Introducing someone who is kind, classy, and a careful scholar and someone who has been the heart of the lincoln forums since its inception. Edna green medford is now the associate provost of Equity Affairs and howard university, Faculty Affairs at howard university, and this places her in the enviable position of having to say no to everyone. [laughter] she is the former chair of history at howard. She is the former interim dean and professor of history. Her works focus on africanAmerican History and the history of the jacksonian era, the civil war, and reconstruction. Some of her works include the emancipation proclamation three views, which is now coming out in paperback. The price of freedom, slavery, and the civil war. Volume one and volume two. As well as the historical perspectives of the african burial ground, new york blacks, and the diaspora. What i have always found about her scholarship is she reminds us of the humid told of the civil war. We often can float into abstractions or perhaps im speaking of myself and the world of ideas and look at history from a more detached perspective but edna is always there to remind us of the humid toll, the the humanl, cost, and bring this conflict to life for us. Please welcome edna green medford. [applause] ms. Medford good afternoon. While i destroy the equipment. [laughter] ok. Ok. Thank you. Thank you. Ok. Wonderful. [laughter] good afternoon. [applause] i want to thank joe for the very kind remarks. I truly do appreciate it. I would like to thank the forum for inviting me to speak this afternoon. Every now and then, they let me out of the box. They let me say a few things. [laughter] they know i can get wild from time to time. One of the worst things that can happen with a lecturer is to sit and hear other people give the lecture she had planned to give. [laughter] last night, i heard half of what i had planned to say, and this morning i heard the rest. [laughter] actually, we can all go home. [laughter] since i know that harold will wring my neck if i let you go , i will rise to the occasion and Say Something to you. On july 4, 1861, a measured but resolute president delivered a message to congress in special session. The address came nearly three months after the South Carolina militia fired on the federal installation in Charleston Harbor and it sought to justify lincolns actions in the interim and the reasons why congress should now officially take up the mantle to defend the union. The president deftly drew a distinction between the motivations of the two regions. Simultaneously affirming the union cause while reaffirming his own views of the role of this nations government and its uniqueness. Lincoln alluded to the declarations of independence and by the seceded states in which the phrase all men are created equal had been omitted. He pointed to the substitution in the confederacys temporary National Constitution of the phrase we the people for we the deputies of the sovereign and independent states. Lincoln viewed this as a deliberate effort to deny the rights espoused by jeffersons declaration of independence and a rejection of the peoples authority as mentioned in the preamble to the constitution of the United States. This is essentially a peoples contest, he told the assembled lawmakers. On the side of the union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of man. To left artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the path of laudable pursuit for all. To afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life. This is the leading object of the government for whose existence we content. No single statement defines his lincolns philosophy of government more than this message on the nations day of independence. And they associated at least rhetorically with liberty, justice, equality. It was the guiding principle of his life. The core of his belief system. He believed that the declaration of independence as one of americas foundational documents framed our national character. It gave us the exceptionalism that we continue to claim for ourselves today. But the America Lincoln envisioned was more aspirational than actual. When he took office in march 1861, two different americas existed. One in the north, and the other in the south. Neither of which was particularly interested in liberty, justice, and equality for all. Lincoln despaired of those who would claim the declarations promise for themselves but deny it to others. On the question of liberty as a principle he wrote, in 1855, we are not what we have been. We are the political slaves of king george and wanted to be free, we called the maxim that all men are created equal a self evident truth. Now when we have grown fat and lost all dread of being slaves, ourselves we have become so , greedy to the masters that we call the same maxim, a selfevident lie. Despite a series of reforms that aim to address social ills caused by rapid population growth in the cities and severe economic changes, the north face d serious challenges. Expanding commercialism and industrialization and an influx of immigrants overwhelmed urban centers. And fed the growing inequality and wealth. Ethnic and religious diversity in the form of roman catholicism and irish immigration especially was neither celebrated nor tolerated. Racial animosities led to outright discrimination and violence against African Americans, many of the latter having been freed in the decades after the American Revolution and who are now considered a direct economic threat because of competition. Genderbased inequities also compromised the notion of equity liberty for all in the north. Middleclass women were constrained by the cult of domesticity, which suggested their proper place was in the home. The womans rights Conference Held in seneca falls, new york in 1848 gave the daughters of democracy the opportunity to air their grievances