Lincoln the Great Centralizer

Much of what was said regarding Abraham Lincoln in Dr. Thomas Wood’s The Politically Incorrect Guide To American History is repeated on a much larger scale in Thomas DiLorenzo’s book The Real Lincoln.In chapter six entitled "Was Lincoln A Dictator" DiLorenzo points out that Abraham Lincoln violated a few of the "train of abuses" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson stated in the Declaration that "He(the king) has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected." According to Dr. DiLorenzo, President Lincoln was guilty of this very abuse because he imposed military rule on those parts of the South that became conquered territory during the war, and for twelve years after the war the Southern states were run by military dictatorships appointed by the Republican Party. I understand this to be a true statement because Tennessee was conquered territory early in the war; it was governed by a military governor.In chapter three entitled "Why Not Peaceful Emancipation", DiLorenzo illustrates that between the years 1813 and 1854 eleven countries or regions had peacefully freed slaves. Some would argue that the South would not have tolerated a peaceful emancipation; however, Lincoln’s lack of interest in freeing the slaves gives credit the argument that he hardly even tried to resolve the matter peacefully. In DiLorenzo’s own words "Lincoln could have put into motion a process to end slavery much more expeditiously-and peacefully-as more than twenty other slave-owning societies had done in the previous sixty years. But he chose instead to wage a long and devastating war in which the victims were not just slave owners but every southern citizen."According to DiLorenzo, the idea that there was no real opposition in the North to Lincoln’s invasion of the Southern states is a myth. DiLorenzo offers evidence to back this theory. He lists several editorials in Northern newspapers that showed their support of a peaceful secession of the Southern states. This is what the Albany Atlas and Argus stated on November 1st 1860: "We sympathize with and justify the South because their rights have been invaded to the extreme. If they secede, we would wish them God-Speed." Lincoln had to silence the outcry of the North by suspending the writ of habeas corpus. Many of the Northern editors who dared voice concern or disapproval of Lincoln’s war policy could find himself in jail.Lincoln effectively crushed the idea of state’s rights, which was the only check on federal government. The Declaration of Independence states that if any form of government becomes abusive of its power it is the duty of the people to abolish it. The founding fathers understood this; therefore, they believed that the right to secede was imperative. William Rawle, a constitutional scholar of the 1820s, advocated the right of secession in his book A View of the Constitution of the United States of America. Published in 1825, this book was used in many military academies up until the War Between the States.Because Lincoln was a martyr, many political leaders have excused their own outrageous breaches of the Constitution because "Lincoln did it. Who would object?" In other words, Lincoln’s true legacy has lived on. From FDR to George W. Bush, politicians have carried on Lincoln’s philosophy of governmental expansion.According to DiLorenzo, Lincoln’s poetic words "charity for all" mean very little under such breaches of civil liberties. Certainly there was no "charity" to those whose liberties were trampled on, and this applies to both the North and the South.