A Just and Generous Nation

Harold Holzer is a scholar of Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the American Civil War Era. He won the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize and four other awards in 2015 for his book, Lincoln and the Power of the Press. Norton Garfinkle is an economist and chair of the Future of American Democracy Foundation. He lives in New York City.

In A Just and Generous Nation , the eminent historian Harold Holzer and the noted economist Norton Garfinkle present a ground-breaking new account of the beliefs that inspired our sixteenth president to go to war when the Southern states seceded from the Union. Rather than a commitment to eradicating slavery or a defence of the Union, they argue, Lincoln's guiding principle was the defence of equal economic opportunity.Lincoln firmly believed that the government's primary role was to ensure that all Americans had the opportunity to better their station in life. As president, he worked tirelessly to enshrine this ideal within the federal government. He funded railroads and canals, supported education, and, most importantly, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which opened the door for former slaves to join white Americans in striving for self-improvement. In our own age of unprecedented inequality, A Just and Generous Nation reestablishes Lincoln's legacy as the protector not just of personal freedom but of the American dream itself.