On 20 March 1861, United States Senator James A. Bayard of Delaware . . .

Years ago, among those of us who came from Ireland, we liked to celebrate Saint Patrick's day. Some of us would wear something green on that day to proclaim our roots. Folks wore green hats, green shirts, and so forth. My Great Grandfather had come to America because of the famine, but still liked to put on his bright green tie on that special day. He was working as a scribe and messenger boy, hired by the previous administration, but held over to the current one. As he was heading to work that morning, cutting through one of the garden spots, his path took him past a man with sad eyes sitting alone in the garden. As he tried to briskly pass, he said "Good morning Sir" and continued. But then the man with the sad eyes said wait, and so he stopped turned and looked upon our President. The President looked at his bright green tie, and said, "That is the ugliest tie I have ever seen." Heartbroken, my Great Granddad turned and quickly walked away. He had been stupid. Had he not known how many people were dying, even on that day, so that we could be one people, not black and white, or Irish and English, but Americans all. He would always think of that day as the saddest day of his life.

 

More from Sen. James Asheton Bayard III of Delaware:

Speech of the Hon. James A. Bayard of Delaware, in the United States Senate, February 6th, 1869 : In Opposition to the Proposed Amendment to the Federal Constitution, Depriving the States of Their Control over the Franchise of Suffrage, and Granting that Franchise to the Inferior Races

"The negro is more animal than the white race, indolent, but kindly tempered, though when the animal passions are aroused they are less within his control. Wherever he exists in large numbers among the whites as a freeman, the negro seeks and sometimes monopolizes those employments which, though precarious, are most highly paid in proportion to the labor, and do not require persistent exertion, such as barbers, woodsawers, porters, and the like. Improvident by nature, the cases are exceptional in which the desire and capacity for acquisition are developed. In crossing with the white races the intellectual capacity of the offspring is quickened, but the moral nature usually degenerates, and though the mixed race is not absolutely hybrid, the power of reproduction is materially diminished and the duration of life shortened. Doubtless there are exceptional instances of this inferior race who possess more than the average capacity of the white race, but no tribunal could be organized to decide upon the exceptions more safely than in the case of boys under twenty-one. In fact, as a race, they are children all their lives, and require both protection and control. Such have been the results of my own observation and my reading in regard to the characteristics of the two races; and yet I have no unkind feelings toward the African race, though I would deny to them political power, for their own benefit as well as ours."

 

Slavery nullified the idea of a government of the People, by the People and for the People, because like women, disenfranchised them. During the Clinton administration, the term triangulation became popular. But it was Lincoln who made an art of the politics of triangulation. Would we fight to free the slaves? Nope. Would we fight to preserve a government of the people, by the people, and for the people? Yes.
Now, we have lots of lefties seeking to bash Lincoln for building a coalition of the willing by coming at it sideways. No matter, we have our union, and all the people have the vote, so Lincoln's abuse of power over the short term ended an abuse of power over time that was far greater and far worse. God bless the memory of Lincoln.