The Bread She Earns With Her Own Hands: An Examination of Lincoln's Political Economy (original) (raw)

This dissertation focuses on how Abraham Lincoln's idea of "liberty to all" affected his political thought about the intersection of government and the economy. It is a search for Lincoln's political economy. While contemporary economists focus on a single aspect of the person such as self-interest, Lincoln following thinkers such as Francis Wayland viewed economics as a moral science. I do this by examining the speeches and deeds of Abraham Lincoln. I explore topics such as what he meant by "liberty to all", his valuing of a commercial society over an agrarian one, and his understanding of the importance of free labor in terms of Lincoln's thinking on theology and natural rights. Additionally, I examine Lincoln on what the US Constitution allows the national government to do to promote economic prosperity and the role political parties play on these policies. Lastly, I consider several thinkers from the Progressive Era and how they understood Lincoln and considered themselves to be impacted by his administration. My goal is to understand not just what Lincoln was against, i.e. slavery but what Lincoln was for; free labor and what he thought the national government should do to support its cause. 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION His occupying the chair of state was a triumph of the good sense of mankind, and of the public conscience. This middle-class country had got a middle-class president, at last. Yes, in manners and sympathies, but not in powers, for his powers were superior. This man grew according to the need. His mind mastered the problem of the day; and as the problem grew, so did his comprehension of it. Rarely was man so fitted to the event. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Eulogy of Abraham Lincoln There is little doubt that the Civil War marks a dramatic moment in the political development of the United States and that Abraham Lincoln had much to do with these changes. Certainly, it is the end of slavery, the start of the national government exercising considerably more of its power, and the triumph of Northern free labor and capitalism. Lincoln is often appreciated as the man who insisted that the equality of "all men" in the Declaration of Independence included all men. He was also president when the national government began doing considerably more than it had previously done. The Lincoln Presidency marks the restart of national banking, along with the beginning of the transcontinental railroad, land grant colleges, the Department of Agriculture, and the homesteading act to name a few national government innovations. The sub-field of political theory, within political science, has developed a considerable amount of literature about Lincoln's dedication to the proposition that all men are created equal and his leadership in ending slavery. What has not occurred is an exploration of what these new actions of the national government, that are not related to slavery, had to do with the principle of liberty to all. In this dissertation, I seek the connection between this new role of the national government and the idea that all men are created equal and to place these notions within the American political tradition. While the actions are new, they are a long time coming. The Lincoln Presidency marks the triumph of the responsibility side of American politics that Karl