saw the title of the show that is being done tonight, 110 in the shade. i assumed it was a musical about washington dc in august. it kind of fit. it is my pleasure to introduce thomas carson, professor of philosophy at loyola university in chicago. he is a graduate of saint olaf college and brown university. professor carson's easting -- teaching and research focus on ethics, as his book titles suggest. the status of morality, value "lying good life, and and deception." professor carson has a lifelong interest in history, which led him to write his most recent book, "lincoln's ethics." i had the pleasure of reading it in manuscript. i commend it to your attention. i must admit, i was a bit skeptical when informed that i

philosopher, not an historian or political scientist, was writing about lincoln. i have long shared the view expressed by henry adams, who said philosophers offer "unintelligible -- answers to unsolvable problems." i assure you that lincoln's ethics offers highly intelligible answers to eminently soluble problems of great interests to students of our 16th president. please join me in welcoming tom carson. [applause] prof. carson: thank you, michael. im am pleased and honored to speak to you here today. i want to thank everyone who is here. thanks for coming, and thanks especially to some of my very old and dear friends who are here. i should mention, there is a handout, i hope everybody has a

copy of it. they are towards the front on the side. you can follow the talk, along with a handout, and you will need the handout near the end of the talk. my talk is based on the second half of my book, "lincoln's ethics," which discusses lincoln's character. i will summarize the first half which addresses moral questions about lincoln's most controversial actions and policies. i discuss a number of cases where many have thought he acted him morally, including the following. lincoln was not an abolitionist he ran for when reelection. during his long career in illinois before becoming president, he never publicly lawsed the state exclusion . he publicly endorsed other unjust laws that were part of codes,s's black including laws forbidding blacks to vote, serve on juries, or mary whites. considered giving civil

rights to african-americans. when he ran for the senate in 1858 and ran for president in 1860, he opposed further extension of slavery, but did not advocate its immediate abolition. address, heural promised he would not interfere with the institution of slavery where it already existed. he rescinded general fremont's order for partial emancipation in the state of misery in 1861, and a similar order by another general for the states of south carolina, georgia, and florida in 1862. the emancipation proclamation was seemingly halfhearted. it did not free slaves and border states or confederate territory occupied the union army. many criticized him for not issuing it earlier. president lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the civil war, and imprisoned thousands

without due process of law. he supported the colonization of african-americans outside the united states. his actions and policies as commander-in-chief can be questioned because their moral status depends on the justice of the american civil war and the union cause, which is open to question. the abolition of slavery was not a union worry in 1861. the reasons to question whether the union was morally justified in fighting the american civil war at the beginning of the war, it is debatable whether the fight themeans to war. lincoln bears considerable personal responsibility for the conduct of the war and the union army's treatment of confederate civilians. i defend lincoln's actions in almost all these cases. i argue that most of his actions were justified on utilitarian grounds. they were necessary to bring about the best consequences in the long run. i argue that in practice,

lincoln was utilitarian, but my defensive lincoln does not propose the truth of utilitarianism. some of the actions critics claim lincoln should've declaring thee complete abolition of slavery in all the states at the beginning of the american civil war, would have been self-defeating. we don't need to be utilitarians in order to reject these criticisms of lincoln. let's turn to lincoln's character. unlike most other important leaders and historical figures, abraham lincoln is generally regarded as a singularly good and virtuous human being. the mythical lincoln many of us learned about as schoolchildren was honest abe. team -- he walked to a store to return pennies to someone who had been overcharged. he was a kind person who was moved by compassion and a sense of justice to become the great emancipator. lincoln was a resolute and determined commander in chief,

despite his great awareness and compassion for the men suffering because of the civil war. the mythical lincoln was a wonderful human being, but how much of the myth of lincoln's moral goodness is true? does he deserve his reputation as a morally good hearse and? my book addresses this question at great length. today, i will give you the short of it. lincoln possessed many imported moral virtues, some such as kindness and magnanimity, to a high degree. many people deny that he was an unusually good human being. there are reasons to question the goodness of his character, the most damning criticism is the charge that he was a racist. my conclusion is that the lincoln of myth is accurate for the most part. cynics would be surprised and confounded by how much truth there is the myth. in some ways, the myth understates his goodness and virtue. to the contrary, lincoln is in most respects a moral exemplar.

