Which Lincoln am I talking about in this post? Hmmm … Since this does happen to be a blog about Nebraska, addressing the capital city makes sense. Yet the person behind the name of our city is also rather important. Writing about both will work perfectly. 🙂 Did you know that while Nebraska did not become a state until almost 2 years after the Civil War ,that the conflict between the states still played a part in our formation? In fact, several Nebraska counties were named for Civil War Union commanders. But like many “border” states, even as a territory, Nebraska did not play favorites. Part of its population was pro-slavery and part was abolitionist. That division played into the naming of our state capital.
Omaha did not want to lose capital status, Partially because they were a railroad town (and partially because of general rowdiness), they were given termination notice. Not ones to give up easily, they agreed with the move on one condition: Nebraska’s capital city must be named Lincoln. After all, what group of former pro-Southerns would agree to that condition? Name their capital, their status city, after the President who had just defeated the Confederacy? But they went along with the terms. How Lincoln came to be located in their exact location is a fun story involving ice cream, and you can read it all about it in one of my first blog posts.
Before this month I could have told you details about President Lincoln. The fact that he was the 16th President, that he had several sons and that he played a pivotal part in the Civil War. In fact, I have been to his monument and to Ford’s Theater where he was assassinated. Twice. Yet after studying him as a part of our American History, I feel like I understand more about him as a person. Learning about any subject seems to be easiest when picture books are involved. Here are some of my favorites.
Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln
Other enjoyable Civil War picture books ..
Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie: A Civil War Story
This list does not even get into the chapter books that are excellent, such as Across Five Aprils. Do you have any books that your family has enjoyed that are set around the time of the Civil War? Please comment below if you have any great suggestions.
Note: Many of the above titles can be found at the library. If you would like to purchase any of the books and choose to use the connected links (either the pictures or the underlined text), you will be supporting the work of “Odyssey Through Nebraska.” Thanks!
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