Lincoln In American Memory by Merrill D. Peterson

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Recommended: History of Abraham Lincoln and his achievements

"O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won… The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done; From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won…" Walt Whitman's description of a ship weathering a powerful storm, and returning safe with its mission complete, perfectly illustrates the United States enduring the divisions of the Civil War. This poem is one of numerous commemorations to the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Merrill D. Peterson, author of Lincoln in American Memory, examines an interesting variety of sources, including statues and prints made of Lincoln over the years in addition to the numerous biographies written, and attributes three prominent images to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln: Savior of the Union, the Great Emancipator, and the Self-made Man. From the moment Lincoln died on Saturday, April 15, 1865, these images have developed in the hearts and minds of the American public, withstood the test of time, and still remain to this day (Peterson 1).

The day had been Good Friday on the Christian calendar when the commander in chief had been shot, and immediately his correlation to the life of Jesus Christ as an American martyr began (Peterson 1):

Both were born in forlorn hovels. Both Joseph and Thomas [their fathers] were simple carpenters. Both were humble, kind, sorrowful, and loving of their fellow man. Both spoke in parables. Both were sent to fulfill divine missions and preceded by prophets who were executed: John the Baptist and John Brown. On Palm Sunday Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem, Lincoln to (or from) Richmond; one had his Last Supper, the other his last cabinet meeting… (Peterson...

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With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

(Faragher 477)

The nation would eventually reunify and forever commit to memory the images of Lincoln as Savior of the Union, the Great Emancipator, and the Self-made Man.

Works Cited

Basler, Roy P. Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 5. Abraham Lincoln Association. 27 Feb. 2004

Faragher, John Mack, et al. Out of Many: A History of the American People. New Jersey: Prentice, 2000.

Peterson, Merrill D. . Lincoln in American Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

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