one of abraham lincoln's heroes, a man named george washington in no way is abraham lincoln missing george washington and sure enough the next abraham lincoln goes to philadelphia risking his own life to be there, raises a flag and independence hall, where the declaration is signed, talking about her everyone in america deserves an equal chance and he says god bless josh mentioned, the actual quote lincoln says in that speech that day, he says if we can't save the country without that principle, then he pauses and says i was about to say i would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender and i love the fact abraham lincoln says those words, i would rather be assassinated on the spot knowing full well there is a plot to kill him at that moment and it's not a throwaway line, he means it and it pauses and what is fantastic about that moment is soon after that moment happened is when they whisked abraham lincoln out of there. i won't tell you how. we know he lived, that's not really a spoiler but you see how they get him out, you will see the codename they give him and it is one

so i always say it's abraham lincoln no question.and when you researcher hero there is a huge risk because when you tie in the microscope and anybody famous people or your friends and look closely you start to see the cracks and then you see the scars in lincoln has them. his entry point on slavery when it ends is not perfect in every way he makes some bad decisions. and to free slaves that are not necessarily the best choice but my god and even when you tie in the microscope and then you say my gosh over and over. and then does the right thing it makes the right call and it's hard to specially define justice and the truth is something that doesn't exist anymore of abraham lincoln makes me believe it. and makes me believe in people again. it really does that's why we study him to find out how we can be that way. spent that's a perfect spot for us to end. your comments about it he will living up to the hype and what you have always thought was a great man. thank you for coming to speak last summer so florence and gail in your series.

so, it was a kind of nightmare for abraham lincoln. so, that relationship with joseph howard was not dissolved by that particular incident. he went on to be invited along for various trips that lincoln took to talk to generals and in to events at the white house. we get to may of 1864. now, this is a reelection year. there's a lot at stake. i mean, first of all, lincoln at this point, he's weary from the cares of the war. he says in the early part of the year, "i don't think i'm going to make it to the end of the war. this is ravaging me." so, he is filled with sorrow over how many people have died in the war and is very fearful that the union will not be successful. you also have the fact that there is real challengers to abraham lincoln for the presidency. and the bigger challenger is the democrat, george mcclellan. mcclellan was a darling of the union side early in the war when he he won the first few victories. they were not huge victories, but they were important in terms youetting the tone of, know, where the union was going. but

, you understand that abraham lincoln was a human being. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] and other watch this programs on the history of communities across the country on the c-span.org/citiestour. this is american history tv on c-span3. crises than on the front lines as a prominent member of the coronavirus task force. >> when you deal with the interface it in politics, and medicine, the thing i have found to be effective is to be consistent, because the honest, and don't tell people things they think they might want to hear. tell them the truth that is based on evidence. even though politicians, in the administration or the congress, may not happy with you tell them because it disappoints them, they will respect you if after a while it's clear to them that you are telling them the truth based on scientific evidence. >> we will profile dr. anthony of theprofile -- institute of inf

this included young abraham. dennis recalled an incident after they arrived at little pigeon creek, abraham spotted a flock of turkeys. they were away from the camp at the time and abraham was too small to load and prime a gun himself so his mother had to do it. he poked the gun through the crack of the can't and accidentally killed one. is, lincoln disliked hunting. he later and rather proudly wrote of the turkey shooting that he had never since pulled a traitor on any larger game. he did not might -- like cut -- killing. the torturing of animals that were everywhere in the woods. one neighbor required -- recalled him writing essays about being kind to animals. crushed atepbrother turtle, he preached against cruelty to animals. his indiana friends and neighbors referred constantly to his tenderhearted this. ore was a far from calais unfeeling extra, quite the contrary. if anything, he seems to have been notable in his capacity to feel be suffering and loss of others around him even turtles. soon after the family

even abraham lincoln does that.the other thing i love the story of abraham lincoln son losing the inaugural address. >> robert todd comes on board, he's there for the drink and everyone says he's a playboy. >> he is taken a little leap from harvard, he just wants to meet girls and drink and have a good time and what does the guy do, dad, i lost the oregano address. you had one job. you had one job. [laughter] >> i love that, it kinda gave you an idea of what you see in other portrayals and he was lincoln's only child who lived through maturity. >> it is there -- >> he gets there to watch another president go down it's an incredible story. >> i did not know that. >> abraham lincoln belong to any secret societies you found out ? >> that's a good question. we did not do it because you'll see the book in as he sworn in. i'm trying to remember he's on the list -- i don't think he's a freemason, i know there's 14 u.s. presidents were freemasons and i don't think he's on the list, that's a good question, you just described

