The Lincoln Conspiracy

A quick book report on a lost to history conspiracy that could easily be a movie or mini-series.

Summary, it was awesome.

I liked the Brad Meltzer series on the history channel, so I figured it might be a good listen. I also love history and am a fan of Lincoln and leadership in difficult times. I am also fascinated by the motivations and closely held beliefs and the momentum of events that often times conspires separately and independently of conspiratorial drama like outlined in this book.

A group plotting during the run up to the civil war, the concept of black republicans(its not what you think), the starker and starker contrasts of views is so frighteningly similar to our life and times. Slavery in the southern states, those using the bible to condone it, people who stood up even partially are beaten near to death. The politics of slavery combined with the economics of the south make everything in 1861 make sense, and not in a good way.

Bill Maher on Realtime talked about this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEw5xe4Ip0I which was the first time in my adult life I connected the Bible versus about slavery. In the book it talked about how the folks in the south thought the north were a bunch of yankee devils and such.

Turns out, North and South can be replaced with Ds and Rs or Libs and Cons. What is conveyed in the book is an classic who done it and plots foiled by those who’s focus was on understanding and always asking more questions.

We got our first female detective, and detective division of Alan Pinkertons‘ detective company. We got the earliest versions of conspiracy theories, gun nuts in barber shops. And the mature nefarious mutations of a society polarized by the blindness of a failure to understand humanity’s inhumanity toward humans. It was one of the first great differences of opinion and the morphology of systemic racism’s origin story. At least the logical end point of the first 200 years.

Read more about the Baltimore Plot

There are those who might not like their history, but the luxury of learning our history is that next best action can change our futures.

Study your history all of it, it will change your life.