worthy of our admiration and imitation. i will begin by describing for important merge -- moral virtues that lincoln possessed to a high degree. lincoln was an unusually kind, compassionate, benevolent and tenderhearted person. he was deeply moved and distressed by human and animal suffering. his kindness was the foundation of his opposition to slavery. this trait was pronounced from was observed, and by many people on many occasions. lincoln was exceptionally kind to animals. as a boy, he preached a useful sermon -- a youthful sermon. he rescued a hog from drowning in the mud. recalled lincoln rescued two little birds, who had been blown from their nest in a storm. lincoln said he placed the birds in the nest provided by their mother, and he could not have slept if he had not given those

two little birds to their mother. he was equally kind to his fellow human beings. when he lived in indiana, he would often visit and comfort sick children. he was deeply moved and distressed by the suffering of slaves in his trips to the south as a young man. many years later, in a letter to joshua speed, his close friend, a man who owned slaves and defended the institution of slavery, lincoln wrote that the site of shackled slaves was a continual torment, and slavery continually exercises the power of making me miserable. one important qualification needs to be added. man, lincoln enjoyed mocking and ridiculing his political opponents and often did this in anonymous letters to local newspapers. once on a political stump, he a local- reduced politician to tears, and on another occasion, in an

anonymous letter, he wrote, let the auditor of illinois challenge him to a duel. he did not give up his penchant for danica -- penn shot for until middle-age. but during the last part of his life, after he reentered politics, he was an exceptionally kind person without qualification. moral virtuelient was magnanimity. to be magnanimous means to be generous and overlooking injury and insult. alternatively, that means generous disregard to slights. theoln possessed the for -- virtue of magnanimity to an extraordinary degree. seward said his magnanimity was superhuman. he did not hold grudges, even when he was insulted and treated badly. and edward, lincoln stanton were members of a legal team who worked on a case involving the mccormick reaper several years before the civil war.

stanford -- stanton treated lincoln badly, refused to talk to him. contemptuous of lincoln. at their initial meeting, lincoln wanted to discuss ideas for the case. stanton walked away, muttering to another companion, "why did you bring that guy? he does not go any -- know anything and can do you no good." stanton.dmired when he had to find a successor to simon cameron, secretary of war, lincoln consulted george hardy, who he had met at the trial. thought stanton would be the best person for the job, but he said, i know you could not and would not appoint him after the outrageous way he has insulted you and behave towards you. lincoln replied, "now, mr. harding, this is not a personal matter. i desire to do what is best to the country." and so he did. stanton did a superb job as

secretary of war and played a crucial war in the union war effort. the second example is that of lyman trumbull. in 1854, lincoln ran for the senate. in one of his rivals, the democrat lyman trumbull was opposed to the kansas-nebraska act and any extension of slavery into new states. on the first ballot in the state legislature, lincoln received 45 of 51 votes needed to win the election. trumbull received five votes on the first ballot. together, he and lincoln controlled almost enough votes to win the election. i should add here, this time, senators was -- were elected by legislators, not the voters. in subsequent ballots in the legislator, trumbull and supporters refused to support lincoln because lincoln was a whig. when it appeared that a candidate was supported the kansas nebraska act would be elected, lincoln urged

supporters to support anti-slavery to vote -- by voting for trumbull. trumbull was elected to the senate. mary lincoln was bitter about this. afterwards, she was never again on speaking terms with trumbull's wife, julia, who had been a close friend. trumbull became an important republican senator, and later helped engineer lincoln's nomination for president. trumbull also co-authored the 13th amendment to the constitution. magnanimity is an important moral virtue and -- and an important virtue for any leader. had lincoln not been magnanimous, he would not have enjoyed the services of the best people working for him, he would have been greatly distracted by the numerous flights and slanders which assailed him, and succeeded inhave the difficult tasks of his presidency.