in a formal setting. The twoday conference attracted 300 attendees including male supporters of the cause. A declaration of sentiment catalogue of injustices done to women by men including the denial of the elective franchise, employment opportunities, and a fair wage for those jobs that were open to them. And of course, they were denied , they say, access to education. Workingclass women shared these disabilities and more. Forced by necessity to work outside the household, they often faced 14 hour workdays. , the dangers of factory labor, and unequal pay. In the south, and agrarian economy based largely on slave labor retarded innovation and left the region to like behind the north in development and industrialization. In the education of its residents and its pursuit of equality for all. The institution elevated every white person above every black man, woman, and child, enslaved or free. The violence employed to maintain the system of subordination of one race by another shaped and left an indelible mark on the character of the south. While immigrants hastened to the north, slaverys grip on the southern portion of the country discouraged those in search of economic opportunity. It was not by happenstance that a son of the midwest by where way of the south would come to stand at the center of the controversy over slaverys extension. Lincoln understood the slavery that slavery blocked the path to a chance for 1 8 of the population in bondage. If they were going to advance themselves, this institution would have to be destroyed. Slavery also hindered the progress of free africanamericans, who by extension share the burden of belonging to a despised and marginalized race. But the institution negatively impacted white men as well. Although only onefourth of families held ownership of enslaved laborers, their economic and social standing disadvantaged the common white man. Moreover, enslaved laborers competed with the poor worker , making it harder to earn a living. Those struggling nonslaveholders who sought a better life for themselves beyond the influence of the wealthy farmers needed a sanctuary elsewhere. Lincoln recognized that the territories offered a solution to the dilemma poor white men faced. The whole nation is interested that the best use shall be made of these territories, he declared. We want them for the homes of free white people. This they cannot be to any considerable extent if slavery shall be planted within them. Slave states are places for poor white people to remove from not to remove to. New free states are the places for poor people to go to and better their condition. For this use, the nation needs these territories. By the time of lincolns presidency, the western parts of the country, especially the older Northwest Territory which at one time included illinois, indiana, ohio, michigan, and wisconsin, had been settled at the very people the president sought to assist. When congress organized the territory in 1787, it banned slavery. The institution survived in certain instances, for instance in the south minds of southern illinois. And a loophole and illinois law allowed slave owners to bring the property to the state as long as they kept them there for less than a year. Of course, as youll recall, the maxim case is about that in which lincoln represented a slaveholder who was trying to retrieve his runaway slaves. They ran away because he had kept them in the state for two years. He had run afoul of the law and lincoln had represented him because he believed everyone deserved representation. Lincolns own family had moved from kentucky to indiana and eventually to illinois with a where they hoped to find sufficient cheap land and no competition from slave labor. As southern whites moved into free territory, their racial prejudices migrated with them. By the 1850s, some of the midwestern states including illinois have passed into immigration laws aimed not at the irish were german newcomers to america but against americanborn blacks seeking Economic Opportunities close to them in the east, and you get the instance will you have fairly recent immigrants passing laws that actually discriminate against americanborn people. Its astounding. Those free blacks who defied the law faced fines as much as 50 for the offense. The inability to pay what was considered a significant amount of money at that time subjected them to the auctioning off of their labor. Those who legally resided were in the state were denied the rights accorded to the white counterparts. We cannot testify in court against white residents or serve on juries. Moreover, their taxes pay for the operation of Public Schools that their children were barred from attending. While lincoln had declared his antislavery position early in his career, he did not offer any robust objection to these disabilities placed on black sans, and i almost feel roger bridges standing up now saying, you have a look at everything. I havent seen anything yet to suggest youd be better positioned to know that been made because you have done the studies. During this period, the future president s efforts were placed instead on ensuring slavery did not expand. In his 1854 address in peoria, he declared that the old Northwest Territory was exactly what jefferson had foreseen and intended. And i quote, the happy home of teeming millions of free white prosperous people. Unencumbered by the competition of slave labor. As he waited to be sworn in as president in 1851, his political allies kept him informed of the efforts underway to stem secession and bring the already seceded states back into the union. Lincoln let it be known that he would be willing to support certain compromises on the issue of slavery and the district of columbia, the return of fugitive slaves, the Domestic Trade of enslaved persons, for example, in his words he cared about little. But he