I doubt any man or woman or pig during the Civil War could have done better than Abraham. Let me comment on 1 of your statements before we conclude this chain about oppression whatever the age or color:
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"He’s held up like some kind of deity when really he helped to set up the government system making all Americans property (Persons) of the government."
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Rhetorically, aren’t we either complainers or heretics or rebels depending on your point of view? So, was there a better choice for the Emperor of America at that time in the 1860’s when Europe was relishing U.S. divided & fanning the flames? Only Mexico whom we've dastardly cheated out of SF, Gold, CA, NM & AZ through war & American Manifest Destiny under God, only Catholic Mexicans cheered for humble Abe.
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I revere Him, not 4 his policies, but for his tenacity & humility despite the losing odds; that’s my kind of diety like Jesus Christ. I don't think Kamala on LSD could hold a union better than Lincoln. JFK was a womanizer. FDR was a cripple. Jefferson was an adulterous racist. Every Prez was & is a racist and a womanizer to some degree.
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I think you are looking at Abe from a 21st century perspective & judging him 160 light years away rather than on the front lines with him & the Blue-coats. Let's imagine Abe in the 2020 Presidential Election and envision what a false & humble diety like the honorable Abe Lincoln would do to MAGA better than the anti-Christ in the Oval Office fondling democracy.
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True representation? We got what we wanted. It’s called the internet; the utopian vision of equal representation that U hoped. Look at our collective consciousness in the mirror closely on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. Look at the small minds in our small towns now having a cosmopolitan equal voice now. This is what Jefferson was hoping to exclude. The American Enlightenment Emerson envisions is languishing and soon to meet its end, perhaps ourselves as a species. What’s next is unfortunately up to the next gen to solve our inherited divisive human baggage because we failed to teach them proper manners & love for our neighbors.