I’ve read this book previously in a course I had on the civil war. I thought it was well written then and I think it is well written now. That being said, I was curious to check out the audiobook. I think this is the best audiobook production of a history book that I have ever listened to. One thing that I appreciated this book the first time I read it was the way that so many of the individual voices were incorporated through the quotes that were used. The audiobook truly made those voices come alive and made the book feel personal. Though I love reading history, rarely do I feel this captivated by history books the way that I was in A House Built By Slaves. This will definitely be one I recommend to all of my history loving friends.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

An easily accessible historical account narrated by multiple individuals; full of quotes of contemporaries of Abraham Lincoln that record the fledgling Union as it wrestles with its limited interpretation of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for all men who are created equal. A timely book, as some of the racist sentiments are echoed in actions and words of the living in this great nation. Jonathan White uncovers accounts and facts I'd never read or heard about before. A powerful read for anyone wanting to better understand the foundation of dissent between the North and the South. The variety of narrators lending voices to the quotes helped bring this text to life.

Disclaimer - I received an ARC copy of this audiobook version through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just finished listening to "A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House" on audiobook, and wow, just wow! This book is an absolute game-changer. It sheds light on a crucial piece of history that often gets overlooked—the stories of African American visitors to the Lincoln White House. I was completely captivated from start to finish, thanks to the engaging narration and the fascinating insights it provides. It's like uncovering hidden gems of history that you never knew existed. Seriously, if you're a history buff or just curious about untold stories, do yourself a favor and give this audiobook a listen. It's a five-star experience that will leave you both enlightened and inspired.

This book was made available to me in audiobook format by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I honestly thought I would like this book, or I would not have chosen to review it. This review is complex, as are the issues dealt with in this text. I will explain my low score to the best of my ability.

First, I want to start with what I loved, which was the audiobook format. If you are going to read this, please consider choosing the audiobook format. This featured what sounded like a cast of Black voices reading quotes. It was delightful, and I adored it. What a wonderful way to illustrate the mostly lost voices of these folks. I also want to say that while I do not agree with the author, all of the history is thoroughly sourced. It is wonderful for the quotes alone from the Civil War era, Black folks. I can not stress how much hearing their own words spoken touched me. I fully plan to read more by this author when I get to my studies of Abraham Lincoln. I don't think the author meant any malice as he left the final impression of Lincoln up to the reader. I feel he does this by excusing Lincoln's racist statements and behaviors as either misunderstood by modern audiences or said to influence his racist white peers. I disagree with this view of his behaviors. It gives Lincoln too much grace and doesn't acknowledge that white supremacy has never functioned in logical ways.

The problem with this book is its implication that Black Lives Matter and other anit-racist activist organizations were shortsighted to call Abraham Lincoln racist or a supporter of white supremacy. The author wanted to highlight Lincoln's history with the Black Community to add context to this discussion. This argument includes the idea that historical figures can not or should not be judged with today's morals.

The text began with this quote, "In January 2021, the San Francisco Unified School District voted to rename Abraham Lincoln High School because of the former president’s policies toward Native Americans and African Americans According to Jeremiah Jeffries, chairman of the renaming committee and a first-grade teacher, “Lincoln, like the presidents before him and most after, did not show through policy or rhetoric that black lives ever mattered to them outside of human capital and as casualties of wealth building.” Only a month earlier, a statue of Lincoln outside of San Francisco City Hall had been vandalized with red paint, presumably to symbolize the guilt the former president bears for his role in the nation’s racial history."

This book is mostly comprised of the author responding to the above paragraph using direct quotes taken from Black folks who met with Lincoln from 1861-1865. These meetings with Lincoln mostly involved him shaking hands and listening to Black folk when they speak to him. The author thinks this helped Lincoln to change how he viewed Black people. I personally think that Lincoln was pragmatic and knew the post civil war United States was going to need the contributions that the Black Community would (and did) make during the Civil War, Reconstruction and beyond. I do believe that Black Leaders who met with Lincoln influenced him, but that isn't an indication that Lincoln didn't hold racist and white supremacist beliefs. That would be logical. Racism and white supremacy have never employed logic in its functionality. The purpose of both racism and white supremacy is to give white people, men, especially, power to do as they please.

