Talk:Barbara J. Fields

On Lincoln and slavery

I was surprised to find that Ms. Fields, in Ken Burn's documentary on the civil war, seemed to suggest the Lincoln was indifferent to slavery. She seemed to be unaware of Abraham Lincolns extensive list of speeches on the evil of slavery for at least twenty year before the war. She also seemed to be unaware that Lincoln tried to distance himself from these speeches in order to win a national election in a country where many would not vote for an "abolishionist". In fact, most historians agree that the south seceeded immediately following his election due to his many documented anti slavery statements. In light of these facts, Ms. Fields suggestion that Lincoln did not understand that the war was ultimately about emancipation is absurd. She also pointed out that emancipation did not actually free slaves but just "put their own lives on the line" - which is of course true, but does she suggest that Lincoln could have forcibly freed them? That power did not exist. She even goes as far as to say that the founding fathers had that power and "neglected" to use it! The founding fathers knew the same thing that lincoln knew- that it would cost hundreds of thousands of lives in a bloody war. Most historians credit Lincoln with proclaiming the slaves free immediatley after the first union victory- a bold move that shocked many who didn't understand Lincoln or his conviction. I was looking forward to Ms. Fields take on the 13th ammendment, but, sadly, the documentary barely mentioned it at all. This is unfortunate, since the 13th ammendment, freeing all slaves in the United States forever, was Lincoln's crowning achievement and one who's purpose cannot be denied. I agree with Ms. Fields on one point though- that, in some ways, we are still fighting the civil war- and we will continue to fight it as long as some so called historians deny the contributions of good men in an effort to keep us divided and at war with each other.

Does she use those words, "indifferent to slavery", in describing Lincoln? If so, then yes, that is surprising. The truth is that Lincoln was opposed to slavery, but ran in 1860 not on an abolition platform; rather, he ran on a campaign to restrict slavery's westward expansion. Mrs. Fields' sentiment, while perhaps not worded in the best way, is understandable when one considers the fact Lincoln received correspondence from Frederick Douglass and Horace Greely who both attempted to persuade Lincoln early in the War to emancipate the slaves. Lincoln's response to Douglass and Greely was that the Civil War was being fought to restore the Union: not to emancipate the slaves. It wasn't until mid-1862 when he realized that restoring the Union by returning the runaway slaves back into slavery was absolutely out of the question if the Union was to be restored. He therefore waited for a Union military victory before issuing his Emancipation Proclamation.GodFearingLib (talk) 16:05, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

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