No. 16 · The Presidents
Abraham Lincoln
1861-1865
Determined to preserve the Union “at all costs,” Lincoln did just that, suspending the writ of habeas corpus and imprisoning more than 18,000 of his critics during the Civil War. With the monetary costs incurred by the war alone, Lincoln could have bought and freed every single slave in America, plus given them the reconstruction promise of 40 acres and a mule. This simple cost analysis of course ignores the approximately 620,000 American soldier and civilian deaths that transpired over the course of the war.
Lyrics
Em, G, D
land of Lincoln
what were you thinking?
you talk pretty
don't mean you're right
you killed slavery
but you also paid for thee
6 hundred 20 thousand men died
I will preserve the union
at all costs you said
and that's exactly what you did what you did
habeus shmabeus
maybe this would be a good time to shut your mouth
or I'll throw you in jail
with the other 18,000, you cynics and critics can all go to
the sad thing is
for the cost of the war
you could have bought and freed
every slave you're fighting for...
let me repeat that in case you didn't hear that
in fact more than that
could have sent them on their way
with 40 acres and a mule
have a nice free day
and all this for
the costs of the war
minus the dead men
and that begs a question
what were you fighting for?
what were you fighting for?
From the book, published 2009 · song & page updated
What were you fighting for?