Out about jason, so i went to rate my professors. Com. Indicatione is any about how the students feel about him, i can tell he is well loved. Im going to review a few comments. One student wrote, dr. Silverman is an amazing professor. He lectures, but they are far from boring. You will need to read for the test because he doesnt cover everything for the book. You also have to attend class, because every day is something new. Another wrote, this class is not easy, but if you are struggling, go talk to him and he will tell you to take notes. He is very helpful. [laughter] a number of students remarked that he always begins class with a joke. One of the students wrote, most are dirty, but funny. , youve gotrn you to be careful when you ask questions during the queue and day, because one student wrote, i would kill for this man, literally. ,nd finally, a few years ago one student called him the best professor at winthrop. For a 52yearold man, he is too. Damn hot, welcomingjoin me in dr. Jason silverman. [applause] dr. Silverman that was 10 years ago. [laughter] dr. Silverman i would have to imagine my hotness has deteriorated with age. This is just an incredible experience for me. Thatt to thank john for touching interview. He certainly went back in time, didnt he . I want to thank Abraham Lincoln institute for inviting me and fords theatre for hosting. This is a dream come true for me to be here today. I grew up in alexandria, virginia, just across the potomac. Washington, d. C. Was always a place where field trips came and theatred where fords and Lincoln Memorial and all of those things always held a very dear spot in my heart. I would be remiss if i didnt tell you that i have been interested in Abraham Lincoln since the fourth grade. I must confess, it was an act of defiance on my part. , forurth grade teacher parents night, decided we were going to have silent vignettes. In other words, you just stood there and the parents look that you. It was a historical vignette. Maybe dated amelia ehrhardt, iwo jima. The ones they chose was the Lincoln Douglas debates. I got my hopes up tremendously until she said, you cant be Abraham Lincoln. You are not tall enough. [laughter] you have to be Stephen Douglas. It was on that day i decided i was going to be interested in Abraham Lincoln out of defiance, if nothing else. I am completing my 33rd year at winthrop university, where i have taught about Abraham Lincoln to packed classes of south carolinians. [laughter] if i lookforgive me up at the president ial box and say, mr. President , i made it. [applause] i have been fortunate enough to have done some work in an area of Abraham Lincoln that really has not attracted an enormous amount of attention. I would like to share some of that with you today. As i tell my students at the beginning of every class, please fasten your seatbelts and come back in time with me to the era of Abraham Lincoln. 4, 1865, Oak Ridge Cemetery thomas springfield, illinois. Warm. Ather is the weather is peaceful and a slight wind blows from the prairies to the west. Everybody in springfield is on the streets, silent and mournful. Their sorrow is so allencompassing they dont know where to go or what to do. The landscape is beautiful and has been especially cared for on this occasion. The clergyman is a tall, distinguished looking academic sort who spoke with a softness that belied his younger evangelical days. Bishop Matthew Simpson was delivering the funeral sermon. He quoted the deceased in words of deep conviction. Words that spoke of a great work to be done. They conjured up a specter of evil in the land. Broken by it i may become about to it i never will. The probability that we may fail and the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause which we believe is just. It shall not deter me. If i ever feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those unworthys, not wholly of its almighty architect, it is when i contemplate the cause of my country, deserted by all the upld besides, and i standing violencele hurled at her oppressors. The bishop interpreted his text in a way and with an authority that seemed only natural to the mourning nation. Here was a testament of the beloved martyr dedicating himself in his use to the great in his youth to his great struggle against the slave power. Bishop simpson quoted lincoln accurately. A longlostthed speech that would soon be lost again. But he did make one error. Lincolns speech had nothing to do with slavery. Its subject was banking, industry, and immigrant labor. , labor andin industry. The combination should not surprise should not us. Lincoln probably talk more about economics and labor, to use those terms broadly, than any other issue, slavery included. The bulk of his discussions with an economic focus preceded the period of his fame and went for the most part unrecorded. The main lines of his thinking survived. Significantly, his noneconomic speeches and writings often brimmed with economic implications. Lincoln . On, abraham absolutely. Lincoln lived in an era when immigration was as much controversial as it is today. 1860, 4. 