Civil War historian Kenneth Stampp passed away a week ago today at age 96: Kenneth Stampp, noted historian of the Civil War and slavery, dies 07/15/09.
This link is to a recording of a 1983 speech Stampp called My Life With Lincoln. He lays out at some length some of the major criticisms of Lincoln and then explaining (starting at about 35:40) why most of them do not hold up well. It's a great example of realistically evaluating an historical figure in the context of his own time. He explains clearly in the context of his subject how "presentism" can lead to some very misleading interpretations of history.
Tags: abraham lincoln, kenneth stampp
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