On This Day in History: January 12

Lincoln makes a stupid speech

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It was a historically stupid speech that nearly ruined Abraham Lincoln’s political career, and yet somehow led to him becoming president. I mean, the war with Mexico was won and everyone was all America fuck yeah and junior Congressman Abe was fuck no that was a shitty thing to do and other people were all shut the fuck up Abe, let us have this.

--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: January 12, 1848--

Some called it “Polk’s War,” named after President Polk, who wanted some of that sweet Mexican territory to make more ‘murica. The official name of the conflict, north of the border that is, is the Mexican-American War. South of the border they have differing opinions and call it the “U.S. intervention in Mexico.” Whatever you call it, between 1845 and 1848 the U.S. bit off some big chunks of Mexico and said this shit is ours now.

The war was all but over when Lincoln decided to be a killjoy about militarism.

The date was January 12, 1848. There were only a few weeks left in the fighting and most Americans were planning victory celebrations. Then wet-behind-the-ears Congressman Lincoln stood up and gave a blistering antiwar renunciation of President Polk, referring to the war as “unnecessary” and “unconstitutional” and “half insane.” In his lengthy tirade he referred to Polk as “a bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man.”

And everyone else said fuck you Abe get out.

One historian proclaimed that the speech “cast him into the political wilderness.” And that was a good thing for Lincoln, since the early 1850s were a poopstorm of political fuckery as the country grew more divisive over the issue of slavery. And while political careers were being murdered to death over the keeping of humans as property, Lincoln was off in the corner licking his wounds and staying pretty invisible and therefore insulated from it all.

And then, later in the 1850s he was able to emerge as a leader. The experience of being outcast taught Lincoln that he should not only be moralistic, but also pragmatic. This combination of events and education helped take him to the White House, and preserve the Union in the face of secession of traitorous states over the matter of thinking skin tone was a reason to deny a person their freedom.

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