stated emphatically that there would be no compromise on a question of extending slavery on soil owned by the nation. At that time, he was talking about the territory of new mexico, utah, arizona, and california. On the territorial question he announced, i am inflexible. And inflexible he remained. Free territories figured prominently in his plans for the eventual destruction of the institution. He believed that the framers of the constitution and earliest congress had tolerated slavery out of necessity and had placed the institution on a path of eventual extinction. By excluding it from the territories, it would not be able to expand and hence would die a natural death. Lincoln was willing to wait for however long that death would take. Secession in war made the demise of the institution of immediate concern, however. Although he was willing and he preferred a gradual abolition to slavery, the war had to change his timetable. Americas image on the world stage matter to lincoln as well. He understood the role he played as the model of democratic ideals in a world where liberty and equality were not common principles. Most governments had been based practically on the denial of the equal rights of men, he suggested. Ours began by affirming those rights. As he said, he hated slavery because of its monstrous injustice but he found it indefensible also because it deprives a republican example of just and enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to talk to us as hypocrites. It causes real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity , and especially because it forces so many good men amongst ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principle of civil liberty criticizing the declaration of independence. American freedom and equality were meant to be universal. To give hope to the world for all future time. It was no surprise then that lincoln was unwilling to give his Political Support to the newly formed american or know nothing party. At a time when antiimmigrant sentiment permeated the partys views reflected a longstanding fear of papal influence and concern over the arrival of a large number of immigrants whose cultural practices irritated the nativeborn. Lincoln understood that ethnic prejudices and intolerance endangered the entire nation. In a letter to a longtime friend, joshua speed, he explained why he could not embrace the party. I am not a know nothing, he wrote. How could i be . How could anyone who abhors the oppression of neighbors be in favor of degrading classes of white people . He lamented what he viewed as the partys abandonment of the declaration of independence. Our progress and degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rampant, he continued. As a nation, we began by declaring that all men are created equal. We now practically read it as , all men are created equal except negroes. Wheres the know nothings get control, it will read all men created equal except negores and foreigners and catholics. When it comes to this, i would prefer emigrate to seven country where they make no pretense of loving liberty. To russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure and without the base alloy of hypocrisy. Tangible evidence of lincolns commitment to the common man beyond words can be found in his support for several pieces of legislation during his term in office, and i will mention only two here. In may 1862, Congress Passed the homestead act which allowed americans to claim up to 160 acres of land in exchange for a small fee. Five years in residence and improvement to the property. Remarkably, women, immigrants, and africanamericans were eligible, although the latter were not included until 1868. Lincoln had thrown his support behind the measure, declaring that he thought the wildlands of the country should be distributed so that every man should have the means and opportunity of benefiting his condition. Tens of millions of acres of federal lands were eventually distributed, and although much of it fell into the hands of speculators, railroads, and other unintended beneficiaries, the law provided an opportunity for Land Ownership for those who might not otherwise have had a chance at economic independence. A second law, passed by congress and signed by lincoln that same year facilitated the building of landgrant colleges. The moral act provided that the states be given title to certain federally owned lands that could be sold and the funds used to build agricultural and technical colleges. Dozens of colleges and universities, and i tried to count the number and i still dont know the exact number, i have seen a number that says 69 in some instances or 100 and in others, but i think there were 60 or 70 that were the response of that first moral act of 1862 and there were additional ones additional laws that were established later on. The second moral act in the 1890s that affected African American institutions and made it possible for some of those schools to be created at that time. And then other similar measures in recent times where we have the introduction of tribal colleges and community colleges. These landgrant colleges gave ordinary americans easier access to higher education. And exposed them to opportunities for advancement they may not have had without the presence of these institutions. What it is doing is, it is not so much focusing on the classical education as much as it is teaching them practical kinds of things. How theyre going to be able to survive as farmers and in the technical and mechanical fields. Despite his own success without benefit of a formal education, lincoln recognized the disadvantage unschooled men and women faced. Both laws supported his belief that the legitimate object of government is to do for the people what needs to be done but which they cannot by individual effort do it all or do so well for themselves. Lincoln