All language subtitles for 20240322210957964

thank you

Mcclellan had fresh troops in reserve

could have used them to destroy Lee

instead he let him escape over the river to Virginia

we chased him out of Maryland

still a victory now I can release the proclamation now

on the first day of January

all persons held as slaves shall be then

then forward and forever free

where's Lee

Gettysburg may be the best chance to destroy his army

one big battle

what if Lee is thinking the exact same thing

and we're both looking at the end

there's more one way or the other

ladies and gentlemen some of you may have heard of him

his story has been passed down

from one generation to the next

poor score and seven years ago

he felt that democracy in its purest form

is for all people

all persons held as slaves shall be thanks

forward and forever free

but there's something deeper than what he did

it's about who he was

Lincoln grew up in poverty

haven't done anything to make anyone remember that

I ever lived he's living proof that Americans can rise

from security to power

with that wit and that charm and that intellect

it's better to stay silent and be thoughtful

than to speak up and remove all doubt

he has this deep sense of empathy

he takes the declaration of independence

all men are created equal

and turns it into a nation's moral compass

as the country is breaking apart

there's a turning point

where he's gonna have to take a stand

blood will be on your hands

blood is already on my hands

need to learn how to be a commander in chief

can't have a war to front

he was willing to admit he was wrong and to change

we can attack immediately

he was the right person at the right time

if we let this stand for one minute longer

we might as well say goodbye to the whole thing

union democracy

oh

in 1863 Lee swings north again

what he hoped was that

having moved swiftly into Pennsylvania

the Union Army would play catch up in a disorganized

and be draggled fashion and then he would have them

when Lee crossed into Maryland and then Pennsylvania

Lincoln was a static that Lee was in union territory

because he said this is our chance to badly

Lincoln believes that destroying that army would

in fact destroy the Confederacy

by the end of the day on July 1st

on the Gettysburg battlefield

the Union Army had taken a real shellacking

where the hell is sickles in the third core

find them no

from General Warren give it here

on the morning of July 2nd, 1863

Robert Lee makes the decision to test

both flanks of the Union Army

of Potomac at a place called Little Round Top

and on the second day of the battle of Gettysburg

Meade sends general Dan Sickles third core

off to the left flank sickles moved his

cord and created a gap in the union line

this opening creates his existential threat

Brigadier General Warren fears

Little Round Top may be exposed

what does that mean for the land

if Lee's army takes that hill

we might not stand a chance

during Gettysburg

Abraham Lincoln almost lived in the War Department

offices close to the telegraph operators

he was about as closely involved

in monitoring the operations of an army

in the field as maybe any president had ever been

you wonder what Lincoln had to show him up

emotionally and psychologically

as he went through

all these different decisions he had to make

and the crisis that took place

do you have news not of the battle

Mr President

reinforcements have been sent a little bit off

we don't know how old that information is

we have to wait and see Mr President

Mr President it's Mrs Lincoln

she was in the presidential carriage

they were going downhill when the seat came loose

and they lost control

is she alright

she had to jump in the carriage

it's a head injury ah

it looks like somebody removed the screws

the

fasten the driver's seat to the body of the carriage

somebody was trying to kill you sir

this is from general me

this is palmroy is tending to her

shall I tell her you'll be around we still got the hill

Mister President

tell Mrs Lincoln I'm sorry

I can't possibly leave now

ask Robert to go to her

all hell seem to be breaking loose

Lincoln was faced with the consequences

that someone had tampered with the carriage

in order to do him in

and his wife had become collateral damage

on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg

Robert and Lee would launch his 12,500 men across

nearly a mile wide field

and they would strike the union position

this comes to be known as Picket's Charge

it becomes a huge blood letting

the casualties melt

for both Confederate and union armies

as these men are storming the center of the union line

on and on about confusion

no certain information through July 2nd

through July 3rd

and while the battle of Gettysburg is going on

Ulysses S

Grant is now weighing siege to the Confederate army

inside of Vicksburg

Vicksburg was the last portion of the Mississippi River

the Confederates still held

everybody knows the importance of the Mississippi River

or commerce in military moves

and the primary goal of the Vicksburg campaign

is to open the Mississippi River

on July 3rd Lincoln will stay at the Telegraph office

spending all night waiting on reports from the army

general need

the battle has been successfully concluded

Lee's retreat

after Gettysburg Lincoln is thrilled with Meads

here we've had the first

decisive victory for the army of Potomac

over Lee's army this is a victory in no uncertain terms

unlike antidom

it is clear that the Union Army has won this battle

the patriotism in cheers

going in offices and in Washington

DC hardly any work gets done that day

the president gets serenaded at the White House

the idea that if it isn't the end

it is the beginning of the end

this is prevailing throughout the north

Gettysburg has been the largest battle of the war

up until that time

will remain the largest battle of the war

somewhere around 50,000 casualties

Lee has lost a third of his army on this venture north

and he has clearly been defeated

send this message to General Need

go after Lee's army now while they're vulnerable

imperative you attack before they cross the Potomac

Lincoln believes that the aftermath of Gettysburg

could have been the end of the army

in Northern Virginia

papa

oh

ah

how's your mother it

was a terrible fall

she's been asking for you

so we've won at Gettysburg

yes

but there's much work ahead

you're here

I overheard the doctor speaking to Mrs

Palmoy is it true that someone was trying to hurt you

don't you worry

you need to rest

with your life in danger

Mrs Lincoln

I'm sorry to interrupt sir

I just received a message from General Grant

Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg is ours

it's great Mars it's great

well we must congratulate grant

I had my doubts but he done it

any word for Mead progress is slow

he cannot leave a treat now

if Mead completes the work

the rebellion will be over

he has orders to attack now

doesn't he those are the orders

please stay with your mother

we must rest

he learns of the capitulation of Vicksburg

the same day as the last battle of Gettysburg

you can just see the joy on Lincoln's face

when he gets the news of Vicksburg

on top of Gettysburg and he said

it couldn't be better just couldn't be better

Lincoln had said early on

Zixburg is the key

the war can never be brought to a close

until that key is in our pocket

Ulysses says grant

deliver the key to Lincoln

this is a turning point in the war

Vicksburg and Gettysburg

to the high tide of the Confederacy

never again would they have that much initiative

never again would they have that much momentum

never again would they have that much numbers

after the victory of Gettysburg

Lincoln just assumed

that General Meade would be able to capture

General Lee's army and the war would be over

and telegrams had been sent to him

to make sure that Lee's army doesn't escape

George Gordon

Meade has filled almost every branch in the army

except for the Calvary arguably

one of the most qualified people to lead an army

but George Meade is a cautious man

