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Title: Lincoln and the Abolitionists

Subtitle: John Quincy Adams, Slavery, and the Civil War

Author: Fred Kaplan

Narrator: Paul Heitsch

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-13-17

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The acclaimed biographer, with a thought-provoking exploration of how Abraham Lincoln's and John Quincy Adams' experiences with slavery and race shaped their differing viewpoints, provides both perceptive insights into these two great presidents and a revealing perspective on race relations in modern America.

Lincoln, who in afterlife became mythologized as the Great Emancipator, was shaped by the values of the white America into which he was born. While he viewed slavery as a moral crime abhorrent to American principles, he disapproved of antislavery activists. Until the last year of his life, he advocated "voluntary deportation", concerned that free blacks in a white society would result in centuries of conflict. In 1861 he had reluctantly taken the nation to war to save it. While this devastating struggle would preserve the Union, it would also abolish slavery - creating the biracial democracy Lincoln feared. John Quincy Adams, 40 years earlier, was convinced that only a civil war would end slavery and preserve the Union. An antislavery activist, he had concluded that a multiracial America was inevitable.

Lincoln and the Abolitionists, a frank look at Lincoln, warts and all, provides an in-depth look at how these two presidents came to see the issues of slavery and race and how that understanding shaped their perspectives. In a far-reaching historical narrative, Fred Kaplan offers a nuanced appreciation of both these great men and the events that have characterized race relations in America for more than a century - a legacy that continues to haunt us all.

Members Reviews:

Race in America

A well-written, useful book that explores the striking difference between those who were true abolitionists and those who, while strongly against chattel slavery, were still against accepting black people into political or civil society. While the discussion is focused on the early to mid- 19th century, it helps one better understand race relations in today's United States.

It is clear that John Quincy Adams is a hero to Fred Kaplan; it is less clear to me why Mr. Kaplan is so grudging in his praise for Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln would not have won any election in Illinois or the presidency had he been a strident abolitionist. And, he had to worry about the border states during the first years in the White House if he was to keep the North together to fight the South.

To me, the author seems to discount the vital importance of sustaining the idea of a representative democracy--in a world then governed by kings and tyrants. (It was not just about keeping the Union together for the hell of it.) This was the North's first war aim and the one that led it to the secondary and hugely beneficial one of elimination chattel slavery in the South.

Other points: Professor Kaplan is too soft on President Buchanan and too willing to think Mr. Lincoln would have done little better than Andrew Johnson after war's end.

"Entire Freedom from Popular Prejudice"

Kaplan does not give Lincoln his due as being a politician in Illinois, whose southern half was settled by Southerners mainly, nor as President during a time of unparalleled crisis. Lincoln felt that "a universal feeling, whether well- or ill-founded, can not be safely disregarded." Public opinion had to be considered when seeking any change.