DBQ
Abraham Lincoln referenced Kentucky in several letters and publications throughout his life and Presidency. Below are four "Kentucky Excerpts" from these letters on his experiences while visiting Kentucky, his views on the importance of Kentucky at the beginning of the Civil War, and his message to Kentuckians near the end of the Civil War.
Student Directions:
When you finish this assignment, you will be able to explain Lincoln's views on Kentucky over three decades of his life, and how they impacted his actions both before and during his Presidency.
Student Directions:
- Read the "Kentucky Excerpt" from each letter.
- Examine the image presented along with each letter.
- Answer the document questions on the worksheet that was provided.
- Watch the close reading videos to add additional context and understanding.
- Browse the perspectives of historians on the topics presented in Documents A-D.
- Answer the Document Based Question Prompt on the worksheet that was provided.
- The DBQ Essay must have at least one historian's perspective cited.
When you finish this assignment, you will be able to explain Lincoln's views on Kentucky over three decades of his life, and how they impacted his actions both before and during his Presidency.
Document A: Letter to Mary Speed
September, 27, 1847
Document A Introduction:
After visiting his closest friend, Joshua Speed, in Louisville in 1847, Lincoln wrote a letter from Springfield, IL to Joshua's sister, Mary Speed. Within the letter he described his encounter with slavery aboard a steamboat on his way to Saint Louis. This encounter left a great impression on his life, as he would reference it again later in a letter to her brother Joshua in 1855 (Document B).
After visiting his closest friend, Joshua Speed, in Louisville in 1847, Lincoln wrote a letter from Springfield, IL to Joshua's sister, Mary Speed. Within the letter he described his encounter with slavery aboard a steamboat on his way to Saint Louis. This encounter left a great impression on his life, as he would reference it again later in a letter to her brother Joshua in 1855 (Document B).
Lincoln on his encounter with slavery in Kentucky:
"By the way, a fine example was presented on board the boat for contemplating the effect of condition upon human happiness. A gentleman had purchased twelve negroes in different parts of Kentucky and was taking them to a farm in the South. They were chained six and six together. A small iron clevis was around the left wrist of each, and this fastened to the main chain by a shorter one at a convenient distance from, the others; so that the negroes were strung together precisely like so many fish upon a trot-line. In this condition they were being separated forever from the scenes of their childhood, their friends, their fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters, and many of them, from their wives and children, and going into perpetual slavery where the lash of the master is proverbially more ruthless and unrelenting than any other where; and yet amid all these distressing circumstances, as we would think them, they were the most cheerful and apparantly happy creatures on board. One, whose offence for which he had been sold was an over-fondness for his wife, played the fiddle almost continually; and the others danced, sung, cracked jokes, and played various games with cards from day to day. How true it is that “God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,” or in other words, that He renders the worst of human conditions tolerable, while He permits the best, to be nothing better than tolerable." |
Document A Questions:
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Document B: Letter to Joshua Speed
August 24, 1855
Document B Introduction:
In 1855, Lincoln wrote a response letter to his friend Joshua Speed over their disagreements about slavery and how the Kansas/ Nebraska situation should be handled. The letter demonstrates that both friends held very strong opinions on the issue, but still found a way to remain cordial with one another. In the opening of the letter, Lincoln refers back to the same story that was written about in his letter to Mary Speed in 1847 (Document A). Lincoln used this reference to remind his friend that his opinion on the issue of slavery had not changed, and that was due in large part to his interaction with the institution when he visited him in Kentucky.
In 1855, Lincoln wrote a response letter to his friend Joshua Speed over their disagreements about slavery and how the Kansas/ Nebraska situation should be handled. The letter demonstrates that both friends held very strong opinions on the issue, but still found a way to remain cordial with one another. In the opening of the letter, Lincoln refers back to the same story that was written about in his letter to Mary Speed in 1847 (Document A). Lincoln used this reference to remind his friend that his opinion on the issue of slavery had not changed, and that was due in large part to his interaction with the institution when he visited him in Kentucky.
