Was Lincoln A Fascist Puppet Of Big Business?

By James Donahue

Every school child knows that Abraham Lincoln was among America's greatest presidents. That is because they are told the textbook story about how the northern Union Army under his leadership defeated the southern rebel Confederates, re-united a nation in division, and brought about the abolishment of slavery.

History books portray Lincoln as a bright, articulate and perfect leader during a dark time in American history. We have built monuments and named buildings and highways in his name.

But was Lincoln really the nice guy we think he was? Why was there a conspiracy that led to his assassination? Why would any group hate such a national leader enough to want to commit such a crime?

This great war between the states was not about slavery as much as it was a struggle between political ideologies. The southern states pressed for strong state governments with a weaker central government mostly empowered to maintain an army for national defense. The northern or Union states supported a strong central government. The issue of slavery became a catalyst over which to build their cases.

Political writer Hari Heath noted in a recent article published in the Idaho Observer that the Union victory in that war was "a quantum leap to unfettered power" by a central government.

Heath said the root cause of that war involved a battle over tariffs on imported new harvesting equipment from overseas that could be bought at lower prices than machinery produced by manufacturers in the northern states. At the time, the northern cities were turning to industry, while most of the crops were being produced in the south.

Believe it or not, southern farmers were interested in harvesting equipment so they could replace slave labor in the fields.

The conflict over the issue of a tax on imported agricultural equipment became such a hotly contested issue that southern states walked out of Congress and began secession from the union. They argued that the northern states were attempting to exercise powers in excess of the authority of the Constitution.

Lincoln began using executive orders to "unshackle the federalists from the chains of the Constitution." Heath wrote. He said these orders included "a draft to fill the ranks of the Union army and calling a Union-only Congress into session."

The draft was very unpopular among northerners, as was Lincoln's war against the southern states. But when the people protested the draft Lincoln sent in federal troops to suppress the protest marches and meetings. History books do not talk about the night a thousand New Yorkers were killed or wounded while protesting the draft for "Lincoln's War."

When the southern "Rebel" army marched against the Union army, the result was America's bloodiest conflict. After the war came the "Reconstruction Era" when federalists ushered in what Heath called "unfettered federalism. With the money powers of the north and the Industrial Revolution in full swing, private and public interest merged.

"After reconstruction, the corporate state was further enriched by the land and resources acquired by westward expansion and the 'belligerent nationalism' imposed on the west's native peoples," Heath wrote.

Since Lincoln, Heath argues, "the basic forms of constitutional government are used only for show purposes. We are not actually governed by anything constitutional. Congress exceeds its constitutional powers with great abandon. The President operates an executive regime that declares war and issues its own orders. The courts no longer interpret laws in the light of the Constitution. They legislate with elaborate doctrines, in defiance of plain English and our fundamental Rights."