COST OF PERSERVERANCE (Part II)

 

By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

Last month, we learned that Abraham Lincoln's dad thought education was  a convenience and unnecessary. Oftentimes his dad would destroy Abe’s books. Abe endured the hardships of his childhood, a rocky youth, and a discouraging business career. Abe did not quit. Self-taught, he passed the bar exam and became an Illinois lawyer for the Eighth Judicial Circuit. He rode the 450-mile circuit by horseback. 

     When the love of his life, his young fiancée, died with Typhoid Fever, he was heartbroken. Then he met Mary Todd, they fell in love and married. Mary knew that her husband was an honorable man. The more she got to know him, the more she realized just how honest and trustworthy Abe was. Her husband was the type of man their nation needed, and Mary Todd wasn't about to have anyone say otherwise, including her husband.

Abraham Lincoln was pleased that his wife thought so highly of him. But he was busy enough with pleasing her and providing for a houseful of three boys, especially with riding the circuit as a lawyer and fulfilling the needs of common folk like himself. He often would meet the Reverend James F. Jacques, a circuit preacher. Abe grew to admire Jacques. He was levelheaded and displayed integrity in every aspect of his preaching.

Because his wife was a Presbyterian, Abraham Lincoln decided to attend the Presbyterian Church. After his mother’s death, his religious learning had ended. The year was now 1850. Edward (Eddie) Baker Lincoln had enjoyed a happy Christmas with his brothers when, suddenly, he came down with consumption (this is something like tuberculosis). He was three years old when he died. It devastated the household, especially Abe.

         Abe threw himself into his work. His ethics on slavery and his love for his fellow man prohibited him from quitting. With the westward expansion and the formation of territories, Abe's concern grew as these territories, soon to become states, considered joining the Southern states' philosophy of slave ownership. Free soil, free labor, and free men was often heard. These people oppressed slavery with a determination which evidentially led to the formation of the Republican Party in 1856.

Encouraged by his always devoted wife, Abe kept on attempting to get into politics. Having won the favorite-son candidate of Illinois in 1856, the Philadelphia Republican National Convention nominated Abe for the position of Vice President. He didn't even make a hundred votes. You can just imagine his discouragement.

Abe felt America was heading in the wrong direction. The Constitution of the United States stood for freedoms for every American.

In 1858, because of his many soapboxes and town hall speeches, it became a well-known fact regarding Abraham Lincoln's views regarding slavery and its spreading to the western territories.

"I have always hated slavery. I think as much as any abolitionist." Lincoln often said. He decided then to run for the Senate—and lost.

Lincoln was undaunted. As I tell in Swept into Destiny, Abraham Lincoln argued against the Supreme Court’s ruling on the topic of the Drew Scott Decision that stated no Black person, regardless of their status as slave or free, could be a citizen of the United States.

    Lincoln foresaw the repercussions of The Dred Scott decision. It was a major step in a larger, orchestrated effort to nationalize slavery by making it legal in all US territories. His only hope was that these hard-working farmers and ranchers would hold strong to their beliefs. They believed in freedom for every person and that slavery gave an unfair advantage to large plantation owners.

With his strong views and bold words, it looked as if Abraham Lincoln holding a position in Congress or the Senate, let alone the Vice-Presidency or Presidency, would be nothing short of miraculous. So, how did this miracle come about?

         See next month’s exciting conclusion of “The Cost of Perseverance.”

Swept into Destiny:  Ben (first book of Destiny series) McConnell is a proud Irish immigrant who is determined not to give up despite hunger and deprivation. He clings to his mustard seed faith, believing that nothing is impossible.

Maggie Gatlan is a rebel disguised as a Southern belle. Ben's and Maggie's journeys delve deeply into the truth about faith and devotion.

"… Brakefield's flowing descriptions pull you into Swept into Destiny and keep you immersed in the world of the Antebellum South…This isn't just a world of beaus, belles, and balls, but of moral ambiguity and searches for truth…" L.H. Reader

Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny's Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny, and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, and Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-three years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, three dogs, two cats, and six chickens. See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-20/republican-party-founded

https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/art/circuit.htm

https://www.history.com/articles/abraham-lincoln-family

https://lightmagazine.ca/abraham-lincolns-freeing-encounter-with-christ/