Lincoln on what tormented him from his time in Kentucky:
"You suggest that in political action now, you and I would differ. I suppose we would; not quite as much, however, as you may think. You know I dislike slavery; and you fully admit the abstract wrong of it. So far there is no cause of difference. But you say that sooner than yield your legal right to the slave—especially at the bidding of those who are not themselves interested, you would see the Union dissolved. I am not aware that any one is bidding you to yield that right; very certainly I am not. I leave that matter entirely to yourself. I also acknowledge your rights and my obligations, under the constitution, in regard to your slaves. I confess I hate to see the poor creatures hunted down, and caught, and carried back to their stripes, and unrewarded toils; but I bite my lip and keep quiet. In 1841 you and I had together a tedious low-water trip, on a Steam Boat from Louisville to St. Louis. You may remember, as I well do, that from Louisville to the mouth of the Ohio there were, on board, ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border. It is hardly fair for you to assume, that I have no interest in a thing which has, and continually exercises, the power of making me miserable. You ought rather to appreciate how much the great body of the Northern people do crucify their feelings, in order to maintain their loyalty to the constitution and the Union." |
Document B Questions:
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Document C: Letter to O.H. Browning
September 22, 1861
Document Introduction:
In early August of 1861, Congress passed a bill known as the Confiscation Act, which authorized the federal government to seize property that was being used against the Union by those in rebellion. As an act of war, the policy included the seizure of slaves, but did not specify what their status would be over time. It simply dealt with their status during the war.
Later that month, General Fremont issued a declaration of from Saint Louis that placed the state of Missouri under marshall law. The declaration proclaimed that all property of those in rebellion would be confiscated, including slaves, who would then be set free. Fremont believed that by emancipating the slaves of those in rebellion, he would cripple the Confederates.
Lincoln disagreed with Fremont's actions, because he didn't believe that he, or the office of the Presidency, had the right to make such a declaration alone without violating the Constitution. He ordered Fremont to modify the declaration to agree with the original Confiscation Act of 1861. This did not sit well with some of Lincoln's supporters.
One such supporter was Orville Browning, a Republican senator from Illinois. He wrote a letter expressing his concerns to Lincoln. In his reply, Lincoln presented the reasons behind his decision, which focused primarily on the importance of Kentucky and the role he believed it played in the "whole game." As a neutral border state, Lincoln understood and attempted to express the danger of losing it to the Confederacy.
In early August of 1861, Congress passed a bill known as the Confiscation Act, which authorized the federal government to seize property that was being used against the Union by those in rebellion. As an act of war, the policy included the seizure of slaves, but did not specify what their status would be over time. It simply dealt with their status during the war.
Later that month, General Fremont issued a declaration of from Saint Louis that placed the state of Missouri under marshall law. The declaration proclaimed that all property of those in rebellion would be confiscated, including slaves, who would then be set free. Fremont believed that by emancipating the slaves of those in rebellion, he would cripple the Confederates.
Lincoln disagreed with Fremont's actions, because he didn't believe that he, or the office of the Presidency, had the right to make such a declaration alone without violating the Constitution. He ordered Fremont to modify the declaration to agree with the original Confiscation Act of 1861. This did not sit well with some of Lincoln's supporters.
One such supporter was Orville Browning, a Republican senator from Illinois. He wrote a letter expressing his concerns to Lincoln. In his reply, Lincoln presented the reasons behind his decision, which focused primarily on the importance of Kentucky and the role he believed it played in the "whole game." As a neutral border state, Lincoln understood and attempted to express the danger of losing it to the Confederacy.
Lincoln on the importance of Kentucky:
"I do not say Congress might not with propriety pass a law, on the point, just such as General Fremont proclaimed. I do not say I might not, as a member of Congress, vote for it. What I object to, is, that I as President, shall expressly or impliedly seize and exercise the permanent legislative functions of the government. So much as to principle. Now as to policy. No doubt the thing was popular in some quarters, and would have been more so if it had been a general declaration of emancipation. The Kentucky Legislature would not budge till that proclamation was modified; and Gen. Anderson telegraphed me that on the news of Gen. Fremont having actually issued deeds of manumission, a whole company of our Volunteers threw down their arms and disbanded. I was so assured, as to think it probable, that the very arms we had furnished Kentucky would be turned against us. I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we can not hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us. We would as well consent to separation at once, including the surrender of this capitol. On the contrary, if you will give up your restlessness for new positions, and back me manfully on the grounds upon which you and other kind friends gave me the election, and have approved in my public documents, we shall go through triumphantly. You must not understand I took my course on the proclamation because of Kentucky. I took the same ground in a private letter to General Fremont before I heard from Kentucky." |
Document C Questions:
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Document D: Letter to Albert Hodges
April 4, 1864
Document D Introduction:
On April 4th, 1864, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Albert Hodges, the editor of the Frankfort Commonwealth, summarizing a conversation that he had with him in the presence of Kentucky’ governor, Thomas Bramlette, and senator, Archibald Dixon. The conversation dealt with Lincoln’s emancipation policy and how it directly affected border-states like Kentucky. Knowing that the narrative of the letter would most likely be published, or commented upon publicly, he used the opportunity to demonstrate to those questioning his decisions, like Governor Bramlette of Kentucky, that his actions were responses to events that were out of his control.
