Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was President of the United States during the Civil War (1861-1865). He is best known for saving the Union and abolishing slavery, and is an icon of American values.

Civil War: 1864-5

McPherson (2004) examines why it is "harder to end a war than to start one." As in the case of World War II, the Civil War did not end with a negotiated peace but with unconditional surrender by the losing armies. The issues over which the Civil War was fought - union versus disunion, freedom versus slavery - proved to be nonnegotiable. Nevertheless, during the war there were numerous efforts to achieve peace through negotiations. These efforts proceeded through three stages: foreign mediation, unofficial contacts, and quasi-official conversations. All failed. The author analyzes the aborted effort by Britain and France to mediate the conflict and end the war on the basis of Confederate independence in 1862, the unofficial contacts between Northern civilians and Confederate officials in 1864, and the Hampton Roads conference of February 1865, in which Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward met with three Confederate officials, including Vice President Alexander Stephens. All of these efforts foundered on the irreconcilable positions of Lincoln and Confederate president Jefferson Davis. As Lincoln stated in his message to Congress in December 1864, the central issue of union or disunion "can only be tried by war, and decided by victory." The failed quest to negotiate an end to the Civil War compels consideration of the unforeseen consequences of going to war.

Bibliography

Biographies

• Beveridge, Albert J. Abraham Lincoln: 1809-1858 (1928). 2 vol. to 1858; notable for strong, unbiased political coverage online edition
• Richard Carwardine. Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power (2003), prize winning
• Doland, David Herbert. Lincoln (1999) The most useful scholarly biography.
• William E. Gienapp. Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography (2002), short bio by scholar, online edition
• Allen C. Guelzo. Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President (1999) online edition
• John Hay & John George Nicolay. Abraham Lincoln: a History (1890); online at Volume 1 and Volume 2 10 volumes in all; highly detailed narrative of era written by Lincoln's top aides
• Reinhard H Luthin. The Real Abraham Lincoln (1960), emphasis on politics
• Mark E. Neely. The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia (1984), detailed articles on many men and movements associated with AL
• Mark E. Neely. The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America (1993), Pulitzer prize winning author
• Stephen B. Oates. With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln (1994)
• James G. Randall. Lincoln the President (4 vol., 1945–55; reprint 2000.) by prize winning scholar
  • Mr. Lincoln excerpts ed. by Richard N. Current (1957) online edition
• Carl Sandburg Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years (2 vol 1926); The War Years (4 vol 1939). Pulitzer Prize winning biography by famous poet vol1 online vol 2 online
• Benjamin P. Thomas; Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (1952) online edition
• Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, Abraham Lincoln (1939), for children

Prewar

• Angle, Paul M., Here I Have Lived: A History of Lincoln's Springfield, 1821-1865, (1935) online edition
• Baker, Jean H. Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography (1987) online edition
• Boritt, Gabor S. Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream (1994). Lincoln's economic theory and policies
• Don E. Fehrenbacher. "The Origins and Purpose of Lincoln's "House-Divided" Speech," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 46, No. 4. (Mar., 1960), pp. 615-643. in JSTOR
• Foner, Eric. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War (1970) intellectual history of different prewar faction's in AL's party
• Holzer, Harold. Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President (2004).
• Jaffa, Harry V.,A New birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War (2000) ISBN 0-8476-9952-8.
• Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union 8-volume (1947-1971). 1. Fruits of Manifest Destiny, 1847-1852; 2. A House Dividing, 1852-1857; 3. Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos, 1857-1859. most thorough coverage of the era, with Lincoln at center
• Schneider, Thomas E. Lincoln's Defense of Politics: The Public Man and His Opponents in the Crisis over Slavery. U. of Missouri Pr., 2006. 224 pp.
• Shenk, Joshua Wolf. Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness (2005).

Lincoln Administration

• Ford, Lacy K., ed. A Companion to the Civil War and Reconstruction. Blackwell, 2005. 518 pp.
• Hendrick, Burton J. Lincoln's War Cabinet (1946) online edition
• Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln ISBN 0-684-82490-6 (2005)
• McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (1988). Pulitzer Prize winner surveys all aspects of the war online edition
• Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union 8-volume (1947-1971). vol 5. The Improvised War, 1861-1862; 6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862-1863; 7. The Organized War, 1863-1864; 8. The Organized War to Victory, 1864-1865; most thorough coverage of the era, with Lincoln at center
• Paludan, Philip S. The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1994), thorough treatment of Lincoln's administration
• Richardson, Heather Cox. The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War (1997)
• Williams, Kenneth P. Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War (1959) 5 volumes on Lincoln's control of the war