so his pursuit of Lee is careful

when Lee's army retreats to the Potomac at Williamsport

he finds

the Potomac has been swollen by incessant floods

and Lee suddenly realized

he had no way to get across the river

The Army of the Potomac could close in on him here

and crush him

general

I've got orders from Washington to March and leave

but I won't do the damn thing

unless we can agree here

with a fighting chance to beat him

he's always whipped

ghosts are wounded we can take him General

a red deserter told us

Lee's army is still mostly intact

with plenty of fight left in them

probably planning a counter attack right now

he probably planted that deserted just to buy time

back to the river it's trap

trap could be for us alright

we'll hold on for now the general I said we'll hold on

yeah

what is Lee talking about

he says he'll attack the enemy tomorrow

unless some intervenes

this is the time he can't let Lee get away

but me

does not arrive at Williamsport for a number of days

and when on the morning of July 14th

he is finally ready to attack Lee

he finds that in the night

please engineers have improvised pontoons

the bridges

the materials have slipped away across the Potomac

back into Maryland back into Virginia

and they're gone

he was entrenched alright

now he's gone

his army escaped across the Potomac

Mead had him in his grass

how could that be

says they've driven the invader from our soil

driven the invader from our soul

will

our generals never get that idea out of their heads

the whole country is our soul

what does it mean

thou Mclenn

and thou mead

there's bad faith somewhere

our army held the war in the hollow of their hand

and yet they would not close it

I need a second opinion

General Meade

I am very

very grateful for the magnificent success at Gettysburg

but I am also

immeasurably distressed by the magnitude of misfortune

involved in Lee's escape

he was within your easy grasp

and to have closed upon him would

in connection with our other life successes

have ended the war

as it is the war will be prolonged indefinitely

maid was like an old woman

trying to shoot the rebels across a creek

it's not how we win this war

as it is the war will be prolonged indefinitely

it's very well direct

50,000 casualties Gettysburg alone

50,000 more of them on their side

they are all Americans

me did win the battle

with Vicksburg things have shifted in our favor

everybody is sick of this war

perhaps because of my proclamation

yes

but you will find the right path forward

don't worry

I won't send it

Lincoln writes this letter to Mead

which he never sends in which he says

this was your chance this was your opportunity

you had him

and yet you failed to end this war at this moment

he never gave up

the belief that war could have been ended

in the summer of 1863

when he found out that Lee's army had escaped

that was one of the lowest moments

of the war

because he felt we had victory within our grasp

it was in the hollow of our hands

and then it meant that the war was gonna go on

month after month year after year

Mcclellan had done this to him after antidom

he didn't wanna see me do it to him

he didn't wanna relive this experience

of so many dead Americans

not buying anything with their lives

in the north there was initially this idea

okay we've got to maintain the union

from most northerners the war

it wasn't about slavery

there was this idea among many people in the north

that this is a war we shouldn't be fighting

Lincoln has changed the character of the war

which now becomes about emancipation

along with this idea

means that it also opens up the opportunity

on January 1st, 1863

to now start to recruit African Americans

to serve in uniform

that they might fight for their own freedom

Frederick Douglas has been advocating to allow free men

and these now contraband enslaved men to join the army

and Lincoln agrees so

the Emancipation Proclamation

actually establishes the United States

color troops Lincoln has moved to understanding

and belief in what the nation could

and should be despite his own prejudices and concerns

when he starts

he is wise enough to know that he has them

and wise enough to know that his nation needs to move

beyond

the fear is if we have trained black men

who then have the potential to train other black men

we have insurrection and that's how the south viewed it

when they sent their response

to the Emancipation Proclamation

they issued it as

you have fomented insurrection among our Negroes

therefore any slaves who dared do this

they were caught we're gonna be put to death

and this LED Lincoln to issue his strong

retaliatory order against the Confederacy

Lincoln made the decision that

for every black person that was captured

who was being executed

that there would be one Confederate

that had been captured and would be executed

but Douglas is frustrated

that Lincoln is not really

enforcing his retaliation order

Frederick Douglas

understood that black man would fight with the power

because they're fighting for their own freedom

but they didn't get equal pay until 1864

they were not able to command their own units

those US color troops were commanded by white men

Douglas

was unhappy about the mistreatment of black soldiers

in the Union Army and so he said

I'm gonna go talk to the president

let me see what we can do

Mr Douglas

the president will see you right away

Mr President

I'm Frederick I don't know who you are Mr Douglas

Glad to see you

have a seat

I read your recent article about the tardy hesitating

vacillating

policy of the president of the United States

tardy and hesitating perhaps

but lastly

I tend to speak my mind now

I admire that

I expect it's what you're here for it is

Mr President when I persuade men to enlist

I wanna do it with my heart

but I cannot in good conscience

recruit for the Union Army any longer

first there was the issue of pay

now the retaliatory order

and your response is too little

too late my own sons are fighting

as if they have halters around their necks

how I am in a difficult position

Mr Douglas

if I could find the rebels

responsible for acting out those orders

I could execute them

but to kill just any captured rebel

you'll agree that

there's a difference between stating the principle

and putting it into practice

and had I issued the order any sooner

there would have been a public outcry

against the measure

but now that the

the black soldiers have proven themselves

and at Millikens Bend and and Fort Wagner

public opinions change it

oh

you see I had to wait

you say all this

but I hear only one word

wait

wait for equal pay wait for justice

when we're done waiting

what will be left of us

you're right Mr Douglas

but you must know

it will come

once I take a position I never retreat from it

hello

hello

pleasure to meet you

hello what's your name EMIA

emia beautiful name

hello how's it going

hello nice to meet you

no you're even taller than they say I am better looking

ah here you are

you had the rebels here this pass

so did you find a minute

I had three sons fighting them

they come home

two of them

thank you

you have done our country a great service

I'm sorry

Gettysburg will always remain a

kind of bright moment for Lincoln

a great victory just when it was so badly needed

and when in the wake of the battle

people at Gettysburg

begin planning for the creation of a national cemetery

for the fallen union soldiers there

they extended invitation to him to participate

and he agrees

a Lincoln very rarely strayed outside of Washington

DC

that he would take the trouble to come to Gettysburg

to speak said

a great deal about how important Gettysburg was to him

as a symbol

he arrived there on the November 18th

already the town was swollen with crowds

ten to 15 thousand people

packed into this little town of no more than 25

a great platform had been constructed

and the next day

crowd formed a great half circle around the platform

there was music there were choirs

United States Marine Band played

and the master ceremonies simply said