540 and million newcomers arrived, most of them from ireland, the german states, and scandinavian countries. Many more crossed back and forth back across the border of mexico. From an early age, lincoln developed an awareness and tolerance for different peoples and their cultures. While no doubt a product of his time, lincoln nevertheless refused to let his environment line him to the strengths of diversity. Throughout his legal and political career, he retained an affinity for immigrants, especially the germans, irish, jews, and scandinavians. Indeed immigrants in their plight were never far from lincolns thoughts or plans. His travels at a young age down the Mississippi River to the port of new orleans exposed lincoln to the sights, sounds, and tastes of a world hitherto he could only have dreamed about. More importantly, however, it established the foundation and a sympathy for the rest of his life when it came to the foreignborn, as well as to the enslaved. Must have been an onsite sightsite see and odd seeing that tall, lanky boy sailing down the mississippi in justf everything he saw, 22 years old and finally freed of the obligations to his father and his farm. Lincoln set off from illinois on a flatboat with his stepbrother, cousin, and employer. Sailing on what must have been an amusing site, a log cabin on hogs, with barrels and lincoln, john johnson, john and dennisennis hoff its set off. Lincoln was traveling afar, and what he could not know it, what he would see what shape his thoughts for the remainder of his life. During this trip, link it would first come in contact with foreigners in the exotic city of new orleans. As one author wrote, he probably did not distinguish swedes from the dustman, italians, spaniards, swiss, norwegians, and russians he had counted on the streets of the city. He did realize for the very first time in his life that immigrants from many lands formed a significant part of the american population. Lincolns two flatboat voyages to new orleans were exceptionally important in his development. They formed the longest journeys of his life. His first experiences in a major city. His only visits to the deep south. His sole exposure to the regions brand of slavery and slave trading. His only time and the subtropics. The closest he ever came to immersing himself in a foreign culture. Lincoln never wrote or spoke of his trip save for brief description of trip of preparation for the trip, but others did. In interviewing john hanks, the cousin of lincolns biological mother who joined lincoln on his 1831, lincolns eventual law partner and recorded in may we landed in new orleans. I can say knowingly it was on this trip that he formed his opinions. It ran its iron and him then and there. May 18 301i have heard him say often and often. May 1831 i have heard him say often and often. They immersed him and the relationship between transportation and Economic Development in the west. And preachedstood that a better Transportation System would improve the Economic Life of illinois, raising Living Standards for all and enhancing property values. Alsolns river journeys illustrated to him that by controlling the unsettled domains in illinois, the state could accelerate immigration. Residing in a sparsely populated region, it is understandable that wealth and population were practically synonymous for him. Immigrants would bring economic wealth and growth and all that it implied. Indeed, seeing america firsthand from a flatboat at a young age transfixed on lincoln the core social and economic philosophies such as free labor, modernization, internal improvements, and most assuredly the need to attract immigration. Lincolns trips to new orleans represented his only journey deep into the slave south and places where enslaved africanamericans not only abounded but predominated overwhelmingly. New orleans also ranked as the largest city that Young Lincoln had ever seen, and would remain so until he stepped on the National Scene as a newly elected congressman in 1848. Representedntly, it the most ethnically diverse and culturally foreign city in the United States. While lincoln would take a day 1857,o Niagara Falls in new orleans would represent the closest lincoln whatever, to entering another country. I must add that, come on. Really isnt like leaving the country. [laughter] and while lincoln occasionally encountered french or Spanish Speaking immigrants or catholics in illinois or on the ohio river, his trips to new orleans engulfed him in a different cultures and ethnicity on religion, language, race, class, caste, cuisine, architecture, and sheer urban size. It gave him a perspective that no other place or time in his life would provide. In the midst of this complex and conscientious and contentious social and economic Political Landscape walked a young Abraham Lincoln in 1828 in 1831. Evidence of ethnic tension would have been obvious to any observant visitor. In the streets, in conversation, and in the press. Local newspapers that im sure lincoln saw were filled with prejudice and scorn for one group of immigrants or another. Editors promised that their views and principles would be