The origins of the Lincoln Myth

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stonewalljackson
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The origins of the Lincoln Myth

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Various reasons that have been given for why the Lincoln Myth got started.

His Assassination

“Lincoln had few disciples and thousands of critics. After the assassination he had few critics and thousands of disciples, and it became a duty, it became public necessity to get right with Mr. Lincoln and the myth”
-Forced into Glory Abraham Lincolns White dream by Lerone Bennett

His assassination came at a time when the country needed to unite not fraction. Not only does the death of someone often enhance their polarity, but the timing of Lincolns more so.  The end of the war was at hand and the nation had to be kept together. Support of Lincoln is what united the country regardless if they supported him before. In one case a congressmen had written a speech to blast Lincoln for all his faults, after his death he rewrote the speech in support of the "great" president Lincoln.


Political

“The Lincoln myth is the ideological cornerstone of big government in America...The Lincoln legend has helped teach our children blind obeidance to the state”
-Thomas J Dilorenzo The Real Lincoln

This above quote of course helps the federal government expand and helps the major political parties and interests groups. Anyone who seeks to expand government [republicans to the right and democrats to the left], Lincoln is the model.


Republicans 

Republicans wish to put him in as best a light as they can so as to make the founder of their party look better. Also the republicans often view america as an empire and a military force to control the world with. “spread democracy” has been used for right wing wars around the world to act as a police force.

“Lincolns dictatorial methods, and his creation of a consolidated, militaristic state, have long been the model for the American right”
-Thomas J Dilorenzo Lincoln Unmasked

Because Lincoln greatly expanded the government and its uses, the better he is presented the better that militaristic philosophy and republicans can seem.


Enslave a class of voters

Simply the myths are used to enslave a class of voters. 1940's African American Ralph Bunche argued civil war myths [including Lincoln myths] were used to “The negroes voters blind loyalty to the republican party for 67 years.” Buying black votes promising them 40 acres and a mule if they voted republican. Yet in 1867-68 blacks in northern republican states like Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Kansas could not vote. Natives were denied the right to vote. Reconstruction was used to put implace republican government to support the winning [republican] side, one way of doing so was to offer free stuff to newly freed blacks and to purchase their support. Does this sound familiar?
 
Modern Democrats 

If Lincoln our “greatest” president can ignore and violate the constitution, why cant we do the same? If he expanded government and ignored citizens liberty can we not do the same? If he transformed the government yet for the greater good for all, than so should we. Democrats and statist will love Lincoln and seek to make him an example of the moral superiority of big government and more government control.


Justify the war

“By focusing upon slavery, the bona fide story of the death of real states rights and the beginning of imperial america is overlooked...we stand naked before the awesome power to our federal master”
-Al Benson Jr and Walter Kennedy Lincolns Marxists

How do you justify 620,000 dead and destruction of the American republic? The federal government needed to justify its actions. The war was clearly not about slavery from the norths perspective, yet after hundreds of thousands of deaths something other than tariffs and forcing people by the bayonet to be held under the federal governments control was needed. Abolitionist offered a morale purpose. So long as the government [who supports itself through public education future thread] taught the war was over slavery and Lincoln set out to free the slaves, along with teaching a false horrific view of slavery as the greatest sin. Than it will put the government in the right no matter what violations it had done and any transformation of the government will go unseen as the real issue of the war was slavery. Anyone who would dare challenge the view is automatically a racists and disqualified.
Last edited by stonewalljackson on Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"How do you like this are coming back into the union"
Confederate solider to Pennsylvanian citizen before Gettysburg

"No way sherman will go to hell, he would outflank the devil and get past havens guard"
southern solider about northern general sherman

"Angels went to receive his body from his grave but he was not there, they left very disappointed but upon return to haven, found he had outflanked them and was already there".
northern newspaper about the death of stonewall jackson
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