also recognized that government as constituted at that time could not solve all problems of inequality and injustice. His vision of america was one ripe with opportunity for those who are prepared to make the most of what this still developing nation had to offer. Who would be able to elevate themselves to the extent of their abilities and industry. With notable exception, black men enslaved are just emerging for just emerging from slavery were disadvantaged. The fruits of the enslaved man or womans labor enriched the slaveholder and kept the labor a er good and impoverished. Even if however he managed to be free, there was no support system that could assist in that transition. Lincoln had no illusions that men were accustomed to thinking of themselves as members of a superior race what embrace equality with those who just yesterday had been their property and alleged inferiors. Dilemma, to to this encourage black men and women to give up their birthright in order that americas promise could be fulfilled to those who remained, left africanamericans fuming. Their own contributions to the building of the nation, it was a sacrifice most were unwilling to make. By the end of the war, lincoln conceded that africanamericans would have to be accommodated in this nation shaped by a new birth of freedom. Nearly 200,000 black men in the Union Military force convinced him and other lovers of liberty that such devotion deserved american gratitude. His emerging acceptance of the veterans as evidenced in the public address may or may not have been the beginning of a broader willingness to include africanamericans in society. But for sure, it eliminated any talk of voluntary deportation or colonists colonization outside the United States and as it mirrored africanamericans own efforts for all citizenship, it encouraged them to press that much harder for their vision of what america could be. In the years and decades that followed emancipation, their actions along with the efforts of nonblack supporters facilitated the midwestern states, challenged jim crow legislation in the south, desegregated the educational system, and operated to stop housing and employment discrimination throughout the nation. Prolonged Civil Rights Movement beginning during this period and continuing through the 50s and 60s benefited all americans because it brought the nation closer to lincolns vision. Our 16th president knew that the nation would never reach a state of perfection, but he believed we owed it to ourselves and the world to come as close as was humanly possible. In his address to the 166 ohio regiment in 1864, he reminded the soldiers what the war was about. Through a free government, they would have an open field and a fair chance for their industry, enterprise, and intelligence. A free government would allow them equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations. Lincoln reminded them that the nation was worth fighting for, to secure. Gethow do we do our part to the nation closer to that state of perfection . Again, link and provide the answer. In his speech to residents of indianapolis in february of 1861, even before the war had begun, where he stopped on his way to take office in washington, he reminded them that the preservation of the union and the liberties they enjoyed rested in their hands. Upis your business to rise and preserve the union and liberty for yourselves and not for me. Not with politicians, not with president s, not with officeseekers. Americans would have to decide for themselves whether or not the country was worth fighting for and would have to act accordingly. There is some truth in the arguments that those who have been denied Liberty Holdings most dear. I have friends and acquaintances did, ineve as lincoln the promise of the declaration of independence. They have come from areas where freedom and liberty are neither expected nor permitted. Recently, they have grown concerned that those freedoms that have come to enjoy in america will fade away. They are not alone. Well to remind ourselves of what lincoln said to the soldiers in indianapolis. With you is the question. Shelley union and shall the liberties of this country the preserved to the latest generations . Only we have the answer to that question. Thank you. [applause] thanks so much. I love your statement of the emerging acceptance of blacks in society, because we all of lincolns role own evolution of coming to a certain position. You think the military aspects seeing the valor of these like soldiers helped in that evolution . It had everything to do with it. We know that lincoln first started up believing that it was of no use to actually include black and in the military because they would not be Strong Enough to stand up against their former owners on the battlefield. He thought they would be cowards and they would run away. He found out pretty quickly that black men were anything but that and that they were spoiling for a fight on the battlefield. On, beforetty early the end of aging 63, hes writing to people saying my commanders in the field are saying that they are doing very well. So if we are to be successful, it will be in part at least because of what these men are doing. He did understand that america owed a debt to these black men who helped to preserve the union. Lived, and aad he not supposed to do this because this is not what historians do, we dont speculate, but im going to do it anyway. I think had he lived, he would have pressed for any kind of assistance for the veterans. Things would have been a little bit slower with everybody else. He still had certain feelings of the formerly enslaved were not veterans, not quite ready for citizenship. And he probably would have taken it a little bit slower. But for the veterans, absolutely. I think he would put his full force behind getting them certain rights. Of the group