purely american, whatever that meant. To theous portent american or know Nothing Party that would rise in the 1850s to exploit american xenophobia. Lincoln would have been present in new orleans at this time, and he would have seen firsthand the difficult time that some emigrants had in the city that was heavily populated by a foreignborn element. Lincoln was present when the creoles suffered at the hands of nativeborn americans. Alliances were established between them and german and irish immigrants, and the creoles became an object of scorn. The experience of treatment of immigrant groups informing the cast onto visitors like lincoln lasted his entire lifetime. Would orleans, lincoln see the nations concentration of free people of color, among them some of the wealthiest and best educated people of african ancestry anywhere. Lincoln never specifically commented on the citys diversity, that he came close when he personally handed hand edited the biographical words on that topic wit by topic written by william dean howl. After marveling at the many negro planter of the sugar coast , a creole of louisiana t met thetan por polished old world exile and tongues of france and spain and england. Lincoln found himself enthralled by the multitude of cultures he witnessed in that Large Population of new orleans. Late in life, he would recover what he saw as a youth and would forcefully oppose the Nativist Movement of the 1850s and the know Nothing Party, which was gaining popularity at the time. A part of new orleans would follow lincoln to springfield. William fourill ville found new orleans a hostile place to free people of color. Fearing kidnapping and enslavement, he fled for st. Louis and then found his way up the illinois in 1831. While approaching the village of new salem, he overtook a tall man wearing a red flannel shirt and carrying and acts on his shoulder. They fell into conversation and walked into a Little Grocery store together. The tall man was Abraham Lincoln, who soon learned that the stranger was a farmer and now out of money. Mr. Lincoln took him to his boarding house and told the people there of his business and system situation and his situation. Later lincoln convinced him to settle in springfield. There he married, raised a family, and prospered as a barber to hundreds of men, women, and children, who knew him in daringly as billy the barber. Over the years, it is likely that lincoln enjoyed many conversations at the barbershop on east adams street at about new orleans, slavery, and the Mississippi River with a bilingual catholic french haitianamerican man who became his friend. The conversations would seem to be of substance, and the foundations of a genuine friendship. Late in 1863, he wrote lincoln a warm letter of gratitude for the emancipation proclamation that had gone into effect a year earlier. I thought it might not be improper for one so humble in life and occupation to address the president of the united urville, yet io do so knowing that it will be received warmly by you from your friend billy the barber. Lincoln first learned of haiti when the men first met. Three decades later, president Abraham Lincoln officially established diplomatic relations with the independent caribbean nation of haiti. There had to be some influence their. Ironically, it was through lincolns connection with new orleans and the efforts of several immigrants that the great emancipator freed one of his first people of color. John shelby, a free black and son of one of his fellow africanamerican barbers in springfield, while traveling in new orleans in 1856, found the same hostility directed toward found yearsrville ago. Not having the proper papers to travel freely in the city, shelby was arrested and imprisoned. Somehow, however, he made contact with a springfield raised new orleans attorney named benjamin jonas. Shelby suggested to him that jonas contact a prominent lawyer back home in illinois whose influence might help this case and arrange for shelbys release. Jonas recognized the name because lincoln was a very good , abraham his father jonas, a leading citizen of springfield and one of the first jewish settlers in the region. Up river to shelbys mother and to lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was very much moved, wrote one of his early biographers, and requested mr. Herndon to go over to the state house and inquire of governor William Henry bissell if there was not something that could be done to obtain the possession of the negro. Andherndon made the inquiry returned with the report that the governor regretted to say he had no legal or constitutional right to act. Mr. Lincoln then rose to his feet and great excitement and exclaimed, by the almighty i will have that negro back soon or i will have 20 years of irritation in illinois until he does have legal or constitutional right to do something in the premise. problem was, lincoln lacked any further recourse. He was all too aware that new orleans had the law on its side. So lincoln and herndon drafted 60. 