The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner - Book Review

Eric Foner serves as the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. Perhaps even more noteworthy, Foner is one of a handful of authors to have been the recipient of the Bancroft and Pulitzer Prizes in the same year.1 His latest book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, gives a rare glimpse at Lincoln amidst the backdrop of slavery. Foner aims to elucidate the private Lincoln’s thoughts on slavery, from his numerous speeches and correspondence, and locate the Great Emancipator on the broad spectrum of antislavery thought. Over one hundred and fifty years after his death and the end of the American Civil War, many Americans are blinded by the near-deism and God-like elevation of Lincoln as the liberator of one eighth of the population in 1863. Although they will not gain an understanding of Lincoln the person, readers might be surprised to learn about the true aspects of Lincoln’s feelings on race and slavery, most especially his gradualistic emancipation policies, compensated emancipation, and colonization.In Lincoln’s evolving theories on slavery, Foner makes clear that he was always against the institution of slavery itself. “Lincoln criticized slavery as unwise and unjust” at a time when antislavery thought, and especially abolitionism, was unpopular in his part of the country.2 In fact, Foner correctly argues that Lincoln’s refusal to see the expansion of slavery in the Western United States led to the outbreak of the Civil War.3 However, Lincoln could hardly be called an abolitionist: for a major portion of his political career, Lincoln was against black suffrage. Despite Lincoln’s shortcomings as a true abolitionist, Foner gives credit to Lincoln’s evolving views on slavery and persistence that the institution must end.

With heavy influence from Henry Clay, his political idol, Lincoln was a proponent of gradual emancipation. Foner explains that “during his first two years of the Civil War, he would present for the approval of slaveholders a number of plans for gradual, compensated emancipation.” For Lincoln, gradual emancipation was also tied to apprenticeship. Foner contends that Lincoln held on to his ideas of gradual emancipation up until the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, and even after January 1863, he would occasionally speak of gradual emancipation and apprenticeship to ambassadors and cabinet members.4The second major premise of Lincoln’s views on slavery is his plan of compensation to the slaveholders, with major focus on border states. Foner especially details Lincoln’s presidency in 1862 as sincere confirmation of the compensated emancipation plan. “Lincoln asked Congress to adopt a joint resolution pledging to provide financial compensation to any state that enacted a plan for the gradual abolishment of slavery.”5 Even though compensated emancipation had been successful elsewhere, Lincoln was unable to carry out his compensation plan.Again drawing from Henry Clay, Lincoln took up the plan of colonization. Foner contends that an early connection with colonization also helped to inspire an almost permanent advocacy of colonization. After representing the Anthony Bryant family in a legal case in 1847, the Bryant family eventually relocated to Liberia. 6 It was not until after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued that Lincoln publicly abandoned his efforts to colonize ex-slaves in Africa or South America. 7 Foner paints Lincoln’s colonization efforts as the belief that remained unchanged until the end of the Civil War neared. With much naiveté, Lincoln had a firm belief that colonization was a viable solution once emancipation was granted.

Briefly, Foner’s point that Lincoln was racist, even mildly so, falls short of full proof. Foner indicates that Lincoln used the word “niger” and “darkie” in everyday language. However, this alone can not prove that Lincoln was racist.8 That type of terminology would have been standard speech in Lincoln’s time. Foner also states that Lincoln did not embrace racism but also did not condemn it either, a thought that can be made in reference to anything. It is simple to remain unconvinced that Lincoln was racist based on this point alone. Also, Lincoln’s treatment of his servant, William Johnson, cannot fail to be mentioned. Not only was this servant black, but Lincoln signed for several recommendations and paid for Johnson’s funeral expenses. Had Lincoln been severely racist, it is very hard to imagine he would have accorded Johnson these respectful measures. This is the only area Foner falls short in his biography of Lincoln’s views on slavery. In his Preface, Foner admits that The Fiery Trial would not be a biography of Lincoln, but without knowing the personal Lincoln it is hard to understand his slavery positions.
Like a wave extending from Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and his Gettysburg Address, after Lincoln’s death so carried on the emancipationist vision of the Civil War as laid out in David Blight’s Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory. Blight argues that in the Gettysburg Address Lincoln “seemed to see fitfully that rebirth would be rooted in the challenge of human equality in a nation.”9 Memory of the Civil War would have been drastically different had Lincoln not been assassinated. As Andrew Johnson took over the Presidency and issued his own Reconstruction policies that were lenient to Southern former slaveholders, many Northerners and former slaves used the emancipationist memory as something that could have been. Pushed aside were Lincoln’s gradual emancipation and colonization efforts, and instead to be remembered was his greatest accomplishment: the Emancipation Proclamation. Emancipation would be Lincoln’s lasting legacy.

1 EricFoner.com. “Eric Foner.” accessed June 23, 2014, http://www.ericfoner.com/index.html. 
2 Foner, The Fiery Trial, 26.3 Ibid., 165.
4 Ibid., 258. 
5 Ibid., 195. 
6 Ibid., 47.
7 Ibid., 258. 
8 Ibid., 120.

9 Blight, Race and Reunion 13-14.