La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz for October 19, 2013

Love the bite on the Apple logo on the backscreen, heh, heh.

What is so BIG about Lincoln any way? England abolished slavery in 1807 and in its colonies in 1833-1837. Even Mexico FREED the slaves in 1827 (and the Alamo is because the American Tejanos feared that proclamation would be extended to Tejas as well).

Don’t forget that shameful Supreme Court decision of 1857 (fifty years after England abolished slavery): Dred Scott.

So the Great Emancipator is ONLY a Johnny-come-lately me-too.

On a related subject, is it a coincidence that the movement to abolish slavery picked up steam as steam power was taking off (the rise of the machines)?

If he is referring to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, then no Lincoln did not free the slaves. The proclamation declared that slaves were free in rebel territory. So slaves in Washington DC, Maryland, the border states in general and territories captured, they remained slaves.The Proclamation freed the vast bulk of slaves in the States. The international politics were important. Public opinion in the UK, France & the Netherlands was overwhelmingly against slavery. The Proclamation undercut Confederate hopes of recognition by those countries.More importantly, it made emancipation a central aim of the war. Until then, holding the Union together was the only explicit cause for fighting the Confederates. The slaves in states that had remained in the Union weren’t freed, but the writing was on the wall, in large print.

As I recall, that was why he was so keen to pass the 14th amendment. The EP freed slaves in states at war; when the war was over, they would still be slaves. So, yes, he was the Great Emancipator. Here, no-one else was going to do it.

How many Tea Party Libertarians know that Ayn Rand, herself, spent her declining years dependent upon both Social Security and Medicare? How dare she not bravely die since she could no longer afford to live without taking money out of the pockets of job creators, or whatever??