Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 416 pages
• Published by: University of Illinois Press December 1, 1994
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0252064453
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0252064456
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.3 pounds

Reader Reviews
The "prime goal" of this marvelous book by Gabor Boritt, Professor of Civil War Studies and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, "is the examination of [Lincoln's] economic persuasion, of how it broadly manifested itself in his political life, and how it affected American history." For many readers, a book about Lincoln's "economic persuasion" may seem pedantic, if not trivial, but Boritt demonstrates that Lincoln's economic views were central to his political philosophy. Had Lincoln not been an economic nationalist, he almost certainly never would have risen beyond being an unknown, provincial Illinois politician. As Boritt explains in the preface, Lincoln's "connections with political economy" "may appear to be dreadfully dull to some," but the author cautions that "it is indispensable." Lincoln first came to prominence in rural Illinois in the 1830s as an advocate for "better transportation - `internal improvements,' as Americans called it." As a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, Lincoln "supported the creation of many, though not all, private, river, canal, turnpike, and railroad companies." At the end of the first chapter, Boritt writes that Lincoln's "political activity was inspired, beyond the hope of personal or party gain, by a vision of endless material progress," which became the "American dream." Because Lincoln's origins were humble, he often is portrayed as a champion of the common man, but, as Boritt observes, for Lincoln, "banking was a special interest," and, in 1835, he supported a state bank because, according to Boritt, "the Illinois economy needed banking facilities above all to support internal improvements." By 1837, Lincoln was a member of the [Illinois] House Finance Committee, and, according to Boritt, he "made economics the most substantial part of his campaigning, legislative labors, and private studies outside (and not infrequently inside) his legal work." In an 1837 speech defending the state bank, Boritt writes that Lincoln "was giving voice to the prime element of his developing economic persuasion. The fact was that for the man who would rise, for the nations that would rise, banks were necessary." Boritt's assessment is: "Lincoln's involvement with improvements helped him reach convictions which played a crucial role during his presidency." According to Boritt, "the improvement episode helped make Lincoln a lifelong opponent of the localism and sectionalism that proved so destructive in Illinois." In the mid-1840s, when Lincoln was hoping to be elected to Congress, his "Whiggery was mainly economic oriented," and his acceptance of broad party principles "meant national economic goals." According to Boritt: "Lincoln's thinking...exuded nationalism." In Washington, he "desired large scale federal improvements, federally directed, at federal expense." "But in Congress Lincoln began to shift his attention from specific questions of economics" as a result of the Mexican War, which Lincoln opposed. In Boritt's view: "Lincoln's lack of enthusiasm about expansion may have been shortsighted in economic terms," but, according to Boritt, Lincoln appears to have believed that "[e]conomic development demanded peace." In the 1850s, according to Boritt, as Lincoln was "pulled...toward Republicanism," he continued to believe "the economics of prosperity, freedom, and this democracy." In several places, Boritt observes that Lincoln believed in the inevitability of material progress. In contrast: "Slavery was a relic of barbarism." In 1856, according to Boritt, Lincoln noted that the "`central idea' of America was equality." To Lincoln, in Boritt's view, "equality" meant "opportunity to get ahead in life." Boritt explains: "Since the central idea of America was economic, the measure of the nation's success had to be economic, too." In this respect, according to Boritt, Lincoln "institutionalized the American Dream - made it perhaps the most central idea of the nation," and slavery had to be extinguished because it "subverted the Dream." According to Boritt: "Lincoln could perceive America only through nationalist eyes....As Lincoln saw it, the nation was to become either free or slave, one or the other." During the 1850s, according to Boritt, Lincoln became increasingly absorbed with the slavery issue. Once elected president, according to Boritt, "Lincoln's eyes remained set on one foremost goal: stopping slavery extension in the name of the American Dream." According to Boritt: "Lincoln defended the Union on many occasions and in almost as many ways, but by far his most extensive and determined defense was a largely economic defense." In his annual message in 1862, according to Boritt, Lincoln declared that the "United States could not be broken up...because it formed am indivisible economic unit." In Boritt's view, "Lincoln's first important military act was essentially economic: the proclamation of a blockade of Southern ports....The adaption of economic policy to military strategy, thus began a few days after the fall of Fort Sumter, continued to Appomattox." According to Boritt: "Emancipation by itself ran counter to the President's policy of enticing Southerners back into the Union through economic means." Boritt writes: "Lincoln appreciated the need for an economic base for the former slaves." The employment of former slaves liberated by the circumstances of war, Boritt explains, "transformed the slave into a wage-earning free laborer." Nevertheless, in Boritt's view, Lincoln "failed to come to grips fully with the needs of the masses of blacks." In the final chapter, Boritt writes: "For Lincoln, unobstructed upward mobility was the most important ideal America strove for....Mobility was the ideal and slavery its antipode." For Lincoln, in Boritt's view, "the most `central idea' of the Union war effort was the preservation of man's right to rise.'" What, ultimately, is the connection between Lincoln's economic and political philosophy? I believe Boritt would say that Lincoln's economic nationalism made him a lifelong opponent of the localism and sectionalism, as well as a strong believer in economic opportunity. In one of this book's key passages, Boritt writes that "slavery was the supreme issue for [Lincoln] because he feared its extension would strangle the American Dream." After reading this book, no reader will doubt that, throughout his public career, Lincoln was a man ahead of his time.