the president of the United States

four score and seven years ago

our fathers brought forth on this continent

a new nation

conceived in liberty

and dedicated to the proposition

that all men are created equal

now we are engaged in a great civil war

testing whether that nation

or any nation so conceived and so dedicated

can long endure

we are met on a great battlefield of that war

we have come to dedicate a portion of that field

as a final resting place

for those who here

gave their lives that that nation might live

it is all together feeling in proper

that we should do this

but in a larger sense we cannot dedicate

we cannot consecrate we cannot hello this ground

the brave men living in dead who struggled here

have consecrated it

far beyond our poor power to add or detract

world will little note

nor long remember what we say here

but it can never forget what they did here

it is for us the living rather

to be dedicated here

to the unfinished work

which they who fought here have thus far

so nobly advanced

is rather for us to be

here dedicated

to the great task remaining before us

that from these honored dead

we take increase devotion to that cause

for which they gave their last full measure of devotion

we here

highly resolve

that these dead shall not have died in vain

that this nation

under god shall have a new birth of freedom

and the government of the people

by the people

for the people

shall not perish from the earth

this tiny little speech 272 words

yet it

distilled

all of the truths that he'd been thinking about

including the tragic truth that a great many brave

young men on both sides

killed each other to make this a better country

and the best way to honor their sacrifice

is to recognize that democracy

in its purest form is for all people

no matter what their their background is

Lincoln took people to the past

to 1776 and the declaration of independence

and its proposition then to the present

to this great civil war that we are engaged in

testing whether that nation

or any nation so conceived and so dedicated

can long endure

and the proposition that all men are created equal

irrespective of their birth

their class their nation

their religion their language

can a nation dedicated to that proposition really

really seriously survive

and with this crucial phrase

a new birth of freedom he was signalling

not only the Emancipation Proclamation

but he seemed to be confessing a new birth

of something inside of him too

a little bit like a religious rebirth

you see

a Lincoln who is dragging his feet about slavery

at the beginning of his presidency was

in fact promising not to touch it where it existed

and was always disappointing

Frederick Douglas or

or white abolitionist is now moving pretty quickly

Lincoln has changed the character of the war

it now becomes an idea of emancipation

there were so many people dying from

being killed on the battlefield

and from the illnesses that people had

that there was an aura of sadness

and stress that Lincoln was under

for the entire time of the war

Lincoln is experiencing the losses on the southern

side of this equation in his own family

because Mary's family came from the south and her

her people were fighting on the Confederate side

Mary's sister Emily

has lost her husband Ben

whom Lincoln was very close to

he was in the Confederate Army

and she comes to visit Washington in the winter of 1863

so where are you visiting from

this is hell my daughter and I were living in Felma

Alabama Alabama

yes

her husband was killed at Chickamauga

my condolences he was a soldier

a Confederate general

well I heard we whip the rebels so good at Chickamauga

running like scared little rabbits

perhaps

they were following the example of your brave federals

at Manassus

ah Mister President

I see your sister in law has quite a sharp tongue

well she is tired

after all

but tell me again why Robert isn't fighting

because I won't let him

I value education above all else

General Tods have suffered a great deal in this war

it's not a war it's a rebellion

I only have the one son and he's fighting

even if I had 20

they'd all be out there fighting the rebels

rest assured senator

if I had 20 sons they would all be opposing yours

you Yankees talk about freedom

but take ours you rap stole freedom

but you keep slaves honestly

Mr President I don't know why you let a woman like this

in your house general circles

my wife and I are

quite capable of choosing our own guests without Neil

he's able to see what the war is doing

to the southern people to feel that himself

in a way that a lot of people in the border states did

cause they had families that were divided

so that empathy

that he always feels for other people's points of view

that's in him as a child is amplified

in a way by having to experience Mary's pain

when her sister comes

it just gives him an extra dimension that

I think allows him to understand what's happening

on all sides of the country

and Robert from the very outside of the war

had wanted to serve

this was a battle between Abraham Lincoln and his wife

she had already lost a son

before they came to the White House

after she lost Willy she was even Wilder because Robert

he was determined to enlist

Mary put a stop to it

told his father he could not allow this

Lincoln is trying to balance

a lot of different pieces of the puzzle

after Vicksburg after Gettysburg

he's elated to some extent he

he sees that it's it's possible that the war may

may be able to come to an end

we tend to think of the Civil Wars

decisive areas in the east

but the west arguably was more decisive

and out of the west arose one General

Ulysses Grant

Grant was almost everything that Mcclellan wasn't

he was very very aggressive

grant believe

that you had to pummel the south into submission

because they had proven

that they were not gonna give up

now in the western theater

the army of the Cumberland

will lose at the battle of Chickamauga

will be driven back into Chattanooga

Confederate army will advance and cut them off

to rescue that army

the responsibility is given to Ulysses S

Grant

he will counter attack and drive the Confederates back

now opening invasion to the Deep South

Grant's ability

to combine the activities of three armies together

is really the last metric that Lincoln needs to go

that's the man we need to run the war

and he will bring him east in March of 1864

to be anointed

the first lieutenant general of the Regular Army

the first since George Washington

Ohio isn't it

yes sir

spent time in Missouri too

oh what did your father do

he was a Tanner Mr President of the old tannery

can't say I liked it much

the smell

oh yeah

I shot a Turkey as a boy oh

I hated it vowed never to do it again

so you don't care for the smell of blood

and I don't like the sight of it

yet here we are

and he worked around animals

you know as well as anyone

a quick end is far better than a long and painful one

some of my generals don't seem to understand

that philosophy

now I've been studying for a while now

general

discuss various plans with palakinstein

I'd like to start with a campaign and engage president

I appreciate all this but I have my own plan

we have better numbers

better artillery and control ports

and we're also fighting for the better cause

what we must do is attack from these positions

all at once

army of the Potomac will march on Lee

in central Virginia

but we'll move on from the

James Sherman will move into Georgia

and Seagull work to Shenandoah cutting off supplies

yes

pin them down on all sides

anybody who can't do the skinny will hold a leg

I believe that will give you the quick hand you want

what I have heard promises before from my generals

maybe so sir

but I mean it

I have no desire for this war to go on

a minute longer than it has to

but we have that in common

I have a feeling I won't be needing it anymore

Abraham Lincoln goes through six generals

before he finds Ulysses S

Grant they're both from the Midwest

they're both incredibly practical

they quickly adapt

