Herman Schluter

Despite the fact that 'Lincoln' is in the title of the book, he only makes an appearance about 3/4 of the way in, and then for only about 5 pages or so.

Despite that, there is actually an interesting book in here trying to burst out. This book was actually written by a Socialist, and it is written from that perspective. It looks at conditions prior to the Civil war, and explores the conditions of slave labor vs free labor, and how, in some ways, slaves had it better than those poor white free laborers in the North (and South) who had to work for a living and once they quit working, had no one to take care of them. Slaves, the lucky duckies, would be taken care of for life and never had to worry about meals, etc. (Never mind the beatings, whippings, rapes, murders, etc.) Labor conditions during the Civil war is explored, and how those noble workers in England helped to prevent England supporting the south. The draft rioters in New York City are actually excused to a certain extent because of the $300 fee that allowed the rich to skip military service. (Those mean police shot a bunch of the rioters, too.)

The book is interesting from the aspect of how slave labor and free labor is viewed by a Socialist. It is also something of a comfort that 'Lincoln was not a socialist'. Whew. Some day, someone should re-write this book from a scholarly viewpoint rather than a Socialist viewpoint. I think it would be an interesting one.… (mehr)