IRB Media Summary of Harry V. Jaffa's Crisis of the House Divided

Annotation

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a clash of champions, but in reality, they were just two people arguing before a popular audience. The real worth of the debates cannot be judged just by popular tradition, which today is largely the tradition of the descendants of Lincoln's camp.#2 The consensus of more recent opinion contrasts sharply with the folklore surrounding Lincoln's campaign speeches. Lord Chamwood, who wrote a famous memoir a generation after Rhodes, said that Lincoln had performed a work of intellectual merit beyond the scope of any American statesman since Hamilton.#3 The work of revision is characterized by Randall in the preface to his masterpiece, the multi-volumed Lincoln the President, as follows: If sources are diligently re-examined, then by the same token the product may become revisionist.#4 The impression is strong that the severe judgment on the merits of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, after generations had looked upon them as an intellectual and moral contest of the highest order, is a result of the rise and application of scientific historical method.