Brought Forth on This Continent

Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration

By: Harold Holzer

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

**Winner of the Barondess/Lincoln Award**
**Winner of the Lincoln Group of New York's Award of Achievement**

From acclaimed Abraham Lincoln historian Harold Holzer, a groundbreaking account of Lincoln’s grappling with the politics of immigration against the backdrop of the Civil War.

In the three decades before the Civil War, some ten million foreign-born people settled in the United States, forever altering the nation’s demographics, culture, and—perhaps most significantly—voting patterns. America’s newest residents fueled the national economy, but they also wrought enormous changes in the political landscape and exposed an ugly, at times violent, vein of nativist bigotry.

Abraham Lincoln’s rise ran parallel to this turmoil; even Lincoln himself did not always rise above it. Tensions over immigration would split and ultimately destroy Lincoln’s Whig Party years before the Civil War. Yet the war made clear just how important immigrants were, and how interwoven they had become in American society.

Harold Holzer, winner of the Lincoln Prize, charts Lincoln’s political career through the lens of immigration, from his role as a member of an increasingly nativist political party to his evolution into an immigration champion, a progression that would come at the same time as he refined his views on abolition and Black citizenship. As Holzer writes, “The Civil War could not have been won without Lincoln’s leadership; but it could not have been fought without the immigrant soldiers who served and, by the tens of thousands, died that the ‘nation might live.’” An utterly captivating and illuminating work, Brought Forth on This Continent assesses Lincoln's life and legacy in a wholly original way, unveiling remarkable similarities between the nineteenth century and the twenty-first.

Lincoln secretly co-owned a newspaper to propagandize German immigrants

Great book revealing much about how immigrants were used by Lincoln to achieve his twisted agenda.

Great Narration

Excellent Narration and detail, sometimes too much about the various characters. Lincoln's life beautifully played out from beginning to end.

Enjoyable perspective

Brought Forth on this Continent: Abraham Lincoln & American Immigration

By Harold Holzer

This was an interesting read. Holzer never disappoints.

There are few of the events covered in the book that I was not already familiar with, best example being the New York riots involving draft of immigrants.

I only point that out to say Holzer’s description of a unique point of view, all events seen as they relate specifically to immigration and its impact on the nation, is fascinating.

I was wary of this book being an apologist tome related to modern immigration issues. I was relieved to find, at least for me, it was not. Any parallels are left for the reader to determine, as they should be.

I enjoyed the book.

Superb study of Abraham Lincoln and American Imigr

Harold Holzer has given us a superb book on Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration. Mark Bramhall's wonderful narration brings alive the many characters in this story.

Things history doesn't teach.

I learned much more than I knew about Lincoln and other historical figures then history classes taught me.