While most people know of Lincoln's Gettysburg address, few are aware of his Inaugural Address of 1864. It was a masterful speech, perhaps one of the greatest in American History in that it specifically identified slavery as the great issue of the Civil War.

Strange as it may seem, some think that the war was a battle over state's rights. This is an erroneous opinion, which flies into the face of logic.

The Supreme Court was applauded in the South when it decided in 1857 that all slaves, regardless of their own wishes or laws in the North, must be returned to the slaveholding states. The court ruled that blacks had no rights that must be respected. What did the slave states say to this? Did they talk about state's rights? No, they didn't. In fact, they urged President Buchanan to use his federal powers to enforce the law. It was only after they lost the election of 1860 and control of Congress did they begin to champion state's rights. So much for state's rights.

The Democrats in the North ran a racist campaign appealing to the worst instincts of the population. However, Lincoln prevailed.

It is popular now to say that Lincoln was only concerned with saving the Union, but listen to what Lincoln says: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away, Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword."

Lincoln's action spurred anti-racist feelings in the North and especially the Border States. In Maryland, a slave state, the abolitionists brought the issue to the forefront while the citizens forced the issue of slavery to a vote. The tally went against the forces of freedom until large numbers of absentee ballots turned the tide. These were soldiers from Maryland who caste their lot with the anti-slavery forces while they risked death.

The ideas of Lincoln had the opposite effect on the South. On their way to Gettysburg, southern forces captured blacks and sent them back to slavery. However, the African-Americans revolted and joined the Union army in droves, dispelling the notion of happy slaves.

While armed guerrilla attacks plagued the South, many soldiers from the South switched sides or deserted. In fact, about two-thirds of the army that opposed General Sherman disappeared. By 1865, the Confederate army was disbanding on a massive scale. "The zeal of the people is failing," said Jefferson Davis.

The failure of textbooks and schools to relay the truth has been one of the great mistakes of American history.

While racism has existed in the United States, and still does, this is the birthplace of anti-racism as well. This struggle has led to many different kinds of social movements. The women's movement owes its energy to the cause of civil rights, while one of the heroes of Tiananmen Square was Lincoln. In East Germany, citizens sang "We Shall Overcome."

Unfortunately, here in America, we have refused to honor the abolitionists as heroes and have in many ways turned our backs on our own glorious history. We shouldn't, because much of our history is one that we should be quite proud of.

Sources: Lies My Teacher Told Me. James W. Loewen