abraham spotted a flock. thomas lincoln and dennis were away from the camp and abraham was too little to load and prime a gun himself so his mother nancy had to do it. abe poked the gun through the crack of the camp and he accidentally killed one, dennis rather amusedly remembered. but you know the truth is, lincoln disliked hunting. he later in rather proudly wrote of the turkey shooting that he had quote never since pulled a trigger on any larger game. he did not much like killing. killing in the boy's sense of torturing the animals that were everywhere in the indiana woods. one neighborhood recalled him writing essays on being kind to animals and crawling insects. when his stepbrother captured a turtle and crushed it against a nearby tree, abraham preached against cruelty to animals, contending that an ant's life was as sweet to it as ours was to us. his friends and neighbors referred constantly to his tender heartedness. so, here was a far from callous or unfeeling youngster, quite the contrary. if anythi

of course with abraham lincoln. but i think for us, i'll never forget the conversation that josh and i were just talking about it recently. and had less to do with lincoln and more to do with the civil war. because for us, i just felt like the ground. look who we are. and we felt like was really fed spot right now in our culture. the event space. i think it would be silly to just think like you can do things in a vacuum right now. i think that the best books that you read are not books that you love because they tell you about another character, even if you love that character, which are really looking for is a story about yourself read the stories you love the most to you something about yourself. great stories are mirrors. in great heroes are mirrors and abraham lincoln is certainly merit for all of us. this who we aspire to be. he is the best of us. one of the best of us. i think for us, big picture in the mirror wasn't awfully abraham lincoln. because we knew, the speech but this was sort of in another story lat

abraham lincoln lived near my great-great-grandfather, and abraham gave the mallet to him, and then iten passed down for generations in my family. >> how do you check out a story like andrea's? start 200 years ago across the border in kentucky, says lincoln scholar dale ogden. what was lincoln's early life like in kentucky? >> he was born to a subsistence farmer family. his father actually was more of a carpenter than a farmer. >> in 1816, when abe is seven, thomas lincoln moves his family 100-miles west to the indiana territory, the same year it becomes a state. >> what brought them to indiana? >> it was a lot easier to prove ownership of your land than it was in kentucky. the other reason was that indiana was a state where slavery had been made illegal. i think thomas was just intrinsically opposed to the idea of slavery. >> the lincoln family settles on 160 acres in what's now spencer county, 150 miles south of indianapolis. here thomas lincoln becomes a sought-after cabinetmaker. >> he built beautiful furniture, and that was a very valuable skill on the frontier where there wasn't

no one recorded though how abraham reacted. to the surely immense stress of his mother's illness and death whether he lashed out in frustration, kept his turmoil buried deep inside, or perhaps exhibited some other form of behavior. but the very silence of the historical record is perhaps itself telling. friends and relatives who later recalled in great detail the circumstances surrounding nancy's illness and death have nothing to say good or bad about her young son's reaction. dennis remembered that at the time, both abraham and his sister sarah, quote, did some work, little jobs,er rands and light work of that sort but neither dennis or anyone else recorded exactly how abraham reacted emotion fally during the ordeal. he seems to have faded into the background. nursing a private grief while his father and other family and friends were preoccupied with easing nancy's final days. lincoln later remembered this time as an exceedingly lonely episode and some historians later theorized that his adult bouts of melancholy stemmed from

this included the young abraham. dennis remembered an incident during the families first days in southern indiana right after they arrived at kitchen creek. abraham spotted a flock of turkeys nearby. thomas lincoln and dennis were away from the camp at the time and abraham was too little to load and prima gotten himself, so his mother nancy had to do it. abe poked the gun through the crack of the cannon and accidentally killed one. dennis amusingly reset, you know what the truth is? lincoln disliked hunting. he later and rather proudly wrote that the turkey shooting that he had quoted, never since pulled a trigger on any larger game. he did not much like killing. killing or torturing the animals that were everywhere in the indiana woods. one neighborhood recalled him writing essays of being behind animals and crawling insects. when his stepfather crushed a turtle against a nearby tree, abraham preached against cruelty to animals contending that and aunts life was to it as sweet as ours to us. as indiana friends and n

