![]() | Big Enough to Be Inconsistent: Abraham Lincoln Confronts Slavery and Race Subjects: Lincoln Abraham 1809–1865 -- Political and social views; Lincoln Abraham 1809–1865 -- Relations with African Americans; Slavery -- Political aspects -- United States -- History -- 19th century; African Americans -- Civil rights -- History -- 19th cent; "Cruel, merciful; peace-loving, a fighter; despising Negroes and letting them fight and vote; protecting slavery and freeing slaves." Abraham Lincoln was, W. E. B. Du Bois declared, "big enough to be inconsistent." Big enough, indeed, for every generation to have its own Lincoln--unifier or emancipator, egalitarian or racist. In an effort to reconcile these views, and to offer a more complex and nuanced account of a figure so central to American history, this book focuses on the most controversial aspect of Lincoln's thought and politics--his attitudes and actions regarding slavery and race. Drawing attention to the limitations of Lincoln's judgment and policies without denying his magnitude, the book provides the most comprehensive and even-handed account available of Lincoln's contradictory treatment of black Americans in matters of slavery in the South and basic civil rights in the North. Historian George M. Fredrickson was born in Bristol, Connecticut on July 16, 1934. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1956 and then studied in Norway on a Fulbright scholarship. After serving in the Navy for three years, he earned a doctorate from Harvard University in 1964. He taught at numerous universities including Harvard University, Northwestern University and Stanford University. He retired from teaching in 2002. During his career, he wrote eight books and edited four more. His book White Supremacy: A Comparative Study in American and South African History was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Some of his other works include The Inner Civil War: Northern Intellectuals and the Crises of the Union, Racism: A Short History and Big Enough to Be Inconsistent: Abraham Lincoln Confronts Slavery and Race. He died from heart failure on February 25, 2008. (Bowker Author Biography) |
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