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Claim: Abraham Lincoln issued a prophetic warning about the tyranny of capitalism. Status: False. Example:
Origins: The above quote, attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, has been periodically dusted off and presented to the public as a prophetic warning about the destruction of America through the usurpation of power and concentration of wealth by capitalist tyrants for over a century now, undergoing a renewed burst of popularity whenever wartime exigencies stir public debate over governmental policies. These words did not originate with Abraham Lincoln, however — they appear in none of his  collected writings or speeches, and they did not surface until more than twenty years after his death (and were immediately denounced as a "bold, unflushing forgery" by John Nicolay, Lincoln's private secretary). This spurious Lincoln warning gained currency during the 1896 presidential election season (when economic policy, particularly the USA's adherence to the gold standard, was the major campaign issue), and ever since then it has been cited and quoted by innumerable journalists, clergymen, congressmen, and compilers of encyclopedias. Pedigree for this quote is often asserted by pointing to the 1950 Lincoln Encyclopedia, compiled by A Lincoln Encyclopedia, the brainchild of an Ohio newspaperman, Why have these "money powers" words been put in the mouth of Abraham Lincoln? In a general sense, the reason is because dead people — especially revered leaders — make great commentators on modern-day politics: They can't be questioned about the legitimacy of their comments, interrogated about what they meant, or asked to elaborate about the subject at hand; they can only be refuted through imprudent suggestions that Our Revered Leader was wrong! In a specific sense, this quote sounds plausible because Lincoln's tenure as president occurred during a great war that was indeed the focal point of industrial and economic change in America, and because Lincoln left behind some decidedly pro-labor statements. As Merrill Peterson detailed: It was easy to understand Lincoln's appeal to social radicals, said [socialist William J.] Ghent, for he held very advanced views of the rights of labor. As early as 1847 he had written, "To secure to each labourer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government," which was remarkable for a prarie lawyer of that time. Speaking in New England in 1860, he praised the right to strike, as then being exercised by the shoemakers of Lynn. His clear assertion of the labor theory of value in the 1861 message — "Labor is prior to, Nonetheless, Peterson concluded, even Lincoln's wartime experience and pro-labor credentials don't justify the attribution of the "money power" warning to him: Nevertheless, he was no prophet. Imprisoned in the democratic-capitalist ideology of nineteenth-century America, he believed the free laborer toiled up from poverty to become a capitalist in his own right. Individual opportunity, not class struggle, was his message. Last updated: 26 September 2007 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2008 by snopes.com. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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