By Sam Dickson. The author’s views on the subject of Abraham Lincoln were those of the overwhelming majority of Southerners both immediately before, during and for decades after the War for Southern Independence. Many in the North and the West also shared his views. Only the passage of time and the studious cultivation of the myth of Abraham Lincoln, coupled with his timely death (timely in the sense of being providential for his place in history), have caused Abraham Lincoln to be raised to the level of a sacred cow in American history.
Even historically recent events show that the place and role of Abraham Lincoln in American history constitute a subject very sensitive to the establishment. When Prof. M.E. Bradford of the University of Dallas was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to head the National Endowment for the Humanities, a storm of abuse and controversy exploded. Prof. Bradford’s sin: He had the effrontery to criticize Lincoln. [Read the entire article as PDF…]
Taken from
The Barnes Review, January/February 2006: Shattering the Icon of Lincoln
VOLUME XII, NUMBER 1