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Lincoln had his faults

To the editor:

Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan were singled out as very bad presidents in Kremena Spengler’s column in the Oct. 18th Journal. Perhaps they were. But certain things about the next president should be kept in mind.

He arrested leading citizens in great numbers, including legislators, pastors, and policemen; imprisoned without trial thousands of his opponents; shut down or destroyed dozens of newspapers; suppressed free elections; put Maryland under complete military occupation for a time; ignored efforts from the judicial branch to put a stop to his violations of people’s liberties; and encouraged generals to violate international law.

Oh yes, and he bore a great measure of responsibility for bringing on a war that resulted in a million and a half people dead, wounded, or missing.

But the goal of ending slavery was worth it all, wasn’t it? In his first inaugural, Lincoln said: “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists.” He even said that he would support a constitutional amendment that would prevent the federal government from ever interfering with slavery in the states where it existed. To Horace Greeley he wrote that if he could end the war without freeing any slaves, he would do it. Slaveholder and Union general Ulysses S. Grant said: “If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my commission and offer my sword to the other side.”

The chapter on slavery in Clint Johnson’s book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South, begins: ‘“Slavery is the world’s oldest, most despicable institution.” But it also presents such information as this (p. 123): “Northern slaveholders were much crueler to their slaves than Southerners were.” “New York City was the capital of the slave trade – even after it had been outlawed.”

That brings us to the question: How did so many come to view secession, a perfectly peaceable action, as the One Unthinkable Thing? Because of the action of the 13 colonies in 1776? Because Virginia, when ratifying the Constitution, stipulated that it retained the right to withdraw from the Union? Because some Northern leaders spoke openly of secession during the administration of Jefferson?

Jeffrey Hummel’s book on the war to prevent Southern independence is entitled:

Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men. And John Avery Emison’s book, Lincoln Ueber Alles, has the subtitle: “How Dictatorship Came to America.”

R.E. Wehrwein

New Ulm

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