More Lincoln Internal Improvements

I have just started reading Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War by Tom Wheeler and one of its contentions is that Lincoln came into the office shortly after the development of this modern technology and used his skills and instincts as an "early adopter"¹ to implement this new tool in his struggle to lead the Union to victory. Wheeler writes that Lincoln's "use of the telegraph is a journey of discovery. During his first year in office the president infrequently availed himself of the electronic messenger. As times grew darker, however, Lincoln turned to the telegraph to project his leadership"² and this line of thought struck me as being a prime example of what I had previously posted about regarding how Lincoln's life was more one long journey of "internal improvements" rather than just what he believed in politically and economically.

The first few chapters, all I have read so far, continue to make this point – that the telegraph's potential had not been recognized for government or military use and that Lincoln was the one discovering how useful it could be if used properly. Wheeler asserts "Here is the amazing fact: Abraham Lincoln applied the telegraph's technology to create advantages for the Northern war effort entirely on his own. Because no national leader had ever had this technology, there was no guidance the president could rely upon in the experiences of historical figures." ³

By May and June of 1862, this effort had paid off with what Wheeler calls Lincoln's "electronic breakout" in his communications with generals in the Shenandoah Valley chasing Stonewall Jackson as well as George McClellan down on Virginia's Peninsula, approaching Richmond. Whether it was arguing with McClellan over the number of troops, Confederate and Union, in the area, or trying to impose a military strategy and sense of urgency on Generals Nathaniel Banks, James Shields and James C. Fremont in the valley, Lincoln had adapted to this new technology instead of waiting around for news of the battle like American leaders had done in past wars and he himself had done during the battle of First Bull Run. "what is more important is that Lincoln acted:"that he turned to the new telecommunications technology to help him take command."⁴

I have found this to be a fascinating read so far given the perspective it provides on just how new the technology was, both to the government and to Lincoln, who had seen telegraph machinery for the first time only 3 years earlier. Despite this newness, however, as Wheeler points out, he found a way to use this to send and receive vital communications much faster than any American leader ever had before, and it only took him about a year in office to start taking full advantage of it. (Actually, he possibly could have taken better advantage by having the equipment installed in the White House instead of in the War Department building, but maybe getting away from the Executive Mansion for a few hours served him some good.)

Perhaps this instance of "internal improvement" is not much more different than how many people would adapt to such new technology (though Wheeler points out that Jefferson Davis used his telegraph more for purely strategic ideas and not as much for understanding his generals. "Lincoln grew into his relationship with his generals and the telegraph played a major part in that growth. Davis, characterized by the editor of one newspaper as treating 'all men as if they were idiotic insects,' used the telegraph to tell his commanders how smart he was."⁵ but it still shows that Lincoln was ready, willing and able to learn something new that would improve himself and his ability to do his job. Some of this learning of the telegraph may have been different than mere "internal improvements" but the confidence Lincoln developed from being able to send orders or request or receive information so quickly certainly added to his ability to act as commander-in-chief, a role no president before him had ever fulfilled so completely.

¹ Page 6

² Pages xviii – xix

³ Page xix

⁴ Page 67

⁵ Page 43

Lincoln and internal improvements, continued

I realize I failed to mention a couple other examples of how the concept of "internal improvements" applied to Abraham Lincoln and his life, and suppose this is a topic so large or potentially large that I probably should do thorough research on it instead of writing about it from the top of my head, but, as Lincoln may said himself "that cat's out of the bag."

The first, and probably best, example of Abraham Lincoln seeking his own "internal improvements" was his self-education, borrowing books from neighbors, reading whenever he could find time, repeating talks he heard adults give until he could comprehend them well enough to interpret them for others his age and, as he reached adulthood, his studies of the law and of the books of Euclid, the mathematician and logician whose books are among the most influential ever written. For Lincoln to learn Euclid on his own required an incredible amount of work, effort and thought, and may be the ultimate example of how "internal improvements" were the basis of Lincoln's overall mindset and not just in economic or political theories.

The other example that came to mind is from Lincoln's Presidency. As the Civil War started, Lincoln was Commander-in-Chief, but had virtually no military training, other than a brief spell in the Black Hawk War in the early 1830s. His formal military education was even more lacking than his formal schooling was during his childhood, but, again, Lincoln attacked this problem and resolved it himself through the study of military manuals and other books concerning tactics and militaristic matters.

Here I will quote Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson, copyright 2008, Penguin Press. In the introduction to his book, McPherson discusses Lincoln's quest to master military matters and quotes Lincoln's secretary John Hay.
"He gave himself, night and day, to the study of the military situation...He read a large number of strategical works. He pored over the reports from the various departments and districts of the field of war. He held long conferences with eminent generals and admirals, and astonished them by the extent of his special knowledge and the keen intelligence of his questions."

