Abraham Lincoln and the American Irish

For the fourteenth annual Ernie O'Malley Lecture, Prof. Kevin Kenny explores the dynamic relationship between Abraham Lincoln and the American Irish during his presidency.

Professor Kenny examines what Abraham Lincoln thought about the American Irish and what the American Irish thought about him. The lecture will consider the history of Irish immigration and anti-immigrant sentiment in the mid-nineteenth century, Lincoln's position on immigration during the political crisis of the 1850s, Irish service in the Union Army, Irish opposition to the abolition of slavery, and Lincoln's policies on immigration during the Civil War. Prof. Kenny will conclude by examining the various uses to which the American Irish put Abraham Lincoln's image in the half century after his assassination.