lincoln. this was replicated in other regiments, in other parts of virginia. the regimental color draped the flags and mourning. where the african american troops? robert pins regiment, when one of their offices got the word, two days after lincoln dying on the 15th, he heard a rumor of an assassination. five days later it was confirmed. he talked about theis terrible disaster. what about my troops? whatever complains black soldiers may have had about lincoln so p progress in a mess and aiding -- and man's of hating the slaves vanished. they mourned the death of abraham lincoln. there was no greater legacy to abraham lincoln. i notes of legacy. abraham lincoln's usually on a knowledge legacy of the men white and black, in the armies and navies of the union. look at how they honored lincoln. they behaves as the fine soldiers they had become. i think lincoln would have been proud to know that. the next month following lincoln's assassination, and event took place over three days right here in d.c. the grand review of the armies of the east and west. there was a touch of melancholy. captured so beautifully i cham

lincoln. this was replicated in other regiments, in other parts of virginia. the regimental color draped the flags and mourning. where the african american troops? robert pins regiment, when one of their offices got the word, two days after lincoln dying on the 15th, he heard a rumor of an assassination. five days later it was confirmed. he talked about the

after researching "mourning lincoln"," i came to disagree with that reading. i believe african-americans, both north and south interpreted link it imperative of malice towards none and charity for all, to apply not to former confederates, but just the opposite -- to apply to themselves, to former slaves, to african americans in their quest for freedom and equality. that is white lincoln's black mourners described those two phrases on the banner they carried through the nation's capital on the fourth of july 1865. with lincoln's imperative of a just and lasting peace in mind frederick douglas told his the local mourners on july fourth that permanent peace could not be accomplished without justice. today, we would say "no justice no peace." justice and 86 25 are going beyond freedom to encompass voting rights. douglas believed that slavery would not be abolished until the black man had the ballot. lincoln believed that too . at least, that was the case made by african american victors, turned mourners. when they looked to the spirit of the martyred resident to r

lincoln is nowhere in her thoughts. she estimated she had lost $65,000 worth of human chattel. or as a white man in tennessee wrote -- with aching hearts, we mournor many days in the weeks, months, and years to come. in the ideal vision of lincoln's mourners, the world come to a standstill, time suspended in order to allow proper grieving before turning to the union's glorious future. lincoln's enemies, on the other hand didn't so much wish to stop time as they wished to reverse time, taking them back to the antebellum south. all of these responses to the assassination all were tied deeply to the visions of the nation's future and particularly to clashing and irreconcilable vision of the nation's future. with union victory, african americans and their white allies looks forward to equality education, land, citizenship voting rights for black men -- all with the guarantee of federal enforcement. former confederates for their part looked forward to the reestablishment of their own political rights with no federal interference. nor, i discovered, have the nations first presidential assassinations subdued the vanquished confederates. on the day of l

lincoln is nowhere in her thoughts. she estimated she had lost $65,000 worth of human chattel. or as a white man in tennessee wrote -- with aching hearts, we mournor many days in the weeks, months, and years to come. in the ideal vision of lincoln's mourners, the world come to a standstill, time suspended in order to allow proper grieving before turning to the union's glorious future. lincoln's enemies, on the other hand didn't so much wish to stop time as they wished to reverse time, taking them back to the antebellum south. all of these responses to the assassination all were tied deeply to the visions of the nation's future and particularly to clashing and irreconcilable vision of the nation's future. with union victory, african americans and their white allies looks forward to equality education, land, citizenship voting rights for black men -- all with the guarantee of federal enforcement. former confederates for their part looked forward to the reestablishment of their own political rights with no federal interference. nor, i discovered, have the nations first presidential assassinations subdued the vanquished confederates. on the day of l

