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Abraham Lincoln and Democracy in America
May 9-11, 2003 |
Abraham Lincoln is commonly praised as "the greatest among those associated with the
cause of popular government." Indeed, Lincoln seems to have dedicated his career, to
a degree that has been unusual even for politicians in democratic times, to
demonstrating (as he put it) "the capability of a people to govern themselves."
So we propose to examine the question: What is Lincoln's legacy for democracy in
America? How far, and in what ways, was Lincoln the author of a "new birth of
freedom" for the democracy that he served? We propose to discuss at the conference
Lincoln's contributions to our understanding of the idea of equality, patriotism,
the place of religion in public life, civil rights, the importance of
constitutionalism in maintaining democratic institutions, the role of
commander-in-chief in democracy at war, and the problem of civil liberties in
wartime, among other topics.
All conference sessions will be held in the third floor lecture room of Swift Hall (1025 E. 58th St.). Questions may be directed to Stephen Gregory (773-702-3423; stephen-gregory@uchicago.edu ) |
University of Chicago
Swift Hall
May 9-11, 2003
Friday, May 9 | |
9:30-11:30 Chair: Ralph Lerner, University of Chicago | |
Sanford Levinson School of Law University of Texas |
Abraham Lincoln as Constitutionalist: Assessing his Decision to Go to War |
1:30-4:30 Chair: William Allen, Michigan State University | |
Allen Guelzo Dean, Templeton Honors College Eastern University |
Providence and Prudence: Abraham Lincoln's Search for a Moral Liberalism |
Lucas Morel Politics Department Washington and Lee University |
Lincoln and the Challenge of American Republicanism: Equality, Consent and the Perpetuation of our Political Institutions |
Saturday, May 10 | |
9:30-11:30 Chair: Wilson Carey McWilliams, Rutgers University | |
David Blight Department of History Amherst College |
Race and "Rebirth": The Relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass in Language, War and Memory |
1:30-4:30 Chair: Jean Yarbrough, Bowdoin College | |
Steven Kautz Department of Political Science Michigan State University |
"All Men Are Created Equal": Lincoln on Equality and Emancipation |
William Lee Miller Miller Center of Public Affairs University of Virginia |
So Vast and So Sacred a Trust |
Sunday, May 11 | |
9:30-12:30 Chair: Peter Ahrensdorf, Davidson College | |
Phillip Paludan Abraham Lincoln Presidential Center for Governmental Studies University of Illinois at Springfield |
Lincoln and the Frame of Democracy |
Michael Zuckert Department of Government and International Affairs University of Notre Dame |
"Whether this Nation…can long endure": Lincoln, the Founders, and the Problem of the Incomplete Constitution |
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