In the fourth section of Honor's Voice, Wilson writes about Abraham Lincoln's journey into politics. Surprisingly, his physical build and athletic ability greatly helped him: "He could lift weights that were beyond the capacity of others; he could throw heavy objects, such as cannonballs, farther than his fellows...These were feats that were much admired by the men who constituted the electorate in Sangamon Country" (Wilson 141). Although these things probably helped him, he couldn't have become a leader without intellect, something he did not lack. Lincoln was able to ascend into a position in the state legislature. Before Lincoln had been elected to represent Sangamon County in the state legislature, he had begun to align himself with views contrary to those held by people living in the community. Wilson alludes to this: "Lincoln's back-country neighbors...were almost entirely Jackson men, but the young Lincoln, reportedly following Jones' example, resisted. He began to line up with the anti-Jackson forces and soon pronounced himself a follower of Henry Clay" (Wilson 150). Even though Lincoln didn't hold the same views as the community he lived in, he was still elected which means his community had some kind of faith in him.
Once he had served through one session, he became a leader in the legislature; he was recognized as the leader of the Whigs in the House. In his second session, he was two-faced in a way. On one side, he has been accused of logrolling which is essentially doing a favor for someone in exchange for another favor. In Lincoln's case, he was looking to make sure Springfield would be deemed capital of Illinois: "...Lincoln may have voted for and helped to put over patently bad or otherwise inadvisable measures, purely for the sake of securing the state capital for Springfield" (Wilson 163). Even if Lincoln went on to do great things, what he could have possibly done here is inadmissible. The measures Wilson talks about, but does not elaborate on, could have hurt individuals in the community they were passed for. There is nothing remotely right about what Lincoln did. On the other side of Lincoln's two faces, for the first time we see his anti-slavery views. Lincoln is seen with a colleague protesting on the house floor. The protest is described as "two lonely voices crying out in the wilderness against the evils of slavery" (Wilson 175). With Wilson's description, it is clear that although most people in Illinois were in agreement of slavery's evils, they were not going to stand up against it. Lincoln personally stood up against when others wouldn't.
4 comments:
I liked how you showed two examples of Lincoln going against society. In one example, he was wrong, but in the other one, he was right. This shows that even though most everyone agrees that Lincoln was a great president today, it doesn't mean that he didn't make wrong ethical choices. I also think it's often hard for moral crusaders to know if they are right or wrong because they don't always live to see the benefits of their actions.
It appears to me that Lincoln had started developing his ethical views as he went into politics. You said that he even stood against society, in his anti-Jackson approach, which shows to us that he is in a way a whistle-blower because he tries to make a difference in society even though he knows that he may receive retribution for such actions. Later on, he goes into the views of going against slavery, which at the time were pretty pro-slavery. His state were mostly against slavery, but that was not the case for the whole United States at the time. Even though he knew this, he knew he had to try and change things even though the whole United States wouldn't, showing that he had traits of a true whistle-blower standing aside from society and trying to amend it.
It's interesting how Lincoln's athletic ability helped him gain political power. His "manliness" got him public office much like President Bush got the presidency with vote from people who thought he'd be a cool guy to drink a beer with.
I thougt that it was interesting how Lincoln's physical build helped him win an election, but it did not surprise me because our current society is so obsessed with appearances that it would be hard to get into office if you had a physical problem. Another fact from this post that intrigued me was how Lincoln's views differed from the rest of his community. If you live in a defined community with set values, it is hard to stray away from them without gaining scorn from the community, but Lincoln managed to do it.
Post a Comment