I took a trip down through corn and big sky to the Illinois state capitol, Springfield.
Springfield was originally named Calhoun after Secretory of War, John C. Calhoun from South Carolina. About 10 years later, when Calhoun became the 7th Vice President under John Quincy Adams, and then again under Andrew Jackson, and maybe around the time that Calhoun became a staunch advocate of secession, the fact that he called slavery a “positive good” instead of a “necessary evil,” and that he spoke outright in favor of nullification, a state’s ability to void any federal law they found not to their liking, the citizens of Calhoun found their town’s namesake to be not to their liking, and renamed their town Springfield.
That was about the time this guy got here, where he would stay for almost two decades.
It was here he practiced law after having taught it to himself. It was here he put his feet up on November 6th, 1860, his kids spilling ink on his law office walls, that he learned that he was elected President of the United States.
Lincoln freed the slaves, set a new direction for the country approaching its centennial, and kept these United States united, all while being under constant attack from his wealth of enemies, watching his sons die, as well as nearly 600,000 Americans, about 4% of the population at the time, yet he had the drive and vision to see a higher cause.
I’m totally in the bag for good ol’ Abe… But more on that later.
But check this out…
I didn't take this one...
A face divided…
Cover up the right side of his face (his right) and you see happy Lincoln. That man knew how to laugh, how to tell stories.
Now cover up the left side of his face (his left) and see sad Lincoln. That men felt each one of those 600,000 deaths…
