"Our One Common Country" author talk in Stratford, CT

[J. Beckert]

(08-20-2014 01:07 PM)James Conroy Wrote:  David:

Most unfortunate of all is what seems to me to be the anachronistic portrayal of Lincoln and other mid-nineteenth century Republicans as if they were twenty-first century Democrats. Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, and William Seward were products of their times. They freely articulated racial views, for example, that would quite properly end the career of any politician who expressed them in 2014. They were among the greatest men of their day, but men of their day they were. It does them no honor to present them to the public as if they thought, spoke and acted in 1865 like motivational speakers addressing a Hollywood fundraiser in 2014.

Cheers, James.