abraham lincoln knew death from an early age. his first encounters have stemmed from much the same source as any other young boy growing up in kentucky and indiana, hunting. his father thomas was an enthusiastic hunter as was his cousin dennis hanks with whom he spent a great deal of time. we all hunted pretty much all of the time, dennis remembered, the country was full of wild game and dense with vegetation and swam swampy. we could track a bear, deer or wolf for miles through the matted vines and we more or less depended on hunting for living. and dennis remembered an incident in the family's first days of indiana after they arrived at pigeon creek, and abraham spotted a flock of turkeys. and he was too little to load and prime a gun himself, so his mother nancy did it. abe cracked the hole through the camp, and accidentally killed one. dennis musingly remembered. but abraham lincoln didn't like hunting and he wrote about the turkey shooting that he had since not killed any game. he did not torture any more animals in the indi

abraham mijangos: hi, my name is abraham, and i think we are in teatro nahual for almost 14 years.'s a good experience. and she's my director, and it's a really good, good learning. a, or did you learn how to act? abraham: i'm still learning, yeah. damian: what is it about it that says, "i want to be--i want to be on the stage. i want to be part of it"? abraham: i think it's--first it's, you know, to want to do it. and i think my friends or people i know, they want to do it, but they don't know how or where. that's why teatro nahual is here, to invite our community to learn some acting classes. damian: so, i mean, it's a--seems like a professional theater company, but you're also teaching the acting? veronica: yeah, i offer the spanish acting classes since 2004. and i met abraham, abraham arrived probably in 2005, 2006, and he's been taking several spanish acting workshops. he's one of the lead actors, one of the best, not because he's present, but he is wonderful. and we are with people from the community, really all ages. there's kids, teenagers, adult people that want to be intr

i love the even abraham lincoln does that. abraham lincoln's son losing at the inaugural address.they come on board. he he's the playboy having fun. he's taking a little leap from harvard. he wants to have a good time. and what does the guy do. i lost the inaugural address. you had one job. he gave it to a bellman or something. it's kind of the other betrayals. he was lincoln's only child. he is there to watch another president go down. it's an incredible story. i didn't know that. did abraham lincoln belong to any secret societies. i think it's right into the bookends. i'm trying to remember. i don't think he's a freemason. i don't think he is on the list. you have just described the rest of my night now. so thank you. significance of the number 120 -- the number 27. i want to make sure we do it right. what we do with ironman frank is how do you write a book about the holocaust. a soft touch. but when she goes into the attic. we just felt like this could it be a normal book. as i told chris that were gonna shrink every page. we letterboxed the whole thing. as she goes in the atti

. >> that's from the archives of you portraying abraham lincoln. what's the value of understanding history through re-enactment? >> it reaches a population that may not pick up a book but they want to come and have an experience. they're not readers, they don't pick up the written word but they want the experience. >> how many years have you been portraying abraham lincoln? >> 33 this year. started extremely small but i wish i could tell you there was a grand plan, and it's certainly not mine. >> how did it get started? >> i was on the board of the illinois education association. we were going to have the national convention in new orleans and one of the board members came up to this skinny, skinny man with a black beard and said, you know, if you dressed, we could all come on the floor of the convention and they would know illinois had arrived. and i was intrigued. and i said let's try this, and that was the only thing i did in 1986. but then worked at freeport with the debate and such. >> people won't understand the reference to freeport and the

next interview with abraham lincoln interpreter. fellow citizens of the senate, and house of representatives, since your last annual assembly, another year of help, and bountiful harvest has passed, well it is not pleased the almighty to bless us with the return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best that he gives us, trusting in his own time, and wise way, wise way all will yet be well. >> that is from c-span's video archives, of you portraying abraham lincoln, what is the value, to understanding history of the reenactment? >> it reaches a population that might not pick up a book, but they want to come and have the experience, and that's what they have reported over the years. they're not readers, they don't pick up the written word but they want the experience. >> how many years have you been portraying abraham lincoln? >> 33 this year. started extremely small but i wish i could tell you there was a grand plan, and it's certainly not mine. >> how did it get started? >> i was on the board of the illinois education associ

