The black man's president: Abraham Lincoln, African Americans, & the pursuit of racial equality

"Extensive interaction with African Americans in Springfield": the Illinois years

"Blinded by no prejudices against race or color": Lincoln and African Americans on the White House staff

"Expressing a hearty wish for the welfare of the colored race": initial meetings with African American leaders

"A sop to conservatives": meeting with leaders of Washington's African American community

"Abraham Lincoln takes no backward step": Frederick Douglass and other African American callers in 1863

"To keep the jewel of liberty within the family of freedom": African American callers in 1864, including Frederick Douglass again

"A practical assertion of negro citizenship for which few were prepared": White House receptions, 1864-1865, including Frederick Douglass (again)

1865: annus mirabilis for African Americans

Emphatically the black man's president or preeminently the white man's presdident?

Appendix evaluation of evidence cited to illustrate Lincoln's purported racism.