“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.”
Adagia (1508)
“War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“Bis dat, qui cito dat.” – He that gives quickly gives twice.
Adagia (1508)
“I am a lover of liberty. I will not and I cannot serve a party.”
Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni
“He who allows oppression shares the crime.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“Bidden or unbidden, God is present.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“I put up with this church, in the hope that one day it will become better, just as it is constrained to put up with me in the hope that I will become better.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“No Man is wise at all Times, or is without his blind Side.”
– The Alchymyst
“By burning Luther’s books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men’s minds of him.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can be theologians.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“Wherever you encounter truth, look upon it as Christianity.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“A nail is driven out by another nail; habit is overcome by habit.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“I doubt if a single individual could be found from the whole of mankind free from some form of insanity. The only difference is one of degree. A man who sees a gourd and takes it for his wife is called insane because this happens to very few people.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.”
Letter to Christian Northoff (1497), as translated in Collected Works of Erasmus (1974), p. 115
“In regione caecorum rex est luscus. – The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“In the country of the blind the one eyed man is king.”
– Adagia
“I consider as lovers of books not those who keep their books hidden in their store-chests and never handle them, but those who, by nightly as well as daily use thumb them, batter them, wear them out, who fill out all the margins with annotations of many kinds, and who prefer the marks of a fault they have erased to a neat copy full of faults.”
― Desiderius Erasmus
“Next to the theologians in happiness are those who commonly call themselves the religious and monks. Both are complete misnomers, since most of them stay as far away from religion as possible, and no people are seen more often in public. They are so detested that it is considered bad luck if one crosses your path, and yet they are highly pleased with themselves. They cannot read, and so they consider it the height of piety to have no contact with literature..”
The Praise of Folly (1509)
“The merchants are the biggest fool of all. They carry on the most sordid business and by the most corrupt methods. Whenever it is necessary, they will lie, perjure themselves, steal, cheat, and mislead the public. Nevertheless, they are highly respected because of their money. There is no lack of flattering friars to kowtow to them, and call them Right Honorable in public. The motive of the friars is clear: they are after some of the loot. . . .”
Carl Lewis (1961 – ) USA, Athletics. Nine-time Olympic gold medallist, Carl Lewis won gold over three Olympics and was the great star of 1980s track and field. Lewis won gold in the 100m, 100m relay and long jump.
Jesse Owens (1913-1980) USA, Athletics. Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was the star of the Berlin Olympics, much to the chagrin of Hitler. Despite suffering racial discrimination in his own country, he remained a great ambassador for the sport.
Usain Bolt (1986 –) Jamaica, Athletics. Usain Bolt won triple Olympic gold at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Bolt won gold in the events 100m, 200m and 100m relay gold. He set an amazing world record time of 9.58 for the 100m, and 19.19 for the 200m. By 2016, he had also won 11 world championship golds.
Al Oerter (1936 – 2007) USA, Athletics. Four time Olympic champion in the discus throw. Winning Olympic gold from 1956 to 1968. Oerter was the first to break 200 feet for the discus.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1962-) USA, Athletics. One of the most successful female track and field athletes. Kersee won Olympic medals in four Olympics between 1984 and 1996. Her best year was 1988, where she won Olympic gold in Heptathlon and Long Jump. In 1992, she returned to win gold in the heptathlon. In 1996, she managed bronze in the long jump.
Edwin Moses (1955 – ) USA, Athletics. Moses was a champion 400m hurdler. He won Olympic gold in 1976 and 1984. He set the world record four times in his chosen event. Moses was also instrumental in changing rules on allowing Olympic athletes funding and also promoting drug testing.
Sergei Bubka (1963 –) Soviet Union/Ukraine, Athletics. Bubka broke the world record for the pole vault on 35 occasions. His outdoor record was increased from 5.85m in 1984 to 6.14m in 1994. Olympic gold medallist 1988.
Jim Thorpe (1888 – 1953) USA, Athletics, American Football, Baseball and Basketball. One of the greatest all-round sportsmen, Thorpe won Olympic gold in the decathlon and pentathlon (1912). He also had a successful career in the NFL.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956) USA, Athletics, Golf. Ground-breaking female athlete who achieved success in basketball, track and field, and golf. At the 1932 Olympics, she won gold in the 80m hurdles, javelin and achieved silver in the high jump.
Bob Beamon (1946 –) USA, Athletics. Olympic gold in Long jump set in 1968, Mexico. Famous for his record breaking jump of 1968 – 8.90m – which broke the existing record by 55cm and stood for 22 years.
Shelley Ann Fraser Pryce (1986 – ) Jamaica, Athletics. Won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012 in 100m. Also 7 times world champion with golds in 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
Jessica Ennis (1986 – ) Great Britain, Heptathlon. Olympic gold in heptathlon 2012. Ennis missed the 2008 Olympics due to injury. For the 2012 Olympics, she was featured as the ‘face’ of the games. Despite the pressure of the home games, she was a convincing Olympic champion in the Heptathlon event.
Fanny Blankers-Koen (1918-2004) Netherlands, Athletics. In the 1948 London Olympics, she won four gold medals at 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles and 4x100m relay. Her performances earned her the nickname ‘The flying housewife’ and helped to change perceptions of female athletics. She won five European Championship gold medals.