Lincolnia

• Belz, Herman. Abraham Lincoln, Constitutionalism, and Equal Rights in the Civil War Era (1998)
• Boritt, Gabor S. ed. Lincoln the War President (1994)
• Briggs, John Channing. Lincoln's Speeches Reconsidered. Johns Hopkins U. Pr., 2005. 370 pp.
• Bruce, Robert V. Lincoln and the Tools of War (1956) on weapons development during the war online edition
• Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era (1960)
• Donald, David Herbert. We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends Simon & Schuster, (2003).
• Goodwin, Doris Kearns. "'My Whole Soul Is in It.'" Smithsonian 2006 36(10): 48+ Fulltext: at Ebsco, on the writing of the Emancipation Proclamation
• Harris, William C. With Charity for All: Lincoln and the Restoration of the Union (1997). AL's plans for Reconstruction
• Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It (1948) ch 5: "Abraham Lincoln and the Self-Made Myth."
• McPherson, James M. Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution (1992)
• Neely, Mark E. The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties (1992). Pulitzer Prize winner. online version
• Geoffrey Perret. Lincoln's War: The Untold Story of America's Greatest President as Commander in Chief (2004). well-written but has many factual errors and questionable interpretations
• Polsky, Andrew J. "'Mr. Lincoln's Army' Revisited: Partisanship, Institutional Position, and Union Army Command, 1861–1865." Studies in American Political Development (2002), 16: 176-207
• Randall, James G. Lincoln the Liberal Statesman (1947).
• Schmitz, Neil. "Refiguring Lincoln: Speeches and Writings, 1832-1865," American Literary History, Vol. 6, No. 1. (Spring, 1994), pp. 103-118 in JSTOR
• Striner, Richard. Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery. Oxford U. Pr., 2006. 295 pp.
• Williams, T. Harry. Lincoln and His Generals (1967).
• Wills, Garry. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America (1993)
• Wilson, Douglas L. Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln by (1999).

Historiography and Memory

• Boritt, Gabor S., ed. The Historian's Lincoln U. of Illinois Press, 1988, historiography
• Braeman, John. "Albert J. Beveridge and Demythologizing Lincoln." Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 2004 25(2): 1-24. Issn: 0898-4212 Fulltext: online in History Cooperative. Albert J. Beveridge (1862-1927), former US senator from Indiana and biographer of John Marshall, began work on a multivolume biography of Abraham Lincoln in 1922. His goal was to demolish the myths surrounding Lincoln and present the facts. Beveridge tended to sympathize with the South and admire Stephen A. Douglas, as well as rely on information collected by William H. Herndon. But, he did more intense research on Lincoln's pre-presidential career than any previous biographer. Beveridge died as he reached 1858.
• Cross, Roland R. "Edgar Lee Masters's Peculiar Biographies of Abraham Lincoln and Vachel Lindsay." Journal of Illinois History 2004 7(4): 281-296. Issn: 1522-0532. The poet Edgar Lee Masters wrote the only hostile biography of Lincoln. His 1931 biography of Lincoln debunks the "myth of Honest Abe." In Masters's view, Lincoln's actions as president resulted in the corruption of true American ideals. The theme has occasionally resurfaced among neoconfederates and extreme libertarians who tolerate slavery but not strong government.
• Fields, Kevin. "Historiographical Trends and Interpretations of President Abraham Lincoln's Reputation and the Morality on the Slavery Question: Part I and II." Lincoln Herald Lincoln Herald 2004 106(4): 150-167 and 2005 107(1): 11-30. Issn: 0024-3671; Part 1 siscusses William Herndon, John Nicolay, and John Hay.; Part 2 notes the civil rights movement prompted historians to reevaluate Lincoln's attitude toward race and emancipation. Many continued to portray him as the pragmatic, essentially conservative, "reluctant emancipator." However, by the 1980s a postrevisionist consensus had emerged, which emphasized the evolution of Lincoln's attitudes and asserted that freedom for black slaves, and not merely the preservation of the Union, became one of his key objectives.
• McPherson, James M. "No Peace Without Victory, 1861-1865." American Historical Review 2004 109(1): Xvi, 1-18. Issn: 0002-8762 Fulltext: in History Cooperative and Ebsco. * Peterson, Merrill D. Lincoln in American Memory (1994). how Lincoln was remembered after 1865
• Schwartz, Barry and Schuman, Howard. "History, Commemoration, and Belief: Abraham Lincoln in American Memory, 1945-2001." American Sociological Review 2005 70(2): 183-203. Issn: 0003-1224 Fulltext: in Ingenta
• Trefousse, Hans L. "First among Equals?" Abraham Lincoln's Reputation during His Administration. 2005. 199 pp.

Primary sources

• Basler, Roy P. ed. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 9 vol Rutgers Univ. Press 1953–55
• Basler, Roy P. ed. Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings, (1946)
• Lincoln, Abraham. Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 2 vol Library of America edition, 1989

Memoirs and interviews

• Chittenden, Lucius E., Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration, (1891). – Google Books
• Holzer, Harold, ed. Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President. (1993). 380 pp.
• Nicolay, John G. ed. Oral History of Abraham Lincoln: John G. Nicolay's Interviews and Essays. Michael Burlingame, ed. (1996). 186 pp.