President Lincoln, the man rather than the icon, was the subject of Dr. Charles Elliot’s Wednesday, Jan. 15 lecture “Abraham Lincoln and the Value of the Human Life.” As part of the current “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War” exhibit visiting the Sims Memorial Library, Elliot spoke at length on the Civil War leader’s early years and how they influenced his later life. Featured prominently in this early history was the Mississippi River, the state of Louisiana and 19th century New Orleans.

Elliot’s presentation gave great emphasis to the fact that the young president, born in Illinois, was raised on the Kentucky frontier. His family lived a tedious and dangerous life, Lincoln’s grandfather having been killed by Native Americans in an attack from which his father narrowly escaped.

In 1828, at the age of 19, Lincoln embarked upon a trading trip down the Mississippi River. After building a flat bottomed boat, Lincoln and an early companion set sail with a cargo of smoked pork. This trip brought the young man into the slave-holding south where Lincoln was exposed to much of the brutalities of the era.

At some point on the river, south of Baton Rouge, seven Negro men attacked Lincoln and his companion. Although the traders managed to escape, the altercation did turn violent and one of the men served Lincoln a harsh blow to the head. This second most famous of Lincoln’s head wounds produced a scar that would be with the president until his death in 1865.

Despite these pitfalls, Lincoln made it to New Orleans and was able to experience the vibrant, mostly French and Creole, culture. He sold his cargo and his boat and then returned home onboard a steamer to dutifully relinquish the voyage’s profits to his father. Several years later, Lincoln would repeat the trip, although with slightly different methods.

It was Elliot’s concluding point that Lincoln, a president popularly perceived as a martyr crusading against slavery was never so black and white. He had traded in an industry that fed the thriving slave trade in the early 1800s and seemed not to mind very much. The late night attack certainly went no distance towards remedying this fact. Then several years later, Lincoln had repeated his voyage and increased his meager profits via the same associations.

According to Elliot, the Civil War was fought because of the doomed succession of the southern states. Even Lincoln approached emancipation with a wary eye. The common misconception is that the war was fought to drag a slave loving, belligerent south into the modern, free world. In this way, Elliot laid to rest the myth of the man, and brought to the forefront of the audience’s mind, his actual persona.

“Slavery and emancipation was an effect and not a cause to this war,” said Elliot.

Elliot also addressed the constitutionality of the south’s succession.

“It’s constitutional if you win the war,” said Elliot. “It’s not if you lose.”

Reception to Elliot’s lecture was enthusiastic about the presentation.

“It was just a pleasure to have Charles Elliot speak here today. He has such a wealth of historical knowledge about Louisiana,” said Catherine Munson, librarian assistant professor. “He can really speak of that connection to Louisiana and why it’s important to have the Lincoln exhibit here.”

For more information about the Lincoln exhibit, contact Lynette Ralph at 985-549-3962 or via e-mail at [email protected].