30 of the metropolitan bank of new york cannot and on may bank , sent the funds sent the funds to jonas. Shelby was then returned safely to springfield. It became among the first africanamericans ever freed by Abraham Lincoln. Surely his new orleans imprisonment would have resulted in his force labor, and quite possibly his permanent enslavement, but lincolns affection for the jonas family determined that he would take action as much for them as for shelby himself. Lincoln regarded Abraham Jonas as one of my most valued friends. Their friendship dated back to the 1830s. Lincoln never forgot, nor did he ever minimize the role in his personal development that the experiences in new orleans and those of the flat Boat Operator played. While on the campaign trail in 1843, lincoln cast his flat boat dues payingffirming experiences, assuring his political supporters that is presently rising stature made him no less a man tolerant of the people. It was astonished if not amuse the older citizens of this the 12wrote lincoln, years ago to me as a strange, friendless, an educated annulus boy working on a flatboat at 10 per month to learned that i had been put down as the candidate of wealth, pride, and aristocratic family distinction. Yeah, sure. [laughter] 20 years later, lincoln returned to the same theme. Free society is such that a poor man can know his better condition. He knows there is no fixed condition of his labor for his whole life. Im not ashamed to confess that 25 years ago i was a hired laborer, mauling rails at work on a flatboat. Just what might happen to any son. Any poor mans on a personal and littleknown episode in his life, lincoln became friends with the reverend lars as gordon lars esgorn. Lincolns oldest son robert attended his classes, and lincoln frequently called on the professor to discuss his son studies, since at the time robert was not an enthusiastic student. I bring this up to my students on a number of occasions to tell them that see, all you need is a little enthusiasm and youre going to be that much better ,tudent in Robert Todd Lincoln the son of the president of the United States, and they kind of look at me like your point is what . [laughter] lincoln even served on the board of directors of the school. Esgorn had experience as at princeton. He was a strong opponent of drink and slavery. Lincoln took a liking to him since based shared similar political police. As he became a loyal and consistent supporter of lincoln, and his sons enlisted in the union army, with one of them being the first swedish soldier to fall in battle. Like so many in the 19th century, lincolns philosophy about immigrants was farm are complicated than merely that which pertains to the free labor economy. Lincoln was a product of his times and environment. Despite what economic advantages the immigrant may represent, many men of his era saw every ethnic group and immigrant, whether irish, german, swedish, as monolithic. Lincoln, on the other hand, tended to precede each individual and each group as distinct in its own right. Because he saw the diversity of these groups rather than simply assigning them into groups as foreigners were savages, lincolns relationship with individuals of different ethnicities, as well as different groups, was as inconsistent as the man himself. Like most westerners, lincoln had a low opinion of latin american civilization. His references to hispanics were never flattering. In his debate with Stephen Douglas at galesburg, illinois, lincoln attacked the concept of douglassvereignty, notion that the people of a territory should decide a slavery issue for themselves. Lincoln asks the hypothetical question as to whether douglas would apply the doctrine in an acquisition of a place like mexico, where the inhabitants were nonwhite. When we shall get to mexico, i dont know whether the judge will be in favor of the mexican people because we know the judge rels, great horror of mong and i understand the people of mexico are most decidedly a race of mongrels. Lincoln continued by explaining i understand there is not more than one person theyre out of eight who is pure white, and i suppose from the judges previous declaration that when we get to mexico or any considerable portion of it, that he will be in favor of these mongrels settling the question, which would bring him somewhat into collusion and collision with his horror of an inferior race. If allowance is made for the fact that these comments by lincoln occurred in an intense debate where there was serious race debating early on, lincoln still use derogatory comments about hispanics in speeches where there was no apparent motive. In describing the cubans, lincoln pulled note punches. Seems butchery was, as it to me, most unnecessary and in human. They were fighting against one of the worst governments in the world, but their fault was that the real people of cuba had not asked for their assistance. Were neither desirous of nor fit for civil liberty. Lincoln liked to make references in many patriotic speeches extolling the innovation and brilliance of what he called Young America as opposed to the old fogey countries. The older i get, the less i likea lincoln using the phrase old fogey. [laughter] my wife has made