he lists as grant as a man who takes responsibilities

and doesn't ask for any more than he can give

I think in that sense

they see the world very much the same

the idea that somebody is rebelling

and gonna tear the nation apart

this grant has no time for neither does Lincoln

Lincoln

really appreciated the way grant thought about war

to grant wasn't a gentleman's game

point of war was to win

grant attaches himself to the army of Toman

and at the beginning of May 1864

they fight a vicious battle

in the wilderness of Spotsylvania Courthouse

in northern Virginia as grant begins

what becomes known as his Overland Campaign

I love to stay here

oh my God

sir

should I instruct General Hancock to fall back

no

I'm gonna send his core in and assault him at the angle

all 20,000 sir

of course sir I'll let him know

and Washington is waiting for any news

I don't have news

the president himself is asking sir

send this

yes sir

and the battle was Pennsylvania courthouse

there was such a mass of blood

letting you see some of the worst

and most deadly fighting of the American Civil War

hand to hand combat you have utter viciousness

on a level that had not been previously

even seen in the eastern theater

what does grant write

are there many casualties

there are great many casualties eh

I write he proposes to fight it out on this land

if it takes off summer

but he's not gonna come back until it's done

100,000 casualties roughly

occurred in the span of six weeks time

between the union and Confederate armies

this brings the northern war effort to its knees

the losses that are suffered

the casualty figures

he says if there is a worse place than hell

I am in it and he wondered out loud to others

whether he would live very long beyond the war

given how much the war taken out of him

after the overland campaign

Wilderness Spotsylvania

North Anna Cold Harbour

this is a campaign in the eastern theater

Lincoln hopes will help him win the election of 1864

however as those casually lists are going home

voters are seeing those casually lists

and you'd have to ask yourself

is Lincoln closer or further from winning the election

arguably he's further

he can't sustain these kind of casualties

grant sent those men to their death

well he's the first real general

I've had so many boys he just throws them in

well then there must be a smarter way to win it

to achieve a victory than through cold blooded murder

what are you trying to tell me

I don't blame you

glad to hear it

but I am thinking of all the young men out there

and a robber

is Robert gonna be a soldier

no

I know he'll ask you again

and what can I tell him

other men in Washington have son frightened

but other women haven't lost two sons already

please don't let him go

the pressures that Lincoln is under

in that period are enormous

he couldn't sleep at night

and his only solace was to be able to pardon soldiers

somehow by being able to pardon a soldier

who was going to be killed

or hanged for having run away from battle

or having fallen asleep on pick a duty

he would know the happiness

that the pardon would bring to his family

and it would give the soldier a second chance

to get his respect back

go back in the army and have served his cause

after Cold Harbour Grant changes his approach

crosses over the James

will threaten both Richmond and Petersburg

it will now have to turn into a siege

if he can pin Robert Lee down

Robert Lee who can't maneuver

is not a dangerous Robert Lee

now Lee understands that

he had to do something to put pressure on the north

on June 13th, 1864

Robbie Lee unleashed major general Jubal

Early up the Shenandoah Valley

if the Confederates could threaten Washington DC

it would force Ulysses S

Grant to pull union troops from their efforts

around Richmond and Petersburg

it's a very very scary moment for the north

and so Lincoln goes to Fort Stevens

to inspire not only his troops

but the north that was more and more down on the war

he really could have been shot

so

for Lincoln to go up there and actually expose himself

reveals that old frontier guts

there was a side of Lincoln that was fearless

hey gentlemen

so boys

oh

hey we should be far enough removed from the rebels

but we'll start the battery soon enough

soldier sir

is that a Springfield uh yes sir

68 caliber uh no

it's the 58 with the wrath of barrel

and it's more accurate to distance sir

oh how accurate

you can hit some maybe 500 yards sir

that far yes sir

don't take it now take off my head move move

are you okay

Mr President let's go

come on if you don't come down

then I'll order you an ambulance

and push you out of here please

Mr President alright alright

Lincoln rides out to Fort Stevens

while he is their Confederate

sharpshooters come from the north

and attack this fortification

and bullets were whizzing by him

standing up as a very tall target

and being possibly shot

it shows you his incredible courage

and that story got out

and it really inspired a lot of people

at an extremely low moment in the war

the mood of the north is really discontulate

in the summer of 1864

despite the victory in Gettysburg the year before

grant is stuck on his way to Richmond

the raid on Washington has shocked people in the north

and the Republican leaders come to Lincoln

and they tell him

there's no way you're gonna win this election

next November

there is anti war sentiment growing in the north

many northern Democrats

don't believe that the war is worth waging

at all and they certainly aren't on board emancipation

Henry Raymond

the chairman of the Republican National Committee

goes to C Lincoln

Beautiful Day

if the elections were held today

you'd be beaten in nearly every state yeah

so these are the glad tidings that you bring me

there is something you can do to change the tide

but you might not like it

people still believe

the rebels are willing to negotiate peace

with reunion the only thing standing in the way

your man's patient not true

Jeff Davis won't budge on independence

for his Confederacy I know that

you know that the people don't

what if you negotiate that

upon restoration of the union

war will cease it once all remaining questions

including slavery

will be resolved later so force Davis to say no

then

people will see that emancipation isn't the problem

that's the idea

don't think I haven't thought of that myself

does he always follow this close

oh

only when I'm with a suspicious character

if I turn my back on the black soldiers now

I will be damned in time and eternity

I understand the political merit of your idea

but I will keep my word come up now

oh your word may cost you the election

Henry Raymond says

every state that we need is against you

you're gonna lose Pennsylvania

you're gonna lose New York

you're gonna lose everything

there's no way you're gonna win the election

this November unless

you are willing to bring the south to peace talks

on the basis of restoring the union alone

and leaving emancipation for a later time

his entire life is now wrapped up

with bringing this war to a just conclusion

and the ultimate liberation of black

people on American soil he has climbed a steep mountain

and you can't go down all you can do is keep going up

Lincoln is getting a lot of pressure and criticism

she calls Frederick Douglas to the White House

the playing truth is

that I'm likely to lose this election

are you so sure the Democrats will nominate Mcclellan

then if he wins everything I've done will be undone

he'll sue for peace and that will be the end of the war

and of emancipation of your people

and some people in my own party

would have me turn my back on emancipation

to win the election well sir

I can tell you this

black soldiers won't fight

if freedom isn't at the end of it

and they shouldn't I wouldn't

now I want to get as many slaves as possible to freedom

in the case I lose frankly

I was expecting more to make it to our lands by now

once the proclamation got out

it's a fair bet they don't know about it

masters know how to keep their slaves in the dark