some underappreciated feature of lincoln's character are nonconformity comest -- skepticism and openness to criticism. he questioned many of the conventional values of his time. he was a singular and unconventional person. let me read you a quote from william lee miller, which you have in your handout. he writes, "in an atmosphere soaked with hostility to indians, lincoln resisted it. in a time and place in which the great mass of common men in the west supported andrew jackson, lincoln supported henry clay. surrounded by democrats, lincoln in a political party with a nativist undercurrent, lincoln rejected the prejudice. in a southern flavored setting soft on slavery, lincoln opposed it. in a white world with rain -- strong racial antipathies, lincoln was generous to blacks. in an environment indifferent to education, lincoln cared about

it intensely. in a family active in church, lincoln abstained. when evangelical christianity permeated the western frontier, lincoln raised questions and give different answers than his neighbors. lincoln was skeptical about the common present -- prejudices of his own time. the prevailing racial president says -- prejudices against second americans. he said those prejudices might or might not be well-founded. he never endorsed the common view that whites were intellectually and morally some. to blacks.ior he abandoned press -- prejudices and light of evidence. to permit- reluctant black soldiers to serve in the union army. he was motivated by his worries about the prejudices of white soldiers in the general public. he worried that blacks might not make good soldiers. once it became clear that black soldiers were acclimating

themselves well to battle, lincoln went out of his way to acknowledge their value. he subjected his views to criticism, and appointed strong people to his cabinet, and sought their criticism of his ideas. he learned from the abolitionists, even though they criticized him very harshly and often unfairly. some abolitionist even made bigoted comments about lincoln's family. an ohio senator said lincoln's attitudes towards slavery could only have come from someone born poor white trash. william lloyd garrison said lincoln's education with and among the white trash of kentucky was most unfortunate for his moral development. selfln's capacity for criticism came to be appreciated by many of his abolitionist critics. wendell phillips described

lincoln as a growing man whose views changed in light, and might change again. before his death, the abolitionist lydia child wrote, "i think we have reason to thank god for abraham lincoln." with all his deficiencies, it must be admitted that he has grown continuously. it was good luck to have the people elect a man who was willing to grow." frederick douglass noted lincoln's willingness to listen to criticism, and said he was patient under reproaches. to criticismnness was closely connected with his magnanimity. he learn from people who spoke harshly and unfairly of him. aptly describes lincoln as someone who had strong moral convictions and gave strong arguments about the morality of slavery without being moralistic or self-righteous. lincoln frequently make judgments about the rightness and wrongness of actions and the oftice or injustice

institutions, but he seldom condemned other people. institution ofe slavery in the strongest terms, but he called it a monstrous injustice and said he hated it, but he did not condemn slaveowners or southerners. he hated slavery, but unlike many abolitionists, he did not disdain the sinners. have strongle who moral convictions are self-righteous and betray considerable hostility in condemning others. conserverlf-righteous mauro question was virtuous. i will mention another few virtues he possessed. first is what i call his honorable ambition. a vice and many people. waslincoln's ambition morally virtuous. he wanted to gain the esteem of others by rendering himself worthy of their esteem. written political

statement from 1832, lincoln wrote, "every man is set to have his own peculiar ambition. i can say, for one, that i have no other so great as being truly esteemed by my fellow man, by rendering myself worthy of that lincoln was also an extremely temperate and self-controlled person. he abstain from alcohol and tobacco. he was faithful to his wife despite having strong sexual desires and many opportunities to stray from his marriage vows during his travels. he was exceptionally self-controlled in expressions of anger. despite the pressure of his office, the vicious criticisms he received from many quarters, the blunders of his generals, president lincoln kept his anger out of important position -- decisions and policies. he controlled his anger with his wife, who frequently tried his

patients. patience. now, i will turn to the criticisms of lincoln's character. despite lincoln has many virtues , there are grounds for questioning the goodness of his character and his status as a moral exemplar. something lincoln entered into a loveless marriage to a woman from a prominent family in order further his political ambitions. he is criticized for neglecting his family by spending too much time away from home, for being cold and ungrateful to friends, and for his relationship to his parents. the most serious criticism of lincoln is the claim that he was a racist. my book discusses these criticisms in great detail, but today, i will only talk about the issue of racism. was lincoln a racist? the answer depends on what we by whatracism, and times in his life we are talking about. i will present you with six

different definitions of racism, and given three of these definitions, being a racist is a great moral failing. ancoln was very clearly never racist in those senses of the term in which being a racist is a brave moral failing -- a grave moral failing. he was a racist according to two of the other definitions, but when he died, it is unclear to me that he was a racist according to any of these six definitions, and i will read to you the first three definitions. you will need to follow on your hand out. i will refer to these definitions by number. number one, racism is the believe that certain races of people are inferior to others, and that it is permissible for quote, superior races to enslave members of superior -- inferior races. number two, racism is racially