so is abraham lincoln. essay, antique knowledges that the power of abraham lincoln was so much that even somebody like douglas freeman had to acknowledge that at this moment, the historical figure who seems most relevant to what we're doingure is abraham lincoln. >> fdr being overly cautious, if you look at hisdr bei resultt was the same in those states. epeople might vote for segregationist congressman and governors, but they adored fdr. >> i think you are right about that absolutely. one more? yes, i do have one more. >> this was a wonderful talk. nderi always thought fdr embracd jefferson more than lincoln. did he connect the two? i always felt that jefferson was more in the forefront than lincoln. jeffe>> jefferson was definitef important. e jefdr spoke at the dedicationf the jefferson t memorial in the 1930's. 1943. thank you.s noit is not as if jefferson was being overlooked. he does take opportunities to infuse jefferson things he talksk ab about. en htrying to think about momens when he connects the

abraham mijangos: siempre me llamó la atención, bueno, primero que nada, gracias, abraham mijangos, yar, el qué hay detrás de, de actuar, y en realidad es, es bastante aprendizaje, tengo aproximadamente 14 años, desde el 2006, 2005, aproximadamente que conocí a teatro nahual con verónica meza, y pues es, desde ahí he estado siendo dirigido, y aprendiendo. damián trujillo: ¿y cuando llegaste aquí a este país, te imaginaste que hubiera una compañía de teatro que con obras solamente en español? abraham mijangos: de hecho, fíjese que es muy difícil encontrar aquí-- - verdad que sí. personas que sí existe.a muchas que venga a ver y a apreciar esas obras que son solamente en español? verónica meza: sí, ha sido, ha sido trabajo de pioneros, ¿sí?; cuando yo llegué al Área de la bahía en el 2001, y empecé a trabajar, bueno, mi trabajo normal, le puedo decir, eh, yo no veía ninguna posibilidad de teatro en español en el Área, había compañías de teatro chicano, muy respetables, en el Área de la bahía, que todos conocemos ¿verdad?, muy respetables y reconocidas, con muchos años de trayectoria, pe

a $142000000000.00 to be true to 2019 but we more coronavirus later on he secured this so-called abraham accords with some arab or talk or sees he's secured the moving of the us embassy to jerusalem something you strongly supports sour grapes for you on this look here deception achievement i'm glad that the emirates and before the day. went out of the closure to no it did to foam allies relationship with us and i hope that others will follow it positive development. of course it's not that we have peace it's not a major breakthrough we know these people for 25 years. and we have a very very tense even relationship with them on many of enough but still it's good news to see them away due to meet with us in public after the chief and his way of moving go from buffy and buffet goals for television to children is also welcomed here but nothing can cover these major kolo cell. defeat by the corner viable from the one hand and the damage to economy which goes now about to well for 17 percent of g.d.p. and our grand gunned children will have to pay for weight in a future that i'm a joe the buck

abraham. the alliance between the hot tears policy and why abrahams party indeed their alliance was was pretty unlikely from the beginning was new to what extent was this bound to happen at some point given the longstanding tensions within the the governing coalition well i think the sign thought all is there that there is some reluctance in order to. you know for 4 or for a longstanding deal. to take place finally because of the animosity i think the initial stage when there were men met and then subsequently who operated at the there was a woman that many malaysians felt that perhaps they have put the past behind them but i think in terms of the politics you know and perhaps everywhere else it's not just the 2 individuals but also the people around them that carry the agenda and try to lead the various political masters and i think in this respect you know are perhaps individuals like dr my theory and even though i'm not a brain you know despite the issues they have at between them over neve

abraham. sophia who's a pulse and executive director of the mckay the center for opinion research welcome to you all bridget that start with you he's managed to resign the premiership and the leadership and yet of his own party and yet to somehow manage to keep both jobs why did resign does he actually intend to stand down or is all this a political ploy well i think he resigned because of the government collapse and there was a pup power grab within hit the coalition which he rejected some of the coalition partners that the that some of his defectors and power grab were actually joining forces with he didn't want to work with them no but he came back because he still holds the the position in terms of being the dominant political position in terms of the parties and is seen as a stabilizing figure during this transition period and so what's your take on what's really going on in malaysian politics right now was was under pressure to go and if so who was applying that pressure well from a few

