Lincoln and the Abilitionists by Fred Kaplan, a Book Review

By Nate Feldman

This book probably would have been better titled as, "John Quincy Adams is Great and Abraham Lincoln is Terrible."  The main argument is that Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, has been overly sanctified as a liberator of African Americans.  The author, Fred Kaplan, would prefer that John Quincy Adams, the country's 6th President, be recognized as a true champion for abolitionism and civil rights for African Americans, alongside a list of other notable abolitionists.  

Let's start with the positives about the book.  It's very readable.  I moved through the pages quite quickly.  The author has a good writing style.  It mentioned in the book that he was a Professor of English, and I can see why.  I also learned quite a bit from the book.  I found out a lot of interesting information about abolitionists, such as Elijah Lovejoy, a journalist that was murdered by an angry mob for advocating an end to slavery in his newspapers.  I also learned about the American Colonization Society, a popular group in the 19th century that advocated for blacks to be returned to Africa.  I'll even concede that some of his concerns about Lincoln, most notably his membership in the aforementioned society, as well as a meeting that took place in the White House in 1862 where Lincoln encouraged emigration are worth learning about.

My criticism of the book is that the author does exactly what he claims champions of Lincoln do: oversimplify his legacy.  He does the same for John Quincy Adams.  He makes Adams look much better than he probably was and Lincoln much worse than he was.  There isn't a lot of nuance here.  A great example is his tendency to highlight every slave owner and racist Lincoln had social relationships with.  It is true that Lincoln held company with many racists and slave owners.  Yet, he doesn't chastise Adams for serving as Secretary of State to James Monroe, a slave owner.  He blasts Lincoln's slow pace of emancipating slaves during the Civil War.  On the other hand, he barely touches Adams' Presidency, which did nothing to emancipate slaves.  Adams had justifications in his eyes, and Lincoln did not.  

Finally, the thing we can't ever forget is that Lincoln actually emancipated slaves and helped ratify the 13th amendment of the constitution, which outlawed it in the United States.  That is why he is remembered as the Great Emancipator.  Because he is the one President that did that.  For all his virtues, John Quincy Adams, nor his father, did.  That is why they are not remembered for that.  

Furthermore, the book fails completely at understanding Lincoln's evolving views about race and its place in American society during his presidency.  There is a reason Frederick Douglass, the great African American abolitionist and Civil Rights pioneer, said of Lincoln in 1880 that he was "one of the noblest wisest and best men I ever knew."  Quotes like that do not exist in the book.  He gives a very one-sided perspective of Lincoln's relationship with abolitionists.  

The unfortunate thing is that I agree that John Quincy Adams is overlooked by historians for his contributions and his advocacy for a more just, multi-racial America.  And perhaps a lot of Lincoln's flaws are overlooked.  But, I think replacing an overly simplistic narrative with another one is not the way to the truth.  It is for that reason I give this book a generous 3 out of 5 stars.  It's easy to read and informative, but some of its conclusions, and facts (the battle of Antietam was a Union victory, not defeat) are inaccurate.