motivated ill will towards members of certain races. number three, racism is racially motivated indifference to the welfare of members of a certain race of people. being a racist according to any of these definitions is a moral failing. it is clearly -- clear that lincoln was never a racist according to any of these three definitions. he never thought that anyone was justified in exploiting or enslaving members of certain races, and he was never hostile or indifferent to the welfare of blacks or members of other races. to thes evidence contrary. a fourth definition of racism is as follows. belief thate certain races are morally or intellectually superior to other races. it is unclear whether or not lincoln was a racist in this sense. nowhere in any of his writings or speeches does he say that whites are inherently morally or

intellectually superior to blacks. but nowhere does he explicitly -- explicitly denied us. we do not know if you visit racist in this sense. but lincoln clearly endorsed unjust racial discrimination during most of not all of his political career. he defended unjust laws that denied free african-americans full social and political rights. his most well-known statement about this came in his debate with douglas in charleston in 1858. lincoln said, and this it -- is on your handout, "i am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way to social or political equality of the white and black races. i am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors qualifying them to hold office or intermarry with white people. there is a physical difference between the races which i

believe will forbid the two races living together in terms of social and political equality and inasmuch as they can so not live, while they remained together, there will be the position of superior and -- i'm in favor of this appear he or position assigned to the white race." in this statement, he was pandering to the deep racial prejudices of illinois voters. definitions five and six are as follows. number five, to be a racist is to be disrespectful of a certain race of people on account of their race. number six, to be a racist is to be inadequately concerned with the welfare of a certain race of people on account of their race. lincoln was a racist in both of these senses during most of his political career. let's start with definition number five. he disrespect -- being

disrespectful of a certain race. lincoln sometimes used racial slur words. opposition to interracial marriage and disparaging comments about arele of mixed race evidence of disrespect. in his debates with douglas, he said he agreed with douglas in being horrified by the thought of interracial marriage. lincoln said, and i quote, "judge douglas is horrified at the thought of the mixing of the blood of the white and black races. agreed."d times presumably, he purportedly spoke for himself as well as nearly all white people when he said, "there is a natural discussed in the minds of nearly all white people to the idea of an indiscriminate amalgamation of the white and black races." there is evidence to think that he expressed a version -- his expressed diversion -- a version

may have been insincere. , he asked lincoln why he favor the illinois law for banning interracial marriage. according to locke, lincoln said, "the law means nothing. i shall never marry a negress but i have no objection to anyone else doing so." if a a -- man wants to marry some of lincoln's defense of statements towards african-americans pander to the prejudices of voters. the six the definition is, racism is inadequate concern for the welfare of a certain race of people. there is evidence that lincoln strongly favor the interest of whites over blacks. the racial discrimination he

endorsed, in a passage from the isrleston debate camera -- evidence of this. in 1859, he said, if there was a necessary conflict between the white man and the negro, i should be for the white man as much as judge douglas. but then he added, "but i say, there is no such necessary conflict. there is room enough for all to be free." so lincoln was a racist according to definitions five and six during most of his political career. important make qualifications. in certain respects, lincoln had a great concern for the welfare of lax. he was concerned for their happiness, freedom, and right to enjoy the fruits of their labor. this concern was morally virtuous. reentered politics and 1850's because, as he put it, he was roused as never before to oppose .he expansion of slavery

lincoln's racial attitudes changed during his presidency, and by the end of his life, it is no longer clear that he was a racist according to either definition five or six. he came to respect the sacrifices and valor of black soldiers who fought for the union. he came to greatly respect and well educatedr of black leaders he met towards the end of the war. at the end of his life, lincoln care greatly about the welfare of african-americans, and on several important respects, he did not favor the interests of whites over those of blacks. intense public criticism based on concern for the suffering of union president -- prisoners of war, lincoln halted prisoners with confederates until they agree to exchange black prisoners of war in january 1865. the lincoln administration's

willingness to halt prisoner exchanges to protect black pows was denounced by the new york and walt whitman, among others. he was no more concerned of the fate of white prisoners than a black prisoners. his insistence that -- that the emancipation proclamation be upheld and slavery be abolished work policies that attached great weight to the freedom of welfare of black people. he can ended the whirly or if he earlierted -- the war if he would have been willing to not abolish slavery. at the end of his life, he wanted blacks to be citizens of the u.s. and wanted to give voting rights to some, but not all, black men. in his last speech in 1865, he said that he "preferred that for now, black men who fought in the those who are

