Transcripts For CSPAN3 Abraham Lincoln And Immigration 20170204

Is about immigration. And lets face it, it is a fraught issue, a provocative issue, and unresolved issue then and now. On then, and focus see if we can get some insight into lincoln and his times and this hot topic. With december 6, after his a month reelection as president. Its the day Abraham Lincoln and as fate would have it his final message to congress. It is known today as the state of the union. By the tradition of the lincoln era they were not or rated in person, they were sent Via White House staff and read aloud by a clerk. Maybe with feeling. Probably not. Certainly not the way lincoln himself would have read it, so we can only imagine how the document was received by a body that would ultimately just take a reading copy and study it more closely. That one passage, particularly, caught the that day. Attention and keep in mind as we set the stage, not only had lincoln been reelected, but the civil war had been raging for three and a half years by this time, and hundreds of thousands of people lay dead. I dont know if the calculus had been kept up to date, but certainly every home had already been touched in some way by death. That day the president insisted this while it is to reflect that the war has filled so many graves, it is some relief to know that we have more men now than we had are the war began, that we gaining strength, and may, if maintain this contest indefinitely. So, american manpower, lincoln was saying, to a dubious congress and a battered people, was inexhaustible. Thats the word he used, inexhaustible. Said its not material to know how this increase has odd produced, which is an statement. Getting past it, as i am sure the members of congress did, they knew exactly how it had been produced. One word. Immigration. The total number of new foreign arrivals to the union actually had fallen to fewer than 100,000 in each of the first two years of the civil war. To 100had rebounded 76,000 in 1863 and 193,000 in the year they were discussing that day in congress, 1864, the highest totals in a generation. So, who were they . Well, the overwhelming majority came from england and germany, and ireland, and scandinavia. ,ost were, in fact, young men as lincoln was alluding to, between the ages of 1540. Many were eager to work in the jobs opening up in industries rapidly expanding to meet wartime demand. And here pay for laborers was up to four times higher than in. Urope no doubt most important to the commanderinchief, one in 10 immigrants one in 10 joined the Union Military as soon as they arrived. By lincolns optimistic calculation, the result, with black and less mint figured in, and even with the dead, wounded, black enlistment figured in, and even with the dead, wounded, captured, was a net gain for the union at large. And even more would arise in 1865. Ets get one thing straight lincoln did not favor what we would call open borders. , itst message extraordinary, he expressed concern about our border. He thought it was too porous. He said i have no doubt in the power of the executive to exclude enemies ofconcern about. He thought it was too porous. The human race from asylum in the United States. But he would remain equally vigilant, he said that day, to frauds against immigrants while on their way and on their arrival in the ports. Once here, he wants them to have a free choice of evocation and places almond. No registry place of settlement. No registry. No limits to employment. While he had spent the Previous Year and a half worrying that some arrivals were avoiding military service in their own country and were poised to avoid military service in our country, he was so eager to replenish the population, that he was now willing to guarantee that he would not oppose the draft on any new arrivals, at least not impose the draft on any new arrivals until they renounced their homeland and became fullfledged americans. In hisoln made clear previous annual message in 1863, just a couple weeks after returning from gettysburg, he believed america needed to encourage immigration. He called it the source of National Wealth and strength. The idea, but believe it or not, they moved slowly in those days. [laughter] whenimpetus was provided the Republican National convention of the following spring passed a platform plank calling for a liberal and just policy to foster immigration, and then, in 1864, congress immigrationsed reform, which not only created the First Federal immigration believe it or not, and encouraged foreign arrivals, here is one thats hard to imagine. The bill of 1864 offered to pay for the transit of skilled workers to the United States. Now, that was too much even for the prolincoln new york times, which was staunchly prolincoln. That it wouldized lower the quality of the population migrating. But lincoln ignored the editorial. Firm on this. And here he was now, five months later, sending his message to congress, boasting about the of immigration. So, are there lessons for our times . I am going to avoid that delicate object as if you joyously as other speakers delicate subject as assiduously as other speakers have this week. But i want to look at how position onto his immigration from the beginning. His record on immigration often gets lost in his focus and our understandable focus on lincoln and slavery. , while he can be said to have evolved slowly on National Authority over lavery especially where it existed , he wasn equal rights consistently and lightened about over slavery, especially , and on equal