American History, How much do you REALLY know?

Question

We happily celebrate Columbus Day when all he really discovered were the Indians that had ALREADY discovered America, and we celebrate Lincoln's Birthday when he freed the slaves (yes he did) but ONLY to save the union, not because his heart was so golden and he wanted to do what's right. Who can come up with another uncommonly known fact about our Country? Knowledge is power, so lets see how powerful YOU are.

Dave, believe it or not you would be surprised how many people don't know these two facts. Ask around. Thanks for answering.

Mr. Taco; I beg to differ. Lincoln HAD slaves as well. If you are against slavery, WHY would you have them????

You may have more knowledge than most Taco, but unless you have read EVERY document pertaining to the subject without being biased or objectionable, maybe you are are not the wiz you think you are either. Touche'

According to Horace Greeley in Lincoln's famous letter to him in which he wrote that "my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery, If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that."

Apparently what you two don't know is that I am an avid reader as well( I too went to college in the South no doubt!) Actually Lincoln never did free ALL the slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation only proclaimed the slaves in all territories held by the Confederates free, but didn't free any of the slaves in the North. It also did not apply to the border states and their 300,000 slaves. It was just a political move to get support in Europe and to encourage the slaves to rebel and cause trouble in the South.

Answer 1

Licoln did not start the civil war by giving African Americans the right to vote. ( I can not even imagine where that was read) African Americans were given the vote by the 15th amendment after the civil war 1869. 14th amendment gauranteed them citizen ship 13th ended slavery. The emancipation Proclomation Has come to be viewed, by many historians, as more of a tactic both military and political. The Civil War was initialy about the preservation of the Union.

here are quotes from the debate that clearly show Lincolns thought about the slaves:

From Lincoln-Douglas Debate, published by Haldeman-Julius Company, Girard, Kansas 1923

Page 44 "I have no purpose to produce political and social equality. I am not in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes or of qualifying them to hold office or allowing them to intermarry with white people...I have never had the least apprehension that I or my friends would marry Negroes, even if there was no law to keep them from it...I will, to the very last, stand by the law of this state which forbids the marrying of white people with Negroes."

Page 80 "I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgment, will forever forbid their living together in perfect equality: and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there should be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the supremacy.

Page 81 "I agree with Judge Douglas that he (Negroes) is not my equal in many respects, certainly not in color, and perhaps not in moral and intellectual endowment."

Answer 2

Columbus Day shouldn't be celebrated because he committed genocide in his search for gold. No person does something so huge for only a single purpose. It cannot be that the President of the United States freed the slaves only because he wanted to save the Union. Especially since it was he who started the Civil war by giving black people the right to vote! If he wanted to save the Union, he wouldn't have given blacks the right to vote! Yes, he did want to reunify the Union, but that was not his sole reason nor his main reason for freeing the blacks. Remember, South Carolina was the first to leave the Union and they only did so after threatening to rebel if the blacks were given rights. Lincoln was therefore fully aware of the consequences of giving blacks rights, yet he did it anyway! Thus, his main intention couldn't have been to unify the union because he was the one who deleberately passed a law which he knew would split the country! There is a reason why not so many people know ur two "facts," and that's because your "fact" that Lincoln freed the slaves only to save the country isn't a fact, it's an assumption based upon lack of education and lack of proper teachers knowing how to correct your "facts." Next time you want to mention a "fact," make sure it's a fact, don't just assume it is because you said it is and you think everyone else is stupid.

Answer 3

Indians didn't discover America, they lived here. Columbus didn't discover America, he discovered the Caribean Islands. Columbus never steped foot on American soil. ( Well, he did, Puerto Rico, but that didn't become part of the US until the late 1800s)

Linclon didn't own slaves, that's right. He didn't live in a slave state. He did want to end slavery, if not so much because he personally belived that slavery was wrong, for the country. The country was in termoil and slavery was the root of it.

Answer 4

New York City actually seceded from the Union prior to the Civil War just after South Carolina did. The Mayor and the City Council voted for secession in support of the economic links between the city and the south at the time.

