.150)
In 1861, history met man and moment when Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the President of the United States, in 1865 history missed when Andrew Johnson succeeded him. Johnson's presidency was in every way a disaster undermining progress and sending the country so far back racially that it would take a hundred years to overcome it. (By 'overcome it' I mean Johnson's regressed progress, not racism). Andrew Johnson is an another reason to hate John Wilkes Booth.
I decided to read this book because it is cited so often in other Civil War books that I have read, most notable in Eric Foner's Reconstruction. The consequence to reading a book so often cited was that the first four chapters were just review for me because I have been exposed to this information so often before. The final chapter was more fascinating a direct comparison and contrast with the Lincoln and A. Johnson Administrations.
"Lincoln had recognized the historic challenge. He was prepared to implement, so far as he would find practicable, `the principle that all men are created equal.' The nature of presidential leadership helped shape events, and the leadership of Andrew Johnson and of Lincoln diverged markedly. Johnson lacked Lincoln's political skill, finesse, and flexibility; more importantly, he did not face in the same direction. Lincoln would expand freedom for blacks; Johnson was content to have their freedom contained." (p.150)
In 1861, history met man and moment when Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the President of the United States, in 1865 history missed when Andrew Johnson succeeded him. Johnson's presidency was in every way a disaster undermining progress and sending the country so far back racially that it would take a hundred years to overcome it. (By 'overcome it' I mean Johnson's regressed progress, not racism). Andrew Johnson is an another reason to hate John Wilkes Booth.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews