frankj1 wrote:so under 19th century law, slaves became property of Lincoln.
So you must be deliriously happy that he is now equal to Jefferson.
Both Lincoln and Jefferson inherited their slaves by marriage. That's the way things worked back then Frank, they were the product of their times and were subject to the laws of the times.
Being a corporate lawyer and political class rascal, Lincoln never missed an opportunity to make a buck so it's no surprise that he would have sold them off. He wasn't much good at farming anyway.
What's hilarious is how the priests of the Church of Lincoln will react to this revelation that evidence was found after they've tried so hard to create this mythical image of the "Great Emancipator" and destroy any evidence that their demigod wasn't so pure and holy. I'm sure, as usual, they'll ignore it if possible or come up with a myriad of excuses. The rumor has been around forever that Lincoln once owned slaves even though you may not have heard of it.
Gerald J. Prokopowicz wrote a book published in 2008 titled
Did Lincoln Own Slaves?: And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln, where the professor tried to pooh-pooh the rumor away without any proof whatsoever that it couldn't have been true.
History is fascisnating, warts and all once you get past the mythmaking by those with an agenda.
Then again, some people prefer cartoons.