this is exactly what I sent for you

I'm asking you to organize a band of scouts

something like old John Brown had in mind

they could go into rebel states

encourage slaves to escape into our union lines

then we can protect them once the worst happens

what do you say

Mr President

I'm for freedom anyway we can get it

what came out of that meeting was

Douglas saw for the first time

Lincoln's hatred of slavery

Douglas writes an elaborate plan about sending an army

of kind of missionaries into the Deep South

to spread the word about emancipation

because if a Democrat wins the presidency

he will cancel the Emancipation Proclamation

Democratic Party nominates Mclaughlin

good old Mclaughlin comes back

to be his opponent in this election

and the platform of the Democratic Party is really

a compromise platform it's almost peace at any price

there's more at stake in this election

then there had been any other election

up to this point he wanted a second term

he said he wanted the second term

even more than the first because

it would be an endorsement of his administration

and he could get

to finish the job that he wanted to do

and then William Sherman takes Atlanta

and suddenly the northern mood is void

Sherman broke the backbone of the Deep South

the tide turns in northern public opinion

and people start to feel good about possibilities

of the war and that it might end soon

he realizes that the prospects for the northern victory

at that time were much

much greater then they had been the summer

but still for Lincoln

it was a very anxious moment

if he loses that election

it would be much more than a personal blow

it would be in a calamity for the country

and the fear is

that the soldiers have loved Mcclellan all along

and will vote for him

steal nothing from granted Petersburg

the siege may take months yet

we need something big out of grants

if we wanna win this damn election

I don't like our chances against Mcclanet

people are fickled

Atlanta's already starting to fade in their minds

hey I hear my boy Ted paid you a visit with his uh

with his pet Turkey yes sir

that's right

chase that Turkey all over the place

oh well

I asked him uh

he'd be voting alongside you boys

what a tat say sir

well he said no Paul he's not of age

thank you boys

thank you sir thank you

this is hardly the time for jokes

I'm not joking

need to make sure soldiers like those can vote sir

just because these Pennsylvania boys like you

they live here of course they like you

they believe in the war yes

but against Mcclellan

he did build the army of Potomac

and now he makes a mistake betting against it

Democrats want the war to end

because they say we can't win it nobody wants to lose

especially the soldier

that's why I want as many of them to vote as possible

I'd rather lose those soldiers behind me

than get re elected without them

like I'm why you share them and all the generals

tell them to allow leave

to any soldiers who want to vote

especially in the border states

make sure that the uh

furloughs are granted liberty to

and if you're wrong

they'll never put us in charge same as white officers

and go ahead and light

do you think about that James

we're fighting the same as anyone

no reason why we shouldn't be commissioned

Michael J

sir you two fleet wooden baby

you got orders prepare your man to attack debris

yes sir

come on man

alright grant has laid siege to Petersburg

and Lincoln gives grant his orders

he tells him to go after Lee

and chew and bite and hold on

with a bulldog grip he says

he turns into a major stalemate

grants armies are squeezing the Confederacy

and trying to get to Richmond

during the Petersburg Campaign

General Benjamin Butler is one of the first generals

who started using black troops to help him

in sort of way when they were

quote unquote contraband

so he decides

he's going to put some of his black troops

front and center

Lincoln

has developed a real appreciation of black people

serving in the Union Army

he says

we will all remember that there were some black men

but their baronets and their steel hearted eyes

who help mankind to preserve the republic

all of them understand that it is their opportunity

and their moment to show themselves as men

worthy of freedom and citizenship

not just for themselves but for their families

and that becomes the driving force

the stakes were very high

because when the Confederacy encounters black

Union Army soldiers

they don't want to treat them as prisoners of war

they want to treat them as escaped slave

rebels and kill them or sell them back into slavery

do you ever get scared leave and be baby

be stupid not to be

that's what I'm saying

I kept thinking about for a pillow

what do I get captured

that's an easy one

don't get captured

Captain Asda

go

1

Happy New Year Happy New Year

they are being mowed down with artillery and gunfire

many of their officers died

and when their officers were killed

the sergeants took over

sergeant major Christian Fleetwood

would see the colors go down

he would grab them and rally his men

1st sergeant Pahat

and baby would take command of his company

his knapsack was shot off

his hat was shot off

the sole of one of his shoes was shot off

miles games

his arm mangled by Confederate shot

load and fire his rifle with one arm

of the 25 African Americans

that would receive the medal of honor

during the Civil War 14 of them were awarded

at the battle for New Market Heights

including Christian Fleetwood

including Pohat and Baidey and including Miles James

there will be about 180,000 African American men

free and enslaved who will join the US Army

representing about 10% of the Army

Lincoln even says that

that added 10% will make the difference in the war

after the battle for New Market Heights

the Confederates would treat up

the road and set up another defensive line

and as fall of 1864 approaches

rant continues to be stalemated

outside of Richmond and Petersburg

and Lincoln is in doubt

whether or not he can win the election

pass that

from 40 in Philadelphia says

we're gonna win by 10,000 in Pennsylvania

morning he's always excitable

this one says Baltimore goes Republican

that can only mean you're winning

I'm far from being certain John

I wish I was certain

really says we'll have New York

New York

and now Indiana

you can't deny it

you did it

you did it boys

Lincoln is elected in an electoral landslide

and he wins

with the twin goals of union and emancipation intact

because of his courage that terrible summer

when he thought he might lose the election

but was unwilling to sacrifice emancipation

in order to do so it's a great moment

what has happened over time

is that people's attitudes toward adding emancipation

as a goal to the restoration of the union

has increased that's what a leader does

that's what events do that's what movements do

they change public sentiment

and the extraordinary thing is

that seven out of the 10 soldiers vote for Lincoln

they know that they may be extending the war

they know they may be sacrificing their lives

but by then they believe in the cause

they believe in Lincoln

and they're willing to give their lives for the cause

that they now believe in

and a lot of

that comes from the fact that he had met these guys

and talked to these guys

I don't know that we ever had someone

leading our nation

that had the depth of skill that he has

call it political savvy call it statesmanship

call it just plain common sense

whatever it is Lincoln has it

and part of that is

to show his commonness with the soldiers

show them that he's he's one of them

after the election

Sherman is really making swift progress

as he and his army march across the south to the sea

and it's there that Lincoln really sees

that the end of the war must be upon them

and he worries that if the war is over

the Emancipation Proclamation

which is an executive order

may no longer be valid

because he's using military necessity

as his cover for doing it

and that's when he begins to champion

the 13th Amendment to end slavery forever