intelligent, be permitted to vote." by very intelligent, scholars think he means literate. the policy he proposed was a great -- great change for the better. the books booth heard speech, and it prompted him to murder lincoln, here in this place where we are now, today. immediately after listening to his speech, boothe told a friend that means "nigger-citizenship is putting through, that by god is the last decision he will ever make." lincoln wants to uneducated tote men to be able vote. i think at this time, it was

right for lincoln to be cautious, to move slowly, to -- had he done so, he would've risked undermining the 13th amendment and sparking a guerrilla war in the south. would lincoln have done enough to protect the rights and interests of african-americans if he had lived longer to oversee reconstruction? would lincoln have supported anything like the 14th and 15th amendments? the answer is that recently do not know. his, what we say about racism and his treatment of black people needs to be hedged in light of that uncertainty. we need to think sharply better judgment and wisdom of this andcy -- of his policies what they reveal about his character.

the policies in question were motivated by lincoln's caution, and his understanding of the constitution according to which the states and not the federal government determine federal voting rights. even in the least charitable interpretation, lincoln's racism -- the same objects of the racist attitudes that he tracked greatly from the goodness of his other virtues. let me try to wrap things up. the laws were never mentioned. he had serious flaws, but in many ways, the lincoln myth goodness.s his it does not adequately describe the great difficulties that he faced. the method does not explain lincoln's moral luck in running

for office in an atmosphere of extreme racial pr ejudice. some people think that racial prejudice was stronger in central and southern illinois, in indiana, where he lived most other life, than any region in the united states. the lincoln myth does not give the detail of the intense stress of his life and his crushing workload as president. the stress he suffered was aggravated by the disloyalty of general mcmullen, the disloyalty of secretary chase, the extreme harsh and vicious criticism which assailed him from all sides, the death of willie lincoln, and what i think was a very unhappy marriage. mary lincoln never recovered from her grief over willie's death in 1862.

she suffered a serious head injury as a result of a carriage accident. it made her prone to severe headaches and aggravated her temper. she became a hindrance, and an embarrassment to her husband. the point is, lincoln achieved the things he did under extraordinary difficult, and stressful, circumstances. i ask you to turn to the last page of this handout, i have before and after pictures here. there are striking. -- they are striking. taken inograph was august of 1860. on second was taken february, 1864. these were taken less than five years apart. you can see the burdens of his office written on his face. as a gunman, lincoln had rough edges and false.

an important part of his life is his capacity for self-improvement. he was a great statesman who is fair and are spiteful to his opponents and an abolitionist, supporting the 13th amendment, continually adopting more and more enlightened views and policies regarding african-americans, and their place in american society. the real lincoln is at least as good as the mythical lincoln, more humid as well. he was a morally exemplary human being. worthy of great admiration, and in most respects, he is worthy of imitation and his honored place within our national memory.

in my conclusion, i follow we dubois, quoting the most objectionable passages from lincoln's charleston debate. nonetheless, he calls lincoln a great and good man, writing, "i love him not because he was perfect, but because he was not in triumph." world is full of people born hating and despising their see this man, he was one of you, yet he became abraham lincoln." "i revere him because he fought his way to the pinnacles of the earth, and the fight was within as well as without." "the stars and foibles and contradictions of the great do not enhance or diminish but embrace the meaning of his struggle."

thank you. [applause] >> i think we have time for questions, right? >> you mentioned that lincoln never stated that white people were superior to blacks. he was a gnostic on that subject. -- agnostic on that subject? >> i think that is the interpretation. we have a private statement by wells. blackdoes explicitly that people were inferior to whites people in one regard, namely color? what you make of that? -- what do you make to o

that? >> i think that is bs to pander to the voters. the passage you may remember better than me. it may be something about the appearance of african-americans. he may have meant something like the appearance being superior, but it is a meaningless statement.what was a standard way of putting it his standard way of putting it? inferior tot be whites in morality, they are inferior in terms of color, whenever that happens to mean, and in their right to be freed

