Book TV: Michael Burlingame "Abraham Lincoln: A Life"

Lincoln historian Michael Burlingame discusses his newly published two-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Burlingame has written twelve previous books on President Lincoln and is an emeritus history professor at Connecticut College.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Burlingame
• lincoln
• history
• connecticut
• book
• tv
• cspan
• c-span
• booktv.org

[1HonestLove9]

"why was Lincoln so great that he overshadows all other…heroes? He really was not a great general like Napoleon or Washington…but his supremacy expresses itself altogether in his peculiar moral power and in the greatness of his character…Lincoln was a humanitarian as broad as the world." -- Leo Tolstoy

[jbaby1010]

i live in indiana

[Zeeboe]

Lincoln shows his belief that both black and white were entitled to equal rights and protection under the Constitution. To apply 20th century beliefs and standards to an America of 1858 and declare Abraham Lincoln a "racist" is a faulty formula that unfairly distorts Lincoln's true role in advancing civil and human rights. By the standards of his time, Lincoln's views on race and equality were progressive and truly changed minds, policy and most importantly, hearts for years to come.

[Zeeboe]

@FinallyTheNight - In the same speech, Lincoln states, "I agree with Judge Douglas that he [a black] is not my equal in many respects, certainly not in color — perhaps not in intellectual and moral endowments; but in the right to eat the bread without leave of anybody else which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every other man." In this statement, despite his reference to differences in "intellectual and moral endowments,"

[FinallyTheNight]

Lincoln on Slavery: I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery. --- March 14, 1861

What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races.

--- 7-17-1858, fr. a speech delivered in Springfield, Ill.

I am not in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, or of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people. --- September 15, 1858

[jfkreincarnated]

Very interesting man this Prof. Burlingame....really taught me alot about President Lincoln in a way I had not thought of.

[eks1966]

Professor Burlingame was my History Advisor at Connecticut College and one of the very best teachers I had the pleasure of knowing. I took a course on American History, a Seminar on Lincoln, and an Opera class with him. It's great to be able to watch this and share it with friends!