rights, he was consistently immigration. Bout and like many politicians, sometimes he had one public position and one private position. Consider his origins. Lincoln was not born in a metropolis teeming with foreigners with whom he had firsthand experience. Parents and grandparents were much more concerned about original americans, native americans. On his one visit to new orleans, Young Lincoln no doubt heard french and spanish spoken for the first time in his life, but what he remembered were the haunting cries of suffering that rose from the slave markets, expressions that transcended the barriers of language. Others were taking note of ethnics growing diversity, and there was a liberalization of immigration laws even then. It had gone from two years, five years, 14 years, now it was back five years. Tocqueville did not believe we ethnicreate a multi country. Until men can change their nature, he wrote, i shall refuse to believe in a government that is called upon to hold together 40 different nations. But from the more multicultural east coast, Herman Melville countered that the noble mode in which america had been settled meant that in due time prejudice would be forever extinguished. As we know, the future lay somewhere in between the tocqueville cynicism and melvilles rosy optimism. So lincoln, still oblivious, settled in the rural village of new salem, no more diverse than kentucky or indiana. The occasional irishman, we know from recollections that William Herdman collect it, wandered into town. Toghnecks could be expected mock them about their weakness allegiance toheir the pope. We have to remember that the pope of the 1830s, 18 40s was not as beloved as pope francis. It was more of a dig. Thelincoln never joined taunts. One person expressed astonishment that Young Lincoln anyno prejudice against class, preferring the germans, but tolerating even the irish. [laughter] phrase, even the irish, lies a clue to at least some of the prejudice against 1870s. Ts in the leaving religious prejudice aside, immigration, like so much of American Life and so many issues then, came down to political power. Herndon was a fully committed wahig. Were not. Americans that lincoln tolerated them at a miraclemething of as far as heard and was concerned because herndon was concerned because he knew that once the irish obtained full Voting Rights, they would never vote for him or his party. His mixed messages on immigration, which i will get to, were always political, and never moral. The socalled german element refugeesiberal, mostly from and even veterans of the failed democratic revolutions of europe in the 1840s enrolled overwhelmingly in the whig party, later the republican party, once they gain citizenship, while the irish identified passionately with the democrats. And its true, lincoln never entirely lost his lifelong suspicion that irishman always elect elections to democrats. Celtic gentleman with black carpet sacks in their hands, he once called them, hinting that in the carpet sacks with money was money to bribe poll than once. Vote more just a few weeks before the 1858 election to the senate, lincoln townto an illinois port and said he had just seen a , and hibernians on a dock complained those irishmen were imported expressly to vote me down. Now, lincolns paranoia was par for the day. Rival democrats just as often claimed there was fraud being practiced by germans who always cast their ballots against them. Lincoln came of age politically amidst both rising immigration again, you know, there is a trifecta making america more diverse in the 1840s. The famine in ireland. The revolutions in germany. Regions. Even the mexican secession creates a mexican population in the southwest. It also made for a toxic brew among those who had come here earlier and believed that america was bare exclusive birth rate. Birthright. Now, lincoln joined the whigs, policy of, for its encouraging upward mobility, but even the quick party had a big antiimmigrant streak. They made life unbearable for catholic newcomers competing for jobs. Credit, as much as lincoln supported whig policies on economic development, he refused to endorse or echo the anticatholicism growing within his own party. In his career, he openly rejected it. He was just 35 years old. He was already set up for a future run for congress. That is when he and the rest of springfield learned that philadelphia, the cradle of liberty, had been rocked by antiimmigrant writing way,ng, sparked, by the when catholic residents simply asked if they could use their own bibles in local schools. Had incited to the violence. Uphold, and admittedly local whigs had incited the violence. , lincoln attended a meeting that rallied people from isolation to gatherings where public speeches and exchanges of ideas were held. This one was called to support the immigrants of philadelphia and to make sure that local higs didnt think it was a conspiracy to put them down. , lincoln did844 nothing less than chart a roadmap to citizenship. He said that in admitting the foreigner to the right of should be put to some reasonable test of his fidelity to our country and its institutions, should dwell among us for a reasonable amount of time to become generally acquainted with the nature of ,hose institutions, and then consistent with these requisites, naturalization laws should be so framed as to render as convenient, cheap, and expeditious as possible. Historic promise of refuge, asylum in america, lincoln declared that day, remained sacred and inviolate. Was preaching to the converted that