Hicham El Guerrouj (1972 – ) Morocco, Athletics. Double Olympic gold medallist in 2004 in 1500m and 5000m. Set World Record for mile at 3.43.13 and 1500m of 3.26.00.
David Rudisha (1988 -) Kenya, middle distance running. Rudisha provided one of the greatest performances in the 2012 London Olympics, winning the 800m in a new world record – 1.40.91. He is also double world champion at the 800m, his favourite event.
Kenenisa Bekele (1982 – ) Ethiopia, Athletics. Triple Olympic gold medallist at 5000m and 1000m. Set new World Record for 5000 metres: 12:37.35. 10,000 metres: 26:17.53.
Paavo Nurmi (1897 – 1973) Finland, Athletics. Dominated middle distance running in 1920s, winning nine Olympic gold medals and setting 22 new world records from 1500m to 20km.
Haile Gebreselassie (1973 – ) Ethiopia, Athletics. Two-time winner of the Olympic gold in 10000m. Held world record for the marathon for 3 years with 2.03.59.
Cathy Freeman (1973 – ) Australia, Athletics. Freeman was the first Aboriginal athlete to win Commonwealth Games. She won Olympic gold in 2000 when Sydney hosted the games.
Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. Famous Olympic Track and Field, Oxford, www.biographyonline.net, 28th July 2016.
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A look at the socialist beliefs of George Orwell. Also, a look at his writings on Soviet Communism.
George Orwell was a fascinating figure and brilliant writer. He was an idealist, who is best known for his work in warning of the dangers of totalitarianism (whatever its political form) This can be seen in the two classics 1984, and Animal Farm. Orwell was also a committed socialist who sought to promote a more egalitarian and fairer society.
“Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism, as I understand it.”
George Orwell, “Why I write” p. 394
Firstly, George Orwell was definitely a democratic socialist. He stated this consistently throughout his life – from the mid-1920s to his death in 1950. It is true that he wrote a compelling account warning of the dangers of a totalitarian state. But, Orwell always maintained that just because you severely criticised Soviet-style Communism didn’t make you any less a socialist. In fact, socialism as Orwell understood it, stood for all the values – democracy, liberty, equality – that Soviet Communism rejected. Orwell believed that only a truly democratic Socialist regime would support liberty.
“And the only regime which, in the long run, will dare to permit freedom of speech is a socialist regime. If Fascism triumphs I am finished as a writer — that is to say, finished in my only effective capacity. That of itself would be a sufficient reason for joining a socialist party.”
– George Orwell, “Why I Joined the Independent Labour Party”
Homage to Catalonia
Orwell detested Soviet-style Communism – a belief strengthened when he ended up fighting Soviet-backed Communists during the Spanish civil war – Orwell went to Spain to fight against Fascism and for the Republican movement. As a member of the ILP, he joined a fraternal Spanish party – POUM – a small Marxist / Anarchist / Socialist grouping who had strong utopian Socialist ideals. Orwell loved their utopian Socialism.
“Socialism means a classless society, or it means nothing at all. And it was here that those few months in the militia were valuable to me. For the Spanish militias, while they lasted, were a sort of microcosm of a classless society. In that community where no one was on the make, where there was a shortage of everything but no privilege and no bootlicking, one got, perhaps, a crude forecast of what the opening stages of socialism might be like. And, after all, instead of disillusioning me it deeply attracted me. The effect was to make my desire to see socialism established much more actual than it had been before.”
George Orwell, ‘Homage to Catalonia’
But, Stalin wanted to crush all left-wing parties who were not the Communist party; this led to a civil war amongst the Republican movement in Spain. Orwell got caught up in this and it made him really disgusted with Stalin and the Communist party.
“the Communists stood not upon the extreme Left, but upon the extreme right. In reality this should come as no surprise, because the tactics of the Communist parties elsewhere.”
George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia
This experience of fighting alongside socialist idealists and against Stalinist backed Communist party, only strengthened his belief in democratic socialism.
Down and out in Paris and London
Orwell had a privileged upbringing – he studied at Eton College, along with many future members of the British establishment. After school, he got a job in the Burmese civil service. But he came to reject his class privileges and also grew to detest the British Empire. In Down and out in Paris and London and Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell wanted to experience the difficult life that working class people experienced. These experiences in Paris, London and Wigan made Orwell very sympathetic to the cause of the working class, and Orwell believed it was socialism that was the fairest way to help create a more equal society.
“For perhaps ten years past I have had some grasp of the real nature of capitalist society. I have seen British imperialism at work in Burma, and I have seen something of the effects of poverty and unemployment in Britain…. One has got to be actively a Socialist, not merely sympathetic to Socialism, or one plays into the hands of our always active enemies.”
– George Orwell, “Why I Joined the Independent Labour Party”
Animal Farm
Animal Farm is an allegory on revolutions which fail their ideals. It is clearly an indictment of the Russian Revolution. Orwell made no secret of the fact that he detested what Stalin was doing in Russia. Orwell was scathing of left-wing intellectuals (like George Bernard Shaw) who thought Soviet Russia was a Socialist paradise. Orwell lamented that Communists in Britain were too liable to excuse Stalin’s crimes and paint a picture of Russia which was not reality.
To Orwell, Soviet Russia was a failing of democratic Socialist ideals. Stalin had merely replaced one dictatorship (old Tsars) with another more murderous dictatorship.
