Lincoln: Anti-War Radical?

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Abraham Lincoln's birthday is Saturday and since I blog from his hometown of Springfield, Illinois, I thought I might include a Lincoln related post each day this week.

Lincoln's only experience in national government prior to becoming president in 1860 was that of Congressman. He served only one term, elected in 1846, and made little impact while in Washington. However, he was enthusiastic and vocal on issues he considered important.

During Lincoln's congressional term, the United States was at war with Mexico. This was a war Lincoln deeply opposed. Encatra explains:

James Polk, a Democrat, was president while Lincoln was in Congress. Lincoln joined other Whigs in attacking Polk for starting the Mexican War. Congress had declared war against Mexico in May 1846 upon Polk's contention that Mexicans had fired on American soldiers in U.S. territory.

In December 1847 Lincoln challenged the truth of this contention. He introduced a resolution questioning whether the spot on which the firing took place was actually in U.S. territory. In another resolution he claimed that the American troops were on that spot in violation of the orders of their commanding officer, General Zachary Taylor. The next month, Lincoln supported a Whig resolution declaring that the Mexican War had been “unnecessarily and unconstitutionally . . . begun by the
President.”

Lincoln's “spot resolutions” made little impression either on Congress or on the president, but they caused an uproar in Illinois, where the war was approved of by most voters. Lincoln was denounced as a traitor, and opposition newspapers gleefully called him Spotty Lincoln. However, despite his opinion of the war, once war was declared, Lincoln voted for all appropriations in support of it.

Sound familiar? I think there are comparisons to be made with the Iraq war today.

Also, here's the text of a speech Lincoln gave in Congress on January 12, 1848 in opposition to the Mexican War.

Since Lincoln later led the nation into its bloodiest war ever, the Civil War, it goes without saying he wasn't really anti-war but anti-needless-unjustified-war. There are a lot of us out here with that same point of view today.

So, good for Abe for recognizing the difference and having the courage to stand up for what he believed.