[laughter] in researching and writing "mourning lincoln," it became clear that personal responses toassination of illuminated the irreconcilable visions of the nation's future after the civil war and of the war's meaning. curiously, i found that many personal accounts, including those written at the time, portrayed a monolithic nation in mourning. 9/11 again. in the days that followed the attack, it felt like the whole world was mourning and in grief and that is however remembered it when i thought back years later. when i was writing it, i dug out photographs i had taken on september 12, 2001. photographs of the makeshift memorial mourners had created in new york city. in those photos, i found evidence of someone else -- something else. i saw evidence of tension and convention. one sign called for peace. one for peace after payback. messages for harmony defaced by cries for war. in turn, answered for justice without revenge. others warned mourneres to just trust -- distrust the media. i had to ask, who exactly comprised "the nation" at the end of the civil war? after four and of cou

then, when i was writing mourning lincoln, i dug up photographs that i took on the morning of septemberrial that mourners had created in new york city. and in those photos, issa evidence of something else. i saw evidence of tension and contention. one sign called for peace, another for peace after payback. messages calling for how many were defaced for calls to war. in turn, entered for cries with justice -- for justice without revenge. others warned mortars to distrust the media. -- mourners to distrust the media. i had to ask, who exactly comprised the nation at the end of the civil war? after four years of bloody conflict, was the nation once again and all the sudden a single entity? of course not. and of course not even north or south as section were of one mind. lincoln posits supporters encompassed black northerners and black southerners, and the majority of white northerners. lincoln's antagonists encompass the vast majority of white settlers -- southerners. it was precisely this multi-vocal been of voices that interested me. so in dozens of archives over about five years, i read

as the country mourned the president's death african-americans share international grief. but they also grieved the loss of opportunity that lincoln'sromised. there was little, if any indication that andrew johnson the new president was either capable or inclined to secure the rights of people of color. unfortunately, he met the expectations that african-americans had of his administration. the saving grace of his tenure however was his ineffective management of the so-called radicals in congress who weakens any power -- who weakens any power he might have been been expected to have. the time of progress was only a brief interlude in the continuing struggle for equal rights for next century. from the post-emancipation era and for most of the 20th century african-american men and women alongside nonblack supporters battled segregation of all kinds. they challenged employment discrimination. they fought against disenfranchisement. and suffered violence at the hands of those who would keep insubordinate. not only was there a denial of justice and opportunity to the black man that -- who had borne the battle but there was precious littl

mourning period. and they strove to community with a experience to their children. i know for a fact in 1909, the big revival of lincoln on the 100th anniversary of his birth those adults did everything in their power to pass lincoln knowledge and affection towards lincoln on to their children. and so here we are, the legacy of lincoln does, especially with respect to his greatest words live on. i tried in my book two, in effect revive awareness of his body, which was also, in my view, equally prominent among those ancestors that may have been present at the time of the assassination. with malice towards none, with charity for all, wasn't from lincoln's last speech. but it was from the most recent speech, delivered only a few weeks before, not even six weeks before him i believe on march 4. it was the last lincoln speech to contain such eloquent phrasing, which could supply virtual last words. this was an appeal to the new testaments doctrine of love, along with this appeal to the new testament's doctrine of love, and these words, i say here are still familiar to almost all american college students, even if they can't

lincoln still very much alive. all of this, that big week has yet to occur with the exception of the evacuation of richmond. how many have seen the caption women mourning the deaths of the confederacy? they are still out there. the confederacy is not dead. they are just wearing dark dresses. they could be in mourning for all i know, but it shows how far we go to make ourselves the story. nearby was the ruins of the exchange bank. it was one of several that burned during the evacuation fire. it is a pretty boring shot until you dig in. you will see civil war soldier graffiti. a cartoon of two guys boxing. one is described as u.s. grant. this is nothing new. we do it today. direct connection to the past. gardner's folks, gardner was politically active and an abolitionist. when he constructed this image he is definitely making a statement. look at this. are you going to say he is not a man? that the family around his feet are somehow less than yours? they may not have shoes like you. but they want the same things. could you even imagine a more patriarchal scene than this? i would love to have my family like that. he is pointing at the northern people sayi