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Some Legal Myths About Lincoln
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Fabrikant, Robert |
| Copyright Year | 2008 |
| Abstract | The Emancipation Proclamation continues to tantalize. Issued almost 150 years ago, it has never lost its hold on the imagination of Americans. It occupies the same lofty pedestal as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We are taught that the Proclamation signified the end of slavery in the United States. But for all of its centrality to the American dream, Abraham Lincoln's decision to issue it, and the very meaning of the document itself, remain controversial. The controversy has an ugly side because of concerns relating to Lincoln's views on race. Brian Dirck's recent volume contains a collection of essays by distinguished historians that largely focus on whether Lincoln was a racist and how his attitudes about race affect whether he rightfully should be called the Great Emancipator. Because racism is the touchstone, many essayists expend considerable effort defining the term and marshaling facts for and against the conclusion that Lincoln was a racist. Several of the essayists, including Dirck, take a different tack. Rather than confronting directly the palpable evidence of Lincoln's views on race, they seek to disprove that Lincoln was a racist by arguing that his conduct surrounding issuance of the Proclamation shows that he sought to maximize the prospects for emancipation. These essayists rely heavily on legal and law-related arguments. Thus, for example, Dirck focuses on a perceived concern by Lincoln that a Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney would strike down an emancipation proclamation. Accordingly, so goes the argument, Lincoln delayed for almost two years issuing the Proclamation not because he was a racist, but because he needed time to stack the Court with friendly justices. Similarly, to reduce the likelihood of a Supreme Court review of the Proclamation, Dirck argues |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 29 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/some-legal-myths-about-lincoln.pdf?c=jala&format=pdf&idno=2629860.0029.105 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