and earned the bread that their work secures them, they are equal, all of us." >> i have speculated that it was example of his courtroom technique. he would concede something to the other side. as a teacher, i have always felt in the old days before computers bad a student turned in ab paper, you would say something nice like, "this paper is neatly typed, however..." [laughter] "blacks areying, inferior to whites in terms of color, however..." 1858,o began in july of giving a speech to chicago where douglas had given a speech a day before. at the conclusion of that speech, lincoln says, "let us

stop all that quibbling about this race being inferior and that race being superior, let us all unite behind the good old declaration of independence and the knowledge this all men are created equal." [applause] >> can't forget that he consistently throughout that campaign advocated that the blacks would not have the same political and civil rights as whites. i do not think there is any way of getting around that. >> i never repeats that statement in chicago. douglas hammerson again and again and again. -- hammers him again and again and again. douglas emphasizes that statement over and over again, and another thing that he emphasizes is that lincoln says

black people are included in the declaration of independence in the statement that all men are created equal. douglas is absolutely not. douglas says, "it means all white, european men." lincoln denied that. >> hunter is what people think of the statement in the speech from april 11, 1865. the speech that gets and killed -- get him killed. it seems to me he is still advocating what looks like unjust racial discrimination there. that was no idea uneducated whites or white men that had not served should be denied a right to vote -- and -- servedt to vote

should be denied the right to vote. i think that's important. >> when frederick douglass gave his speech in 1865 and said, "when i heard lincoln give that ieech, ini abolitionist -- and my abolitionist friends were disappointed, because we were so limited." abraham lincoln, as sydney pointed out -- abraham lincoln learned his statesmanship in the school of real estate. you insert the thin ads of the wedge into the long. you drive home the thick edge of the wedge. whatould have known lincoln was doing on april 11,

1865. inserting the thin edge of the wedge. we could count on him to drive home the thick edge of the wedge. >> i think that there is speculation in that. do we know what he would have done, had he lived longer? i don't think that is quite as clear. we haveextent, i think to say whatever we say about this, we have a degree of uncertainty. it is quite possible, perhaps likely, that he would have done so, but we don't really know. puzzled, still, and somewhat concerned, but even now, people seem to take delight, and i have heard this more often than i would like to hear, "lincoln was a racist, you know." why does that attitude persist? evicdences some

for that statement in what i have said here. in some senses, he was a racist. we have to really parse that were carefully in terms of what we mean by "racism." senses, heortant clearly never was a racist. maybe those senses determine whether he was really morally there. evidence that clearly, he is endorsing unjust racial discrimination for most of his clinical career. -- political career. the mistake that people make in popular consciousness is that he

is clearly endorsing unjust institutions. it would have been political suicide. hehink the judgments show've made from that that he would be a morally exemplary person. >> one point that i will make. he had a situation in 1865, where relatively few free african american men voted in the north. a situation where they continued to serve as occupying soldiers in the south, protecting voting rights for newly freed slaves. example, in i will, they could not vote nor did they received the vote. that was an aspect.

secondly, what has not been discussed today is the tremendous activism of union veterans, black and white, decades after the civil war. what is much more foreign to the discussion about abraham lincoln is taking a look at what the men who clearly affected lincoln during the civil war were his own soldiers, black and white. what happened after the war, in the decades after the war, is there were only -- is the only institutions that refused to accept the color line where the largest unions in relation to that. there are several points to be made. the hypocrisy of the north, the ongoing lack of opportunity north and south. the things that have to be remediated. >> are you talking about the

grand army of the republic? >> yes, this was critical. >> ok. another thought here. wasoln's binary concern opposing slavery, the spread of slavery, we think in terms of civil rights, questions of equal social and political rights, these weren't questions that lincoln spent a lot of time thinking about. he was moving in a direction toward that. he did not live long enough to finish his work.

