Edna Greene Medford is now the associate provost of Faculty Affairs at Howard University and of course this places her in the position of having to say no to everyone. She is the former chair of history at howard. The former interim dean and the professor of history. Her works focus on africanAmerican History and the history of the jacksonian and some works include the emancipation proclamation. Three views which is now coming out in paper back. The price of freedom slavery in the civil war, volumes 1 and 2, as well as the historical perspectives of the african Burial Ground and blacks and e die diaspora. She reminds us of the human account of civil war. And perhaps im thinking of myself, the world of ideas and look at history from a more detached per spespective but eds there to remind us of the human toll, human cost in bringing this conflict to life for us, and ask those tough questions. So please welcome edna Greene Medford, please. [ applause ] good afternoon. While i destroy the equipment. Help. Thank you, thank you. Ah, okay. Wonderful. All right. Good afternoon. I want to thank joe fornieri for those kind remarks. I truly do appreciate it, joe. I thank the forum for inviting me to speak this afternoon. Every now and then they let me out of the box and let me say a few things. They know i could get a little 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. So last night i heard half of what i had planned to say and this morning i heard the rest. And so actually we can all go home. But since i know that harold will ring my neck if i let you go, i guess i will have to rise to the occasion and Say Something to you. On july 4th, 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 in Charleston Harbor and 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 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 among world policies. Lincoln alluded to the declarations of independence penned by the seceded states in which the phrase all men had been created equal had been omitted. He pointed to the 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 right espoused and the rejection of the peoples warrant as mentioned in the preamble of the constitution of the united states. This is essential 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 men, to lift artificial weights from all shoulders, to clear the paths 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 contend. No single statement defines lincolns philosophy of government more directly than this message on the nations day of independent. A Day 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 is 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 inspirational than aspirational. When he office in march, one in the north and other in the south and neither was interested in liberty, justice and equality for all. Lincoln despaired of those who would declare the 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. When we were the political slaves of king george, and wanted to be free, we called the maximum that all men are created equal a selfevident truth but now when we have grown fat and lost all dread of being slaves ourselves, we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the same max um 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 faced serious challenges. Expanding commercialism and industrialization and influx of immigrants fed the growing inequality in wealth. Ethnic and religious diverty in the form of Roman Catholic and irishness was neither celebrated or tolerated. It led to outright discrimination against africanamericans, many of the latter have been freed after the American Revolution and now considered a direct economic threat because of competition. Genderbased inequities also compromised the notion of liberty for all in the north. Middle class women were constrained by the cult of domestics which suggested their proper place was in the home. The womens rights Conference Held in seneca falls, new york, in 1948 gave the daughters of democracy the opportunity to air their grievances in a formal setting. The twoday conference attracted 300 attendees and including male supporters of the cause. A declaration of sentiments, cataloged the injustices done to women by men, including the denial of the 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 a thorough education. Working class women shared these disabilities and more. Forced by necessity to work outside of the household, they often faced 14hour work days, the dangers of factory labor and unequal pay. In the south, a economy based largely on slave labor, retarded innovation and left the region to lag behind the north in urban development and industrialization and the education of residents and in the pursuit of equality for all. The institution elevated every white person above every black man, woman and child enslaved or free. And the violence employed to maintain the subordination of one race by another and shaped and left a mark on the character of the south. While immigrants hasten 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 way of the south would come to stand at the center of the controversy over slaverys extension. Lincoln understood that slavery blocked the path to a fair chance for the roughly oneeighth of the population languishing 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, shared 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 in enslaved laborers, the influence of the planter, class and politics and economic and social standing disadvantage the common white man. Moreover enslaved labor made it harder to earn a living. Those struggling nonslave holders who sought a better life 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 placed 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 those use the nation needs these territories. By the time of lincolns presidency, the western parts of the country, especially the old northwest territory, which at one time includes indiana, ohio, michigan and wisconsin, had had been settled by the very people the