When discussing the necessity of military emancipation, Lincoln provided a clear description of his personal attempts to avoid the issue through a series of denials to his generals, like Fremont, as well as direct requests for voluntary emancipation from the border-states. When these states refused his requests, he argued that the only proper response was the direct emancipation of slaves in the states in rebellion out of military necessity.
By giving slaves freedom, he opened the door for them to join the military and fight for the preservation of the Union and the Constitution, which he viewed as the central issue of his responsibility. While he understood that this measure could eventually led to the complete freedom of all slaves, which he personally desired, the narrative of his actions within this letter remained focused on the military necessity of adding soldiers to the Union side, not complete emancipation throughout the Union.
On April 4th, 1864, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Albert Hodges, the editor of the Frankfort Commonwealth, summarizing a conversation that he had with him in the presence of Kentucky’ governor, Thomas Bramlette, and senator, Archibald Dixon. The conversation dealt with Lincoln’s emancipation policy and how it directly affected border-states like Kentucky. Knowing that the narrative of the letter would most likely be published, or commented upon publicly, he used the opportunity to demonstrate to those questioning his decisions, like Governor Bramlette of Kentucky, that his actions were responses to events that were out of his control.
When discussing the necessity of military emancipation, Lincoln provided a clear description of his personal attempts to avoid the issue through a series of denials to his generals, like Fremont, as well as direct requests for voluntary emancipation from the border-states. When these states refused his requests, he argued that the only proper response was the direct emancipation of slaves in the states in rebellion out of military necessity.
By giving slaves freedom, he opened the door for them to join the military and fight for the preservation of the Union and the Constitution, which he viewed as the central issue of his responsibility. While he understood that this measure could eventually led to the complete freedom of all slaves, which he personally desired, the narrative of his actions within this letter remained focused on the military necessity of adding soldiers to the Union side, not complete emancipation throughout the Union.
Lincoln to Kentuckians on military necessity:
"When, early in the war, Gen. Fremont attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. When a little later, Gen. Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, still later, Gen. Hunter attempted military emancipation, I again forbade it, because I did not yet think the indispensable necessity had come. When, in March, and May, and July 1862 I made earnest, and successive appeals to the border states to favor compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipation, and arming the blacks would come, unless averted by that measure. They declined the proposition; and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it, the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than loss; but of this, I was not entirely confident. More than a year of trial now shows no loss by it in our foreign relations, none in our home popular sentiment, none in our white military force,—no loss by it any how or any where. On the contrary, it shows a gain of quite a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. These are palpable facts, about which, as facts, there can be no cavilling. We have the men; and we could not have had them without the measure. And now let any Union man who complains of the measure, test himself by writing down in one line that he is for subduing the rebellion by force of arms; and in the next, that he is for taking these hundred and thirty thousand men from the Union side, and placing them where they would be but for the measure he condemns. If he can not face his case so stated, it is only because he can not face the truth." |
Document D Questions:
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Close Reading Videos
Watch the close reading videos to add additional context and understanding to the documents presented above.
Document A
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Document D
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David Reid, Urshan College
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Matthew Pinsker, Dickinson College
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Historians' Perspectives
Browse the perspectives of historians on the topics presented in Documents A-D. Cite their perspective in your DBQ Essay.
DBQ Prompt
Abraham Lincoln referenced Kentucky in several letters and publications throughout his life and Presidency. Choose one of the "Kentucky Excerpts" and explain the significance of the state in the mind of Lincoln throughout his life and Presidency.
Your response should be at least 1 page, typed, double-spaced, but no longer than 2 pages. Be sure to include at least two references to the other “Kentucky Excerpts”, as well as add at least one historian perspective from the links provided.
Your response should be at least 1 page, typed, double-spaced, but no longer than 2 pages. Be sure to include at least two references to the other “Kentucky Excerpts”, as well as add at least one historian perspective from the links provided.
This DBQ, and its corresponding lesson plan, was created by David Reid in the summer of 2016 as partial fulfillment of the Understanding Lincoln course offered through the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.