>> ian black jack logan quite strongly advocated for votes for the blacks. i think it is misleading to use the term "racist" in respect to lincoln. say i thoughtould it presented some evidence there. the disparaging comments about people of mixed race eating "horrified" at the thought of interracial marriage, the use of racial slur terms. that is evidence of disrespect. it is even possible that there was fading disdain for interracial marriage.

he was sincerely disgusted at the thought of interracial marriage, or that he would say he would disgusted by it to get votes. i do think there is evidence that some who consistently oppose the discriminatory laws against a certain group of people, you could say that person is adequately concerned for their welfare. stick a charge that does to lincoln. at the time of the lincoln douglas debates, i am not sure that he was racist in any sense of the term, at the end of his life. it's quite possible. i think that's all. [applause]

>> you're watching american history tv, a week and every week and on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook at c-span history. touringr, c-span is cities across the country. next, a look at the recent visit to montgomery alabama. -- montgomery, alabama. you're watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend on c-span3. welcome to the first white house of the confederacy in montgomery, alabama. this is the home of president jefferson davis and his family when they were in montgomery in the spring of 1861, march till end of may when the confederate government was formed across the street at the alabama state capital. president davis and his wife and their three children first moved in to the white house in march.

i want to tell you a little bit about the house, it was built in 1832 by a man named william sayer. this is a picture of the house in its original location, it was not here. it was down on the corner of lee and 5th street. you can look at the map, we were very close to the river. this was the first montgomery preservation project, because the house became endangered. come this way. a copy of ature of painting that hangs in the pentagon. he was secretary of war under franklin pierce, and it was the end of 1860 when mississippi eded -- sisseceded from

the union. this original piece was in his office in montgomery, and it was given to his private secretary when he left montgomery for richmond, because he did not want to take it with him. gavelater, the family himself to the white house and the confederacy. when the president and mrs. davis lived here, they had a large number of people to come and visit. generally, the ladies we going to the first pilot, and a gentle man would come into the second pilot. they would seal the two rooms, and the ladies at the piano, and the gentleman would smoke cigars. the president was arrested, and thisith treason,

is a very interesting artifact. sent to president davis when he was in prison in munro. after two years of sitting on a hard bench, she was finally to jail.to send in these northern men got behind the effort to have him released on a bail bond of $100,000. a number of prominent north american helped to release him. they never brought him to trial. according to the constitution, the south had the right to secede. this bible was taken by northern was later returned by his younger brother to the .hite house, mr. rk willis

shows thatful table mr. davis and president davis just enjoyed having guests. they had lavish donors, china thatppointed we have some of. the brightest and best minds of the south. mrs. davis was beautifully educated. in her own right, a wonderful hostess. i can just imagine how they sat around this table, in tops, discussing politics.

they would have people of all different types of social and support backgrounds president davis, because he was the figurehead of the movement of the confederacy. in order for the confederacy to work, president davis had to work with all kinds of people. people from all walks of life. they all came into the top speed -- into this house. they would go into this hallway to visit davis in his study. this is the most important room. you can imagine the decisions made in this room by president davis and his cabinet. the desk in the corner was his personal desk. this table, right here, is very important.

it is the table on which he wrote his memoirs. you can imagine president jefferson davis sitting here on this desk -- at this desk. it is here where he penned his two-volume work, the rise and fall of the confederate government. in these two volumes, he put that had goneg on, in his might come up, during, and after the war. it is his reason for all of the things that transpired. you can see him, sitting here as an old man, writing c opiously. everything in this room belonged to jefferson davis. these were his bedroom slippers.

they come from his retirement home. this is a little suitcase, his overnight bag. this box was used by him. the color box went up and outside the shirt. the caller would be short -- stored in his color box. -- collar box. this is the chair in which he sat. the most important thing in the room is his bed, a beautiful button bed made-to-order for him. he was quite tall for the day, over six feet. it has the canopy over it, just as it would've had when he was here. we have several bedrooms where

family, friends, and others would come to stay overnight. there is also a picture of his cabinet in richmond, virginia. robert stood in the middle, president davis sitting next to him. the coldest room is the cabinet room. members of his cabinet would stay here, including people like alexander stephens, judah benjamin. this was made by mallard furniture company. it has the duck cartouche in the center at the head of the bed. thisest fixtures, all of was made by a wonderful fabric designer here in alabama. wereeople who came here

treated to the very best of everything. wonderful furniture. davis left montgomery in the late spring of 1861. it ended up as a boarding house for trainmen because it was next to the train station. it was so dilapidated, it was close to being demolished. the white house association saved the house, and it took 20 years to raise the money, because nobody had any money after the war, to buy the house and buy the property here, to have the house taken apart, in sections, moved and completely restored. we believe that the house doesn't represent his story and his history, how it involved him and his legacy