reference to that. I wish lincoln would have come up with a different phrase. But for theuded difference in habit of observation, why did yankees almost instantly discover gold in california, which had been trotted upon and overlooked by asersndians and mexican gre for centuries . It was in that speech that he remade that he made one of asians. Rks about for one who had never been to asia or barely out of the United States, lincoln prejudicial he claimed that the intellectual curiosity and scientific progress was the exclusive domain of the western world. He recognized asia as the birthplace of the human family, and concluded that asians were indeed human beings, but he believes that asia was an ancient, crumbling civilization whose time had long since passed. As man emily originated the human family originated as it is thought somewhere in asia, and progress westward. The people of asia are entirely behind those of europe, those of , while usehind europe in america think we discover and invent and improved faster than any of them. Perhaps he wast on a bit of thin ice, lincoln concluded they may think this is arrogance, but they cannot deny that russia has called on us to show her how to build steamboats and railroads, while in other parts of asia is scarcely know such things exist as steamboats and railroads. Countriesee inhabited in anciently inhabited fogeyism seems on man. Audienceandered to his by emphasizing the virtues and attributes of the United States. At the expense of degrading other people, it was lincolns intention to convince his fellow countrymen that their nation would be the next great stage of history. Toost successful strategy flatter voters during his ascent into national politics. But lincoln, to his credit, apparently did put his money where his mouth was. It wasdiscovered discovered long ago that during his less than successful first term in the United States house of representatives, lincoln joined many other americans contributing 10, 500 in todays money, to the Irish Relief Fund during the great famine. Perhaps this was because incolns First Teacher kentucky had been of irish descent. He was described as a man of excellent character, deep piety, and fair education. A catholic,reared but made no attempt proselytize, and the great president always mention him in terms of great of grateful respect. Whether he left a lasting impression or not, lincoln was always interested in irish culture. He knew and cited the speech. Rom the. From the dock ballad wasavorite helen selenas poem set to music. While many of lincolns quips are famous, hes often resorted the irish to analogies, sometimes caustic and perhaps a bit insulting, to make his point. Lincolns first recorded giant about a poor irishman comes from one of his congressional speeches on the need for sensible internal improvements when he described the plight of a man with new boots. , saysll never get them on patrick the irishman, till i wear them a day or two and stretch them a little. Late in the war, one contemporary observed that there was a Cabinet Meeting that afternoon. A general gave a very interesting account of the state in the south, and the good feeling manifested by the offices of the confederate army, who also they were ready to lay down their arms and go to work. Someone said something about hunting up old geoff davis, and mr. Lincoln said, i hope he would disappear like pattys flea. When they get their fingers on him, i hope hes not there. this is quite consistent with his desire to avoid any punitive conditions. Wanting reconciliations, lincoln often used jokes to soften a message of mercy or to conceal a willful blindness to past wrongs. These just were not very racist or harsh, certainly when not compared to his contemporaries. Both show sympathy and awareness for the poor mans plight, chiding him mildly for his poverty and traditions. Doubtless in lincolns day, nearly everyone, especially poor immigrants, understood the problems of fleas and ill fitting footwear. Party wasepublican formed in 1854, the newly created antiimmigrant know nothings drifted into the party and wanted republicans to adopt antiimmigrant stance. Lincoln refused. When he ran for president , lincoln opposed any change in the naturalization laws or any state legislature by which the rights of citizenship that had been previously according to immigrants from foreign lands would be abridged or impaired in any way, shape, or form. He advocated that a full and efficient protection of the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad, b guerin teed be guaranteed. The germans marched with him right into the white house. While his question today whether german support was as responsible for his agents election his 1860 election as previously believed, they were effusive in their praise of him. Lincoln enjoyed the germans and their culture. While visiting cincinnati, the president elect was in his hotel room one night when outside, a group of german workingman into serenading him. He entertained those germans with genial and lively conversation. Lincoln went to the balcony to find nearly 2000 more of the substantial