“Big Enough to be inconsistent: Abraham Lincoln Confronts Slavery and Race” written by George M. Fredrickson is a book where Lincoln is looked more beyond his freedom towards slaves. How The Proclamation of Emancipation came about and the overall look on why Lincoln did what he did when freeing the slaves.
The book first starts out with the author referring back to an article he had written about 30 years ago “A Man but not a brother Abraham Lincoln and racial equality.” Frederickson brings out many points on the real reason why he believed Lincoln freed slaves. He then states how many historians disagreed with back up points and how some of their reasons were debatable, so he thought. By Frederickson bringing up this article he brings to subject, Lincoln’s view on Slavery as either (in Fredericks view) an institution or a state of being apart from a different race.
As Frederickson began to write the book, none of his writings could have been completed without the inspiration of a great African American intellectual. He went by the name of W.E.B Du Bois. The author wrote the book to try and set a different view for everyone who believed Lincoln was a sincere, anti-slave, or pro racial equality type of man. Another reason was just to show people who saw Lincoln’s uncompromising racism. In addition it was to present Lincoln to either be looked at as a true believer of human equality or if he was just another American White Supremacist.
In the beginning of the book, Frederickson starts to bring in a meaning toward his writing, by stating Lincoln’s inconsistencies. How his hesitations in dealing with slavery were never certain. How he was “Big enough to be Inconsistent.” Even though Lincoln attracted novelists, poets, and political philosophers, and accomplished many things, including the end of slavery he had many difficulties overcoming it.
At first, he had many methods to bring an end to slavery, but he had two that he believed would be more effective over the other ones. The one he preferred most was the emancipation followed by compensation, meaning if the slave owners freed the slaves he would give them a reward. This was thought to be a great deal because the white men were going to have less mouths to feed. They were going to be able to have some sort of reward in return. Unfortunately, this method was not as effective as Abraham Lincoln had hoped for it to be. Many of the states that were loyal to slavery had their arguments about the whole situation. They had many reasons why they believed freeing slaves was going to lead to problems and was not going to satisfy the slave states. One was that without the slaves nothing was going to be able to be successful out in the field. Another was the fact that they were used to the idea of having African Americans as slaves. In addition they did not find much interest in freeing people that were doing their labor work for free. They were too lazy to do the work themselves because they knew they had someone else to do it, and they didn’t want to let them escape from their hands that easily. The white men looked at slaves as people that were born to fulfill the white man’s demands.
The second method Lincoln thought would be a successful idea was the voluntary colonization of freed blacks outside the U.S. Meaning, that if you were a slave from outside the United States then you would be able to come into the country. Then once you were in the country, you would be able to come into the country as a free person. After you would be aloud in the country, then you would have the privilege to colonize. Of course not everyone agreed with this idea. Many of the slave states greatly disagreed with the idea, so something else had to be done. This is where Abraham Lincoln came up with the solution that would end slavery forever.
Since many states were still rebelling over the slavery dilemma Lincoln intrigued The Proclamation of Emancipation, on January 1,1863. Finally slavery was over and the slaves were given the privilege to be free. Many slaves were excited and relieved, but many of them didn’t know what was next and what had to be done since they were so used to being a slave. Fortunately, time passed and they began to run their own lives and become an “All American” member. One thing they did have in common was the overall view they had on Abraham Lincoln. They all viewed him as the perfect friend a black man had ever had. That led them to a path of freedom. Overall Lincoln was the “The Great Emancipator” and had a successful overlook on what he had finally accomplished in his achievement.
As Frederickson gets more into the book he begins to bring up argumentative issues with other authors on Lincolns overall look in his time. The first author he brings up is Allen C. Guezlo whom wrote “Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation.” This was where Guezlo did agree that he was the “Great Emancipator” and that he was the best friend of the African American. With this view, Frederickson believes was not the most significant, he judges the end of the authors book with the description of the lament of Lincolns declining reputation among the Blacks in recent years.
Another author Frederickson brings up was Richard Strainer whom wrote “Father Abraham.” Strainer argues that Lincoln was “Delibertly Ambiguous,” just stating that Lincoln didn’t mean any racist jokes he made in the 1850’s. That the only reason was he was saying it was to “look good” in front of white men in Antebellum. In other words, means that Lincoln was forced to pander to white supremacist electorates as he tried to abolish slavery. Another reason was to stop the racial prejudice going on in that time. Strainer was just defending Lincoln and his actions while Frederickson was just trying to bring out the “bad” side of Lincoln, from what he had said.
The other author he brings an argumentative view was Lerone Bennett who wrote “Forced into Glory” In this book Bennett brings the “Great Emancipator” of the 20th Century by blacks. How the blacks viewed him as a “God,” and how many families had pictures of him adorned in their African homes. Bennett brings up a man by the name of Booker T. Washington that says Lincoln was the “the great man, the first American.” In other words they praised Lincoln sol much and didn’t look past all the work they had also accomplished on their own.
I enjoyed reading this book because of the argumentative ideas Frederickson brought up. How he brought up another side of Lincoln many people didn’t know about. Personally, I always viewed Lincoln as the Great 16TH President that believed “all men are created equal” and there had to be an end to slavery. It made me realize how Lincoln could have been a “two-faced” man just to bring benefit to himself. So in the end Frederickson accomplishes his purpose in writing this book because he had me thinking of Lincoln as another man. On how he could have either been the “Great President” that freed slaves and did something from the heart. Or he was just “The White Supremacist” out of all the white supremacist of the time.
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