Abraham Lincoln Quotes
Standing as I do, with my hand upon this staff, and under the folds of the American flag, I ask you to stand by me so long as I stand by it.
Lincoln, Abraham. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Edited by Roy P. Basler, vol. 4, Rutgers University Press, 1953, p. 241.
The motto was worn on their uniforms which unlike the blue of the rest of the American army was white as can be seen in the famous paining by muralist David R. Wagner. Rhode Island offered freedom to all slaves who would enlist. It not only included Negroes but Indian slaves as well. See {613949} and {614120} for details. The motto itself is interesting in that there was little concept of a country then as most Americans identified themselves as Virginians, New Yorkers or Rhode Islanders. There was no Constitution—only a confederation of States. But the former slaves joining the regiment had never voluntarily associated themselves with Rhode Island, and the first free decision they made was to join the regiment and have a new country.
See Noah Webster and Timothy Pickering for similar positions. The War of 1812 was very unpopular with the New England states. They had the most developed trade with England and were economically injured by the curtailment of that trade. The citizens of Essex wanted to give the State Legislature the most possible moral and political power to negotiate an end to the war.
In one of the most unusual revolutions in world history, Brazil became independent from Portugal via a revolution led by the son of the Portuguese King and heir to the throne, Pedro I. The crown prince of Portugal, led Brazil in her breakaway from Portugal and by popular acclaim became Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil. He is probably the only monarch in history who was the heredity monarch of one kingdom and selected by popular acclaim to the throne of another.
Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.
