Abraham Lincoln Was a Founding Father

Letter to Romans: Watching “1776” to celebrate the American Experiment’s 250^th Anniversary, I was reminded how bitterly many Founding Fathers fought but failed to denounce the world’s slavery in the Declaration of Independence. It was up to Lincoln to finish their job…

Recall, it was the southern colonies who threatened to forsake the rebellion if anti-slavery language of any kind were included in the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson’s first drafts had unequivocally denounced slavery & the transatlantic slave trade. In fact, Jefferson had spent 168 words fingering King George III for the peculiar institution, calling it “execrable commerce” and a “cruel war against human nature itself.” But, especially South Carolina & Georgia, would have none of it. They insisted on a Declaration sans reference to slavery. The majority caved on the assumption the “peculiar institution” would soon die under the weight of its own illogic & oppression; yet the subsequent Constitution enacted years later still failed to right the wrong … and slave ownership refused to die.

It wasn’t until a President Abraham Lincoln came along to put the defining nail in American slavery’s coffin. True, there were yeoman efforts by many abolitionists to end the vile practice. And, it obviously also took the death of over 700,000 soldiers, including many blacks fighting for their freedom rather than the “union” that hadn’t given it to them short of another rebellion & Civil War. Yet, Lincoln’s House Divided Speech, Emancipation Proclamation & Gettysburg Address were as mighty as any verbal lightning bolts articulated by Jefferson et al. It was Lincoln’s prose that finally paved the way for the nation to honor its original Founding Fathers’ original promise that all men are created equal. Without Lincoln, where the hell would we be today? If that doesn’t make the humble man from Illinois a Founding Father, there’s still no justice in the land.

Davd Soul

Davd Soul