"Lincoln On War" by Harold Holzer

This may be the best book yet written concerning Abraham Lincoln. Actually, it is the closest thing to having Lincoln pen his own memoirs of the years between the War with Mexico and our own Civil War. In some ways it even eclipses the great 2 volume masterpiece by Carl Sandburg, which is considered by many, me included, to be the "Holy Grail" of books about our most mercurial President.

The War with Mexico is of great interest, as the annexation of the state of Texas, aside from having been accomplished illegally, added fuel to the fire that would eventually grow into the conflagration of full blown Civil War. Lincoln saw the annexation of Texas as a way for the Southern States to hold a majority in the Senate and Congress. This was at the time of the great debates concerning the Missouri Compromise, and the Fugitive Slave Act, both of which were mere band aids or attempts in vain, to stave off the bloodshed which was sure to come from the slavery question.

The author has let Lincoln speak for himself by using the President's letters and speeches to make his point. The book is laid out in a way which parallels the career and thoughts of our 16th President on all of the issues leading up to the Civil War. And once that war has begun, this correspondence gives us a new and keener insight into the thoughts behind the actions taken by Lincoln during the prosecution of the War Between the States.

Lincoln, at the outset, wanted only to ban slavery in the new territories being acquired out west. He had no intention of outlawing the institution itself. As late as in his first Inauguration speech, Lincoln was still not calling for the Abolition of Slavery in the Southern States, but only in the newly acquired territories. In his first Inaugural Address he spoke these words; "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." He had made this same declaration in earlier speeches and was re-quoting himself in an effort to allay the fears of the Southern States, which had already seceded from the Union in January of 1861.

By the time that Lincoln issued his duplicitous Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in enemy territory only, the outlawing of slavery in the Southern States became the objective of the war. Previously the chief concern had been one of finances. Lincoln queried, on more than one occasion, whether it was right for the Southern States to leave the Union while keeping the forts and roadways which had been paid for by federal loans. These loans would have to be repaid to the banks, and Lincoln considered it to be an unfair burden upon the remaining states to bear the full brunt of their repayment.

This is an exciting book which lays bare many of the myths that have been pumped into us over the years; Mr. Holzer has presented a new side of one of our most well-known, but often misunderstood Presidents.

"Millard Fillmore" by Paul Finkleman

Millard Fillmore is one of the least studied of the US Presidents. Yet, the years in which he served were marked by some of the main decisions and mistakes, that would lead to the Civil War. By 1844 the Whig Party was just about finished. The divisions in the country had become so sharply defined concerning slavery, that a new Party was formed. It was called the American Party, or the American Anti Catholic Party, and later on the Know Nothings. This is interesting in that the political situation in America today is almost the same. The biggest difference is that instead of the Know Nothing Party, today we have the Tea Party.

Millard Fillmore was not opposed to slavery, nor to it's expansion into the new territories and states. This was a most highly charged issue, which arose from the Founding Father's neglect to abolish slavery, leaving it, like today's National Debt, swinging in the wind for future generations to tackle. The band aids of the Missouri Compromise, and the Fugitive Slave Act, among others, merely served to stoke the flames of discontent that would eventually erupt into a full blown conflict which still defines our nation today.

Some of the most interesting parts of this book concern my own native state of New York, and New York City in particular. Governor Seward, who would later go on to purchase Alaska from Russia during the Lincoln Administration, repealed the 1799 Nine Months Law, which allowed Southerners visiting the free state of New York, to bring their servants with them, and then take them home again, like property. After 1841 this law was no longer valid. There were many free states who were beginning to ignore the Constitutional requirement to honor the laws of the Southern States where slavery was concerned. (The Full Faith and Credit stautes, under Artcle 4 in the Constitution, required that they do so.)

