Elected President only to see the nation fracture in two, Lincoln led a confused and frightened people through the most terrible war in their history. At the same time, his own household mirrored the fissures that split the nation: the great emancipator was married to the daughter of a slave owner from Kentucky. Mary Todd Lincoln was an aristocratic southerner who met Lincoln when he was still a backwoods politician lacking in experience and sophistication. Although she remained fiercely loyal to her husband and the Union cause, two of her brothers fought for the South. Their marriage was long and turbulent, and knew many trials, including the loss of two children. Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided weaves together the lives of the two Lincolns, drawing us into their long-vanished world.
Excerpt from Charles Mackay, from Life and Liberty in America: or, Sketches of a Tour in the United States and Canada in 1857-1858.
Language of the free North: We shall not make the black man a slave; we shall not buy him or sell him; but we shall not associate with him. He shall be free to live, and to thrive, if he can, and to pay taxes and perform duties; but he shall not be free to dine and drink at our board -- to share with us the deliberations of the jury box -- to sit upon the seat of judgment, however capable he may be -- to plead in our courts -- to represent us in the Legislature -- to attend us at the bed of sickness and pain -- to mingle with us in the concert-room, the lecture-room, the theatre, or the church, or to marry with our daughters. We are of another race, and he is inferior. Let him know his place -- and keep it.
Mackay, Charles. Life and Liberty in America: or, Sketches of a Tour in the United States and Canada in 1857-1858. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1859.
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