It is true that the ending of slavery in the South was NOT Lincoln's priority, in large measure because he shared the prevailing view that its presence there was part of the compact by which the Constitution was hammered out and adopted. I appreciated how professor Guelzo both traced Lincoln's growth in understanding of the major issues of his time as well has stressed those many factors which were seemingly present in Lincoln from the beginning, including his voracious appetite for reading, curiosity about apparently everything, simple human decency, and an unwillingness to ever see the mistreatment - let alone enslavement - of other human beings as anything other than a great evil. It is sadly unthinkable that a man like Abraham Lincoln could today in our own fractured times even be considered as a candidate for high office, both because in our television and influence dominated age his looks would disqualify him but also because he had such solid ethics and such high-minded principles. Lincoln in this short 12-lecture course, but also so many others whom Lincoln encountered and/or impressed. A wonderful overview of a great man! Although the Great Courses feature many, many fine teachers and superb lecturers, none surpasses Allen Guelzo (at least in my opinion) for his dynamic style in which he brings to life notably Mr.
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