Abraham Lincoln, American Prince: Ancestry, Ambition and the Anti-Slavery Cause

Abraham Lincoln's relationship with his mother and slaveholder grandfather, despite being rarely mentioned, shaped his belief in freedom and equality. He inherited his mother's qualities and revered his grandfather's role model, leading him to educate himself, stand for election, and oppose slavery.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 30 May 2022
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

The relationship between Abraham Lincoln and his two most influential ancestors, his mother, and the Virginia planter, a slaveholder, a shadowy grandfather he likely never met, is rarely mentioned in Lincoln biographies or in history texts. However, Lincoln, forever linked to the cause of freedom and equality in America, spoke candidly of the planter to his law partner, Billy Herndon, who recalled his words, "My mother inherited his qualities, and I hers. All that I am or ever hope to be, I get from my mother—God bless her." This vital two-generation relationship was nonetheless problematic. In Lincoln's boyhood, the planter was a figure he ridiculed while in his young manhood, the planter evolved into a role model whom Lincoln revered and associated with Jefferson's overdue ideal that all men are created equal. Thus galvanized by blood to educate himself, to stand for election, and to oppose slavery, Lincoln quit farming at age 22. This book explains how he thus followed an inherited family dream.

The relationship between Abraham Lincoln and his two most influential ancestors, his mother, and the Virginia planter, a slaveholder, a shadowy grandfather he likely never met, is rarely mentioned in Lincoln biographies or in history texts. However, Lincoln, forever linked to the cause of freedom and equality in America, spoke candidly of the planter to his law partner, Billy Herndon, who recalled his words, "My mother inherited his qualities, and I hers. All that I am or ever hope to be, I get from my mother—God bless her." This vital two-generation relationship was nonetheless problematic. In Lincoln's boyhood, the planter was a figure he ridiculed while in his young manhood, the planter evolved into a role model whom Lincoln revered and associated with Jefferson's overdue ideal that all men are created equal. Thus galvanized by blood to educate himself, to stand for election, and to oppose slavery, Lincoln quit farming at age 22. This book explains how he thus followed an inherited family dream.

Weight: 303g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476688121