Lincoln Emancipated : Le Président et en ligne la politique raciale, couverture rigide par Di...

Abraham Lincoln has long been revered by blacks and whites alike as the &;Great Emancipator.&; In recent years, however, this image has come under assault by scholars who question Lincoln&;s commitment to racial equality and who assert that he was in fact, as Frederick Douglass once noted, the &;white man&;s president.&; Such arguments challenging deep-seated assumptions about our nation&;s beloved leader demand serious investigation.

What personal beliefs did Lincoln hold about the inherent differences or similarities between blacks and whites? How did his vision for race relations change as a result of the Civil War? What political, legal, and cultural circumstances prompted him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation? And in what ways have Americans chosen to remember Lincoln&;s legacy? Does he truly deserve his fame as the &;Great Emancipator?&;

In this volume, seven historians attempt to answer these critical questions. Kenneth J. Winkle analyzes the racial climate of the early nineteenth-century Midwest in order to place Lincoln&;s views in context. Kevin R. C. Gutzman discusses the influence of Thomas Jefferson&;s racial politics upon Lincoln; and James N. Leiker scrutinizes Lincoln&;s attitudes toward Native Americans, Asians, and Hispanics as well as toward blacks. Phillip S. Paludan and Brian Dirck describe Lincoln&;s tortured deliberation over emancipation, while Dennis K. Boman uses Missouri as a case study of the president&;s delicate handling of this explosive issue. By tracing the changes in Lincoln&;s proposals for the future of liberated slaves, Michael Vorenberg argues that, despite what many Americans today would consider limitations, Lincoln demonstrated a remarkable open-mindedness and capacity for growth.

Allen C. Guelzo opens the volume with a thought-provoking foreword.