Howard Zinn’s chapter Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom, and OverSimplified’s video of the American Civil War both offered unique and factual accounts of this time period in American History that I had never heard before. Textbooks teach the information differently based on what part of the country you live in. Textbooks in the southern states often teach kids that the Civil War was only about states’ rights. On the other hand, northern states teach kids that it was a war against slavery. As OverSimplified explained it, it was a combination of both of these factors. The issue that was being debated was slavery, but the southern states overused their power and tried to secede from the Union. Growing up in New England, I remember being taught that Abraham Lincoln was an avid abolitionist. In reality, Lincoln solely wanted to halt the expansion of slavery and had no plans of trying to end slavery when he was running for office. Howard Zinn stresses the fact that Lincoln’s personal beliefs were probably more extreme than what he promoted publically so he could sympathize with the centrists. Close reading is required to read between the lines of Lincoln’s personal letters and journals to see what he truly believed versus what he promoted. I believe he knew he would not get elected if he was a full-fledged abolitionist, so it was a strategic move to take on a more moderate stance to gain the support of a wider demographic.
One thing I noticed when comparing the two sources was how important phrasing can be in creating biases and opinions on objective data. When discussing data on whippings from a plantation, Zinn phrased the objective data in different ways that created implicit biases in the reader’s head. For example, one could state that over half of the slaves were not whipped over a two year period. This creates the illusion that the majority of the slaves were treated well. In reality, a whipping is just one punishment of many a slave could receive, and just because they are not getting whipped doesn’t mean they are treated well. Based on the same data, one could also conclude that “every four or five days, some slave was whipped” (173). This creates the image that whippings were a common affair on the plantation and part of the violent way of life in the south. Despite using the same objective data, the author can create different opinions based on what they think the reader should get out of the information.
I really liked that you cross-analyzed the sources and examined the biases of the authors. I would not have noticed these two different tones when describing the violence endured by those in the south unless prompted, which makes me want to look back at some of our previous readings and cross-compare to see if my opinion was shifted just by the tone of the information presented to me.
I thought your point about Lincoln was perfect for this lesson. I too, was taught that Lincoln freed the slaves, and was an avid abolitionist his whole presidency. However, reading page 191 where Lincoln states “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery”. I was so surprised in reading that, as it essentially contradicted my entire understanding of his goals and principles.
I also found Zinn’s example of the use of statistics to be shocking and eye opening.”Despite using the same objective data, the author can create different opinions based on what they think the reader should get out of the information.” Your point here is extremely important as throughout this class we have learned that the history we are taught is often not the way that events truly unfolded. Historical authors often get to choose the way that history is retold and as such the way they choose to interpret the statistics massively influences the way society remembers the past. This ability to twist and alter statistics increases the power that historical authors have, thereby making it even more important to examine an author’s biases, before reading their work.
I really like your point about reading between the lines in hopes of understanding Lincoln’s true beliefs. Certainly, we all wish we could exclaim Lincoln as a politcal and moral savior of the United States; however, it is extremely important that we take a look at Lincoln as a human being with complex thoughts. As you recognize, Lincoln had to balance both domestic and International political pressures when deciding which of his beliefs to publicize. I think understanding both Lincoln’s personal and public beliefs helps us to understand a more nuanced version of the Lincoln presidency.