day. The opposition democratic newspaper wrote that lincolns words failed to defend the whigs in a manner satisfactory to those who heard him speak. Asa matter of fact, as much he protested that year and in the next 10 or 15 years, lincoln never quite escaped the rumor that he did not oppose nativism enough. Why is that . Lincoln was never anticatholic. The hard truth is, that he never discouraged alliances with anticatholics in order to broaden his own circle of support, support that would give him the power to do noble things. In other words, i guess you could say he sometimes kept bad company. Now, cozying up to nativists the wake of the biggest outbreak of xenophobia in national history. With immigration the wake of the biggest outbreak of xenophobia surging, the know Nothing Party rose up to demand restrictions. Their view, but shrewdly, perhaps less up red their view, refused to block the coalition. Boasted thatincoln all the odds and ends were now , including native americans by which he did not mean indians, he meant the know nothings. Wouldieved a broad tent produce an overwhelming triumph right, whigs, and he was even if the occupants of the tent were bigots. Criticized the know nothings privately, but he refused to cast them out, particularly from the even bigger tent he began building in the 1850s in response to slavery. Virtually the same time that one of his great allies was calling nativism the indelible shame of our politics, lincoln knowdmitting that most nothings were my old political and personal friends, and that he hoped their organization would die out without the painful necessity of taking an open standard against them. It didnt die out, and he didnt take an open stand against them for a while. 1856 elections looming, the first that would offer a republican candidate for told locallincoln abolitionists whose support he wanted for the fremont ticket nothingthingism no has not entirely crumbled. In fact, it is encouraged. Until we can get the elements of this organization he meant bringing them into the fold until we can get them, there is not sufficient material to successfully combat the nebraska democracy. Wasnebraska democracy kansasts of the nebraska act that would allow popular sentiment to spread slavery if a majority of voters approved it. The Antislavery Movement needed all the supporters it could attract, even if it meant including know nothings. Said, an open push, he prevent us ever getting them. Lincoln did not want bigots excluded from the new party. I have no objection to fuse with anybody, he said, provided i can fuse on ground i think is right. Even though he thought little better of the know nothings than lisists. Avery extension you could make the argument that by this time maybe lincoln should have known better. , in a legislative contest, Abraham Lincoln had entered the ballot as the overwhelming favorite to gain a seat. He had it sewn up. But in ballot after ballot, he did not quite get the majority. Nothing element abandoned him. And someone else was elected. That is what stimulated the long often. That is quoted so we dont have the return letter to lincoln. We can conjecture, did he say why in the world are you consorting with those people . They did you win and they are doing in the american atheists. That is why lincoln writes, i am by no means a know nothing. Progress into genera see and degeneracy begins to be pretty rapid. All men aresaying equal. When the know nothings get control, we will say except negroes, foreigners, and catholics. Then he talks about a base alloy of despotism that makes no pretense of bigotry in places like russia. Did he protest too much . , as often as we quote this letter, it was completely unknown in the 1850s and 1860s. It was not made public until William Herdman herndon wrote afterography of lincoln lincolns death. Lets understand the letter for what it is, the reassurance to a personal friend his best friend not a public declaration of distaste for the know nothings. In fact, it wasnt until 1876 that the letter was published in catholic monthly, and important publication at the time, and editor wrote that it deserved to be inscribed in gold. To that, the know nothings had metastasized so drastically the party was able to field its own candidate for the presidency, willard fillmore, who went on to run one of the most successful thirdparty candidacies in history, reese evening in appalling 23 per 23 ofng an appalling with a platform dedicated to excluding foreigners. That must have rattled lincoln. Two years later, he gives the house divided speech and becomes the nominee of the republican party, which is a new kind of thing, the one and only Party Candidate from the senate to challenge stephen douglas. That are sobates famous justly so would barely touch on this subject. One or two passing references, and usually it was douglas teasing lincoln about being abandoned by the know nothings at the 1855 legislative contest. What a month but a month before the debates got underway, lincoln delivered a response to douglas in chicago. It was such an important occasion that when douglas agree to the debates, he excluded cook county because he thought this was already a debate. It was just a week after independence day. That mustve been rattling around in lincolns mind, because he began by talking about the iron man who had established the country, but he had his eye on foreign men, too, because many foreigners were in the audience, because by now republicans had been flooding into illinois, changing the demographics, making it one of