german citizens who had voted for him because they believed him to be a stout champion for freedom, free labor. Lincoln listened attentively as frederick was asked to speech to speak for his countrymen. We avail ourselves of this opportunity to assure you our has our chief and heartfelt regard. You earned our votes as the champion of free labor and free homesteads. If to this and you should ever be in need of man, the german free workingmen and others will rise as one man at your call, ready to risk their lives in their effort to maintain the victory already won by freedom over slavery, it would soon prove that the germans surely delivered on their promise. Lincoln understood the challenges that immigrants faced in both rural and urban america. He worked the land with his hands for 15 years, surveyed it for five, spent 9 10 of his life in agricultural areas. As a lawyer practicing land law at times and as a politician representing a rural district, he had to Pay Attention to the National Debate over the future topublic lands to issue link real estate taxes, the relationship between town and country the importance of the foreignborn as their presence increased in the American Labor force. In this of his thinking regard and readily applicable to the growing immigrant population in his day was his intense and continually developing commitment to the ideal that all people should receive full and fair award for their labor so they might have an opportunity to rise in life. For the son of an almost illiterate poor father who in time rose to the white house, this commitment was a personal one for Abraham Lincoln, and this, lincolns american dream, became a mantra throughout his entire life. Lincoln possessed sympathy for the many poor, as he called them, since he had long himself been one. By the 1850s, this compassion manifested itself in a fullblown ideology of supporting those governmental policies aimed at Economic Development and free labor. Including the welcoming, accepting and utilizing up immigrants labor. Lincoln fully understood that such Development Enhanced the chances that a common man could improve their lives. One such manifestation of lincolns broad view of how to best serve the interests of the many poor was this attitude he had towards immigrants. He never shared the nativist leanings of the old whigs. Certainly his attitude had a political ingredient to it but , it was made much more of future hopes rather than contemporary realities. The civil war not only diverted thousands of americans from civilian into military pursuits, it also drastically reduced immigration. At first, the Lincoln Administration tried to meet the difficulty through the unofficial state department efforts, and by aiding the work of state agents. , with lincoln taking an active interest in the matter. By 1863, he determined he the president had to do more, and he directly asked congress for assistance. His annual message to congress requested they devise a system for encouraging emigration. It spoke of the immigrants from the old world as a source of national wealth, and it pointed to the labor shortage in both agriculture and industry and to the tens of thousands of persons destitute of remunerated occupations, who desperately desired to come to the United States, but needed assistance to do so. This conclusion showed that in spite of slavery and the war, lincoln could still be a serceptive observer of the need of American Labor. Congress responded, and immigrants responded in a major way to the coming of the industrial revolution. The beginning of a new life not only for themselves but for their adoptive country. This is the first, last, and only law in American History passed by congress to encourage the flow of immigration, signed appropriately on july 4, 1864, not something we hear about very much recently in the sesquicentennial of the civil war, is it . To his dying day, lincoln related to the immigrant that few of his contemporaries would or could. He regaled the audience with his memory once again of working on a flatboat and owning only one pair of buckskin breeches to his name. Now if you know the nature of buckskin when wet and dried in the sun, it will shrink. My breeches kept shrinking until they let several inches of my legs bare between the tops of my socks and the lower part of my breeches. Whilst i was growing taller, they were becoming shorter. So much tighter that they left a blue streak around my legs that can be seen to this day. If you call this aristocracy, i plead guilty to the charge. [laughter] there were not many people who would doubt were lincolns allegiance lay. More than a few immigrants could poverty andncolns austerity. He was of the people, the immigrant, who lincoln said god loved so much because god made so many of them. To lincoln, america never ceased to be the land of opportunity, and he welcomed newcomers to its shores long before the statue of liberty represented the immortal words of emma lazarus. The struggle of america to lincoln created a nation in which a poor, backwards boy could rise to the pinnacles of power and success. It did so for him, and he sought to ensure that others, regardless of their nationality, would be ensured the same chance. These feelings were borne out, remembering his past was evident , on a speech that he gave on his way to washington for his inauguration. Lincoln, with deep emotion, presented his political philosophy in but to sentence. I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the declaration of independence. