" . . . [The] paperback edition of Professor Fehrenbacher's study, first published in 1962, of Lincoln in the 1850s is a welcome reminder of what can be achieved by a fresh and searching investigation of often-asked questions. . . . The book is lucidly and soberly written, and full of carefully considered argument. It is one more major contribution to the work of putting the slavery issue back where it has always belonged--at the very centre--of any discussion of the origins of the Civil War."--Journal of American Studies "This is a brilliant book. With thorough research . . . and a fresh point of view, we have a study that will shape Lincoln scholarship for many years."--The Journal of Southern History "To say that aEURO~this is just another Lincoln book' would be to demean a significant contribution with a well-worn cliche. This is an outstanding book; we need more like it."--The American Historical Review "American historians generally, and Lincoln collectors and scholars particularly, would do well to add to their own pleasure and knowledge by reading this book, one of the finest pieces of Lincolniana yet written."--The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography "This fascinating volume deserves a wide audience."--Mid-America "Enjoyable reading for the general reader, student, and scholar of Lincoln literature."--The Booklist "This is a Lincoln book which belongs in every library and Lincoln collection."--Lincoln Herald "Masterly little book."--The Times Literary Supplement "It is refreshing to discover once again that a book does not have to be ponderous to be significant. . . . Fehrenbacher has added quantitatively to our knowledge, but more especially to our understanding, of this exciting and fateful period in American history. . . . One of the finest contributions to Illinois history to appear in a long, long time."--Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society "Professor Fehrenbacher has demonstrated that subjects even as fully studied as the Lincoln theme can still benefit from diligent and judicious contemplation."--Civil War History

This is the first comprehensive collection of remarks attributed to Abraham Lincoln by his contemporaries. Much of what is known or believed about the man comes from such utterances, which have been an important part of Lincoln biography. About his mother, for instance, he never wrote anything beyond supplying a few routine facts, but he can be quoted as stating orally that she was the illegitimate daughter of a Virginia aristocrat. Similarly, there is no mention of Ann Rutledge in any of his writings, but he can be quoted as saying when he was president-elect, "I did honestly and truly love the girl and think often, often of her now". Did Lincoln make a conditional offer to evacuate Fort Sumter in April 1861? Did he personally make the decision to restore General McClellan to army command in September 1862? To whom did he first reveal his intention to issue an emancipation proclamation? Did he label the Gettysburg address a failure right after delivering it? Did he, just a few days before his assassination, dream of a president lying dead in the White House? All of these questions, and many others, arise from recollective quotations of Lincoln, and the answer in each instance depends upon how one appraises the reliability of such recollection. Recalled piecemeal over a period of more than half a century and scattered about in diaries, letters, newspaper interviews, and reminiscent writing of various kinds, these quotations lie outside the Lincoln canon in the sense that they are not, with a few exceptions, included in his published "works", nor has their authenticity been more than randomly tested. This book contains only quotations traceable to named auditors (persons claiming to haveheard the quoted words directly from Lincoln) plus quotations reported contemporaneously by anonymous newspaper correspondents. The quotations are arranged alphabetically by auditor, often with critical comment. The book is designed not only as a collection of quotations but as a step toward the evaluation of such resources and as a critique of historians' use of them.

"Professor Fehrenbacher has prepared a splendid introduction and notes to a documentary portrait of Lincoln through his speeches and writings. . . . Eminently useful and admirable book which teachers and students at nearly all levels will appreciate."--Kliatt
"This compendium of letters, speeches and public papers of Mr. Lincoln, put together by one of the outstanding Lincoln scholars in our nation, constitutes only one tenth of all Mr. Lincoln's published works. Yet, Professor Fehrenbacher has chosen those which are really monumental. . . . Professor Fehrenbacher's introduction and head notes for each selection are alone worth the price of the book."--Hobbies

Studies this famous case of judicial failure, and discusses the legal bases of slavery, the debate over the Constitution, and the dispute over slavery and continental expansion.

"This magisterial study is a triumph of scholarship....Must reading for anyone interested in American legal history or the Civil War."--Virginia Quarterly Review

Many leading historians have argued that the Constitution of the United States was a proslavery document. But in The Slaveholding Republic, one of America's most eminent historians refutes this claim in a landmark history that stretches from the Continental Congress to the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Fehrenbacher shows that the Constitution itself was more or less neutral on the issue of slavery and that, in the antebellum period, the idea that the Constitution protected slavery was hotly debated (many Northerners would concede only that slavery was protected by state law, not by federal law). Nevertheless, he also reveals that U.S. policy abroad and in the territories was consistently proslavery. Fehrenbacher makes clear why Lincoln's election was such a shock to the South and shows how Lincoln's approach to emancipation, which seems exceedingly cautious by modern standards, quickly evolved into a "Republican revolution" that ended the anomaly of the United States as a "slaveholding republic."

"Advances our knowledge of the critical relationships of slavery to the American government, placing it in perspective and explaining its meaning.... One could hardly ask for more."--Ira Berlin, The Washington Post