we need to start thinking about after this ends

are you talking to him or me

Mr President you must remain still

yes of course

I'm gonna revisit the amendment

we won't seat in the house

you have a better chance now than ever before

for I will need to sway a few Democrats

why not wait till the rebellion is over

Mr President my apologies

an amendment to the Constitution

winds the whole thing up it's done forever

but we'll need at least five to go our way

you'll need to offer them something real

well

perhaps I have a longer reach than you realize

Lincoln believed that

the Founding Fathers had meant for slavery to end

but that

they didn't believe that they could just end it

overnight that it was like a cancer so widespread

you might not be able to cut it out

without damaging the patient

but you can find ways to contain it

but by this time

he's not asking for the consent of the people

he's not asking for colonization

he's not asking for anything gradual

we can do that saying now the war is over

you guys go back be slaves was a non starter

that the Emancipation Proclamation was a fitting

necessary war measure but when the war was over

it was no longer a legal measure

and this is why you need the 13th Amendment

you have to change the Constitution

you've got almost 4 million people who are enslaved

and there was nothing to prevent Southerners

from reestablishing slavery

in the south unless the 13th Amendment was issued

he realized that something had to be done

that was permanent and so

he is determined

that this amendment is going to pass Congress

and it does

he came to recognize the inconsistency

that a nation conceived in liberty would have slavery

to the extent

that America has any kind of standing in the world now

isn't part

the consequence of people knowing about Lincoln

and his views on slavery and his views on freedom

he has evolved in his thinking

and it's the war that has done it

by the time the 13th Amendment came along

war was dragging on and on

more Americans died in that war than any other

both sides

and a lot happened to him and to the whole country

by that time

he seen the death

he's experienced extreme personal loss early in the war

with the death of Willy

all of this has moved him

and he's carried the weight of a nation on him

wow

I love you

all these people wiped out by the war

he must write letters

consoling those who had lost members of families

fathers brothers

and all of this grinds him down

you see it in his face

the hollows of his cheeks sink more deeply in

he said at one point

that there was a tired spot in him

that no amount of rest could touch

those photographs are haunting

etched on his face is a testimony

a record of the stress that he endured

I every president ages during the presidency

but nothing like Lincoln

three or four years after he assumes office

it gives you a sense of the burden that he was carrying

how can any human being

accept the casualties that were piling up

and take personal responsibility

without resigning

or killing yourself over this tragedy

unless you could find a higher power

that was instrumental in causing the war to go

on for so long and Lincoln writes a memo to himself

that is

become known as a meditation on the divine will

if god will let this contest continue

it will continue it must be divine Providence

forcing us to have this bitter confrontation

over the future of our country

but Lincoln never joined the church

he was not a believer in organized religion

as he prepared for the second inaugural address

he wanted to make clear to everybody that he

Lincoln understood

that the war had been a war to free the slaves

and not just a war to save the union

and

he wanted to make sure that everybody understood that

slavery was done forever in the country

fellow countrymen

four years ago

all thoughts were anxiously

directed to an impending civil war

all dreaded it

all sought to avert it

neither party expected for the war

the magnitude or the duration

which it has already attained

both read the same Bible and pray to the same god

and each invokes his aid against the other

and Douglas was there in the front row

listening to Lincoln's inaugural address

there's a great photograph that shows Lincoln

at the lectern Douglas with his big hair

that's how you can recognize him

and in the balcony is John Wilkes Booth

yet if god wills that it continue

until all the wealth

piled by the bondsmen's 250 years of unrequited toil

shall be sunk

and until every drop of blood drawn

with the lash shall be paid by another

drawn with the sword

what you see in the Second Inaugural

is not a certainty of victory

but a certainty of the rightness of the struggle

an almost biblical righteous

prophetic vision of why the struggle was necessary

as was said 3,000 years ago

so still it must be said

the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous

all together

his consciousness of something bigger than himself

and the need to recognize that a form of pain

had existed in America for generations

before he came along and would not instantly be solved

it's a statement of the need to rewire the country

to change its moral axis he's now telling a new story

about what America should be

who are we what do we believe in

with malice toward none

with charity for all

with firmness in the right as god gives us

to see the right

let us strive on to finish the work we are in

to bind up the nation's wounds

to care for him who shall have born the battle

and for his widow

and his orphan

to do all

which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace

among ourselves

and with all nations

you know what I mean

where do you think you're going in there

like anybody else come on

what are you

Douglas

is there a problem no Mr President

well I saw you in the crowd today

anxious to hear your thoughts

I thought it was a secret effort

I'll make sure to tell you

read it haha

my dude

but you should know Mr Landon I won't let up

you'll be hearing a lot from me

I figured this version

yes

you and my friend Frederick Douglas

it's not a friendship

it's mostly adversarial for most of the war

Douglas certainly didn't like the way Lincoln behaved

in terms of what he saw as his slowness

but he did have respect for the man

I think Lincoln's vision that America could be

for anyone who was willing to love her

and give it a chance should be open to anybody

he predominantly meant that as white people

at the beginning of the war

but by the end of the war

he had a very different point of view

I think

no one was more surprised by Lincoln's transformation

as Douglas was

Frederick wanted the Civil War to be a crusade

to rid the country of this evil institution of slavery

and I think by the time

you get to Lincoln's second inaugural address

you can hear in his words

a lot of what Frederick Douglas had been fighting for

and Frederick Douglas's influence over Lincoln

we can credit Frederick Douglas

and the abolitionist for pushing Lincoln

and not accepting his gradual ideas

about how slavery should end

Lincoln said don't call me a liberator

it was the anti slavery movement

and the union soldiers that did it all in

March of 1865 Lee's army is trapped in Petersburg

Sherman's now eating the innards out of the Confederacy

there are food shortages

the Confederate army and the civilians of the south

more starving in the final weeks of the Civil War

Grant invites Lincoln to his headquarters

near City Point Virginia

he's in constant communication with grant

and his son Robert is on Grant's staff

and he wants to see Robert

Robert

Lincoln's older son from the very outside of the war

had wanted to serve in the early weeks of 1865

Robert's wishes prevailed

and Lincoln not only allowed him to enlist

he assigned him to the staff of Ulysses S

Grant and so Lincoln goes on a boat trip

he's the commander in chief of the entire military

in the final weeks of very difficult war

and he leaves the White House

to live on an ordinary boat

at City Point he really loved it

he was happy to get away from Washington

I think