Independent Labour Party
George Orwell was a member of the Independent Labour Party (ILP). The ILP was one of the founding forces of the British Socialist and Labour movement. Their roots were strongly influenced by Christian Socialism and the Fabian movement. Key figures in the party included John Keir Hardie, Ramsay MacDonald and James Maxton.
To give a flavour of the ILP 1928, the ILP developed a “Socialism in Our Time” platform, embodied in the programme:
The Living Wage, incompletely applied.
A substantial increase of the Unemployment Allowance
The nationalisation of banking, incompletely applied
The bulk purchase of raw materials
The bulk purchase of foodstuffs
The nationalisation of power
The nationalisation of transport
The nationalisation of land
Conclusion
Unfortunately, many in America equate Socialism with Soviet Communism. They are unaware that Socialist ideals have nothing to do with Stalin’s policies. Orwell saw Stalin and Hitler as pursuing essentially the same aim of creating a totalitarian state. Orwell wrote against totalitarianism and passionately for a democratic and fair Socialist society in Britain.
Biography of George Orwell – Author of Animal Farm, The Road to Wigan Pier and 1984. British socialist who warned about the dangers of totalitarianism and fanaticism.
Famous socialists – From Karl Marx the founder of Marxism to leading Communists, such as Lenin and Leon Trotsky. Also democratic socialists of US and UK.
A selection of people who have been prominent activists in the field of civil rights, peace, women’s rights, animal rights and other political causes.
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) Douglass was a former slave who became committed to working for the emancipation of all slaves and ending the injustice of slavery and racism in America. He gave many stirring speeches criticising injustice and promoting the idea of a nation where all people were treated equally regardless of race, sex or religion.
Harriet Tubman (1822 – 1913) African American activist who campaigned against slavery. Tubman was born into slavery but escaped and dedicated the rest of her life to overcoming the practice. She was active in the underground movement which sought to help free others currently enslaved. During the civil war, she served as a Union spy. After the civil war, she also spoke for women’s suffrage. Read On…
Some of the most famous landmarks and tourist attractions in England, including Big Ben, Blackpool Tower, Palace of Westminster and Windsor Castle.
Blackpool Tower
Opened in 1894, it was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is 158 metres tall. The Tower Ballroom is a major entertainment venue. Blackpool is one of the most popular seaside resorts in England.
White cliffs of Dover
The imposing chalk cliffs face the European continent at the shortest crossing of the English channel. The White Cliffs of Dover are the first sight of England for people crossing the English channel.
The Romantic period or Romantic era lasted from the end of the Eighteenth Century towards the mid 19th Century.
Romanticism was a movement which highlighted the importance of:
The individual emotions, feelings, and expressions of artists.
It rejected rigid forms and structures. Instead, it placed great stress on the individual, unique experience of an artist/writer.
Romanticism gave great value to nature, and artists experience within nature. This was in stark contrast to the rapid industrialisation of society in the Nineteenth Century.
Romanticism was considered idealistic – a belief in greater ideals than materialism and rationalism and the potential beauty of nature and mystical experience.
Romanticism was influenced by the ideals of the French and American revolution, which sought to free man from a rigid autocratic society. Over time, it also became more associated with burgeoning nationalistic movements, e.g. movement for Italian independence.
Famous Romantic Poets
William Blake (1757 –1827) Poet, artist, and mystic. Blake wrote Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, The Four Zoas, and Jerusalem. Blake is not considered a classical, romantic poet, but his new style of poetry and mystical experience of nature had a significant influence on the growth of romanticism.
Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) Scottish romantic poet who was influential in the development of romantic poetry. He wrote in both English and Scottish and also contributed to radical politics.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 –1834) English romantic poet and a member of the “Lakes Poets.” Coleridge’s famous poems included The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Christabel and Kubla Khan. Coleridge helped to bring to England the concept of German idealism. (an important strand of Romanticism)
Lord Byron (1788 – 1824) English romantic poet, who led a flamboyant, extravagant lifestyle – travelling across Europe. His works included Don Juan, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and She Walks in Beauty.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 –1822) English romantic poet, and friend to John Keats. Famous works include Queen Mab, Prometheus Unbound and Adonais – his tribute to Keats. Shelley was also an atheist and radical political writer.
John Keats (1795 – 1821) English Romantic poet. One of his best-known works is Endymion: A Poetic Romance (1817). Famous poems include; A Thing of Beauty (Endymion), Bright Star, When I Have Fears, Ode To A Nightingale.
Writers of the Romantic period
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832) German poet, playwright, and author. Goethe’s work The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) influential in creating an ideal of a passionate and sensitive main character.
Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832) Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott’s novels gained a global appeal, and he was an important romantic novelist. Notable works include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, and Waverley.
Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851) English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, and travel writer. Shelley wrote Frankenstein (1818). Shelley was a political radical, expressing more support for greater social co-operation than typical of more individualistic romantics.
Honore de Balzac (1799 – 1850) French novelist and short story writer. Balzac was an influential realist writer who created characters of moral ambiguity – often based on his own real-life examples. His greatest work was the collection of short stories La Comédie Humaine.
Alexandre Dumas (1802 – 1870) Author of historical dramas such as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, and the Marie Antoinette romances. Dumas was a larger than life character and influential writer.
Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885) Perhaps the greatest French author. Noted for his poetry and novels. His novels include Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831. Also became a leading Republican.
