Lincoln's Marxists [Hardcover]

Al Benson Jr. (Author), Walter Kennedy (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Lincolns-Marxists-Al-Benson-Jr/dp/158980905X

From the Inside Flap

"Benson and Kennedy have provided an exhaustively researched treatment of the connections of Lincoln's enthusiastic immigrant supporters with the communists' movements of Europe, then and later. They have made a vital contribution to uncovering the true story of the War Between the States." -Clyde Wilson, distinguished professor of history emeritus, University of South Carolina In the midnineteenth century, a group of radical socialists known as the Forty-Eighters brought their views to the United States, seeking to change its government and society. These advocates of big government supported the ideologies of Abraham Lincoln and endorsed him as a presidential candidate. This compelling book follows the rise of the early Republican Party, describing how a group of extreme socialists set the tone for today's Leviathan government. Eighteen chapters offer an in-depth explanation of the Forty-Eighters, noting their origins in Europe, where the socialist revolutions took place; their influence on the election of 1861; and their role in the Union army. Sections question the high regard that such communists as Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels held for Lincoln. Lincoln's Marxists also scrutinizes Lincoln's religious views, disputing the common belief that he was a pious Christian. Addenda include profiles of early American communists and socialists, an article on twenty-first century secession movements, and a recommended reading list. Pictures of historical figures provide a visual reference. Through cogent examinations, the authors reveal a side of Abraham Lincoln's life that has remained shrouded in obscurity. Al Benson, Jr., is the editor and publisher of the Copperhead Chronicle, a newsletter that presents history from a pro-Southern and Christian perspective. In addition to writing for Southern Patriot and other publications, he is a member of the Confederate Society of America and the League of the South. Benson resides in Sterlington, Louisiana. Walter Donald Kennedy is an outspoken advocate of limited government and states' rights. He continues to engage his audience at Tea Party events and Southern heritage conferences throughout the country. In addition to contributing articles to numerous publications, he has appeared on such television programs as Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect. He is the coauthor of the best-selling The South Was Right!, Was Jefferson Davis Right?, Why Not Freedom! America's Revolt Against Big Government, and Nullifying Tyranny: Creating Moral Communities in an Immoral Society and the author of Myths of American Slavery, all published by Pelican. Kennedy lives in Downsville, Louisiana.

German Revolution of 1848

[n.b.: this quick explanation of a major European Revolution is necessarily reductive and woefully incomplete. The purpose of this page is to put the Wisconsin Forty-Eighters' political activism into some sort of context.] Europe in the mid-19th Century was ripe for revolution. After the Napoleonic Wars, many European countries were in disarray. Citizens that had hoped for democracy and the establishment of constitutional governments were disappointed. As Rudolf Cronau puts it, "The rulers, forgetful that the people had saved their thrones, denied [the people constitutional government ], and opened instead a

long period of reaction which manifested its triumph in dark acts of oppression and tyranny" ("The Men of 1848," German Corner). Add to this economic crises and failed harvests, and many citizens were ready to revolt. The first revolutionary lob came from Paris in February of 1848. Louis Blanc and other socialists overthrew King Louis Phillipe and established the Second Republic. The revolutionary spark spread to Germany, leading to armed uprisings in Vienna and Berlin. Students were particularly active in fighting in the revolutionary army against the forces Prussian Kaiser Frederick Wilhelm IV. Liberals had long wanted a unified Germany instead of a fragmented and quasi-feudal Germany. To this end, the National Assembly was convened. The National Assembly, convened in Frankfurt on May 18, 1848, sought to: Write a national constitution Create a centralized government Guarantee freedom of the press, trial by jury, and other basic rights by codifying the "Basic Rights for the German People" However, the National Assembly itself was not a unified group, and infighting as well as outside opposition eventually led to its downfall. For example, the Assembly could not agree on the borders of a German nation-state--especially in terms of Austria and the Hapsburg empire. In terms of outside forces, Austrian Prince Felix Schwarzenberg proposed a centralized Imperial constitution for the entire Austrian empire and offered Prussian Kaiser Frederick Wilhelm IV the unifying crown. However, the Kaiser refused and spoke against any type of unification. In effect, the ideas of the National Assembly were going nowhere (and several liberals left the Assembly). The Assembly was disbanded by military force; the German Revolution of 1848 was effectively over. Historians often see the Forty-Eighters as the inheritors of the liberal tradition of Kant and Schiller, Washington and Jefferson (Tolzmann, German Corner). And while the ideals of the German Revolution were not successful in 1848, they provided a base for the Weimar Republic and for German unification in 1989. For more on the German Revolution, see Unity and Justice and Freedom: The German Revolution of 1848/49 by the German Information Center. [Contributions of the '48ers] [Prominent '48ers] [German Revolution of 1848]

Prominent Wisconsin Forty-Eighters

Carl Schurz Margarethe Meyer Schurz Fritz Anneke Mathilde Franziska Anneke Edward Solomon

