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By Root 1792 0

and my colleagues at Queen Mary for making this possible. Thanks, too, to the American Civilization Department at Harvard University, which invited me to deliver the 2009 William E. Massey, Sr., Lectures in the History of American Civilization, where I presented some of the ideas in this book, and to Columbia University, whose Tenured Faculty Research Program helped to defray research expenses.

I am deeply indebted to friends and colleagues who generously read the entire manuscript of this book and offered valuable corrections and suggestions: Alan Brinkley, Andrew Delbanco, Peter Field, Melinda Lawson, Olivia Mahoney, Bruce Miroff, Mark E. Neely Jr., and James Oakes. I have benefited from many conversations about the writing of history with Judith Stein on the way to and from our weekly tennis matches. I also wish to thank scholars who responded to my requests for information and shared the results of their own research: A. J. Aiseirithe, Gregory Baggett, Elizabeth Blackmar, Michael Burlingame, Eduardo Posada Carbo, Harold Holzer, Frank Safford, Lea VanderVelde, and John Witt. Thanayi Jackson and Benjamin Soskis tracked down elusive material for me at the Library of Congress and National Archives. Peter and Philip Kunhardt, Olivia Mahoney, and Susan Severtson helped me to assemble the images in this book.

I owe a special debt of gratitude to my literary agent, Sandra Dijkstra (my classmate at Long Beach High School a number of years ago), for her encouragement, and to Steve Forman, my editor at W. W. Norton, who offered sage advice at every stage of this project. Thanks also to his able assistant, Rebecca Charney, and to Mary Babcock, the excellent copy editor for this book.

As always, my greatest debt is to my wife, Lynn Garafola, and daughter, Daria Rose Foner, not simply for being willing to live with Lincoln, as it were, for several years, but for serving as sounding boards for my ideas and, not least, reading the manuscript and making numerous valuable suggestions.

The book is dedicated to my uncle, Henry Foner, the last survivor of four remarkable brothers, including my late father, Jack D. Foner, who devoted their lives to advancing social justice in this country.

Chronology of Lincoln, Slavery, and Emancipation

1787

U.S. Constitution does not mention the word “slavery” but includes protections for the institution including the fugitive slave and three-fifths clauses.

1808

January: Congress prohibits the importation of slaves into the United States.

1809

February 12: Lincoln is born in Hardin County, Kentucky.

1816

December: Lincoln family moves to southwestern Indiana.

American Colonization Society is founded.

1820

Missouri Compromise prohibits slavery in Louisiana Purchase territory north of latitude 36º30'.

1828, 1831

Lincoln takes part in two flatboat trips to New Orleans.

1830

March: Lincoln family moves to Macon County, Illinois.

1831

July: Lincoln settles in New Salem, Illinois.

1833–38

Great Britain abolishes slavery throughout its empire.

1833

December: American Anti-Slavery Society is founded.

1834

Lincoln is elected to first of four terms in Illinois House of Representatives.

1837

January: Votes against proslavery legislature resolutions.

March: With Dan Stone, issues “protest” explaining their votes.

April: Moves to Springfield, Illinois.

October: Illinois Anti-Slavery Society is formed.

November 7: Abolitionist editor Elijah P. Lovejoy is killed by a mob in Alton, Illinois.

1838

January 27: Lincoln gives his speech “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions” at the Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield.

1841

July: Successfully argues case of Bailey v. Cromwell and McNaughton before Illinois Supreme Court, winning freedom for Nance Legins-Cox.

September: Encounters twelve chained slaves during a boat trip on the Ohio River.

1842

February 22: Gives a speech before a temperance society in Springfield.

November 4: Marries Mary Todd.

1846

August 3: Wins election to the U.S. House of Representatives.