Gustave Flaubert (1821 – 1880) Influential French writer who combined both literary realism with aspects of the romantic tradition. He is best known for his novel Madame Bovary (1857).
Writers of the American Romantic Era
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) American poet and author. Poe is considered an influential member of the American Romantic movement. He wrote fiction, poetry, essays and literary criticism.
Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) American poet. Wrote Leaves of Grass, a groundbreaking new style of poetry. Whitman was a bridge between the movements of transcendentalism and realism.
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) American female poet. Led secluded lifestyle, and left a legacy of many, short vivid poems, often on themes of death and immortality.
Romantic Artists
Eugène Delacroix – La liberté Guidant le Peuple. Commemorates the French Revolution of 1830 (July Revolution) on 28 July 1830.
Francisco José de Goya (1746 – 1828) Spanish romantic painter. De Goya combined the classical style of the Old Masters with a new realism, ambiguity and imagination.
John M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851) British landscape artist. Known as the painter of light, Turner was an artistic figure from the Romantic period and one of the precursors to Impressionism.
John Constable (1776 – 1837) English romantic painter. Constable was noted for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale – offering an idealised view of the countryside – one of the ideals of romanticism.
Eugène Delacroix (1798 – 1863) French romantic painter. Delacroix was influential for pioneering an expressive use of colour, movement, imagination and romantic content. He was influential for the impressionists.
Composers of the Romantic period
Hector Berlioz (1803 – 1869) French composer of the Romantic period. Berlioz composed a Requiem for 210 voices Grande Messe des morts (Requiem) and Symphonie fantastique.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) German composer of the romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His famous works include Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave) (1830), Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (1844)
Frederick Chopin (1810 – 1849) Polish-born Classical composer. Important compositions include piano collections, Études, Opp. 10 and 25, and the 24 Preludes, Op. 28. Chopin also wrote numerous polonaises, sonatas, waltzes, impromptus and nocturnes.
Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist. Liszt was a prominent member of the “New German School” of musicians. Significant compositions include; Piano Sonata in B minor (1853), “Liebesträume No. 3″.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) Russian composer. Tchaikovsky was the greatest composer of the Romantic period. Compositions include the 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet Overture, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor and ballet compositions – Swan Lake and Nutcracker.
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921) French composer, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. Famous works include Second Piano Concerto (1868), the First Cello Concerto (1872), Danse Macabre (1874), the opera Samson and Delilah (1877), the Third Violin Concerto (1880) and The Carnival of the Animals (1887).
Gabriel Faure (1845 – 1924) French composer of the late Romantic period. Faure composed intimate Chamber music and many compositions for the piano. Famous works include choral masterpieces – Pavane and Requiem, and his Nocturnes for piano, such as Après un rêve” and “Clair de lune”.
Edvard Greig (1843 – 1907) Norwegian composer. Greig was one of the most notable composers of the Romantic period. Famous works include – Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 16, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46, IV. (In the Hall of the Mountain King) and Peer Gynt Suite No.1
The Romantic Poets at Amazon. The major works of the movement’s five most famous poets — William Wordsworth, George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, and John Keats — are represented in this Word Cloud Classics volume.
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People of the Renaissance (1350s to 1650s) The Renaissance covers the flowering of art and culture in Europe. Primarily in art, but also in science.
People of the Enlightenment (1650s to 1780s) The enlightenment is a period which saw the growth of intellectual reason, individualism and a challenge to existing religious and political structures.
People of the Nineteenth Century (1801-1900) Nineteenth Century saw the economic boom of the industrial revolution and worldwide movements for political change.
Famous Poets – The great poets – William Blake, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, John Keats, Homer, R. Tagore.
Born February 12, 1809. Assassinated April 15, 1865.
16th US President 1861-1865
Lincoln was President during the American Civil War, leading the Union to victory over the Confederate states.
Issued Emancipation Proclamation 1st January 1863
Gave Gettysburg Address 19 Nov 1863.
1865 – helped pass the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery in the United States.
Assassinated by Confederate spy, John Wilkes Booth one week after the surrender of Lee’s Confederate Army.
Signature
Bouncing back from Failure
Lincoln’s life was notable for numerous setbacks and personal misfortune.
Lincoln failed in business in 1831 and again in 1833. He was defeated for the Legislature in 1832 defeated for speaker in 1838, defeated for Elector in 1840. Lincoln was defeated for Congress in 1843 and 1848. Defeated for Senate in 1855 and 1858. Defeated for Vice-President in 1856. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836.
His mother died when he was nine. His beloved sister Sarah died from childbirth in 1821. He also had younger brother Tommy, who died three days old. His first love Ann Rutledge died of typhoid fever in 1835. He also saw two of his young sons die – Edward and “Willie” Lincoln (1862.)
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”
Lincoln Observed: The Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks
Appearance
Lincoln was noted for his unusual, ugly looks. Walt Whitman gives a typical description on seeing Lincoln: “Lincoln has a face like a Hoosier Michael Angelo, so awful ugly it becomes beautiful, with its strange mouth, its deep cut, criss-cross lines, and its doughnut complexion.”
Height: Lincoln was tall (6″ 4′) and relatively thin. A neighbour in New Salem said of Lincoln he was “thin as a beanpole and ugly as a scarecrow.”
