David J. Kent's Blog, page 24

Those Who Choose to Vote Constitute the Political Power – Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln once stated: “Hence it is not the qualified voters, but the qualified voters, who choose to vote, that constitute the political power of the state.” He was writing in 1862 about the imminent admission of West Virginia into the Union, a kind of secession from secession by Virginia’s... Continue reading

Do We ‘Erase History’ by Removing Confederate Monuments?

A week ago I wrote a post titled, “The Rational Case for Removing Confederate Monuments.” There were a couple of important comments that I addressed on that post, but one in particular that I would like to address here – Do we ‘erase history’ by removing confederate monuments? The short... Continue reading

Lincoln in Paris – Wiegers Calendar October

Ah, Paris in the spring, er, fall. October takes me back to Paris on the David Wiegers 2020 calendar. Given lack of travel in the time of COVID, this is as close to Europe as I have gotten this year. Last year I went only to Costa Rica and Cuba... Continue reading

The Rational Case for Removing Confederate Monuments

Protests swept the nation after the death of George Floyd in the spring. While most protests were peaceful, some took advantage of the situation to destroy property, including pulling down a handful of the more than 700 Confederate monuments. All told, as of August, about 60 Confederate symbols (statues, flags,... Continue reading

Mis-Understanding Abraham Lincoln and the Dakota 38

The recent pressure to remove Confederate statues has spilled over into monuments to other historical figures, most incredibly including Abraham Lincoln. As more and more of the country shifts “Columbus Day” to a more appropriate “Indigenous Peoples Day,” Lincoln has been targeted for his role in what is often referred... Continue reading

What Killed Abraham Lincoln’s Mother?

Nancy Hanks Lincoln died October 5, 1818 of “the milk sick.” Or did she? While Abraham Lincoln biographers generally attribute her death to milk sickness, a possibility exists that it might have actually been something else. The story goes like this: Early in October, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow, relatives of... Continue reading

The Pre-Presidential Debates That Made Lincoln President

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln began following Douglas from town to town as they campaigned against each other for Douglas’s Senate seat. Challenging the incumbent Senator in a Democratic-dominated state, Lincoln had to coax Douglas to go against his own interests and formally debate. Whenever Douglas gave a major speech, Lincoln... Continue reading

When Abraham Lincoln Appointed a 10th Supreme Court Justice

Abraham Lincoln is the only president to appoint a tenth justice to the Supreme Court. He made five appointments, one of the most prolific appointers-in-chief in our history. And it all started because of Dred Scott. In 1857, Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the 7-2 majority opinion denying Dred Scott... Continue reading

Lincoln in San Marino – Wiegers Calendar September

September in the 2020 calendar series by David Wiegers brings us to the tiny city state of San Marino, where Abraham Lincoln not only makes a showing, he’s a citizen. I actually wrote about this way back in 2013 in a post called “Did Abraham Lincoln Have Dual Citizenship?” It... Continue reading

Abraham Lincoln and the Devil

Abraham Lincoln and the Devil? That’s a connection most people wouldn’t easily make, but did you know that Abraham Lincoln had a particular affinity for the fable of Faust? The Faust of German legend is an intellectual scholar, highly successful but rather bored and dissatisfied with his life. He falls... Continue reading