it might have reminded him of his teenage years

as a flat boat builder and pilot

in those long trips down the Mississippi River

and

it's important to Lincoln to get near the front lines

in Virginia in the final weeks of the Civil War

you look good

suit ya

I'm glad you convinced mother it wasn't easy

General Grant

head over to Patrick Station

and you can review the prisoners

these are uh

mostly rebels

mostly

he's running out of options

yeah

Mister President

when Lincoln comes to meet Grant City

Point Sherman comes up

and they have a meeting aboard the River Queen

and it's there that Lincoln really sees

that the end of the war must be upon them

I must thank you for your heroic efforts

I am much obliged to you both

thank you Mister President

but the war is not over

we can retreat to the Carolinas

maybe join forces with Johnston

and stage another attack

can we avoid this no

there will be at least one more bloody battle

before the war come out

when it's over I want peace

I have no interest in retaliation or retribution

the rebels will be returned home unarmed

that's assuming they go peacefully

sir I have seen these people

I have been watching them in Atlanta

Columbia faithful they are angry

rightfully so they have been shamed

they have been starved their land has been looted

their cotton burned

who do you think they're gonna blame for all of this

you let them alone

you let them have their horses to play with

and their guns to shoot crows with

I want no punished

we want those people to return to the union

and to submit to the laws

there's been enough bloodshed

Lincoln's not willing to have

anything less than emancipation

and complete dissolution of the Confederate armies

what about the Confederate officials

let them go into exile Lincoln says

we don't want trials we don't want hangings

we want to reconstruct the country

and we want it to be done on the basis of some peace

and some and some generosity

a new country is about to take shape here

a country without slavery

he's certain that slavery should end

and he does everything in his power

to make sure that happens

with the passage of the 13th Amendment

but

he is not quite ready to pull the trigger on Equality

that he is not willing to do

because he knows that

at a time when there's been so much loss

to pull that trigger maybe too much

so he starts saying

let him up easy is what he tells grant

then that sort of becomes mantra

let him up easy

we've already fought the war

we've already determined that succession is not legal

to continue to punish the south

is to continue to look back

and not to look forward but that

letting them up easy

translated to no real accountability

for these actions

on April 2nd the Union Army

drives Confederate forces out of Richmond in Petersburg

if ever there was a hope for the Confederacy

to have its independence

it couldn't give up its capital

that was the ultimate signal and warfare of that day

that your country was lost

the Confederates are forced to evacuate Richmond

and flee westward

Lincoln determines to walk the streets of Richmond

and I'm gonna walk through these streets

because the president of the United States

can walk through the streets

safely of a city of the United States

it's all one country again

but there are buildings on fire

there's the sound of guns off in the distance

it's extremely dangerous

and people begin to figure out who he is

and it's a chilling moment

because it is a group of people

he means a great deal to it is African Americans

who have lived their entire lives in Richmond

as enslaved people

and they are no longer enslaved

and they gather around him

thanking him with intense emotion

and Lincoln said I'm so happy to see all of you

you are as free as air

Liberty is your birthright

now please use it and enjoy it

now better forces are on the retreat

union army of the stomach has been in siege

now for almost nine or 10 months

and yet with a drop of a hat

this now professional army

they go into the pursuit

this is a relentless campaign

there's very little sleep

a lot of night marches

they are not getting rations on either side

and the day after the battle of Sailor's Creek

Lee's army has been badly destroyed

several of his generals including one of his sons

has been taken prisoner of war

that was kind of the end of

of Lee's army

in terms of its fighting capacity and fighting force

we don't have exact records of how often

Lincoln visits hospitals

but there was no shortage of hospitals to visit

we live with the Civil War's wounds

and the wounds that inflicts on its people

decades upon decades afterwards what a price we paid

and all of the weight of that

is daily

the accompaniment that walks beside Abraham Lincoln

be a good cheer boys

at the beginning of the end at last

how do you do

God bless you

what do you do

oh surgeon told me about

you said you were quite brave on that feed

appreciate you very much

here you go make sure you do

he was making that connection with the soldiers

and somehow then they felt that he felt their pain

he understood what they were going through

and he believed in them and his belief in them

then confirmed their belief in themselves

very good

how are you feeling today

I fought for Virginia

oh that's fine

you were

you were farmer

how I grew up

I often wonder how we got to this place

I had it my way

this war would have never commenced

God bless you

this thing is gonna be over soon

and I like to be able to say

I should to him when I have the chance

well

of course

pleasure is all mine

God bless you

miss present yes

it's Dr Sue it's been an accident

how does he fair

secretary staff

and request your presence in Washington right away

of course

thank you

mother

we must go

thank you boys

God bless you

we will never forget you

father

Mr Lincoln's here

thank you Fred

and back from Steadman

Brent is close it's close to the finish

I hope I live to see it

doctor says he expects a full recovery

and why did you come so quickly

you've been so concerned about my safety

you should have been concerned about your own

who could have predicted that

my carriage would be more dangerous than your enemies

from General Grant

got you

generally surrendered

the army of Northern Virginia this afternoon

it's over

now finally we save the union

surrenders come and a lot of blood toil

sweat and tears

he was relieved greatly relieved

on the morning of April 9th

Lee's army was just west of a small village

called Appomatics Courthouse

and Lee thought that

he only had union cavalry in front of him

and they actually launched a battle

on the morning of April 9th

and the Confederates are essentially surrounded

and so Lee will send a note to grant

acknowledging that the time has come to surrender

his army when he asked grant

what would be your terms of surrender

grant has an answer because grant and Lincoln

they've already talked it through

officers can keep their sidearms

because Confederates brought their own horses service

and they would have to go back and start their farms

they were allowed to keep their animals

these were lenient surrender terms

this was the beginning of the winning of the peace

even though Lee's was only one of

the Confederate armies it was the single

biggest and most dangerous of those armies

and when Lee's surrenders that army

everyone knows it's over

peace is finally within our grass

and that's the headlines of the newspapers Peace

Peace at Last

April 9th, 1865 finally

the Civil War comes to an end

cannons are firing church bells are ringing

people are celebrating the streets

absolute jubilation prevades to the north

you can imagine the opposite reaction in the south

but Lincoln himself is absolutely giddy

Mary Todd will talk about how he just seems so free

all of a sudden how this burden has been lifted

he's really looking forward to the hope

that the union can be restored

on a new basis a different basis

slavery will be gone we'll have to rethink things

we're gonna have to think a new

but not to look back with revenge

not to look back with resentment

