Lincolnomics: How President Lincoln Constructed the Great American Economy

Lincolnomics: How President Lincoln Constructed the Great American Economy

Abraham Lincoln’s view of the right to fulfill one’s economic destiny was at the core of his own beliefs—but some believe that he thought no one could climb that ladder without strong federal support. Some of his most enduring plans came to him before the Civil War, visions of a country linked by railroads running ocean to ocean, canals turning small towns into bustling cities, public works bridging farmers to market.

Today’s guest John F. Wasik, author of “Lincolnomics” tracks Lincoln from his time in the 1830s as a young Illinois state legislator pushing for internal improvements; through his work as a lawyer representing the Illinois Central Railroad in the 1840s; to his presidential fight for the Transcontinental Railroad; and his support of land-grant colleges that educated a nation. To Lincoln, infrastructure meant not only the roads, bridges, and canals he shepherded as a lawyer and a public servant, but also much more.

These brick-and-mortar developments were essential to how the nation could lift citizens above poverty and its isolating origins. Lincoln paved the way for Eisenhower’s interstate highways and FDR’s social amenities.

We discuss:

⋅ Lincoln’s championing of the Transcontinential Railroad and pivotal public works preceding it, including the Illinois Central Railroad and the Illinois & Michigan Canal;
⋅ How infrastructure both hindered and enabled the Confederate and Lincoln-led Union
Armies during the Civil War;
⋅ Lincoln’s support for land-grant colleges, the foundation for today’s public universities across the country; and
⋅ Lincoln’s true dedication to infrastructure, among them the sketch of a town he surveyed, and a design he created and patented.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaksot(1075)

Frederick Douglass’s Private Writings on Abraham Lincoln, His Strong Critiques and Stronger Praise

Frederick Douglass’s Private Writings on Abraham Lincoln, His Strong Critiques and Stronger Praise

Frederick Douglass made the strongest arguments for abolition in antebellum America because he made the case that abolition was not a mutation of the Founding Father’s vision of America, but a fulfill...

28 Elo 202549min

The Industrial Revolution Was Supposed to Lead to Unlimited Free Time But Only Gave Us Smartphones and Endless Dopamine

The Industrial Revolution Was Supposed to Lead to Unlimited Free Time But Only Gave Us Smartphones and Endless Dopamine

Free time, one of life’s most important commodities, often feels unfulfilling. But why? And how did leisure activities transition from strolling in the park for hours to “doomscrolling” on social medi...

26 Elo 202531min

James Cook Mapped the Globe Before Dying At the Hands of Hawaiians Who Once Worshipped Him

James Cook Mapped the Globe Before Dying At the Hands of Hawaiians Who Once Worshipped Him

Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan are known for discoveries, but it was Captain James Cook who made global travel truly possible. Cook was an 18th-century British explorer who mapped vast re...

21 Elo 202556min

American Anarchists: The Original Domestic Extremists

American Anarchists: The Original Domestic Extremists

In the early twentieth century, anarchists like Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman championed a radical vision of a world without states, laws, or private property. Militant and sometimes violent, ana...

19 Elo 202539min

100 Years Before Ford v. Ferrari, a Horse Breeder Revolutionized Thoroughbred Racing Through a Similar Obsession With Progress

100 Years Before Ford v. Ferrari, a Horse Breeder Revolutionized Thoroughbred Racing Through a Similar Obsession With Progress

Horse racing was the most popular sport in early America, drawing massive crowds and fueling a cultural obsession with horses’ speed and pedigree. In the early 1800s, every town in America with a few ...

14 Elo 20251h 14min

Western Rome Fell Due to Germanic Immigration, Mass Inflation, and a Bloated Bureaucracy

Western Rome Fell Due to Germanic Immigration, Mass Inflation, and a Bloated Bureaucracy

It took little more than a single generation for the centuries-old Roman Empire to fall. In those critical decades, while Christians and pagans, legions and barbarians, generals and politicians squabb...

12 Elo 202539min

Why the Atomic Bombing of Japan is as Justified in 2025 as it was in 1945

Why the Atomic Bombing of Japan is as Justified in 2025 as it was in 1945

It's been 80 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the question of whether or not those bombings were justified has never been more contentious. That wasn't the case in the immediate...

7 Elo 202552min

Surviving the Siege of Leningrad with Sawdust Bread and Iron Determination

Surviving the Siege of Leningrad with Sawdust Bread and Iron Determination

The first year of the siege of Leningrad that began in September 1941 marked the opening stage of a 900-day-long struggle for survival that left over a million dead. The capture of the city came tanta...

5 Elo 202546min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
sita
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
i-dont-like-mondays
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
uutiscast
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
mamma-mia
kolme-kaannekohtaa
rss-nikotellen
rss-murhan-anatomia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
aikalisa
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-haudattu
naakkavalta
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
loukussa