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights , would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that they should have an equal chance. Often when lincoln was in the telegraph office pacing or pondering, he would say to the awestruck soldiers there, well, boys, i am down to the raisins. I want to thank you guys for being a fantastic audience. If you had nearly as much fun as i just had, then you are delirious with happiness. Thank you. [laughter] i imagine it is time for questions. Question. What would lincoln say about the current immigration situation , from the temporary ban to the wall . What would lincoln think about that . Dr. Silverman you know when i first gave a talk about lincoln and immigration i was , not prepared for that talk. That was before september 2015. Now im ready. My opinion is lincoln would be appalled at what is going on right now. I understand and i tell my , students repeatedly that is very, very difficult to measure a historical figure in terms of present day. That is unfair. Lincoln lived in a different time than we do. But if we take lincolns words as his guide, lincoln believed that immigrants represented wealth for the United States. They would contribute to the wellbeing, economically, of the United States in the longterm. So to lincoln, immigrants were an asset. They never were a liability. He always believed and he is sort of a remarkable human being, because virtually all the time, he tried to do the right thing he genuinely believed we represented an opportunity in this country for people leaving either lands that had been torn by revolution or poverty or despair or hunger or destitution, and that coming to the United States, and you give somebody a chance, they have the opportunity to rise through hard work. He wasnt going to hand out anything to anybody. As a poor child growing up to president of the United States was foremost in his mind. I think the notion of a wall being built or the notion of deporting immigrants, or breaking up families, would have been absolutely deplorable to him. Thank you. [applause] wow. Ilverman i was talking to my friend, john, before he introduced me, and his words are now prophetic. He always likes to think when he he gives a talk and there are no questions that he did such a great job that he answered all , the questions. So i am standing come to the microphone. Obviously i have not answered all the questions. Well, as i recall, lincoln had some very mean things to say about the fact that a lot of votersvotes could be bought, and they would be transported from one polling booth to another. That is not a kind view of immigrants. Could you enlighten me on that . Dr. Silverman i would love to comment on that. The group you mentioned are irish. [laughter] the irish supported the democrats, not the republicans. Lincoln is a pragmatic politician. And he is genuinely worried that votes, because this is the middle of the 19th century, there is all sorts of possibilities that could go wrong with a stuffed ballot box, lincoln would say some horrible things about the irish. But if you are asking me the bottom line, the bottom line is, he was concerned about fraud and corruption in an election. Even though he would use, perhaps, insulting language about the irish or hispanics there was nothing in lincolns , being that would enable him to discriminate against those people. So consequently, the comments that he makes and i dont mean to make excuses because he does speak in the language of a mid19th century westerner. The irish, even though they were members of the opposition party, would never feel the wrath of lincolns discrimination or punishment. He was not punitive in any way, shape, or form. You came up here with purpose and determination. Now i am scared. [laughter] i am going to get you. Back then, immigrants could vote, right . You did not get registration or citizenship papers . Dr. Silverman they would be naturalized. But once you are naturalized, you could vote, unless you were voting illegally. Who kept the voter rolls, and how did they know . I assume that different states allow people to vote. Dr. Silverman yes, you are talking about records that were not necessarily the most accurate or the most comprehensive, but before ellis island there was Castle Garden so they came into the country , theoretically through new york. In their states and in their locales, they would have been naturalized after a certain period of time, even though the opposition parties wanted to take those years and expand them more and more so it would take forever to become naturalized. Barring any kind of opportunity to deny them votes, they could vote probably at the state level, local level. So they did . Dr. Silverman