One hundred fifty years ago today, the Union—or, what was left of it—was in an uproar. Two days earlier, after three days of debate, the South Carolina Convention declared itself independent of the American Union.
Never before or since has a greater threat existed against the cohesiveness and integrity of the United States of America. The hapless James Buchanan, a liar and a coward, sat in the Oval Office, impotent. The incoming president would not take the oath of office for another three months.
It seems appropriate, then, as we begin the 150th anniversary of the events that led to the American Civil War, we turn to the intellectual and spiritual patron of this website, Russell Kirk, and consider his views on Abraham Lincoln, the man who would become so identified with the four-year noble tragedy.
[posted originally at imaginativeconservative.org]