president sought to assist. When congress organized the territory in 1787, it banned slavery. But the institution survived in certain instances, for instance in the salt mines of Southern Illinois and a loophole in illinois law allowed slave owners to bring property to the state as long as they kept them there for less than a year. And, of course, as you will recall the matson case is about that, the case in which lincoln represented a slave holder who was trying to retrieve his runaway slaves. They had left because he kept them i believe in the state for two years. So he had run afoul of the law and lincoln had represented him because he believed that everyone deserved representation. Lincolns own family had moved from kentucky to indiana and eventually to illinois where they hoped to find sufficient cheap labor cheap land, excuse me, and no competition from slave labor. But as southerns moved into the territory, the prejudice migrated with them. By the 1850s some of the mid western states including illinois had passed antiimmigration laws aimed not at the irish or german newcomers to america and those seeking Economic Opportunities close to them in the east and you get the instance where you have fairly recent immigrants passing laws that actually discriminate against american born people. Just astounding. Those free blacks who defined the law faced fines as much as 50 for the offense. The inability to pay what was considered a significant amount of time at that time subjected them to auctioning off of labor. Those who legally resided in the state were denied the civil rights accorded to their counterparts. They were barred from testing in court against white residents or serving on juries or exercising their elective franchise. Moreover the taxes for 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 illinoisians and i feel roger bridges standing up now and saying you havent looked at everything. He did object. Roger will have to talk about. I havent seen anything to suggest that but you would be in better position to know that than me because youve done those studies. During this period the future president s efforts were placed instead on ensuring that slavery did not expand. In his 1854 address in peoria, in response to the divisive kansas nebraska act, he declared the territory was exactly what jefferson could have seen and intended and i quote, the happening home of teaming millions of free white people unencumbered by the competition of slave labor. As he waited to be sworn in as president in 1851, his politicallies kept him informed of the efforts underway to stem ses session and bring the already seceded states back into the union. On the issue of slavery in the district of columbia, the return of fugitive slaves, in his words he cared but little. But he stated emphatically that there would be no compromise on the question of extending slavery on soil owned by the nation and at that time he was talking about the territory of new mexico, utah, arizona, california. On the territorial question, he announced, i am inflexible and inflexible he remained. Free territories figured prominently in lincolns plan for the eventual destruction of the institution. He believed that the framers of the constitution and the 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 and war made the demise of immediate concern, however. So although he was willing and he preferred a gradual evolution, a gradual end to slavery, the war had to to change his timetable. Americas image on the world stage mattered to lincoln as well. He understood the role it played as a 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 equal rights of men he suggested. Ours began by affirming those rights. And as he said, he hated slavery because of its monstrous injustice but he found it indefensible also because, quote, it deprives our republican example of its justice influence in the world, enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us at hypocrites, causing 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 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 party whose views reflected a longstanding fear of papal influence and more immediately a concern over the arrival of large numbers of immigrants with cultural practices that irritated the native born. Lincoln understood that ethnic prejudices and intolerance endangered the entire nation. In a letter to longtime friend joshua speed he explained why he could not embrace the party. I am not a know nothing, he wrote. How could i about. How could anyone who abhor the degradation of slaves our progress and dejenner asy appeared to be pretty rapid, 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. When the know nothing get control is will read all men are created equal except negros and foreigns and catholics and i would prefer to in country where they make no pretense of loving liberty, to russia, for instance, where despotism could be taken pure and without the basaloy of hypocrisy. Tangible evident of lincolns commitment to the common man beyond words could be found in support for several pieces of legislation during his term in office. And ill mention only two here. In may 1862 Congress Passed a 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 that the wild lands 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 had a chance at economic independence. A second law passed by congress and signed by lincoln that same year facilitated the building of land grant colonels. The moral act provided that the states be given title to certain federallyowned lands that could be sold and the funds used to build agricultural and technical colleges. Dozens of colone dozens of co and universities and i tried to count the number and i still dont know the exact number. Im seeing a number that said 69 in some instances and 100 in another but i think there were about 60 or 70 were the response that first moral act of 1862 and there were additional laws that were established later on. The second moral act in the 1890s