Clearly, Abraham Lincoln displayed the ability and instinct to improve himself through education, most of which was done on his own time and with his own effort. Nothing can be more demonstrative of "internal improvements" than this constant self-education - whether in reading, understanding language, grasping the study of the law or Euclid, or gaining insight into military tactics and theories, but his growth and development in other aspects of his life such as religious/moral beliefs and his thoughts about race relations and the place of African-Americans in American society also display a definitive growth that can be categorized as "internal improvements."

Internal Improvements and Abraham Lincoln: More than an economic system?

A topic I've thought about recently and want to do some more research on involves the comparison of Abraham Lincoln's belief in Henry Clay's "American System," specifically the concept of internal improvements and his own personal development and growth.

The belief in internal improvements claimed that government should exist to help people's lives be better. One example was in helping farmers get their products to market more easily, making it easier for them to succeed economically. This system made government responsible for making transportation more convenient and efficient, specifically in the building of better roads, canals, bridges, and, eventually, railroad facilities. If government made transportation that much easier, more of the small farmers that dominated America, particularly in the west during Lincoln's lifetime, would be able to participate in the marketplace, swapping, trading and selling produce and acquiring other items in return.

Lincoln, and most Whigs, believed strongly in this system and used it as the basis of their political beliefs. As Lincoln was developing his political skills and gaining experience in the 1830s and 1840s, internal improvements, not slavery, formed the most important piece of the political pie to him.

What I am starting to believe, though, is that as Lincoln's life continued and his experiences grew and his beliefs developed, the theory of "internal improvements" was as applicable to his own personal growth as it was to the economic growth to which he applied it.

Religiously, he appeared to be a "fatalist" in his youth, yet as he grew older, he never formally joined a church, yet his writings continually reflected his knowledge of the Bible and made evident his beliefs in a God who controlled all events. The "Meditation on the Divine Will" and his Second Inaugural are the prime examples of this, but by no means the only ones.

One question to be answered about this process of religious growth was whether it was an intentional one on his part. Did he try to develop more religious faith or did it happen more naturally? Either way, this growth was an example of "internal improvement" that happened to Lincoln, though clearly more analysis is needed.

"Internal Improvement" can also be applied to his views on race relations. He always opposed slavery, yet through much of his life, he also favored colonization of blacks, believing that blacks and whites could not live together peacefully. This continued into the early years of the war, before he finally left this wish in the past.

As late as August of 1862, he invited several African-Americans to the White House and tried to convince them that colonization was the best idea for both races.

Shortly thereafter, however, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, showing his willingness to use any powers he thought he had to strike at slavery. At the start of the war, his goal was simply to preserve the Union, but after this proclamation, the abolition of slavery was now one of the government's priorities. This change may not have happened had Lincoln's own views of the war not grown into including the ending of slavery along with preserving the Union.

Even as emancipation became official, though, Lincoln's thoughts on the use of African-Americans tended to leave them as laborers, drivers and other behind-the-scenes workers. This idea, too, also changed after the final Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863.

In March of that year, he wrote to Andrew Johnson that "The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi, would end the rebellion at once. And who doubts that we can present that sight, if we but take hold in earnest." He followed that up in a July letter to Edwin Stanton "I desire that a renewed and vigorous effort be made to raise colored forces along the shores of the Mississippi." (Note: I found both of these quotes on pages 542-3 in A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White Jr, copyright 2009, Random House)

Clearly, his attitude towards African-American soldiers had "improved" since the start of the war, and his feelings about the rights of African-Americans continued to develop as well. In his last public speech, on April 11, 1865, he even suggested letting some African-Americans have the right to vote, a very radical idea at that time. His thoughts did not go as far as many of the "Radical Republicans" but was still much more liberal and forward-thinking than many of his own earlier thoughts about the place of African-Americans in American society. This was certainly more radical than what most white people felt about race relations at the time. In less than three years, he had grown from the idea of colonization to now offering the franchise to at least some African-Americans. This idea - that African-Americans could vote - was so radical that one witness to the speech vowed "This means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I'll put him through."

That witness, of course, was John Wilkes Booth.

Had President Lincoln lived, it is fair to ask how much further his views on African-American rights would have developed. Would he have offered the right to vote to all African-American men? Would he have supported an amendment to the Constitution giving citizenship to all African-Americans? How much more radical would his thoughts, ideas and policies have grown in the time after April 14, 1865? Unfortunately, we can never know those answers, but given the development of his thoughts into a more liberal or radical direction as time passed, it may be fair to say that he would have continued to become more friendly and helpful to those whose rights had been denied for so long.

Internal improvements - perhaps more than an economic and political philosophy.