Weight: Most sources suggest around 180lbs. During his presidency, he is believed to have lost weight.
Beard. Lincoln was the first President to wear a beard.
He grew a beard after an 11-year old girl, Grace Bedell, wrote a letter in the fall of 1860 saying that he would be more charming with whiskers. ‘for you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin‘. Lincoln replied to her letter and started to grow a beard (Letter) (In the 1990s, the original letter was sold for $1,000,000.)
Personal life
Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky on the Western Frontier.
He was named Abraham Lincoln after his paternal grandfather who was a military captain in the American Revolution and was killed by Native Americans in 1786.
In 1816, his family moved to an unbroken forest in Indiana – a non-slaveholding territory.
Lincoln had two brushes with death; 1816 he was saved from drowning, 1819 he was kicked unconscious by a horse.
Lincoln read late into the night to improve his own education. He sought out any good books he could read.
In 1825, he left a borrowed book on George Washington out in the rain; the farmer Josiah Crawford made Lincoln work for two days to pay off the costs of damage to the book.
Lincoln abstained from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life
Lincoln supported the Temperance movement, though he also suggested the Temperance movement would be more successful if it concentrated less on denunciation and more an emphatic/sympathetic understanding of those who drink.
Lincoln became very close to his step-mother Sarah “Sally” Bush Johnson who his father remarried. His step-mother helped to re-invigorate the family home after finding it in a state of disrepair.
He was not close to his father and did not attend his funeral.
Lincoln was physically strong, adept at using an axe. However, he was said to be not keen on manual labour.
Until he was 21, he had to give all earnings to his father. It gave him a natural empathy for those who could not keep the fruits of their labour.
Up until 1827, Lincoln earned no more than 31 cents per day for manual labour. He once ferried two passengers halfway across the Ohio river, and he was tossed two half dollar coins. Saying: “It was a most important incident in my life. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day. … The world seemed wider and fairer before me.”
Lincoln volunteered for the Army during the Black Hawk War, though he never saw action.
On one occasion during the Black Hawk War, he saved the life of a Potawatomi – a native Indian who wandered into this camp. His men wanted to kill him, but Lincoln intervened to prevent this.
In 1832, Lincoln opened a general store in New Salem, Illinois. It proved a commercial failure. Lincoln liked to talk politics to customers, and his partner drank heavily building up debts.
After his business failed in 1833, he was left with debts of $1100. He avoided bankruptcy and referred to it as his “National Debt.” He eventually paid it off.
Lincoln worked at various jobs – farm hand, rail-splitter, county surveyor, lawyer, boatman, General Store Manager, New Salem Postmaster, speaker.
Lincoln became an adept boatman, making long trips down the major rivers of Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio.
Lincoln is the only president to successfully apply for a patent (No. 6469). His device was to help boats stuck on sandbanks.
As president, he earned $25,000 a year. On his death, he left no will and had an estate of $82,000.
He married Mary Todd in 1842. Lincoln was not confident around women, stating once “I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me.”
Lawyer
Lincoln attended school for less than a year.
Lincoln was an entirely self-taught lawyer, learning from Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England.
Lincoln was admitted to the bar in 1836.
Lincoln’s law practices were based in Springfield, Illinois.
Lincoln and his partners handled over 5,000 cases. From murder charges to civil and Railroad cases.
Lincoln took one case to the US Supreme Court Lewis v. Lewis (1849)
In 1858, he defended William Armstrong on the count of murder. He successfully defended his client after using a Farmer’s Almanac to show on that day the moon was at a low angle, and witnesses could not have seen the event in detail.
Slavery
Lincoln witnessed slavery first-hand while sailing down to New Orleans. It is said he took a vow to end slavery after seeing a beautiful negro girl sold into slavery.
Lincoln opposed slavery by often referring to the Declaration of Independence and the opening lines on the equality of men. Lincoln contented the Founding Fathers intended for slavery to die out and for the US to aspire closer to this lofty goal of equality.
In the 1850s, Lincoln opposed acts such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act which could see the spread of slavery into free states.
In the 1850s, Lincoln was not an abolitionist. He did not believe the constitution allowed to interfere in the southern slaveholding states. However, he personally wished for all men to be free and denounced the extension of slavery into any new state.
In 1857, Lincoln denounced the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v Sanford, arguing that Declaration of Independence ‘did consider all men created equal — equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’.”
Politics
From 1834-1842, Lincoln served as a Whig politician holding a seat in the Illinois state legislature.
Lincoln’s domestic policies included supporting internal improvements – government spending on infrastructure, such as canals, roads and bridges.
Lincoln quietly expressed support for giving women the vote at a time when it was rare: “I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms – by no means excluding females.” June 13, 1836 (Sangamo Journal)
1847-49 he was a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Lincoln was critical of President Polk’s actions over the Mexico War. This was politically costly for Lincoln, as many considered it unpatriotic to question the President’s motives and action over the war.
After two years in Congress, he decided not to re-stand for election and 1849 returned to being a lawyer.
In 1854, Lincoln ran for Senate as a Whig. Despite leading after six rounds, Lincoln asked his friends to vote for the anti-slavery Lyman Trumbull. Lincoln felt his withdrawal was necessary to beat the incumbent pro-slavery Democratic candidate. Trumball would remember this act of political magnanimity, and he went on to co-author the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery.
