Abe Lincoln Grows Up is revealing and descriptive--filled with insights on not only his childhood, but on his parents and grandparents. In this Carl Sandburg classic, he draws on details that were unfamiliar to me, the almost-heroic strength and benevolence of the young man, his passion to learn, his life, and the life of this young country.
I was surprised to learn that Lincoln didn't move to Illinois until he was about 18, having spent his first few years in and around Elizabethtown, Kentucky and his formative ones in Indiana. Never had I heard of milk-sickness, but it claimed his mother and sister, and was a continual threat to people and animals. Lincoln adored his stepmother and was an incredibly enterprising young man, cutting wood and building homes before establishing a business where he transported goods along the Mississippi, landing in New Orleans a couple of times for trade. Here the book reveals scenes from the slave trade that Lincoln must have witnessed, including the very sickening way in which men, women, and children were described and offered up for trade--copy that reads much like today's used car advertisements.
Abe Lincoln Grows Up also details the political climate of the time--and the opinions Lincoln began to form about John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, with Jackson's countrified beginnings providing a door to the ascension of young Lincoln.
Recommended for anyone interested in the period, and for those looking for a reminder of the character forged by hard work and discipline. It is something unlike anything seen from the modern political machine.
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