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Book Reviews These are some reviews from a recent issue of
The Civil War News:
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A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War
by Harry V. Jaffa.
Notes, index, appendix, 564 pp., 2000. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 4720 Boston Way, Lan-ham, MD 20706, $35 plus shipping.
A New Birth of Freedom is a master work by a true and learned master of history and phi-losophy. It is a must for every serious student of the founding of our nation, of Abraham Lincoln, and of the Civil War. The Preface alone is worth the price of admission. Here, the author displays a wry sense of humor, a profound knowledge of philosophy and the humanities, as well as keen insight into American poli-tics and the actors on the historical scene. Professor Jaffa makes the simple statement that the book "is conceived as a commentary on the Gettysburg Address." He then expands the thought to state that it is "above all, a commentary on what is meant by dedication to ‘the proposition that all men are created equal.’" The idea com-pressed within the proposition is called by Lincoln, "an abstract truth applicable to all men and all times." Dr. Jaffa develops his thesis in stating "The Gettysburg Address is a speech within the tragedy of the Civil War even as Lincoln is its tragic hero. The Civil War itself, an outcome of tragic flaws—birthmarks, so to speak, of the infant nation. Thus, a commentary is on the speeches and deeds that constituted its historical process during the fourscore and seven years preceding it, no less that on the conflict of the war itself." Within this framework the book becomes a present day "J’Accuse," condemning those who betray or have betrayed the principles of equality affirmed by Madison and Jefferson and reaffirmed by Lincoln. The author takes on the Establishment from Douglas to Calhoun to Chief Justice Rehnquist of the current Supreme Court, indicting them with their own words. Jaffa states that "underlying the thought of Douglas and Calhoun are the premises of historicism, positivism, relativism, and nihilism—premises that have become the conventional wisdom of our time." Lincoln’s acceptance of the idea of natural rights and natural law has become alien to us. The Southern argument for states rights rested upon the separation of states rights from natural rights. This separation "corresponded exactly, in Calhoun’s mind, with the denial of any constitu-tional standing to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. This denial is shared by virtually all of the legal profession today, including nearly all members of the Supreme Court." Over four decades ago, Professor Jaffa published a powerful volume on Abraham Lincoln’s politi-cal ideas, Crisis of the House Divided. Now, in this powerful and long-awaited sequel, A New Birth of Freedom, he challenges the conventional wisdom of today, delivering a spir-ited—and reasoned—defense, a profound examination, as well as intellectual affirmation of Lincoln’s understanding of and dedication to the concepts on which the nation is founded. A New Birth of Freedom should be required reading for all lawyers, judges, members of po-litical bodies, and of the body politic, and especially those still in school.
Dr. Allen C. Guelzo
Dr. Allen C. Guelzo is the Dean of the Templeton Honors College at Eastern College, St. Davids, Pa. He is author of Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President (1999) and The Crisis of the Ameri-can Republic: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction (199
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