It was 1859. The analogies to the current state of American politics are not precise and even paradoxical. To begin with, John Brown, though crazy and bloodthirsty, was on the right side of history.

In this lesson, students interrogate their own assumptions about Abraham Lincoln in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of who Lincoln was. They investigate primary source documents in order to ...

1862: President Abraham Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all those enslaved in rebel-held territory would be "thenceforward, and forever, free." Credit - MPI/Getty ...