Thursday, November 30, 2006
Abraham Lincoln II
Katja
ENGL 48A
Journal # 21, Lincoln II
30 November, 2006
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." (Abraham Lincoln 1610)
This snippet is from Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 speech A House Divided, one of Lincoln’s pre-presidential speeches. He addresses the effects of slavery on the nation as a whole, a premonition of things to come.
If people still see the U.S. as a nation in the throes of youth, during Lincoln’s time the country was a newborn with a severe case of colic. Faced with a disorganized array of states, territories and seceding areas, Lincoln had a tough challenge ahead of him. While not yet elected at the time of this speech, Lincoln’s words seem to suggest he knew that the nation was up the proverbial creek.
The phrase "half slave and half free" (1610) can be applied to the residents of a nation partaking in injustices such as slavery. The slave owners of the South were themselves enslaved to their way of life, their economy, their culture, yet free to make the decision to perpetuate it or not. The Northerners were enslaved by the legacy of their slow reaction to the human atrocities of the South and their commitment to forge a new nation, a task much harder than anyone could have fathomed. Their freedom was hard earned and associated with tough choices.
The most striking thing about this quote is how it correlates to today’s yet divided nation. While the United States is no longer "half slave and half free" (1610), it is half red and half blue. Interestingly, it almost seems as if those old divisions just changed labels, but remain as deep-running basic separations with slightly altered geographical centers.
Grounds for war in the past, the notion of "a house divided" (1610) is cause for concern, as 150 year-old rifts are hard to mend. Of course, nowadays, the U.S. prefers to outsource its wars whenever possible, keeping only a few vaguely identified fires burning at home: the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the battle of the bulge. Puritan John Winthrop talked about the "city upon the hill" (later famously quoted by John F. Kennedy), an untouchable entity above all others. This city may be avoiding violent combat on its own turf but its separatist and inhumane legacy may cause its eventual downfall.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_on_a_Hill
ENGL 48A
Journal # 21, Lincoln II
30 November, 2006
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." (Abraham Lincoln 1610)
This snippet is from Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 speech A House Divided, one of Lincoln’s pre-presidential speeches. He addresses the effects of slavery on the nation as a whole, a premonition of things to come.
If people still see the U.S. as a nation in the throes of youth, during Lincoln’s time the country was a newborn with a severe case of colic. Faced with a disorganized array of states, territories and seceding areas, Lincoln had a tough challenge ahead of him. While not yet elected at the time of this speech, Lincoln’s words seem to suggest he knew that the nation was up the proverbial creek.
The phrase "half slave and half free" (1610) can be applied to the residents of a nation partaking in injustices such as slavery. The slave owners of the South were themselves enslaved to their way of life, their economy, their culture, yet free to make the decision to perpetuate it or not. The Northerners were enslaved by the legacy of their slow reaction to the human atrocities of the South and their commitment to forge a new nation, a task much harder than anyone could have fathomed. Their freedom was hard earned and associated with tough choices.
The most striking thing about this quote is how it correlates to today’s yet divided nation. While the United States is no longer "half slave and half free" (1610), it is half red and half blue. Interestingly, it almost seems as if those old divisions just changed labels, but remain as deep-running basic separations with slightly altered geographical centers.
Grounds for war in the past, the notion of "a house divided" (1610) is cause for concern, as 150 year-old rifts are hard to mend. Of course, nowadays, the U.S. prefers to outsource its wars whenever possible, keeping only a few vaguely identified fires burning at home: the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the battle of the bulge. Puritan John Winthrop talked about the "city upon the hill" (later famously quoted by John F. Kennedy), an untouchable entity above all others. This city may be avoiding violent combat on its own turf but its separatist and inhumane legacy may cause its eventual downfall.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_on_a_Hill
# posted by Katja @ 9:29 AM 