and having welcomed the pope, building the abrahamic house and calling this the abraham accords is aitting name. >> abraham is the father of ishmael and isaac and we're the descendents and it's a fitting name and the last time ishmael and isaac got together was to bury abraham. and itead of coming together for a death, it's nice to come for a birth in the region. >> w talked about your background, where did you grow up? >> i grew up in egypt. born and raised in egypt, like i said m mother is egyptian an finished high school there, in 1991, came here and went to school at georgetown. after georgetown finally moved to abu dhabi and started working in the government about 2000. i think the first time we met was probably around 16 years ago. >> right. >> we had the first eting, and we had lunch was shaikh mohammed and i think what i wanted to say is,he middle east that you saw then is very different from the middle east we are talking about today, and the perfect reflection of that, or evidence of that is the three of us are sting here doing an interview with you. that couldn't have happ

the president was franklin roosevelt, not abraham lincoln. the new york herald tribute reprinted fdr's speech under the headline, roosevelt's gettysburg address. the chicago tribune proclaimed, roosevelt dons lincoln armor at gettysburg. it seldom helps to wonder how a statesman of one generation would sur mound the cmount the another. a statesman deals with difficulties, with things that must be done from day to day. not often can he frame conscious patterns for the far off future. fdr acknowledged in his remarks. the fullness of the statue of lincoln's nature and the fundamental conflict which events forced upon his presidency invite us ever to turn to him for help. it's such past in a new deal era context that nina silver examines in her new book. professor silver introduced a new cast of character to the story of civil war memory and explores how americans reinterpreted the civil war to meet their own needs during the great depression and world war ii. since completing her training as a historian at the university of california berkeley -

let's start with abraham lincoln. actually when we're starting with abraham lincoln, i should also say let's start with understanding that i, like many historians, like abraham lincoln and think he's one of the greatest presidents of the united states. i like, most historians, also particularly don't like andrew johnson and think he's one of the worst presidents. united states, so i should at least state our biasses up front, but i think over the next hour you'll see why many historians revere lincoln and don't take as kindly to andrew johnson. to understand lincoln and his background with the constitution, there's a couple of things that informed his understanding of it. one was nationalism. lincoln from his earliest days was a nationalist, andy with don't have writings from him when he was 6 or 7 years old or a teenager talking about nationalism. we can get some sense of this, of how important nationalism was to him from a speech he gave after being elected president on his trip to washington, d.c. to be inaugurated

this is part one of a 2 part special looking into what trump so called abraham accord signed between the leaders of the united states israel the united arab emirates and bahrain mean for the future of the middle east the accords normalize relations between israel and the tube arab autocracies the 3rd and 4th arab countries to open diplomatic relations with israel to egypt and jordan the agreement is seen by u.s. president trump as the dawn of the new middle east and the beginning of a new era of peace but others see it as the building of a stronger front against iran and a potential end to any chance of a future for the palestinian people in wednesday's show i'll be speaking to the palestinian ambassador to the u.k. has a lot and later in this program we'll be hearing from the editor in chief of the jerusalem post jack of caps but 1st joining me now from tel aviv is the 10th prime minister of israel ehud barak who also served as defense minister for 27 to 2013 former presidents effects so much for coming on before we talk about anything i suppose we must talk about the lockdown in is

let's start with abraham lincoln. we are starting with abraham lincoln, i should also say let's start with understanding that i, like many historians, like abraham lincoln and think he is one of the greatest presidents of the united states. i also don't like andrew johnson. i think he is one of the worst presidents of the united states. we should speak biases up front. for the next hour you will see why many revere lincoln and don't take kindly to andrew johnson. understand lincoln and his background with the constitution, there is a couple things that informed his understanding of it. one was nationalism. lincoln, from his earliest days, was a nationalist. we don't have writings from him when he was six or seven years old, talking about nationalism. we can get some sense of this of how important nationalism was from a speech he gave. after being elected president on his trip washington, dc to be inaugurated. he told the crowd, may i be pardoned if i mention way back in my childhood, the earliest days of my being able

the tombs in the biblical patriarchs abraham isaac and jacob comprise one of the most sacred sites in judaism. keenness actually is a regular visitor to the synagogue located in the movie section of the famous cave complex. young boys coming to study ancient scripture. the was. what was i notice you have to limit there but because my come here every morning i can't imagine a better place to preggers the hebrew is the capital of judea and today it is the old israel the heart of israel. i have no problem talking about what people here pejoratively hop if you bush. occupation. then there is less like bush conquest do you know worse it could get yes we have reconquered the land and it is occupied occupied by its residents we are the palestinians palestinian or simply the jewish settlement of kitty and founded in 1979 on a vacation military base outside hebron peanuts and i. lives here with his wife and the 1000000 children. you really have got to. see the settlers here a considered among the most extreme in the movement. no notion of. you just not is fully on base camp. are you careful wh

