Edna Greene Medford Interview: Abraham Lincoln's Evolving Views on Slavery

Historian Edna Greene Medford discusses family separation among enslaved people, Abraham Lincoln’s difficult childhood and his southern roots. Medford examines the Emancipation Proclamation’s impact and its promise of freedom.

Edna Greene Medford was educated at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Virginia, the University of Illinois Urbana, and the University of Maryland College Park, where she received her PhD in United States history. She is currently a professor in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University where she has also served as chair of the Department. Specializing in nineteenth-century African-American history, she teaches courses in the Jacksonian Era, Civil War and Reconstruction, and African-American History to 1877. Medford has served as the Director for History of New York’s African Burial Ground Project and edited the volume Historical Perspectives of the African Burial Ground: New York Blacks and the Diaspora. She has published numerous articles and book chapters on African Americans, especially during the era of the Civil War. Her books include Lincoln and Emancipation (2015). She was the 2009 special bicentennial recipient of the Order of Lincoln, an award given by the state of Illinois, for her scholarship on the president.

The Apple TV+ series "Lincoln's Dilemma," features insights from journalists, educators and scholars, as well as rare archival materials, that offer a more nuanced look into the life of the Great Emancipator. Set against the background of the Civil War, "Lincoln's Dilemma" also gives voice to the narratives of enslaved people, shaping a more complete view of an America divided over issues including economy, race and humanity, and underscoring Lincoln's battle to save the country, no matter the cost. The series is narrated by award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright ("Angels in America") and features the voices of actor Bill Camp ("The Night Of") as Lincoln and Leslie Odom Jr. ("Hamilton") as Frederick Douglas.

To view the entire series please visit:
https://tv.apple.com/us/show/lincolns...

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Chapter Markers:
00:00 - Introduction
00:09 - Economics of slavery and its rationalization
05:20 - The experience of being enslaved
12:48 - Family separation
16:21 - Enslaver trade journals
19:51 - Black political action
23:10 - Lincoln beliefs, family ties, and personal background
27:41 - Lincoln’s plans for emancipation
32:59 - Lincoln and colonization
37:36 - The abolitionist movement
41:19 - Frederick Douglass and his relationship to Lincoln
44:26 - The Dred Scott decision
47:01 - The Fugitive Slave Act
49:43 - The question of slavery’s expansion
54:22 - The Kansas-Nebraska Act
56:26 - The cause of Secession
59:03 - Securing the border states
01:00:42 - Lincoln’s primary goal of unification
01:07:14 - The confederacy and slavery
01:11:48 - Union “contraband” policy
01:19:01 - The Emancipation Proclamation and its impact
01:29:07 - Frederick Douglass’ meetings with Lincoln
01:35:50 - Harriet Tubman
01:38:09 - Elizabeth Keckley
01:40:45 - Lincoln’s complexity
01:51:45 - Freedom vs. equality
01:58:12 - Citizenship
02:03:55 - The Fort Pillow Massacre
02:09:22 - The 1864 election
02:17:44 - Lincoln’s second inaugural address
02:20:35 - Lincoln and defining freedom
02:28:42 - The 13th Amendment
02:43:18 - The role of Confederacy and if the South had won the war
02:49:46 - Lincoln’s Assassination
02:51:42 - Frederick Douglass’ changing views of Lincoln
02:58:53 - What Reconstruction may have looked like under Lincoln
03:03:18 - Reevaluating and remembering Lincoln
03:09:38 - The art of Edmonia Lewis

Edna Greene Medford, Historian, Howard University
Interview Date: December 1, 2020
Interviewed by: Jackie Olive and Barak Goodman

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