that affected africanamerican institutions and made it possible for some of those schools to be created at this time. And then other similar measures of fairly recent times where we have the introduction of tribal colleges and community colleges. These land grant 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. And 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 as in the technical fields, in the mechanical and technical fields. Despite his own success without benefits 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, quote, 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. But 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 were 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 from slavery were disadvantaged. The fruits of the enslaved man or womans labor in which the slave holder and kept the laborer ignorant and improvished. If he or she managed to be free, there was no support system to assist in that transition. Lincoln had no illusions that men accustomed to thinking of themselves as members of a superior race would embrace equality with those who just yesterday had been their property and alleged inferiors. His solution to this dilemma, to encourage black men and women to give up their birth right in order that americas promise could be fulfilled thor those who remained left africanamericans fuming. Having known no other home and recognizing their own contributions to the building of the nation, it was a sacrifice most were unwilling to make. And 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. The service of nearly 200,000 black men in the Union Military force convinced him and other lovers of liberty that such devotion deserved americas gratitude. His emerging acceptance of the veterans as members of the body politic, as evidenced it in his last 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 voluntarily deportation or colonization outside of the united states. And as it mirrored africanamericans owned efforts i should say efforts for full citizenship and encouraged them to press harder for their vision of what america could be. And the years and decades that followed emancipation, their actions along with the efforts of nonblack supporters facilitated the repeal of black codes in the mid western states and challenged jim crow legislation in the south and desegregated the edition cal system and operated to stop housing and employment discrimination throughout the nation. The Long Civil Rights Movement beginning during this period and continuing through the efforts of the great activists of 550 s and 60s. It brought the nation closer to lincolns vision. Our 16th president knew 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 to attaining it. In his address to the 161 ohio regiment in 1864 he reminded the soldiers what the war was about. Through the free government they 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 such annestable jewel. How do we get closer to that state of perfection . Again lincoln provides the answer. In his speech to residents of indianapolis in february of 1861, even before the war had begun, when he stopped on his way to take office in washington he reminded them from the preservation of the union and the liberties they enjoyed rested in their hands. It is your business to rise up and preserve the union and liberty for yourselves and not for me. Not with politicians, not with president s, not with officeseekers, he declared. Americans would have to decide for themselves whether or not the country was worth fighting for and would have to act accordingly. There is truth in the argument that those who have been denied liberty hold it most dear. I have friends and acquaintances who believe as lincoln did, in 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 they have come to enjoy in america will fade away. Theyre not alone. We would do well to remind o ourselves of what lincoln said to the soldiers in indianapolis. With you is the question, shall the union and shall the liberties of this country be preturfed to the latest generations . Only we have the answer to that question. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you so much. I love your statement of emerging acceptance of blacks in society because we all recognize the role of lincolns own evolution of coming to a certain position. Do you think the military aspects of that, of actualliy seeing the value of the black soldiers helped in that evolution. It had everything to do with it. We know that lincoln first started out believing it was of no use to actually include black men in the military because they wouldnt be Strong Enough to stand up against their former owners on the battlefield. He thought they would be cowards and run away. Well he found out pretty quickly that black men were anything but that. And they there were spoiling for a fight on the battlefield. And so preearly on, i mean before the end of 1863 hes writing to people saying, my commanders in the field are saying that theyre doing very well. And so if we are to be successful, it will be in part at least because of what these men are doing. And so he did understand that america owed a debt to these black men who helped to preserve the union. And i think had he lived, and im not supposed to do this because this is not what historians do, we dont speculate. But im going to do it any way. I think had he lived he would have pressed for any kind of assistance for the veterans. I think it would have been a little by slower with everybody else. I think you still had certain feelings that the formerly enslaved who were not veterans were 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 have put his full force behind giving them certain rights. The group whose status was most changed by Abraham Lincoln and 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. I. I dont know. Ive been trying to do it for 24 years and i have not been successful. But there are people of color in the audience, okay. I think it is getting better. 