In 1858, Lincoln campaigned for Senate against Stephen Douglass. There were seven major debates, which attracted large crowds. Douglas supported the extension of slavery. Lincoln opposed the extension
Although he lost this 1858 election, his performance impressed many in the new Republican Party.
During the 1860 election for the Republican Nomination, Lincoln was considered the outsider. He had little executive experience, serving only two years in the House of Representatives.
In the 1860 Presidential election, Lincoln was promoted as the “The Rail-splitter candidate” Lincoln’s humble roots, coming from a log-cabin and hard manual labour of splitting logs for rails was used to portray their candidate as a man of the people, someone embodying the “American Dream.”
In the 1860 election, Lincoln won – becoming the first US president from the Republican Party.
In 1860, turnout was a record 82.2%.
He won the electoral college by 180 to 123, though received only 39% of the national vote.
In the 1861 Inaugural address, Lincoln made overtures to the south to prevent secession.
As President, Lincoln vetoed only four bills passed by Congress.
In 1861, Lincoln signed a bill for the first US income tax of 3% on incomes over $800.
Lincoln was responsible, in 1863, for making Thanksgiving a major US holiday.
In 1863 Lincoln approved the creation of the National Academy of Sciences.
In 1864, Lincoln approved a grant and federal support for Yosemite Valley and the nearby Mariposa Big Tree Grove to be used for public recreation (later National Park)
In 1864, Lincoln was re-elected in a landslide, receiving 78% of the Union soldiers vote.
Lincoln during the Civil War
Lincoln and his cautious General McClellan.
Lincoln was determined to avoid firing the first shots in any Civil War with the South. However, ignoring the advice of many in his cabinet, he also approved the Federal Fort Sumter to be restocked, leading to the first skirmish of the war.
In the early months of the war, Lincoln tread carefully to keep Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and Delaware from joining the Confederacy. Lincoln said, “I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky.”
Lincoln assumed sweeping powers during the Civil War, taking a close interest in military issues as Commander in Chief.
Lincoln’s acts included a military draft, suspension of habeas corpus and the power to appoint generals.
Lincoln avidly read many military manuals and became frustrated with generals, such as McClellan who he considered too timid.
During the Civil War, Lincoln was criticised by both “Copperheads” southern Democrats supportive of slavery in the south, and radical Republicans who wished to see the immediate abolition of slavery.
In 1862, Lincoln stated the Civil War was primarily about defending the Union: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.”
However, on September 22, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves in 10 states under Union control. The end of slavery now became a military objective.
On signing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln stated: “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right than I do in signing this paper.”
The Gettysburg Address November 19th. Lincoln spoke for just three minutes, saying 272 words.
Lincoln was ill during the Gettysburg Address with an early stage of smallpox.
At Gettysburg, a fellow senator Edward Everett gave the main address, speaking before Lincoln for two hours and 13,607-words.
In 1863/64, Lincoln appointed General Ulysses S. Grant to the command of the Union army.
Many criticised General Grant and spread rumours of his heavy drinking, but Lincoln, supportive of his general, reportedly stated: ‘Well, I wish some of you would tell me the brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.”
Lincoln toured battlefields. On one occasion, Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes shouted at him, “Get down, you damn fool, before you get shot!”
Lincoln often showed compassion to deserters. He rarely allowed execution for desertion. Overturning 75% of death sentences for desertion – rising to 95 percent by the middle of the war.
Assassination
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated Good Friday, April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre.
On the day of his death, Lincoln told his wife, he wished to visit the Holy Land.
Booth was a Confederate spy from Maryland, who was incensed when Lincoln supported voting rights for blacks in a speech 11 April 1865.
Personal characteristics
“Honest Abe” – Abraham Lincoln gained the nickname of ‘Honest Abe’ when his business partner died and Lincoln inherited his debts. Rather than flee town, as was common in the West, Lincoln remained and worked hard for several years to pay off his debts.
Lincoln was widely considered a man of integrity, truth and conscience.
In 1856, Walt Whitman denounced northern, eastern Democrats, stating he wished to vote for a Presidential candidate who had the following characteristics. “I would be much pleased to see some heroic, shrewd, fully-informed, healthy-bodied, middle-aged, beard-faced American blacksmith or boatman come down from the West across the Alleghanies.”
Lincoln rarely resorted to slogans, stereotypes and personal attacks in politics, but generally offered considerations developed from his reflections and reading.
In the political sphere, Lincoln generally rejected equal voting rights for black voters (it was a minority political view in the 1860s). Frederick Douglass, who sometimes disagreed with Lincoln, nevertheless stated. “He treated me as a man… He did not let me feel for a moment that there was any difference in the colour of our skins.”
Religion
Lincoln loved to read the Bible. He never joined any particular church, though he did attend different churches with his wife, especially when President.
Lincoln expressed belief in an all-powerful God, but no explicit profession of Christian beliefs.
Unusual facts about Lincoln
On November 9, 1863, he saw the actor John Wilkes Booth – his eventual assassin during a play ‘The Marble Heart’ at Ford’s Theatre.
In 1842 Abraham Lincoln almost fought a duel with swords with the Illinois State Auditor, James Shields. The duel never took place after friends intervened.
On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln made the traditional Thanksgiving celebration a national holiday.
After Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the King of Siam offered him a gift of elephants.
