Mr. Cribb started his remarks by asking how Abe Lincoln did it? How did a man with little money or education living in a log cabin in the wilderness rise to become president of the U.S.? The title of his latest historical novel provides a clue, The Rail Splitter. John shares that there were three ways Lincoln did it.
#1: Hard Work
Lincoln believed in hard work as a virtue. His advice was, “work, work, work is the main thing.” Mr. Cribb shared some examples of the hard-working Lincoln:
- Lincoln did split rails with his bare hands and an ax. If you didn’t work hard in the wilderness, you didn’t survive.
- When he became a lawyer, he rode from courthouse-to-courthouse town seeking work.
- He walked from farmhouse to farmhouse to ask for votes when he ran for office.
#2: Value of Learning and Education
John shared that Lincoln probably had about one year of formal education. The rest of his knowledge was accomplished by reading and studying on his own. He became an excellent grammarian by studying a grammar book and he became a lawyer by studying a book on the laws of England. Through hard work and love of learning, he made himself an educated person.
#3: Love of Freedom
John stated that life was hard in the wilderness where Lincoln grew up, but people were also free. When Lincoln was born three-quarters of people worldwide lived in some type of bondage. So, the American experiment was quite unique. Lincoln believed that people had the right to better themselves. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln argued that we couldn’t allow slavery to expand to the western states while Douglas argued that democracy allowed people to vote for or against slavery.
John revealed that at that time millions of people around the world watched what would happen with the struggle against slavery in the United States. That is why Lincoln made a broad reference in the Gettysburg Address and said: “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Lincoln personified the true American Dream.
More About John Cribb
A bestselling author who has written about subjects ranging from history to education, John Cribb's novel Old Abe has been hailed for its vivid portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. His previous work includes coauthoring The American Patriot’s Almanac and The Educated Child, both New York Times bestsellers; co-editing The Human Odyssey, a three-volume world history text; and developing on-line history courses. He has appeared on numerous TV, radio, and podcast shows such as C-SPAN’s Washington Journal and Fox News’s Fox & Friends, and his writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, FoxNews.com, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, and several other publications.
Best-selling author John Cribb speaks to the club
Doug Robinson, John Cribb with his latest novel, Alan Yorker and Tom Adams in front of the Rotary banner.
SPEAKER:
.png)
