I have not yet seen this film, this is a fact. Therefore this blog is not based on the film "Lincoln" rather it is based on mainstream history teachings on the civil war for I wish to shed light on what the entire war was truly about and what made Lincoln the president many believe him to be today.
I will start by stating the truth: Abraham Lincoln was a racist and a bigot. Moreover this was a fact he never tried to hide and was all too proud to announce. It is only history that has sought to cover up this fact.
The following quote from Abraham Lincoln’s 1st inaugural address clearly states that prior to the war Lincoln had no intention of banning slavery so it was not the cause of the Civil War:
“I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” Yes this is a direct quote from Abraham Lincoln, a quote he made in his very first Inaugural address, clearly stating his position on slavery. Yet the great man did not stop there, quite the contrary:“I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races. I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people. And I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will ever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. … And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.” – Abraham Lincoln in his fourth debate with Stephen Douglas in the campaign for the United States Senate on September 18th of 1858.
Yes. The great statesman very clearly stated his bigotry more clearly than historical geniuses could weave the false story of a man who would willingly throw an entire nation at war with each other, pitting father against son and brother against brother; shedding family blood with one solitary noble purpose: to free the shackled black man and purge a nation from the scourge of slavery. Rather the coherent and documented words, in specific detail, show the convictions of a politician convinced of the moral authority of the institution of slavery and fly in the face of our nation's carefully altered tale of nobility and it is high time the truth came to surface. To pretend the civil war was about freeing the slaves is as false as the pretense that western powers created the state of Israel out of moral obligation. No. The civil war was what every war the U.S. has ever been a part of. Money and power.
Understand that the North and the South were very different economically at this time. The North, supported by millions of citizens and densely populated metropolises benefited from an industrial economy, manufacturing technology based goods and the products that support them.
The south on the other hand was supported by a plantation structure which allowed them to grow and harvest slaves much like they did their agriculture and proliferate this culture of slavery to support and grow its agricultural based economy. Because of the free labor the south employed and the nature of trade not only between the north and the south but also between the states and Europe, it was inevitable that the North and the South would find conflict. The only way the North could compete with the South's slave produced goods was to impose tariffs on imported goods; a policy which the south rejected. This form of currency manipulation not only strengthened the South's economy, it also began to drive the North out of once held markets in Europe. This began to weaken the North's currency and threaten their economy, to the point that the only alternative to reconcile this beleaguered relationship was conflict. The South realized their growing power and with the support of Britain made plans to form their own nation. This could not be more clearly illuminated than in the Trent Affair in 1861. Slavery, you see, had absolutely nothing to do with it. The only way to keep the South from successful succession, after failed diplomacy, was war. The only reason the emancipation proclamation was announced was to prohibit elements of the south from gaining the upper hand in the future. Remember, the west was not yet won.
So how was the truth about this pivotal time in our history obscured? I point to America's obsession with the notion of moral superiority. The fact of the matter is that we are morally superior to no one. This nation is just as capable and demonstrative of evil as the communist states of the 70's and the Imperial powers of Europe in the 18th century. There is nothing about this United States of America which gives us any ethical benevolence in comparison with the world around us. In truth, any "good" that America has proliferated has come about mainly from our leaders' knowledge of the evil we garnered and spread throughout generations. Abraham Lincoln was no exception. There was nothing that President Lincoln stood for or believed in that pitted him morally, ethically or otherwise against the evil of slavery or its institution. It was and still is a mere political opportunity to view his presidency as an opportunity for the halls off this nation's power to gain some sense of responsibility and accolade for its abandonment. And in truth, slavery was outlawed as a result of the civil war. But understand that it was outlawed because of economical and political gain. Not out of any sense of moral obligation.
You must understand the reason this entire discussion holds merit. Aside from the propaganda, lies, and absolute need for truth. Our current economic position as a nation has everything to do with the same reasons we went to war in 1865. It is because of our negligence as a nation in supporting the truth about the Civil War that we now find ourselves compromised as a nation once again, in much the same way the north was compromised. Free trade with a nation or power that produces its goods with slave or cheap labor spells disaster for our domestic markets unless we counter this economic imbalance with tariffs. We owe our current economic crisis to our obscurement of our own history. For it is impossible to learn the lessons of history if the truth of our history is covered up, omitted and egotistically inflated. For now China serves as our Southern parallel of 1865 and the Federal Reserve appears as our antebellum loan shark. In light of it all, the movie "Lincoln" could not have come about at a more opportune time. Yet it is only necessary in theaters if we are bold enough to look past historical lies and see the truth behind the screenplay and cinematography. The lessons of the Civil War therefore have nothing to do with slavery. Any fool can tell you that slavery is not good for a nation, least of all one that heralds itself on the equality of all men. Do not allow history to be told to you Learn it instead. Study it and decipher it. Understand the truth about our Civil War and the president who presided over it.
Those who do so will find that the lies are only believed because it gives the proponents of the decadence of slavery some sense of moral fabric to weave their scarlet robe of a more perfect Union.
