Lincoln and Liberty
Channel: Stephen Griffith
Date: 2020-06-29

Day 105 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series

Sandburg writes: "This campaign ditty of 1860 has the brag and extravaganza of electioneering. The tune is  from "Old Rosin the Bow" and served earlier for a Henry Clay candidacy in which was the salutation:

So, freemen, come on to the rally,
This motto emblazons your crest:
That lone star of Hope yet is shining,
It lightens the skies in the West.

Hark! freedom peals far in her thunder,
Her lightning no force can arrest,
She drives the foul army asunder.
"Hail, gallant old Hal of the West!"

In a later year when Horace Greeley was running for the Presidency against Gen. U. S. Grant,  voters were reminded, "Then let Greeley go to the dickens, too soon he has counted his chickens."

1809 - Birth of Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky (hence the references to "the son of Kentucky")

1858 - Lincoln runs for Senator from Illinois against Stephen A. Douglas. Douglas won the election, but a series of debates between the two brought Lincoln to national attention

1860 - The Republicans, looking for a candidate who does not carry much baggage, nominate Lincoln for President. In a four-way race, Lincoln receives 40% of the popular votes and enough electoral votes to be elected President. The result is the Civil War.

SONG NOTE: The song calls Lincoln "The pride of the Suckers so lucky." "Suckers" were inhabitants of Illinois. He was hardly their "pride," though, considering that he had won only one term in congress, and lost the 1858 Senate race. In 1860, Illinois hardly looked like the "Land of Lincoln." On the evidence, it was the "Land of Douglas." Until that November. (The Traditional Ballad Index)