those tossup states that we hear so much about today. Aside from the men defended by said by our ancestors, he among half at least half among the audience are not. If they look back through our history to trace their those days byh blood, they find none, but when they look through that old declaration, they find we hold these truths to be selfevident, andmen are created equal, then i feel they have a right to they that they feel have a right to claim that as if they were blood of the blood and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote the declaration, and so they are. Now, lincoln lost the 1858 senate race anyway, but just a few months later began casting his eyes on a bigger prize, and where reaching for an voters was concerned, finally and literally, for an voters was concerned, finally and literally, he put his foreign voters was concerned, finally and literally put his money where his mouth was. A story. E i would like to go over it now. I find it one of the most astonishing springfield, illinois stories ever to come down to us. Remember, lincoln had been cultivating newspaper editors wherever they traveled. He would engage them. They were reluctant at first. He won them over. He was a charmer. Every Republican Editor he could find to get them on his side, and these included the editors of german language weeklies wherever he went in illinois, indiana, ohio, wisconsin. He met them and corresponded with them because he knew the german vote was going to be so important in the west in the president ial election. It might even tip the balance of the republicans in the swing states like indiana and illinois, which had gone for buchanan in 1856, may be a big german vote as population increased and voter eligibility increased could flip them in 1860. So in an episode long overlooked in our history, Abraham Lincoln decides its not enough to cultivate german newspaper editors. He decides to become a german newspaper editor. [laughter] well, how did he do that . He had a partner, a young german immigrant, a doctor by training, an american citizen for just four years, but already very active in Illinois Republican politics. He had a newspaper in alton, illinois, and was just about as unwelcome there as Elijah Lovejoy had been. He seemed shocked that he had no advertisers or readers there. A statewidebecome german language republican newspaper. As he gets to springfield, Something Interesting happens. People and illinois get wind of a bill that is being considered in the legislature of perhaps the most progressive state in the country, massachusetts. There, they are considering a law that would prohibit foreignborn citizens people who have already become citizens from casting their votes in National Elections and state elections for two years more. A twoyear waiting period. Well, republicans knew what that was. That was democrats in the state legislature trying to prevent people from voting in the president ial election. It was a national movement. He and his friends were outraged. Horace greeley in new york warned this would threaten the republican victory. It was voter suppression, and republicans would not win if the bill was passed. What everybody did. He held a Public Meeting so that everybody could yell, shout, and. Nnounce denounce and he invited this famous republican in his new home town, to attend. Abraham lincoln did not attend. He was still being very careful about those know nothings, or former know nothings, with nowhere to go. And this was 1859. He was not yet ready to a p or the Public Meeting. And that is an important ready to appear at a Public Meeting. And that is an important, may disappointing, thing. Thetter was published in german press. Lincoln figured it would be read only by germans. He wrote, understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation of man, i am opposed to whatever tends to do grade them. I have some little note awry re notoriety forttle supervising with the strife of the negro. This is a milestone. This is the speed letter all over again. Little toned down. You dont hear about the base despotismypocrisy or in russia, but at last made public. A big milestone for lincoln. It took him 50 years, but a big milestone for lincoln, and it created a sensation. Perhaps to his chagrin. Perhaps he was ok with it. It was published in the english language presses as well. He held lincoln as the gallant champion of the state and began meeting with him about plotting republican strengths. But he had a problem. He wants to start this german paper. But as soon as he got to creditors hadis seized his Printing Press and tyopes. T unit seized them. Put them in hock. How am i going to start a prolincoln paper without a Printing Press . Very wise. I amln set i know what going to do. I am going to go to the committee andte say what do you need . He says i need 500. A lot of money in 1859. I will go to the republican state committee. I will get to the money for you. And newspapers are cogs in the same political machine. They are fully integrated for one common cause. The Republican Committee chair says to lincoln, are you kidding . He is a leech. I not going to give you a penny. I have been bailing him out of things for the last couple of years. I am doing my own version of the conversation here, but the quote elite israel. Real. Seen is i have seen the letter. Leech is real. I have seen the letter. Lincoln decides to pay for it himself. In and herndon comes says did we get our fee from so and so today . Lincoln says billy, we just bought a newspaper. Lawyers will you