University for four years. Author or editor of 11 books, several of which nominated for National Book awards, his recent work lincoln and the immigrant is a volume in the series con size Lincoln Library series published by Southern Illinois University Press and was released in september. Of the 16,500 and counting volumes published on Abraham Lincoln, this is the first full length study of its kind. Dr. Silverman received his undergraduate degree at the university of virginia and his graduate degrees at Colorado State and the university of kentucky. He has received many distinguished teaching awards. Is currently working on a companion volume detailing president lincolns reputation in 19th century europe. He also served two elected terms on his local school board. So lets welcome professor jason silverman. [ applause ] thank you so much. That last part about the eight years on the Rockhill School board, forget about all my education. Thats when i learned the real meaning of civil war.
Supervision of democracy because majority rule is the essence of the american project. There are, however, two things wrong with this formulation. First, it is utterly unrealistic and simple minded to think that there is a majority support for or majority interest in or even majority awareness of even a tiny fraction of what modern governments do in dishing out advantages to economic factions. Does anyone really think that when the nashville City Government dispenses favors for the taxi and limo cartels, it is acting on a will of the majority of the citys residents . Can anyone actually believe that a majority of louisianans give a tinkers dam about who sells caskets or arranges flowers . We know because he said so clearly and often that lincoln took his political bearings from the declaration of independence. Which brings me back again to 1854 to the kansas nebraska act and to lincolns noble recoil from the idea of popular sovereignty in the territories regarding slavery. That recoil
Outside the united states, lincoln prejudicially claimed that intellectual curiosity and scientific progress was the exclusive domain of the western world. He recognized that asia was the birthplace of the human family, and he concluded that asians, like africanamericans, were indeed human beings. But he believed that asia was an ancient crumbling civilization whose time had long passed. The human family originated, as is thought, somewhere in asia, lincoln said, and have worked their way principally westward. Just now in civilization and in the arts, the people of asia are entirely behind those of europe, those of the east of europe behind those of the west of it, while we here in america think we discover and invent and improve faster than any of them. I think maybe when he said that, lincoln recognized he was on a bit of thin ice. Because he said, 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, wh
While we here in america think we discover and invent and improve faster than any of them. Unquote. I think maybe when he said that, lincoln recognized he was on thin ice. He said they may think this is arrogance but they cannot deny that russia has called on us. In other parts of asia, they scarily know that such things as steam boats and railroads exist. In anciently inhabited countries, the dust of ages, a real down right old fogyism, there he is again, seems to settle upon and smotherter intellectual energies of man. While neither appreciating them, lincoln like many 19th century nationalists pandered to his audience while talking about the virtues of the United States. At the expense of degrading other people, it was lincolns decision to convince his fellow countrymen that they would be next on the great stage of history. And it was a successful strategy to flatter voters into thinking about the ascend into National Prom negligence. But lincoln did put his money where his mouth wa
Every one of you for being a wonderful attentive audience. Thank you so much. [ applause ] questions for our speaker . Lincoln approached notnothing voters during the 1860 campaign. Did he announce them or try to win them over to the republican . Or how did he fdo that . He said how do you want to welcome those people . I will welcome the nonothings if they will accept in the entirety the republican platform, which does not include exclusion. When lincolns people went out and campaigned and somebody would say, well, what does your boy think about immigration . Lincoln instructed them to tell them that there will be no prejudice at all based on immigration and ethnicity, and theyre more than welcome to vote for the republican ticket, meaning him, but they should not expect the naturalization laws will be increased. They should not expect theres going to be any one group preferable for the other. They should expect there immigrants to fulfill the labor shortage that the civil war created