“A masterwork [by] the preeminent historian of the Civil War era.”—Boston Globe Selected as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times Book Review, this landmark work gives us a definitive account of Lincoln's lifelong engagement with the nation's critical issue: American slavery. A master historian, Eric Foner draws Lincoln and the broader history of the period into perfect balance. We see Lincoln, a pragmatic politician grounded in principle, deftly navigating the dynamic politics of antislavery, secession, and civil war. Lincoln's greatness emerges from his capacity for moral and political growth.

Letting Lincoln's eloquent voice speak for itself, editor Michael Johnson has collected more than 180 of the writings and speeches that illuminate Lincoln's life and career, from his youth to his entry into Republican politics and through his presidency. Classics like the Kansas-Nebraska speech, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, and the Gettysburg Address, along with less familiar writings -- poignant letters to individual voters, notes to generals on military strategy, and stirring public speeches -- show the development of Lincoln's thought on free labor, slavery, secession, the Civil War, and emancipation. Johnson provides historical context by weaving an engaging narrative around Lincoln's own words, making this volume the most accessible collection of Lincoln's writings available.

Excerpt from Lincoln, Labor, and Slavery: A Chapter From the Social History of America This book has a two-fold purpose: First, to throw light upon the position taken by the working class and the international labor movement regarding chattel slavery; secondly, to indicate the attitude taken by one of the most famous characters in the struggle for the emancipation of the Negro, Abraham Lincoln, towards the labor question and the working class. The author's standpoint in the treatment of this subject is that of historical materialism, first brought into the science of history by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. According to this historical conception the political and intellectual phenomena of history stand in the most intimate relation with the economic and social events in society. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

An examination of the relationship between Abraham Lincoln's stance on labor and his opposition to slavery, shedding new light on one of the most prominent figures in American history. Schlüter's work challenges prevailing notions of Lincoln as a champion of social justice and exposes the contradictions at the heart of his political philosophy. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the intersection of labor and civil rights movements in American history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.