Talk:John Wilkes Booth/@comment-38.114.202.226-20140513154322/@comment-92.15.136.24-20140514171152

OK to the person who started the debate, I HAVE done my homework. I've actually read numerous Lincoln scholars (whom you so blithely and condescendingly dismiss as 'the victors writing the history'), as well as the sloppy half-baked jobs of writers like diLorenzo, as well as reading Lincoln's OWN works. Unfortunately, your remarks --or slanders-- are based on second-hand, out-of-context quotes which happen to have a great many of their basic FACTS wrong. 

In response:  >Lincoln caused the war.< 

• He was provisioning FEDERAL forts, and only with foods. . NO troops or weapons, so how was that "causing" the firing? 

> He burned homes down.< 

• There is extensive literature on this. Most conclude that he did go too far in SOME cases -- but isn't it easy to sit in your armchair and in hindsight, to take shots at his acts trying to hold together the country in deep crisis. (Excellent evaluation of his war acts -- *Lincoln's Constitution* by Daniel Farber. ) 

> He killed livestock of civillans.< 

• I assume you are speaking of such things as Sherman's campaign. Actually, it's called "total war"... which proved, unfortunately, to be necessary (and is the very thing that justified declaring their slaves free). But do note that even when it was judged necessary to undermine the civilian population's will to fight, by destroying PROPERTY (including, e.g., crops used to sustain the Confederate Army), they did NOT target the PERSONS of civilians. ===Source:===

Scholars correct lies about Lincoln  http://www.claremont.org/writings/crb/Sp...  http://www.independent.org/tii/forums/02...  http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/ow...  http://www.claremont.org/writings/010730... 

Material on Lincoln & emancipation (from Frederick Douglass, Lincoln scholars like Stephen Oates, etc)  http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/insid...  http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/insid...  http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/insid...  http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/insid... 

Was Lincoln a racist?  http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekl...  http://www.thelincolnmuseum.org/new/rese...  http://www.martinspencer.org/AL.pdf espl.p. 5  http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/features/2...  http://www.claremont.org/writings/010807... 

efforts to pass 13th amendment  http://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/insid...