not to punish the people

but rather to bring them along to a new union

while slavery yes

was abolished that's a wonderful thing

it did not deal with the parent issue of slavery

which is racism

and we're still dealing with racism in America today

he has not fully begun to contemplate

what all of this looks like

when it's done

but he's beginning to draw the voices that he needs

to help him figure out what that is

you could be

putting this government in the hands of the enemy

I agree

who's to say that one could spy against us

all

rebel organization should be treated as null and void

the only way their government should be restored

is in the federal authority military authority

well if we treat them like insurgents

they will act like insurgents exactly

what about their leaders you let them go

we frighten them out of the country

you open the gates let down the bars

what if they don't go

the fate of emancipation would be left in their hands

it's too risky

the states should follow the example of Louisiana

abolish slavery establish schools

we were never fighting to exterminate half this country

we were fighting to keep it together

to prove that we can live together

now why should that be any different now

he's trying to create a pathway for peace

he's trying to create a pathway that

that will mean ending a war

that doesn't devolve into guerrilla warfare

he recognized the need for healing

and so

his plan for reconstruction was a fairly lenient plan

he envisions a nation aware

it was easy for the Confederacy to come back

and that the retribution would not be great

basic to say you reject succession

you back into the nation

Secretary Stanton had drawn up some new

preliminary plans

looking towards the reconstruction process

and it would be handled through the military

rather than through Congress

it would be an executive function

rather than a legislative function

so that the full control of the peace

process would remain in the president's hands

he envisioned the president of United States

appointing some governors

who would figure out some way to test who was loyal

then they would ask the Congress

to readmit them to the union

that white

Southerners were so devoted to the racial hierarchy

that they pushed back against reconstruction

from the very beginning

people like Stan and others

were outraged

that there would be no real accountability

for the carnage rot by the south

aside from them losing their slaves

and they didn't feel like that was enough

but remember that Lincoln also said

in what turned out to be his final speech

that the time had come

to extend the right to vote to African Americans

particularly he said

the educated of those who had fought in the army

it was the first time

that an American president had ever called for

black suffrage

it was so radical a concept at that moment

that someone in the audience

John Will Smith

turn to one of his confederates and said

that means Negro Equality

and he didn't use the word Negro

that's the last speech he'll ever make

April 14th Lincoln woke up in a great mood

feeling

probably more cheerful than he felt ever in his life

he went on a carriage ride with Mary

then they get back to the White House

and there's a group of his friends who are there

and they're just leaving but he said no

stay I wanna talk to you

and they kept talking and they were telling stories

and he's reading funny things

he no longer needs to escape to go to the theatre

but at 8:00 o'clock that night

they tell him you have to go

it had been in the newspaper that morning

that he would be at the theater that night

and now he had to keep his word to the people

who might come to the theater

thinking that he would be there

it's been a perfect day

do you ever think about where we started

I've been so miserable

well

we both deserve to be more cheerful

I'd like to travel

Europe perhaps or even California

I've always wanted to see the Holy Land

the great cities of Europe

let's stay here tonight

we don't have to go to the theatre

do we oh

I'd much rather stay

but we better go

words out I'll be there

I won't be the one to disappoint the people

I got medicine for secretary tour

my father's 19 years old excuse me

stop

little did they know

John Wilkes Booth had planned a triple conspiracy

to lock off the entire head of the government

the only thing that saved Sue's life

was that his jaw was wired

from the carriage accident

so it didn't cut the artery

some gals and mothers would go away from a fellow

when they found that out with no value fortune

disgusting that's my mom

you had a better joke you crave affection

you do now

I have no fortune but I'm filling over with affections

which I'm ready to pour out all over you

like apple sass over roast pork

you recollect you are retracting my daughter

and in my presence yes

I'm offering my heart and hand just as she wants it

with nothing in it

too young

yes Ma

the nasty beast I am aware

Mr Trenchet

you are not used to the manners of good society

and that love will excuse the importance

of which you have been found guilty

don't know the manners of good society eh

well I guess I know enough to turn you inside out

old girl

you stop with your life old man trap

just think of it for Lincoln

finally this punishing war has come to an end

and he's able to feel a sense of

the country is gonna go forward

I've done my part as a leader

and he only has five days to appreciate that

before he's killed it drives me crazy

no American president have been killed in office

and the shock of the assassination was profound

it just unleashed a tremendous outpouring of grief

his coffin was carried by a new railroad car

that had just been built for his use

and was called the United States

if there was a chance to see the funeral train

on the way back to Springfield

everybody wanted to be there

in city after city

there were crowds like Americans had never seen before

people connected to him they know where he came from

how hard that fight was

they saw a man who was a good man

who became a great president

Lincoln's biography is a tale of America

at a time when it is not yet fully made

the roughness and the self made aspects of it

the ambition and the hunger

he's the living proof

that Americans can rise from poverty

to triumph

the promise of the American dream

which is that all men should have an equal chance

in the race of life

he reminded Americans of something they were forgetting

that the declaration of independence

is a special piece of paper

it obligates us to respect the human rights

of all Americans and of all people

that's a journey that he takes

by the time he is assassinated

forts there he has moved to a much higher calling

understanding and belief

in terms of what the nation could and should be

despite his own prejudices and concerns

when he starts from a contemporary lens

I think it's entirely right

and fair to look at some of Lincoln's writings

and say

he was limited and constrained by his times and ways

that are disappointing

and then I can also say yeah

but look at what he did that was really important

and took courage and took skill

he was not just ahead of his time in terms of vision

but help to drag the country in a new direction

he dared to change the rationale for the Civil War

on preserving the union

to removing the greatest stain of American democracy

slavery

Lincoln's legacy was to show us

that democracies can survive

severe contest within

and they shall not perish from the earth

Lincoln had hoped

that he could accomplish something worthy

so that he would be remembered after he died

it was that hope that had powered him

through his dispal childhood

his string of political failures

and the darkest days of the war

that his story would be told

it will be told for generations to come

America has to live up to the work that Lincoln started

and given freedom to the slave

we assure freedom to the free

honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve

we shall nobly save

or mainly lose the last best hope of earth