The Fiery Trial Sparknotes

Eric Foner’s “The Fiery Trial” is like no other book written of one of the most influential figures of American history paired with one of the most popular issues of American history, Abraham Lincoln and slavery. Foner deliberately strays away from the commonly written biography of Lincoln"s regular life by choosing to follow the path of his political career instead. By taking onhat would seem to be an obvious topic, Lincoln and slavery, and manages to cast new light on it. . This is a wise move since Lincoln was a politician to the core. Foner studies Lincoln's thoughts and opinions of slavery from his early life all the way up to his presidency, the Civil War, and the decisions he found himself making concerning slavery.

Born

Kenyucly, along with the other states lincoln grew up in Illionois, and Indiana, all held similar views over slavery. All three )(page 13) had at obne point prohibited free blacks from entering thier state, and no rights for blacks, severe laws. During Lincolns birth, which was part of the antebellum era, Kentucky’s population was only one fifty of slaves, and there were few plantations. Foner continues to imply that the boopk will not be a biography, as he jumps ight into politics as t he writes how Loncoln’s home states and early life tied into his views of slavery and how it affected his later life. Foner recounst Lincolns early experiences with black people to lead inuuto his later decisions as a politician and president.tle. There were only foutenn fee blavkls in Spencer county where Lincoln lived, that out of 120000 people thetr were only 38 blacks. Unlike many of the other states/southern politicians, OLincoln had little experinece with slaves at the beginng, his immediate family having no slaves themsleves. Linclons first encounter with slavery shows that he saw them shackles, and ewrites about the triggering experience ina lette, saying, I(page 11) ddddaw them

HE is a Dewitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, along with teahcing at multiple other universities, and has been president of the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Society of American Historians. Foner has long been deliberating about Lincoln.Foner has written many other books about nineteenth-century America, mostly about Reconstruction and slavery and the Civil Wa”Our Lincoln……;.........” including “NOthing But Feedom: Emancipotaion and Its legacy”,. Free Soil, Free LAbot, Free MEn;jjjjjjjjjj, and other books featuring Lincoln like . The Fiery Trial itself has an array of awaeds, winning the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the Lincoln Prize, The Bancroft prize, and was chosen as the NEw York Times Notable Selection, but Foner has other awad winners at hand as well. Finer has also made apperances on radio and televisoin shows, and docu,enmtaries on both PBS And teh HSItory