Historical Analysis: Lincoln’s Real Dilemma

Lincoln’s Real Dilemma

By: John M. Taylor

Nikki Haley’s recent commentary about the “Civil War” has been heavily criticized. When “Neocon Nikki” was asked about the cause of the war, she did not use the “government-approved” reason that it was slavery. Instead, she referenced what Abraham Lincoln said about the conflict. Indeed, Thomas DiLorenzo noted that Haley expressed “the views of Abraham Lincoln and the 1861 House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.” Referencing the July 22, 1861 War Aims Resolution (Crittenden-Johnson Resolution), the North’s reason for invading the South was to maintain the geographical structure of these united States “and NOT to interfere with the ‘established institution of those states.’” Lincoln wrote repeatedly that anything he did about slavery was directly connected to “keeping the union together.” (Lincoln stated the reason for invasion was to “collect duties and imposts.”) Jefferson Davis said the South was fighting for independence.

Apple TVs “Lincoln’s Dilemma” aired in February 2022. Due to the controlled narrative in the modern world, it is unlikely that many readers are exposed to what this piece perceives to be Lincoln’s real dilemma.

Anyone who has studied primary source documents should understand the propaganda that has been (still is) used against the South for over 150 years. Much of the agitprop coincided with the creation of the mythical Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, witnessed it at the outset: “The ceremony of Mr. Lincoln’s apotheosis was planned and executed by men who were unfriendly to him while he lived…” One planner, Union Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, often called Lincoln “the original gorilla.” After Lincoln’s death, Stanton gloriously proclaimed, “Now he belongs to the ages.” Naturally Stanton, Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and other Radical Republicans offered glowing praise—Lincoln spearheaded the invasion of sovereign States and denied their right of self-government—these men were part of it.

The Lincoln’s Dilemma promo references the metamorphosis of Lincoln from being mildly anti-slavery to being a staunch advocate for its abolition. This phenomenon is supposedly from a man who supported the Original 13th Amendment (the Corwin Amendment), which would have perpetually removed the institution from federal interference. Doris Kearns Goodwin believes Lincoln wrote the Corwin Amendment. Lincoln also initially sanctioned the Fugitive Slave Act, including the most draconian element concerning runaways.

The approved narrative states the Republican Party was adamantly against slavery and/or its spread. While many members were anti-slavery, one key fact is consistently omitted--their goal was to keep Blacks confined to the Southern and Border States. Lincoln agreed with this position. Union Secretary of State William Seward explained--the Republican Party’s opposition to “the extension of slavery had always really been concern for the welfare of the white man, and not an unnatural sympathy for the Negro.” New York Tribune Editor Horace Greeley concurred, stating the “unoccupied territory…shall be preserved for the benefit of the White Caucasian race—a thing which cannot be except by the exclusion of slavery.” Greeley and Lincoln corresponded affirmatively on this topic.

On September 18, 1858, Lincoln proclaimed: “I will say, then, that 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…” On August 14, 1862, Lincoln said, “Your race suffers very greatly, many of them, by living among us, while ours suffers from your presence…But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race.” Relative to the slave controversy, in an August 22, 1862, letter to Greeley, Lincoln stated: “What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union…” The Emancipation Proclamation supposedly freed slaves out of Lincoln’s control and kept enslaved those within his control. England’s Lord Palmerston scoffed at this hypocrisy. Lincoln called the proclamation what it was: a “war measure.” New England historian Edward Channing said: “Of course, it did not abolish slavery as an institution anywhere.” Another angle identified by Alabama Gazette columnist John Sophocleus is Lincoln’s timing of the proclamation (January 1, 1863) based on the anticipation of a broken blockade (January 31, 1863). The “war against slavery ruse” thus created an impediment of perception to deter British and French intervention.

Most Southerners were not anxious to go to war. Confederate General Richard Taylor (son of President Zachary Taylor) was alarmed at naïve Southerners who thought the North would allow the South to govern itself. Educated at Harvard and Yale, Taylor knew the mercenary nature of the power brokers in the North. Three meetings between Lincoln and Southern representatives (who tried to talk Lincoln out war) in April 1861 failed to produce a peaceful resolution as Lincoln told them all the low duty tariffs through Southern ports would put the North out of business and “he might as well shut up housekeeping at once.”

In Colonization after Emancipation, Phillip Magness and Sebastian Page uncovered documentation in British Archives that Lincoln was still attempting to deport Blacks from these United States virtually up to the day he died. I did not watch Lincoln’s Dilemma but I am reasonably sure nothing mentioned here made it to the final cut.

References: John M. Taylor [Foreword by John P. Sophocleus], Union At All Costs: From Confederation to Consolidation; John S. Tilley, Facts the Historians Leave Out; John S. Tilley, The Coming of the Glory; James R. & Walter D. Kennedy, The South was Right; Phillip W. Magness & Sebastian N. Page, Colonization after Emancipation; Matthew Pinsker, “Letter to Horace Greeley (August 22, 1862),” at: https://housedivided.dickinson.edu/sites/lincoln/letter-to-horace-greeley-august-22-1862/,” “Lincoln’s Letter to Horace Greeley,” at: http://classicallibrary.org/lincoln/greeley.htm; Thomas J. DiLorenzo, “The Economics of Slavery,” at:  https://www.lewrockwell.com/2002/09/thomas-dilorenzo/the-economics-of-slavery/ and “Nikki Haley Was Just Expressing the Views of Abraham Lincoln and the 1861 House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate,” at https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/nikki-haley-was-just-expressing-the-views-of-abraham-lincoln-and-the-1861-house-of-representatives-and-the-u-s-senate/