The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War
by Thomas DiLorenzo

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Book Reviews of The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War

Book Review: Challenges Accepted Ideas about the American Civil War
Summary: 5 Stars

In truth, it should now be well-known that the war was about the right of states to secede from the Union, slavery providing the trigger.

The author's view is that slavery was opposed in the North because it undercut the job prospects of 'free' labour, not necessarily the altruistic motive we have been lead to believe.

But DiLorenzo digs deeper, arguing that the original federal-central debate - Jefferson vs Hamilton - was the real issue.

Lincoln, according to DiLorenzo was a believer in the Whig/Hamitonian agenda of a strong Federal Government dedicated to a mercantilist economic policy: high tariffs, a strong central bank, and subsidies for 'internal improvements' - such as the railroads.

Southern states represented the Jeffersonian agenda: free trade, small government, and no subsidies.

According to the author, Lincoln posed no threat to slavery when he won the presidential election of 1860 and, like most white people of his time, he believed that black people were inferior.

Even during the war, he believed black people should be encouraged to return to Africa.

The war, argues DiLorenzo, gave Lincoln the opportunity to introduce the Whig agenda, and alter the Constitution in favour of the a strong central government. In support of this policy, it was even argued - and continues to be argued, that a central government was deemed to have existed before the states.

DiLorenzo argues that George III signed a treaty with each of the thirteen states, and not a central government.

Conclusion: Jefferson lost, and he lost because Lincoln won.

You may not agree, but you will find this book a most stimulating read.

Finally, from a British perspective, think of Jefferson and Hamilton in an EU context: will the states of Europe take the same journey from being a confederacy to one in which Brussels is all powerful? We need to think hard on this issue, before it is too late.

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