be disappointed that lincoln wrote his own contract and represented himself. Its an extraordinary contract. Both copies arrive. Isit, lincoln says here 500. What i require to you is that you are loyal to the state and National Republican platforms. Diverterge from from them in anyway, i will take everything back. If you remain loyal until after the election for president , you can have it all. You can have the press, the name, the type. Its not to be made public, but its all yours. That was the whole deal. Thats how important this instrument of Public Opinion was to lincoln. By the way, politicians were newspapers inof those days and newspapermen routinely ran for office. This was a well kept secret. No one knew about it except to people. Its rather odd. But lincoln was so proud of the result, he began mailing it to. Ther politicians that he would say this is a wonderful newspaper. You should subscribe. Cannot find any evidence himself with it. And here is the real rub. There is not one copy of this newspaper and i mean not one copy that anyone has ever found. There have been alerts written and inngfield washington. If any of you have one, see me later about the collection. They have vanished. They did their work. In springfielder said a lot of the victory in 1860 was due to the german republicans of the city. Isnt it extraordinary . Abraham lincoln for a year published a newspaper he could not even read. By the way, he had taken german lessons for a while in springfield because he wanted to speak erratically to his constituents speak directly to his constituents. But according to one survivor of the class, lincoln told jokes throughout the class and nobody learned any german, and the class disbanded. All we know is that in chicago, he met George Snyder one day and schneider oneorge day and said i know what your name means. Schneider means taylor. Schneider said you speak german . Lincoln said i know taylor. Thats about it. After thenth election, lincoln signed the paper over. He had been supported for the nomination for president , which most german editors did not. ,hey supported edward bates because he hailed from st. Louis, the most german american city. And now all germans lined up for what happened in the 19th century when you won an election, jobs. Federal jobs. And newspaper editors were the honored for jobs. They were named the teutonic forctants as they lined up their loaves and fishes, and lincoln was very generous. He gave them diplomatic appointments to ecuador and , german editors, and they had supported bates. And then kustoff koerner, famous german editor, writes a letter to lincoln and says why have you ignored this man who was for you before any of these guys . Lincoln sheepishly writes a i know i amsays coming to washington representing illinois, and i hate to give jobs to people from illinois, but i have to take care of canisius. I would like to make him consul to vienna. Ultimately, he rewarded his copublisher as well. And he did more. Without leaving very big fingerprints, lincoln asked the state legislature when it got back into session in january of pass a resolution to buy up all the back copies of newspaper. This might be why there are no copies around. Please buy them and make use of them. Produced 504 for canisius to take with him to buy shoretel in vienna. Vienna. El in maybe they had a bonfire. He continues to appoint germans, and of course, on february 11 goes off to washington and gets another precious opportunity to speak directly to an immigrant population. , to appearcincinnati before a germanamerican industrial association. He gets an year splitting ovation. Modelintroduced as a selfmade man. He says workingmen are the best in the world, not only nativeborn, but foreigners from other countries. Here he is really rating his statement to the newspapers from 1859 couple of years reiterating his statement to the newspapers from 1859 a couple of inrs later, and importantly, person. He says if foreigners desire to make this land their land of adoption, it is not in my heart to throw off their way or prevent them from coming to the United States. I is steam foreigners know better than other people he got a laugh with this or any worse. It is not my nature when i see a people broke down by the weight of their shackles to make their life more better by heaping upon them greater burdens. Rather what i do all in my power to raise the yoke. But lincoln also expected the foreign bornrather what i do alr to raise the to live up to the responsibilities of American Life as well. And the union itself was threatened, riven, consumed by. Ar the foreign were expected to serve and defend the union they had made their home. In fact, the union army came soon to speak with a foreign accent. Fully a quarter of the 2 million men who took up arms for the union were born outside this country. A halfmillion hyphenated americans. , lincolnage enlistment hit upon an ingenious organizing device that his counterpart, jefferson davis, did not adopt, and that was giving important military commissions to foreignborn officers who would be able to recruit and form ethnicallybased military companies. , lincolns old end carl shirts, who he carl schultz, who he first appointed to spain, for without distinction fought without distinction, finished the war behind a desk, but he served a purpose. Trained german troops fled so quickly from one battle that they were nicknamed , there wereutchman 145 units exclusively comprised. F germans for the union including that of the enormously popular von siegal, who