yes. They did. The irish voted against lincoln. There is no doubt about that. For all i know, they voted early and often against Abraham Lincoln. Yes, sir. At that time, the Voting Rights are only for the tax payers and landowners, so only nationalized citizens were able to vote . Dr. Silverman starting right before the era of andrew jackson, states started liberalizing their property requirements for voting. That was part of the jacksonian rebellion. The word populism, which i am sure some of you heard in the newspaper lately, right . This was not necessarily an obstacle to voting by the time of lincoln. You did not have to own huge chunks of property as you might have had to own early in the republic. It means the state Voting Rights are for all naturalized citizens, not for the landowners or the taxpayers . Dr. Silverman yes. That wasnt the way it was before andrew jackson. Ok. And it could be very fair from comparing that scenario to todays scenario. What was lincoln understanding about islam and other religions . Dr. Silverman well, you know, the answer to that question is probably very little. Of all of the people, and all of the corners of the world that lincoln seemed to have the least experience and knowledge about, it would be that area. Lincoln was visited in the white by i believe he was the first naturalized japanese american citizen, and he wrote a twovolume autobiography which is fascinating. But the bottom line, why bring him lincoln was like , a sponge, asking and asking questions about asia in his conversation with joseph heko, so that he could learn because he knew very little about that. So i would have to say that as far as i know, there was not an enormous amount of experience or opportunity for lincoln to engage in any kind of thought about that. Oh, im sorry. Oh gosh, i am so sorry. I have always been told i have a big mouth and can be heard everywhere, but apparently not. Thomas jefferson, he had some translation of koran in his personal library to understand. Maybe that is my own opinion to understand the psyche of the slaves of that time. Dr. Silverman you know, i dont want to disparage Abraham Lincoln by any stretch of the imagination, but he is predominantly self educated. Jefferson, he donates his library and it becomes the library of congress, so he is read than Abraham Lincoln. But lincoln would always ask a number of questions to learn about something he knew nothing about. Thank you. Dr. Silverman yes, sir. [applause] that was the last question. Dr. Silverman that was it . [laughter] dr. Silverman thank you so very much. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer you are watching American History tv, 48 hours of programming on American History every weekend on cspan3. Follow us on twitter cspanhistory. Time onk in prime cspan, sunday monday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern from the National Summit in washington, d. C. , conservatives discussing hollywood, politics, and pop culture. They have a quality of choice with men and women, and with oil you can have a light at night and have the technology because there are more choices. If you change the premise, you can Say Something that feels true and beautiful in the world of the movie that isnt. At eight agoesday p. M. Eastern, former u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york at cooper union in new york city. Wednesday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, and holton, former virginia education secretary and wife of democratic senator tim kaine shares her views about public education. We have to removal that local ownership of schools has a lot to do with that positive support for schools. Announcer thursday at eight ago p. M. Eastern, a panel on the u. S. Hosted by the university of southern california. Make a drug for it and say, do you have this, do you ever have anxiety, are you ever hungry . Everybody has the symptoms, will we have a drug for it. My god, better go get some testosterone. Announcer friday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, Supreme Court justice soanya semi our talks to students about her past to the ions highest Court Justice soanya sotomayor talks to students about her path to the nations highest court. This week at 8 p. M. Eastern on week at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspans washington journal live with policy issues that interest you. Coming up, a discussion of the federal ruling on lgbt workplace discrimination. Then an author talking about his and, the unholy trinity the irs National Taxpayer advocate will offer her concerns about the complexity of the tax code. Be sure to watch washington journal on monday morning. Join the discussion. Each week, american artifacts takes you to museums and Historic Places to learn about American History. Located in washington, d. C. Near the capital, Union Station opened in 1907. At the time, it was one of the largest train stations in the world. We toured the building with the president of the Union StationDevelopment Corporation to learn about its history and we hear from a architect about the original construction in recent restoration