the tombs in the biblical patriarchs abraham isaac and jacob comprise one of the most sacred sites in judaism. actually is a regular visitor to the synagogue located in the movie section of the famous cave complex. young boys coming to study ancient scripture. was. with us i noticed that limit there because my come here every morning i can't imagine a better place to prayers the hebrew is the capital of judea and today is the old israel the heart of israel. i have no problem talking about what people here pejoratively carpet you bush the names you occupation. then there is less like bush conquest do you who are sick ok yes we have reconquered the land and it is occupied occupied by its residents we are the palestinians pretty steamy or similar to the jewish settlement of killian who was founded in 1979 on a vacation military presence outside help running peanuts and. he gives he leave his wife and the 1000000 children. you really have to go to. see the settlers here a considered among the most extreme in the movement. no motion. and. if you're a little bit of a good shot of the hardes

december 1, 1862, abraham lincoln. [applause] >> so what did you have to work with to interpret his voice and how it might sound the echo >> i -- sound? >> i did underground at ball state. i was at a hotel in springfield, illinois years back. years later, brought coffee. he came to the table and said, you want coffee? i was stunned. i said, where are you from? he said, springfield. i said, how long have you lived here? he said, my whole life. this is what i have waited for. it was the descriptions of the letter writers at the time. when i met david donald in gettysburg for the award of achievement, he wanted to hear it. i thought, what do you say to an author of a lincoln biography that was just awarded the pulitzer? i thought about that a while. i gave him the voice. he smiled that smile which is ever so david donald and he said, it is as i expected. don't ever change it. >> can you give us a full line right here in the voice as you interpret it? >> if we could first know where we are and whether we are attending, we

corruption well obviously he denies corruption even though he's been indicted for it and as for this is an abraham accords you claim then not some of the greatest developments in the middle east will donald trump seeking election in november says their huge step forward what do you mean there have been relations before between israel and the united arab emirates and bahrain the u.a.e. didn't recognize israel they would raise the word israel from atlases in libraries in dubai i happen to be many still far foreign affairs of is where 25 years ago and i met with the bus. in sherman hundreds of pieces of president mubarak at the time we met several times with abdullah bin very. was over there were on the south lawn of the white house reason ateneo heal a ship between israeli business easier relationship between our government i was there for some 20 years and there still i do not deny its very positive development that there are now ready to sign more formal agreement with south and open embassy than normalization debt good good news for the middle east it's a blow to the palace. kenyans but i hope th

let's start with abraham lincoln.actually when we are starting with abraham lincoln, we should also say let's start with understanding that i like many historians, like abraham lincoln, i think he's one of the greatest presidents of the united states. i like most historians, i don't like andrew johnson, i think he is one of the worst presidents. so that should at least state the biases upfront. i think you will see why many historians revere lincoln and don't take as quietly to johnson. lincoln and his background with the constitution, there's a couple things that form the understanding. what was nationalism. lincoln from his earliest ace was a nationalist. and we don't have writings from him, maybe six or seven years old or a teenager talking about nationalism. we can get some sense of this, how important nationalism was to him. from a speech he gave, after being elected president on this trip to washington d.c. to be inaugurated. he told the grout, may i be pardoned if on this occasion that i mentioned way back at m

not so with abraham lincoln. hospitality toward african-americans was well known during his presidency. mary livermore this. bent in special kindness. another white washingtonian said lincolnts of a ram prompted him to receive representatives of every fighting class. -- abraham lincoln. shaking blackve hands. african-americans exhibited great pride in being able to shake abraham lincoln's hand. some believed it had near power.nic mary lincoln gave gifts to african-americans like frederick douglass and seamstress mary keck lee. they cherished these gifts. as sojourner truth explained, it hand that signed the death warrant of slavery. even in 1913, the black poet james weldon johnson celebrated the anniversary of the emancipation proclamation with these words -- since god through struck offeady hand our bonds and made us men. in january 1864, four black men decided to push the boundaries and attend a new year's reception at the white house, the first time black men would go to the white house in a social way, not a