A man working for wages his whole life is not really free. That is why Jefferson said, you have to own land. Southerners said, - and they weren't bei….

Colonization was the idea that once slavery ended African-Americans should be encouraged - or required, in some people's view - required to leave the….

In a democratic society, as Max Weber said, what is possible is only possible because some people have demanded the impossible. The abolitionists hel….

Lincoln is such an iconic figure in American history. He seems to reflect so many elements of American culture that we consider essential, whether it….

You pick up very well-known books on Lincoln [and] you will find almost no reference to his long-term belief in colonization. Why? Because it doesn't….

Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we would call infrastructure spe….

There are those who view the abolitionists as just maniacs, apolitical fanatics who helped to cause the war, and Lincoln is the model of responsible ….

In the Shadow of Slavery covers two and a half centuries of black life in New York City, and skillfully interweaves the categories of race and class ….

Look, Mrs. McGillicuddy, it's not my fault your son jumped out a dorm room window on Christmas eve. I've written over fifty books as a Columbia profe….

I think here is the irony of American history. We don't have an established church. When you have an established church nobody takes religion as seri….

I don't [even] know the number of books on Abraham Lincoln. Ten thousand, twelve thousand? I have seen various numbers. It seems like every generatio….

Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes blacks should have this natural right to impr….

Lincoln has accepted America as a biracial society. He's talking about giving at least some black men the right to vote. In the Emancipation Proclama….

If you are going to abolish slavery, that opens up all these other questions: what system of labor is going to replace slave labor? What system of ra….

Whenever you think of Lincoln as a historian, in his own mind, he becomes the Great Emancipator. This is his role in history henceforth. He was an am….

For historians, hindsight can be a treacherous ally. Enabling us to trace the hidden patterns of past events, it beguiles us with the mirage of inevi….

Who owns history? Everyone and no one--which is why the study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery..

Lincoln sees slavery in some ways as a theft of labor. A slave is a laborer who is being denied the fruits of his labor..

I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he held the same view throughout his life..

Freedom has been privatized - it is how you dress, what your sexual orientation is, choosing your own life. That's fine. But that is not what Thomas ….

A new future requires a new past..