In 1852, while Fillmore was in the White House, New York freed 8 slaves who had been locked up overnight in a hotel room while their owner waited for a ship. This case was known as Lemmon vs. the People. During this same time, Governor Seward refused to extradite 3 Seaman who helped a slave stowaway aboard their ship, landing in New York. Virginia took the position that the slave was stolen, and that the 3 men had aided and abetted in this crime. New York took the position that human beings are not property and hence no crime was committed. When rebuked by the State of Virginia, Seward skillfully argued that Virginia's own stance on States Rights applied to New York as well, and since New York did not recognize slavery, there could be no extradition. Virginia withdrew it's claim.

A very thoroughly researched book, this is a must read in understanding just how we got to the tragedy of the Civil War, and how it still affects us as a nation today. Filled with the type of history not taught in school, this book further proves the assertion that "the only thing new is the history you don't know."

"The Fiery Trial" by Eric Foner

Abraham Lincoln was a complex man. A potrait of him hung on the wall in my Kindergarten class, so his image is a part of my psyche. There are certain things I have come to accept about him. The Emancipation Proclamation is one of those things. But the story behind it is quite another. History is never cut and dry, and as I said, Lincoln was a complex man.

The author of this book has done a superb job of attempting to find the "real" Lincoln. He has gone to painstaking lengths to do so, and in the process has shed some light on a very volatile, and often misunderstood, chapter in our collective history.

Did Lincoln free the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation? All the slaves? Right away? Most Americans believe the answer to be yes to all three of these questions. And most Americans would be wrong. The issue of slavery has been a thorn in the side of the Republic since the first day of it's founding. How one group of men could write of tossing off "the chains and shackles that bind us", while continuing to allow the institution of slavery to exist, is mind boggling. That the Civil War didn't occur sooner than it did, is amazing.

Lincoln found himself in the middle of all these questions, both moral and legal, which surrounded the issue of Abolition. And he took all sides, playing them all. He was a moral man, to be sure. But, he was also a shrewd politician, and that profession can often trump "our better angels."

Take the Missouri Compromise as an example. As a Congressman, Lincoln was for it. It would abolish slavery East of the Missouri, but allow it to continue West of that divide. True, he was attempting to hold the Union together, but how wise was it to delay the inevitable confrontation that awaited the nation?

Once the war began, Lincoln found himself committed to taking some sort of action that would underscore the issue of slavery. In late 1862 he rolled out the Emancipation Proclamation. This document was immediately construed to be the Instrument by which slavery, as an institution, was abolished in the United States. But that is only a half truth.

The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the states that comprised the South. The slaves in the North would not attain full freedom, by this Instrument, until 1900. The main idea was to grant freedom to the slaves in the South in an effort to get them into the fight on the side of the North.

As early as May of 1861, only 2 months after the war had begun, General Butler was already allowing runaway slaves to take refuge in Fortress Monroe, at the mouth of the James River opposite Norfolk, in Virginia. This was in direct contravention to the Fugitive Slave Act, which was nullified as soon as the South fired the first shot at Fort Sumter. The irony here is that these slaves were taking refuge to avoid working as slaves for the Confederacy, yet when they arrived at Fortress Monroe, they were immediately assigned to work details as cooks and laborers, for the Union Army, without pay.

Meantime, in Washington, Lincoln was formalizing plans to ship ex-slaves back to Haiti and Liberia. There was also something called the "Chiriqui Project", which Lincoln had discussed as early as 1861. This plan would have shipped all African-Americans to Colombia to build a colony on land owned by one Ambrose W. Thompson.

As all this talk of Emancipation and Repatriation was taking place, there was considerable opposition in the black community. Some, if not most, of the freed slaves were born here in America, which technicaly made them natural born citizens.Once again, irony rears it's head, as Lincoln had made this very argument himself while in Congress. Moreover, there were many white Republicans opposed to the plan, further hindering it's implementation. Frederick Douglass was also one of the most vocal opponents of these plans to ship African-Americans away from the land of their birth.

This is a fascinating book that will inform the reader on many levels concerning the Institution of Slavery and how it came to an end in America. And some of it will suprise you, because history is not always what you have been taught to believe.