By Mike Matejka
This Saturday at 1:30 p.m., our McLean County Museum of History downtown opens a new exhibit on a favorite Central Illinois topic, Abraham Lincoln. This new exhibit looks at Lincoln’s rich history in our own backyard, the court cases he argued, his local friendships and how McLean County supporters played key roles in launching him into the Presidency.
Lincoln is always a fascinating topic, because, like this nation, he is a ball of contradictions. Politically and personally, he was anti-slavery, but at the same, scholars still wonder if he actually viewed African-Americans as equals. Some writers view his law practice as simply representing frontier bumpkins with home spun skill, yet in reality, Lincoln was an early corporate lawyer, defending developing railroad companies. This exhibit will demonstrate that Lincoln’s iconic story is very much a McLean County, enmeshed in the issues of slavery, developing industrial capitalism and westward expansion.
This new exhibit also made me reflect on the constant twists of American politics. When Lincoln helped found the Republican Party in the 1850s, it was an anti-slavery organization. The Republicans in the 1850s strongly believed in federal power and using it to keep the nation united. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party was the standard bearer for defending slavery, using the language of state’s rights.
How the table has turned 150 years later. Now the Republican Party is where one hears states’ rights spoken about, while the Democratic Party is seen as the federal institution. African-American voters a century ago were solidly Republican, supporting the Party of Lincoln and its strong civil rights foundation. Today the Democratic Party is seen as the civil rights party. The once solidly Democratic South is now solidly Republican. The Democrats were once the party of free trade and the Republicans the party of protectionism. Free trade is now advocated by both parties, but the Democrats are seen as more protectionist of labor and environmental rights in trade treaties.
Where would Lincoln feel most at home today? I’ll leave that question to the scholars and pundits. But check out this new exhibit in the Museum of History downtown, and conjure the twists and turns of American politics since Lincoln’s time.
Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Normal. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.
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