remained a huge symbol of german loyalty to the union and a poster boy for recruitment. He was so unlucky that the would who followed him say i fought with siegal. Even if they fought without success. It didnt matter. Freedom was an important cause of the war. Notwithstanding, 150,000 irishmen also went on to serve in the union army. They formed Legendary Companies of their own, the irish brigade, the fighting 69th, but they always complained that the germans got favored treatment. That whenem groused Brigadier General James Shields expeditiousn promotion i mean, we must admit that he did very little in combat to earn it, but neither did front siegal fran sigel, fans were aware of his long relationship with Abraham Lincoln, which was not always hunkydory. Shields once complained that either lincoln or mary todd was viciously mocking him in local newspapers, really rough stuff. What did shields do . He challenged Abraham Lincoln to a duel. Its mysaid responsibility. It was probably mary who wrote or at least cowrote it. Responsibility. They went out to an island of the Mississippi River called Bloody Island because it was the. Lace where dueling was legal lincoln with a choice of weapons chose broadsword and began , andng off tree limbs shields ultimately said maybe we should make up, or something of that nature. [laughter] the irish who fought with him did not know that. I always say the bottom line elere is had that dua proceeded, lincoln today might be a rap musical instead of a spielberg movie. The irish mob was unwilling to fight to free slaves who might compete with them for jobs. Burned and pillage their way through manhattan. Even in the horror of that, lincoln simply sent a message to his son to come out of new york city and come home. He joked that even that could remind him of a funny story, and ethnic humor was always part of his repertoire. He told the cabinet that general Hugh Kilpatrick was going to new york to put down the riot, but i promise, his name has nothing to do with it. Think about it. Kill patrick. Maker. Was a pun st dont blame me. He also asked the irish chbishop, john j catholic recruit clergy for the military, and later gave him a diplomatic post. You all know of lincolns heroism. It took political heroism to countermand ulysses s. Grants military order banning jews as a class. Remember, jews were not only jews, they were foreignborn. German, austrian. Banning jews as a class from the western military theater. Lincoln quietly overturn the order. It was not a great press opportunity. To embarrassnt grant, who was a victorious general. Lets remember that the person who codified the laws of war, francis lieber, to whom he turned for precedentsetting rules, who helped make black with thosesible rules, was also born in germany. I am not going to argue that lincoln was perfect from the outset on the immigration issue. Once during the Lincoln Douglas debates, he called mexicans mongrels. Although it can be argued that he was repeating something douglas had said, introducing the slur. Expressedrtainly little sympathy for asians. Seeing the chinese chiefly as a labor force to build the new transcontinental railroad, not as full future participants in the american dream. As for latin america, early in the war, the only thought lincoln gave to that region was the idea of setting aside land re as new land for freed africanamericans, rather than for source of population america. Yes, he told ethnic jokes. Mimicry of dialect never inhibited or embarrassed him. And true, immigration was never Abraham Lincolns top priority. Slavery in rebellion captured nearly all and rebellion captured nearly all of his attention even though i have seldom mentioned those issues today. And equally true, the rising politician was not willing to discourage bigots from , and neverhim discouraged irish voters to the polls to oppose him. He never once made an address without emphasizing moral right over political expedients. I expect wikileaks might have found some of the notes he wrote to lovejoy and others disturbing, but i think the record is pretty good. All lincoln really ever expected and ultimately inspired in return for citizenship in america was National Service and hard work, the same sacrifices he demanded of the native born and of himself. The result was nothing more, as i said at the beginning, then the replenishment of a population ravaged by war, whose victims, lincoln knew, included the foreignborn. Which, just a few months before that final annual , the u. S. Army began burying the First Union Union casualties in the new National Cemetery taking shape at robert e. Lees onetime mansion at arlington. Among the first martyrs and turned their interned there were soldiers who had been born in germany and ireland, not to mention england, france, russia, mexico, and persia. Group aerated arlington. By then group buried at arlington. By then, lincoln had gone so far as to conclude that a higher had governed this transformative change in american society. Remember, lincoln would say all me a few weeks later that the war continue only a few weeks later that if god willed that the war continued, the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether. Here he was saying in that final message that god had governed something else. This is astonishing and seldom discussed. I regard our immigrants as one of the principal replenishing streams which are appointed by providence to repair the ravages of war. Appointed by providence. Think of it. Malice toward none on immigration. Andined by god to heal replenish