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. I was just in erie. Who are there . You were there at the meeting . There were at least ten or 12, right. It is not yeah. I was very pleased that people did come out. But i think, and im going to go out on a limb here, and i think and keep in mind i dont speak for all africanamericans but this is what i think is happening. I think that we have as a people have a tendency to stay away from places that we dont think were necessarily expected to be and it is not that the forum has done anything to discourage people, the forum has done everything imaginable to bring people in. But i think that still we have an issue about where we are welcome. And i see it at Public Places as well. I tell this story all of the time. My family went to the grand canyon 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. Okay. And i think it really does have to do with africanamericans not feeling that they are welcome or that they belong. Now i have brought my students in the past here and they have absolutely loved it. And so that is what we have to do more of. We have to bring more students in. And let them see that this is a great learning experience. In many ways, not just in terms of the civil war. But just in terms of the interaction as well. I come back here every year for two reasons. To learn from my colleagues who are experts in some of the areas that im not an expert in, and to see people that i have met over the years. Because i consider them friends. And i think that we just need to get over that chasm that separates us. But, yeah, we need to do some more work. Well im pleased to see you as a speaker here and i thank you for your attendance. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] hi. Hi, my name is joe simpson, im a firsttimer from raleigh, north carolina. Welcome. Wonderful. Thank you so much for being here. 2019 is the 400th anniversary of the first africanamericans from angola arriving in jamestown and it was celebrated well not celebrated but acknowledged in august at jamestown. Right. That is 400 years of where slavery began in british north america and it lasted for 246 years until 1865. Were only in the 154th year of universal freedom in this country. Right. I have reached out to several universities and their africanamerican department to try and determine, i cannot find in the research, any studies done on the number of africanamericans imported to the you the or africanamericans, the total number that lived, were born, lived and died in human bondage. That number ive talked to several historians could be as high as 24 million people. Mmhmm. We only talk about the 4 million that were freed. But i would love to see a study done maybe the forum could take it on or a university such as howard to i realize the research would be incredibly difficult, but to go to censuses before 1790 to see a study where we could finally acknowledge the sin of slavery and the millions, not just 4 million, probably 20 po 30 million human beings that never breathed a life a breath of freedom. Yes. Absolutely. I agree with you. And the study does need to be done. If there is any wealthy person in the audience who wants to bank roll this, id be happy to lead the study in all seriousness. I think youre absolutely right. This does need to be done. And i think it would be greater to the nation. It would be great for the world. It is history and i think we need to know the answer to that. So if anyone is willing to raise the funds for that, i will stay around long enough to lead it, okay. 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. Right. He was joined by trumbull, was that just a political statement or did he really believe it . And i dont know. And thats 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 refusing to do that. I know h. Ford douglas blasted him for having done that. So when he became a president ial candidate it was h. Ford douglas, a young fire brand who said he doesnt believe in the in the abolition sentiment of Abraham Lincoln 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 well never know. Well never know. All we have to go by is what he said in the debates and thats not always very encouraging. And, of course, what he did after that. And he did a lot after that. That was beneficial to africanamericans. So i wish that someone could solve that problem for me. And roger, is would hoping that you would be able to do that. Because i know that you have studied the black laws in illinois. Thank you so much. [ applause ] wonderful speech. Every saturday night American History tv takes you to College Classrooms around the country for lectures in history. Why do you all know who lizzy borden is and raise your hand if you heard of this murder, the gene harris murder trial before this class. A deepest cause where well find the true meaning of the revolution was in this transformation that took place in the minds of the american people. So were going to talk about both of these sides of the story right. The tools, techniques of slave owner power and talk about the tools and techniques of power that were practiced by enslaved people. Watch history professors lead discussions with their students on topics ranging from the American Revolution to september 11th. Lectures in history on cspan 3 every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv and available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Next, civil war scholars gary gallagher, edna Greene Medford and Elizabeth Varon on the debate surrounding confederate monuments. They offer ideas on how to display and preserve them and provide Historical Context to the public. Lincoln forum chair Harold Holzer moderates the panel at the annual symposium. Good afternoon, everyone. Im Harold Holzer and i have the privilege of serving as chairman of the lincoln forum. And i want to welcome you to what we think will be a rich and stimulating discussion of the subject that is ever evolving and sometimes fastmoving, controversial, emotional, and