And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle

Part 5 immediately opens with good news for the Union. At once they won two decisive victories. These came in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Meacham notes that there were many other less famous battles that also served the Union cause. Lincoln decided to bring Ulysses S. Grant, a highly successful general in the Western theater (and future president of the country) to the Eastern theater, which was much more contentious and politically problematic.

Meacham notes the problems faced by freed Black persons and Black soldiers in the Union army. Frederick Douglass recruited Black soldiers for the Union army. Lincoln and Douglass had a personal meeting at the White House. Douglass later expressed that while his was discontented with some of the president’s opinions he was also very pleased with the man. Meacham, who has consistently included Douglass’s voice throughout the biography, writes, “Douglass decided to trust Abraham Lincoln. On this Douglass was willing to stake the lives of his sons—who were in uniform—and the lives of his people. Out of war, Douglass wagered, would come liberty” (307).

Meacham discusses Mary Todd’s mental distress in the endless wake of grief following the death of her son.