They rescinded their votes once Ft. Sumter was fired on by the Confederates.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, what I know as an immigrant who just got my citizenship from the military, is far better than the average American who are ignorant of their own history. Now, not saying that this is every american, but most american do. Many didn't even know that the state of West Virginia exist since the civil war because the some of the residents wants to be with the south and some wants to fight for the north. What even more embarrasing is that I ask the question to some one who lives in Virginia. WOW!

Answer 6

We celebrate Columbus Day because he was the first of millions of europeans to set foot in america and their decendents make the laws in this country. As for Licoln I have a guestion for you .Why did tell the writer of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the little soul that made it impossible to tolerate slavery in the United States?

Answer 7

Actually, both of your points are wrong. You won't find a single reputable historian that believes this. The fact is that there are literally HUNDREDS of speeches and letters and personal concersations that were recorded in writing that show that Lincoln DID want to free slaves. That is the platform on which he ran for election in the first place, and that is WHY the south seceeded. His desire to save the union was his #1 priority, yes, but that does not mean he did not care about the slaves or think that slavery was ok. The few letters that suggest otherwise were usually lobby letters written to people who did not care about slavery, but from whom Lincoln needed support. You read his personal letters to his friends and family, or read his pre-President speeches, and you get an entirely different, abolitionist point of view.

As far as Columbus is concerned, what does "discover" mean? Webster defines it as "to make known or visible" or "to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time." Columbus DID discover the Americas. He made it known and visible and obtained knowledge of it for the first time for Europeans who did not know it was there. That is what discovery is. The natives that were already there did not discover it. You don't "discover" something that you know from birth is there. That said, I do not celebrate Columbus Day at all. Columbus was a tyrant who advocated slavery and eradication of the native population.

So I would have to argue, based on your own definition of power, that you are not as powerful as you think.

Lincoln never had slaves. Jefferson? Yes. Washington? Yes. Lincoln? No. You find a reputable history book that shows that Lincoln owned slaves, and maybe you got me. But let's say that you are right, for the sake of argument, although you are not. The fact is that he still didn't when he became president. The fact is that he still gave dozens of abolition speeches before becoming President. The fact is still that he wrote dozens of letters preaching against slavery. Even if at some point earlier in his life there were slaves in his possession, that does not prove your point about his presidency at all. I used to drink Mountain Dew when I was a teenager, but no one could call me a Mountain Dew drinker now, 20 years later.

You are also committing a very basic fallacy of logic in your reference to the "famous" Lincoln letter. You can't take one letter and ignore dozens of others, dozens of speeches, the Emancipation Proclamation, and literally hundreds of history books that show otherwise. Yes, he wrote that letter. Why? Because he had to garner support for the war from some people who could care less about slavery. End of story.

Two more things regarding your latest addition. 1. I never said you were not well read or stupid or anything of the sort. I said you were wrong. 2. You are slowly getting off topic. You yourself said in your original question that Lincoln freed the slaves. Now you are contradicting yourself. The question at issue was whether or not Lincoln freed slaves ONLY to save the Union. I never said he freed them all. He died before he could. You are still ignoring all the letters and speeches and abolition support that Lincoln supported. You are ignoring all the letters Lincoln wrote in regards to the Emancipation Proclamation. He didn't free the slaves in the north, it is true, but only because he couldn't risk losing support for the war. Every person that worked closely with him said after the war that he wanted to free them all, and this fact was essentially what was used to push forward the constitutional amendment that freed the slaves and gave them the right to vote. In any case, what you say about the Emancipation Proclamation is essentially true, but irrelevant to the question of Lincoln's overall intentions regarding slavery.

Answer 8

Good
America is by far the largest supplier of non-military Foreign Aid. ($122 billion)
The United States is not a Democracy, we are a Republic.
We are the only country to use a nuclear weapon in anger.
Northern Democrats were the founders of the KKK.

Answer 9

although it is a book about another topic entirely the best -objective- history lesson I have had recently came from the book:

The Edison Gene by Thom Hartmann

love, Love, LOVE it!


great perspective! Especially for the public school educated escapist like me!

Answer 10

Abraham Lincoln strengthened his party, the REPUBLICAN party of which he was a part of. The republican party was originally created as an anti-slavery group, clearly Abraham Lincoln had somewhat of an interest in ending slavery.