Co-incidences with the assassination of JFK and A.Lincoln. Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday seated beside their wives. Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre; Kennedy was shot in a Lincoln automobile, made by Ford. (more co-incidences)
Labels applied to Lincoln
“Spotty Lincoln” – over Lincoln’s desire to enforce President Polk to point to spot where the first conflict with Mexico actually occurred.
“Black Republican” – During the 1858 Senate election, Lincoln was given the derogatory label ‘Black Republican’ for his support for black Americans.
The Great Emancipator.
Father Abraham – For biblical reference to Abraham who led his people during the war.
The Tycoon – For energetic leadership of Civil War
Uncle Abe – For his kindly, avuncular nature.
Historical Reputation
In scholarly ranking polls, Lincoln has been rated as the best president in a poll of polls (Washington Post)
Related
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th President of the US from 1861-1865. He led the Union forces during the American civil war. Lincoln led the North to victory preserving the Union and passing a bill to abolish legal slavery.
Lincoln Quotes – “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln
People of The American Civil War (1861-65) A list of over 20 famous and influential figures in the American Civil War (1861 – 1865) Includes politicians, generals, soldiers, spies and social activists. Including; Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.
Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Facts Abraham Lincoln”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net, 13 March 2017.
A list of over 20 famous and influential figures in the American Civil War (1861 – 1865) Includes politicians, generals, soldiers, spies and social activists.
Politicians
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th President of the US from 1861-1865. Lincoln’s election caused the south to secede from the US. Lincoln led Union forces to resist the split and preserve the Union. After a long war, Union troops prevailed. The Civil War enabled Abraham Lincoln to promise the end of slavery, and in 1865 a bill to outlaw slavery was passed. Lincoln was assassinated shortly after the end of the war.
Jefferson Davis (1808 – 1889) Davis was a senator from Mississippi. During the Civil War, he was the President of the Southern Confederate States who wished to retain slavery and break away from the Union. Davis was considered an ineffective leader, often getting lost in detail and lacking popular appeal. Despite some military successes, the Confederate States slowly lost ground economically, politically and on the battlefield. After the war, he was arrested for treason though he was never tried.
Andrew J. Johnson (1808 – 1875) A Senator from Tennessee, Johnson rejected the southern secession and remained with the Union cause. He was a Union military governor of Tennessee, and in 1864, Lincoln chose him as Vice-President. Johnson as a Southern Unionist was an ideal candidate for Lincoln who wanted to unite the country. After Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson became President (1865 – 1869) He opposed the implementation of federal voting rights to Black Americans and enabled southern states to rejoin the Union while denying voting rights to former black slaves.
Salmon P. Chase (1808 – 1873) Chase was a leading opponent of slavery and supported voting rights for black Americans. He also helped to found the modern Republican party as a new party opposed to slavery. After losing the 1860 nomination, he served as US Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War. In his tenure, Chase set up a national banking system to help fund the war effort. After the Civil War, Chase served as Chief Justice of the US.
– Rene Descartes. Descartes’ Meditation (1641) was a ground-breaking philosophical work, which challenged many established beliefs. Descartes tried to prove the existence of God, from the use of rational reasoning.
“In her (Nature’s) inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.”
– Leonardo da Vinci – who made detailed investigations of natural sciences.
“Here forms, here colours, here the character of every part of the universe are concentrated to a point; and that point is so marvellous a thing … Oh! marvellous, O stupendous Necessity — by thy laws thou dost compel every effect to be the direct result of its cause, by the shortest path. These are miracles…”
– Leonardo da Vinci – who made detailed investigations of natural sciences.
“Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest.”
– Leonardo da Vinci
“Human vocation is a mystical vocation that has to be realized following a three stage way, which comprehends necessarily moral transformation, intellectual research and final perfection in the identity with the absolute reality. This paradigm is universal, because it can be retraced in every tradition.”
The ‘Manifesto of the Renaissance’ was written by Pico della Mirandola – “Oration on the Dignity of Man” – It sought to encourage the striving for human excellence and a universal mystical vocation.
“I die the king’s faithful servant, but God’s first.”
― Thomas More (Renaissance thinker, who refused to acknowledge King Henry VIII Protestant reforms.) Read On…
The Cold War was a period of military and political tensions between the Soviet Union (and Warsaw Pact members) and the US (and NATO allies). The Cold War lasted roughly from 1947-1991.
After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the two wartime allies – the Soviet Union and the US became increasingly split on ideological and political grounds. This led to the division of Europe into the Eastern (Communist) block and Western Europe (democracy)
Throughout the ‘Cold War,’ the two main protagonists the Soviet Union and the US, avoided direct confrontation, but there was a confrontational build up in nuclear weapons and, during the ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’ of 1961, the two sides came close to war. Also, throughout the period, minor conflicts, such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War, were played out in proxy between the major powers and their allies.
Key events in the Cold War include
Berlin Blockade (1948-49) the Soviet Union trying to gain control of the whole of Berlin
Korean War (1950-53) US fighting Communist North Korea.
Berlin Crisis (1961) – Building of Berlin Wall to stop people leaving the East
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) – Closest to nuclear war as the Soviet Union moved nuclear missiles towards Cuba.
Vietnam War (1955-75) US involved in fighting Vietcong Communist forces
1970s – Strategic Arms limitations talks leading to a period of détente.
