Extra Credit Questions

[RJNorton]

Kudos, Steve. It is Cuba. The information is from an article by William D. Pedersen entitled "Abraham Lincoln's International Legacy in 16 Postage Stamps." The article was published in the Lincoln Herald in 2021. Apparently Cuban dictator, Fulgencia Batista, either wanted to gain favor with the United States or simply connected to Lincoln because he also had a humble background. Batista was known to keep a bust of Lincoln on his desk.

[mbgross]

Dr. William D. Pedersen is the man! LSU- Shreveport has a great Lincoln Studies program and a great Lincoln collection thanks to him. His Presidential Lecture/Seminars series is outstanding!

[RJNorton]

Please try without googling. Thanks.

In 1830 Thomas Lincoln moved his family from Indiana to Illinois. He planned to farm the Illinois prairie land.

Years later a well-known writer described Illinois' prairie land as follows:

"Looking towards the setting sun, there lay, stretched out before my view, a vast expanse of level ground; unbroken, save by one thin line of trees, which scarcely amounted to a scratch upon the great blank; until it met the glowing sky, wherein it seemed to dip: mingling with its rich colours, and mellowing in its distant blue. There it lay, a tranquil sea or lake without water, if such a simile be admissible, with the day going down upon it: a few birds wheeling here and there: and solitude and silence reigning paramount around... Great as the picture was, its very flatness and extent, which left nothing to the imagination, tamed it down and cramped its interest."

What was the name of the writer?

[AussieMick]

I don't think he wrote about Illinois much , if at all, but there's a similarity to the style of John Steinbeck.

[RJNorton]

Nope, not Steinbeck.

[Anita]

It's Charles Dickens. I knew the quote but couldn't remember the author. I have Charles Slater's book "Charles Dickens" and found the Chapter describing Dickens trip to America in 1842.

[RJNorton]

Very good, Anita! Dickens made lots of observations as he traveled. His impressions were published in a travelogue entitled American Notes for General Circulation.

[Gene C]

Is that the one that starts out "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" ?
I've had a travel experience like that.