The Apotheosis of Abe Lincoln

Over the years, in some quarters, I have been criticised for my comments about Abraham Lincoln and the wiles of his administration. Once I was asked by an editor to please refrain from sending him articles dealing with Lincoln. It was not that he necessarily disagreed with me, but my articles were costing him subscriptions because some of his readership had bought into the concept of Lincoln being a conservative and a patriot and they didn't want their cages rattled. Some feel I've been unfair to Lincoln because I've mentioned the 1848 socialist and Communist revolutionaries in his army. You aren't supposed to know about that, much less mention it to anyone. It bothers them because I named several of these men. Some are horrified that I've pointed to the fact that Lincoln allowed seances in the White House to appease his wife. This hurts Lincoln's image as a 'Christian.'

Other conservatives claim that Lincoln should receive no criticism at all because he, was, after all, the champion of monetary reform for the little people during his presidency. This, somehow, in their eyes, elevates him to the status of Deity. To some of them, monetary reform must, then, be the saviour of the country. Now I'm not a real big fan of the Federal Reserve System by any means, but let's be honest. Until this country returns to bibilical principles and to Jesus Christ, all the 'monetary reform' in the world won't mean diddly!

In regard to Lincoln, we should ask ourselves if even all the talk of his saving the country monetarily is true. Let's check a couple other sources to see what they have said regarding Lincoln. The Durell Journal of Money and Banking August 1990 issue, carried an article about monetary policies during the War of Northern Aggression. The article was authored by Dr. Gary M. Pecquet, a specialist in public finance and economic history.

Dr. Pecquet wrote: "The national banking system adopted by the North in 1863 survived the conflict. The new system served the Northern war objectives admirably...but the new national banking system was never designed to serve the postwar, peacetime needs of the United States very well. Indeed, the trend toward centralized banking should be considered as a product of the war itself." That last sentence may speak volumes.

In regard to the National Currency Act, put forth in 1863, Dr. Pecquet wrote: "The National Currency Act [NCA] also represented a break with the antebellum Constitution. It attacked the principle of state sovereignty in banking..." Pecquet made the same observation in regard to the Emancipation Proclamation. He noted that: "That executive action clearly violated the antebellum Constitution in the U. S." Please remember, this economic expert said this - it was more than just my opinion. Many 'historians' have felt that the War of Northern Aggression provided positive 'windows of opportunity' for 'constitutional reform' [read: 'violation of the original intent.']

James McPherson, in Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution said that: "[t]he old decentralized federal republic became a new national polity that taxed the people directly, created an internal revenue bureau to collect these taxes, expanded the jurisdiction of federal courts, established a national currency and a national banking structure." Now I may be wrong, but to me, that sounds like monetary reform headed in the wrong direction.

If the Lincoln Administration moved toward a direct, progressive income tax and a central banking system, then it was moving in a Marxist direction. All one need do to confirm that is to read The Communist Manifesto. While some may disagree, these actions must be viewed as more than minor mistakes on Lincoln's part. McPherson also stated in his book that: "Lincoln championed the leadership of the European revolutions of 1848; in turn, a man who knew something about those revolutions - Karl Marx - praised Lincoln in 1865 as "the single-minded son of the working class" who had led his "country through the matchless struggle for the rescue of an enchained race and the reconstruction of a social world." Interesting that Marx used the term 'reconstruction.' Has it ever occurred to those astute students of Lincoln that Karl Marx knew what Lincoln was really all about and that he liked what he saw? The fact that THREE measures advocated in The Communist Manifesto became part and parcel of the Lincoln Administration's program should tell us something, if we are willing to put aside out government school propagated myths and listen.

Unfortunately, I could go on for quite a while about the 'reforms' of Mr. Lincoln, but I think the point has been made. Those conservatives that have taken part in the apotheosis of Abraham Lincoln, painting for themselves a rosy-hued picture of him as the great monetary reformer for the common man, probably should go back and so somemore homework. This has merely been another case of Yankee propaganda being passed off as 'history.'

Copyright ©, Al Benson Jr.
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P.O. Box 1883
Arlington Heights, IL 60006