a nation ravaged by war. Its a pretty breathtaking claim , and if it sounds a little like the modern dialogue on immigration, thats because it is. Where i began, with the president ial message, the last lincoln ever gave to congress. Remember that i said it was carried by a clerk to the capital. In fact, the clerk that had the honor of bringing the message to capitol hill was john george sidelet, who served at his in washington for four years. The rest. Can guess he had been born in bavaria, sailing to the u. S. With his. Arents at the age of six always, even though he had come at such a young age, speaking accent thatt german made many visitors to the white house rather fearful of him even though he was a skinny little guy. Now he was entrusted to carry the message of the president of the United States to congress as an american. Not only was lincolns ascent to paraphrase lincoln altogether fitting and proper, keeping open the date of diversity had become a crucial oft, with gods help gate diversity had become a crucial part, with gods help, of finishing americas work. That what maded us americans was not place of birth but love of liberty, and what made America America was not restriction on opportunity, but rather than building a wall, raising the yoke. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you. Have time for a couple of questions . I dont know where the microphone is. Do you . There it is. Camouflaged. As a prospective candidate for president , what do you think lincoln would have said publicly privately about a proposal to register all muslims . This is what president elect trump said yesterday he wants to do. To register them and more. Crexendo, i will be glad to see you outside. So, i will be glad to see you outside. [laughter] but i dont want to use my time at our own healing place, the lincoln for them, to talk modern politics. That one. Ctfully punt with respect, i hope you dont mind. [applause] you mentioned voter suppression. In 1864 orppression before . 1864, before, and eat turn in, it has always been there, as has eternally. It has always been there, as has voter intimidation and voter fraud. Its still unclear how people prove their citizenship to register to vote. Both sides said there was cheating and voter fraud. How widespread was it . Was it a real factor . You mentioned irishmen on the. Comingote on the pier to vote. Were there voter rolls . Was this widespread . And if you were an immigrant and not yet a citizen and you enlisted in the union army, did they waive the fiveyear requirement for you to become a citizen or did you still have to wait even if you are wounded . Thats a lot of questions. We discussed how registration was accomplished in the 1840s, 1850s, 1860s. Then as now, voter rules are made by the states and localities. There was no such thing as do 90 or drivers license, or an nra votethat qualifies you to in states where ideas required today. A requirement for citizenship documents, which would come after five years. Lincoln was a poll watcher. Whole books exist in his handwriting where he not only carefully checked people in and off the voter rolls, but memorized so much of the data that, for example, on one of anse excursions to meet editor, his private secretary, who did not want to waste any time he knew the voting data and how it had changed between stoddards56 in district better than stoddard did. He knew that stuff cold. Idea that dead people are voting, noncitizens are voting, has been awash in the land for generations, for 100 50 years. Lincoln worried about irishmen or voting without citizenship or residency. Douglas worried about germans. There is really no evidence that there was any widespread fraud, just asemic fraud, today these accounts are apocryphal and am proven. It was not a major factor, but it was a good thing unproven. It was not a major factor, but it was a good thing to rouse your troops, for all the wrong reasons. Fornt know the answer Voting Rights for enrollees, particularly the wounded. I suspect it was a fiveyear period, even for those who had volunteered for service. Harold, i dont believe all immigration was appointed by providence since the union was sending recruiters to ireland to bring people to the United States. Enough that the confederate government complained to the British Government through their envoy in washington. Was lincoln a party to this policy . Ask sure. He needed soldiers. Sure. He needed soldiers. I didnt say he believed immigration was appointed by providence. I said he set it at the state of the union. [laughter] he is good to have on your side in a war where there are hundreds of thousands of casualties. Jefferson davis did not see the efficacy of forming ethnic companies and creating ethnic heroes to stimulate german and irish recruitment, but there were i did not mention it but there were german regiments and irish regiments as well. Ethnic companies, even if they were not supported by the topdown. It is a very complex record, and every bus. Ever thus. When did the first lincoln immigrant arrived, his ancestor . In the 1600s. But again, his family were immigrants, but they preceded the declaration. Thank you for enduring. Thank you. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] next, historian Robert Nelson examines how english, french, german newspapers influenced soldier morale during world war i. He also delves into the shortcomings of using soldiers letters home as an historical source. This is about an hour. Lora it is my pleasure this morning that we begin with dr. Robert nelson,