French revolution leaders biography of abraham lincoln

The word revolution carries several meanings, three of which are relevant in the case of Abraham Lincoln. The one that is not is the astronomical sense, since Lincoln never went full circle, except from ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Revolution means change, upheaval, and, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “especially a dramatic or wide-reaching change in conditions, the state of affairs, etc.” That includes “the overthrow of an established government or social order by those previously subject to it,” the “forcible substitution of a new form of government.”1 Indeed, some revolutions are dramatic, as they are carried out with visible violence, take place within a short time span and produce a massive change that everyone can readily ascertain in terms of political institutions and social organization. This is the case of the US Civil War, over which Lincoln presided, which led several historians, starting with Charles and Mary Beard, to label it “a second American Revolution.”2 But revolution also comes in two other shapes. The second type of revolution also produces a wide-reaching change but is a less immediately traumatic experience for the larger part of the population, because it is carried out over a longer period: a prime example is the “transportation revolution” that occurred between 1820 and 1865, criss-crossing the United States with railroads and canals, opening up the West, unifying markets and bringing competition in every nook and corner of the country. Lincoln was an avid devotee of that revolution from the very start, supporting ambitious internal improvements plans for Illinois in the 1830s, working as a lawyer for the Illinois Central Railroad in the 1850s and ending up a major actor in the end when he picked the route for the transcontinental railroad in 1863. Finally revolution can also refer to changes in the conditions of production and development of new products. Older na