1979 – Soviet invasion of Afghanistan restoring tensions.
1980 – Olympic boycott. First by the US in Moscow then by the Soviet Union in US 1984.
1989. Gorbachev allows Eastern European countries to break away from Warsaw Pact and overthrow the Communist one-party state.
1991 – Formal dissolution of the USSR.
Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) After leading Great Britain in the Second World War, he was one of the first leaders to raise the spectre of an ‘Iron Curtain’ descending across Europe.
Dwight Eisenhower (1890 – 1969) Eisenhower was supreme military commander of Allied forces in Western Europe. When President of the US 1953-61, he articulated a domino theory – arguing Communism should be stopped before allowing it to spread. He ended the Korean War in 1953, but sent the first US troops to Vietnam and prepared to intervene in Cuba. He made some attempts to limit nuclear weapon proliferation, but this was generally unsuccessful, and nuclear stockpiles increased on both sides.
Joseph Stalin (1879 – 1953) Leader and dictator of the Soviet Union. After the end of the Second World War, Stalin was committed to taking ideological and political control of Eastern Europe. He saw this as a buffer zone against the West. This attempt to control Eastern Europe was one of the main factors in the birth of the Cold War.
John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963) US President (1961-63) As President he helped to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis which came perilously close to escalation. He delivered a famous speech in West Berlin arguing the Berlin Wall showed the failure of Communism. In 1961, he ordered the expanse of the Space Race programme.
Nikita Khrushchev (1894 – 1971) Successor to Stalin. He led the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 during the tense years of the Cold War. He cut conventional forces, but built up the number of nuclear missiles and was involved in the stand-off when in 1962 missiles were sent to Cuba – an ally of the Soviet Union.
Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982) Brezhnev took over from Khrushchev in 1964. He followed a policy of détente with the West – signing treaties to limit the proliferation of nuclear arms. He also ordered the invasion of Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968. Brezhnev also ordered Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979, rekindling Cold War tensions.
Willy Brandt (1913-1992) German politician and statesman. After WWII he became the Mayor of Berlin – playing a key role during the Cold War tensions, centred around Berlin. Brandt became Chancellor of Germany in 1979. He sought rapprochement with the East and creating a stronger, united Europe.
Charles de Gaulle(1890 – 1970) Under de Gaulle’s presidency, France became a member of the EEC, and de Gaulle encouraged a European federation. However, he sought to lead France on a non-aligned course and withdrew France from NATO in 1969. He criticised the US involvement in the Vietnam War.
Yuri Andropov (1914 – 1984) As Soviet Ambassador to Hungary, he ordered the suppression of the Hungarian revolution of 1954. He was later elected to Chairman of KGB, where he suppressed dissent and encouraged the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. He was the leader of the Soviet Union for 15 months in 1982-84.
U Thant (1909 – 1974) was a Burmese diplomat and the third United Nations Secretary-General. U Thant played a crucial role in diffusing the Cuban Missile Crisis and was widely respected for his calmness, detachment and commitment to conflict resolution in his role as UN Secretary-General 1961-1971.
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931 – ) Russian President from 1984-1991. Gorbachev initiated a policy of Glasnost and Perestroika. These policies of reform and openness led to a decline in Cold War tensions, the fall of the Berlin wall and the ending of Communist party rule in the Soviet Union. He negotiated with Reagan to reduce nuclear weapons, and unlike his predecessors, allowed Eastern European countries to leave the Warsaw Pact and become independent democracies.
Lech Walesa. (1943-) Leader of the Polish Solidarity Movement – he helped to bring about the end of one-party Communist rule. Became first non-Communist President in 1991. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.
Pope John Paul II (1920 – 2005) Pope John Paul met with the main protagonists of the Cold War and led to improved relations between the Soviet Union and the Vatican. Considered a moral force for reducing Cold War tensions.
Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012) US Pilot and astronaut. In 1969, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to successful land and walk on the moon, giving the memorable quote. Armstrong saw the Space Race as a helpful diversion from Cold War Tensions
Lyndon Johnson (1908 – 1973) – US President 1963-69. Johnson took over from the assassinated JFK. He expanded America’s role in Vietnam and took a hard line against Communism.
Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004) – US President (1980 – 1988) Reagan pursued an aggressive anti-Communist foreign policy. But, in his second term was involved in negotiations which led to arms reductions.
Samantha Smith (1972 – 1985) Samantha was an American schoolgirl. In 1982, she wrote a leader to the leader of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov, asking why relations between the US and the Soviet Union were so tense. Her letter was published in Pravda, and later Andropov replied. Smith was also invited to visit the Soviet Union, which she did – saying she found Russians to be just like Americans.
Writers
George Orwell (1903 – 1950) – English author. Famous works include Animal Farm, and 1984. Both stark warnings about the dangers of totalitarian states. Orwell was one of the first to coin the term ‘Cold War’ back in 1945.
Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Famous People of the Cold War”, Oxford, www.biographyonline.net, 4th February 2015. Updated 12 January 2018.
People of the Second World War (1939-45) Influential leaders, generals and civilians who caused, influenced and fought during the Second World War. Including; Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt, Truman, Emperor Hirohito, Eisenhower, Rommel and De Gaulle.
People of the Twentieth Century (1901 to 2000) Famous people of the turbulent century. Includes Winston Churchill, F.D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler and Stalin.