Carl Schurz (1829-1906): The most famous and influential of the Wisconsin 48ers. In 1848, Schurz led students at the University of Bonn against Kaiser Frederick Wilhelm IV's regime and became a lieutenant in the revolutionary army. After the failed revolution, Schurz fled to Paris (he also made a daring return to Germany under a false passport to rescue a professor from the Spandau prison). After living in New York and Philadelphia, Schurz and his wife, Margarethe Meyer Schurz, came to Wisconsin in 1855, first settling in Watertown. In America, Schurz continued his political activism. In Wisconsin and elsewhere, he championed freedom and anti-slavery ideals, often using his journalism background to speak his mind. Also, Schurz became known as a leading spokesman for the newly formed Republican party. Highlights of his political and public career include: 1857: Unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor. Starts the Watertown Advertiser, a newspaper that would "advocate anti-slavery principles" 1859: Sets up legal practice in Milwaukee 1860: Heads Wisconsin delegation to Republican convention 1861: Appointed minister to Spain by President Lincoln 1862: Fights in Civil War in General Freemont's Virginia division 1869: Elected U.S. Senator from Missouri 1877-1881: Serves as Secretary of the Interior 1882: Helps found New York Evening Post 1892-1895: President of the National Civil Service Reform League 1892-1898: Writes editorials for Harper's Weekly Margarethe Meyer Schurz (1833-1876): Margarethe Meyer met Carl Schurz in London in 1852 and moved to New York with him as his wife later that year. While often in poor health, Margarethe Schurz played a crucial role in introducing the idea of kindergarten to America. She had long been interested in the work of Friedrich Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten movement. She had helped her sister with an experimental school in London before moving to America. In 1856, she used her home in Watertown, Wisconsin, as a kindergarten for her daughter and other neighborhood children. Her friend Elizabeth Peabody was so inspired by this model that she started the first public kindergartens in St. Louis.

Top of page Fritz Anneke (1818-1872): Playwright and poet, Fritz Anneke was involved in the leadership of the German Revolution. He and his wife Mathilde Franziska Anneke settled in Milwaukee in 1849. Fritz Anneke was involved in several reform newspapers, was a foreign correspondent during the Italian war in 1859, and was a colonel in the 34th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. Mathilde Franziska Anneke (1817-1884): Mathilde Anneke was a poet and playwright involved with a revolutionary newspaper in Germany. In America, Mathilde Anneke was a champion of woman's rights and a pioneer in the suffrage movement in Wisconsin. More on Mathilde Anneke and on the Suffrage Movement. Edward Solomon (1830-1909): Edward Solomon studied at the University of Berlin and came to Wisconsin in 1849. He settled first in Manitowoc, and later ran a bar in Milwaukee. Solomon came to Wisconsin as a Democrat, but soon switched to Republicanism and supported the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1861, he was elected Lieutenant Governor. After Governor Louis Powell Henry drowned in a freak river accident while on his way to bring supplies to Civil War field hospitals, Solomon became Governor of Wisconsin in April of 1862. Over all, his was a failed administration. He could not get Germans--Republican or Democrat--to volunteer for the Civil War, but instead had to implement an unpopular draft that led to riots around the state. To his credit, he did give Wisconsin soldiers in the field the right to vote. Top of page [Contributions of the '48ers] [Prominent '48ers] [German Revolution of 1848] [The '48ers] [The Republican Party] [Woman's Suffrage] [Sources and Credits] [Wisconsin Mosaic Home] [The Activists Home]

Our ideals resemble the stars, which illuminate the night. No on will ever be able to touch them. But the men who, like the sailors on the ocean, take them for guides, will undoubtedly reach their goal. --Carl Schurz After the failed German Revolution of 1848, thousands of German revolutionaries fled Europe and immigrated to the United States. Several of the '48ers came to Wisconsin, changing the culture and history of the state in the mid-19th Century. Young and well educated, the exiled '48ers represented a new type of immigrant. Earlier German immigrants to Wisconsin tended to be farmers and tradesmen. The new immigrants were scholars, scientists, journalists, teachers, and lawyers. Indeed the '48ers that did try their hand at farming were often referred to as "Latin Farmers" because they spoke better Latin than English. The Wisconsin '48ers were men and women committed to freedom and liberty and came to America with these ideals intact. Wisconsin represented a particularly fruitful state for the revolutionaries to settle in because Wisconsin's Constitution of 1848 allowed the foreign-born to vote after just one year of residency. Thus, immigrants could play a major role in Wisconsin politics. The Wisconsin Forty-Eighters did just

that. [Contributions of the '48ers] [Prominent '48ers] [German Revolution of 1848] [The '48ers] [The Republican Party] [Woman's Suffrage] [Sources and Credits] [Wisconsin Mosaic Home] [The Activists Home]

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