whose status was most changed by Abraham Lincoln in the civil war is africanamericans. Yet we see very few africanamericans at this meeting. What could the forum do to make this meeting more attractive to africanamericans . I dont know, ive been trying to do it for 24 years. [laughter] and i have not been successful. Although there are people of color in the audience. It is getting better. I mean, we need to do a little bit more here, but im really pleased that when i go places now, i do see africanamericans in the audience. Eeriejust in your he on wednesday. You were at the meeting . There were at least 10 or 12, right . I was very pleased that people didnt come out. But i think, and an going to go out on a limb here, and keep in mind, i dont speak for all africanamericans, but this is what i think is happening. I think that we as a people have a tendency to stay away from places that we dont think we would necessarily are expected to be. Its not that the form has done anything to discourage people, the forum has done everything imaginable to bring people in. But i think that still, we had an issue about where we are welcome, and i see it at Public Places as well. I tell the story all the time. Family went to the grand canyon many years ago and we were in the park all day and during that entire time, we saw only six people of color. And three of them were us. And i think it really does have to do with africanamericans not feeling that they are welcome more that they belong. I have brought my students in the past year, and they have absolutely loved it. And so, that is what we have to do more of. We have to bring more students and let them see the this is a great learning experience. In many ways, not just in terms of the civil war, but in terms of the interactions as well. I come back here every year for two reasons. To learn from my colleagues were experts in some of these areas that i am not for in, and to see people that i have met over the years because i consider them friends. We just need to get over that chasm that separates us. We need to do some more work. I am very pleased to see you as a speaker here, and i thank you for your attendance. Thank you. [applause] my name is joe simpson, im a first timer from north carolina. Welcome, wonderful. Thank you so much for being here. 2019, of 400 anniversary of the arrivingicanamericans in jamestown, and it was celebrated well, not celebrated, but it knowledge in august in jamestown. Right. That 400 years of where slavery began in british north america and it lasted for 246 inrs until 1865, we are only the 154th year of universal freedom in this country. I have reached out to several universities and their africanamerican departments to try to determine. I cannot find in the research any studies done on the number imported tomericans the United States or africanamericans, the total number that live, were born, lived, and died in human bondage. That number, ive talked to several historians, could be as high as 24 million people. We only talk about the 4 million that were freed. But i would love to see a study done, maybe the forum to take it on for a university such as howard, i realized the research would be incredibly difficult. Censuses before 7090 dont exist. But i would love to see a study where we could finally of slavery the sin and the millions, not just 4 million, probably 20 million to 30 million human beings that never breathe a breath of freedom. Absolutely, i agree with you. A study does need to be done. If there is any wealthy person in the audience who wants to bankroll this. [laughter] i would be happy to lead the study. In all seriousness, i think you are absolutely right. This does need to be done and i think it would be great for the nation, it would be great for the world. It is history and i think we need to know the answer to that. If anyone is willing to raise the funds for that, i will stay around long enough to lead it. I just wanted to let you know that Abraham Lincoln in 1858 refused to sign a petition to permit africanamerican testimony in the state of illinois. He was joined by lyman trumbull. Was that just a political statement, or did he really believe it . I dont know. That is why i would come to you, roger. I havent found anything that suggested that lincoln actually did anything about overturning some of those black laws that illinois had established. I did know about him using to do that. I know douglas really blasted him for having done that, so when he became a president ial candidate, it was douglas, a young firebrand who said he doesnt believe in the abolition of sentiment, because he remembered that lincoln had refused to do that. It may very well have been because of politics, people do strange things because of politics. But we will never know. We will never know. All we have to go by is what he said in the debates, and that is not always very encouraging. And of course, what he did after that. He did a lot after that. So i wish that someone could solve that problem for me, and i was hoping that you would be able to do that. I know that you have studied the black laws in illinois. Thank you so much. [applause] a wonderful speech. Announcer this is American History tv on cspan3. For each weekend, we feature 48 hours of programs exploring our nations past. Gary gallagher is the coeditor of civil war places, seeing the conflict through the eyes of its leading historians. It asks scholars to discuss places they deem significant to the civil war. Next, historians who contributed to the book discuss their selections. This is part of the gettysburg annual summer conference. Bookis is a panel on the civil war places and we have a couple of copies appear that people will be fromin thumbing through. We are going to have a screen behind us. I usually dont do anything this venturesome. Actual images when i give a talk. This is somethof