The reason that Black Lives Matter and other anti-racist activist organizations label Lincoln racist or white supremacis is in relation to the following direct quotes made during a debate with Senator Douglas, "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races ... I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races from living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be a position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines racism as: 1) a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
also : behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief : racial discrimination or prejudice
2) a. the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another
b. a political or social system founded on racism and designed to execute its principles

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines white supremacy as: 1) the belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races
2) the social, economic, and political systems that collectively enable white people to maintain power over people of other races

Black Lives Matter and other anti-racism movements accurately labeling Lincoln a racist or white supremacist align with his historical presence. Neither Lincoln shaking the hands of Black folks nor listening to the concerns of Black Leaders alters these indisputable facts.

I've read in history books that Lincoln would yell and scream at Black leaders and that he blamed Black folks for slavery. To my knowledge, that was based on oral history from the Black post civil war community. The author attributed similar behavior by Lincoln to a single conversation with Black Leaders in 1862. The author explains that the rant was to placate racist white congress/senators/voters. I disagree, I think Lincoln meant what he said to those Black Leaders. I disagree with the author about Lincoln's desire to ship Black folks back to Africa. I believe it was based on racism. The author gives a weak argument about no one being forced to go, but it's clear this was a race based solution.

After Lincoln was assassinated, a propagandist rather than a historically accurate narrative was applied to Abraham Lincoln as The Great Emancipator in the Black community, heavily supported by Black Leaders. Current Black historians see Lincoln in a much more complex way as the Black Community is now many generations removed from slavery and have more access to the complete history of his quotes.

The author has deeply studied Abraham Lincoln for decades it sounds like and probably has a solid grasp on the traditional historical view of Lincoln. This doesn't mean that Black folks or other POC who view him based on the oppressive experiences of their ancestors are wrong. History is richer for the viewpoints of all parties involved, instead of what we have now, which is overwhelmingly the view of white historians based on their biased views of white leaders. History told from multiple viewpoints, even when they seem to conflict, in the end offers a richer view of history.

My other concern was the author's use of moral relativism or not judging historical figures with todays values. In my opinion, this justification is overly used to excuse Western European colonial behaviors, often based on the ahistorical belief that 'everyone' thought like that at the time and thinking/behaving oppressively was just normal. The inherent problem with thinking 'everyone' thought like that at the time is who is being defined in the 'everyone'. I assure you the people being oppressed were not happy to be oppressed and did not agree with the oppressors' acts of oppression, no matter the people or the era. Moral relativism effectively silences POC opinions on the treatment of their own ancestors. Also, inconsistencies between how Western historians fail to apply the arguments of moral relativism to the practices of marginalized/colonized peoples. For example, when Mayan or Aztec folks are discussed historically, human sacrifice is mentioned in a judgmental way. Leaving the upsetting impression that it is okay to judge marginalized peoples and societies by modern values but not Western European societies.

Additionally, we do not view Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Nate Turner, Harriet Tubman, etc. as they would have been viewed by white Americans in the time they were alive. Why is it okay to change as a nation how we view Black leaders but not how we view white leaders? It is inevitable that white historical 'heroes' will be overwhelmingly viewed as oppressors by the descendants of those they oppressed. A hero to one group of people is often an oppressor to another group.

I could gather a bunch of quotes from Black Trump supporters about how he shook their hands and treated them kindly. It will not change the fact that Trump has made deeply racist and white supremacist statements.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read/listen to and review this history book.

I really enjoyed this look at the life of Abraham Lincoln, particularly his views on slavery and race issues. It was set up as an analysis of his views - whether or not he was actually a white supremacist. I don't remember the author saying which was the case, but he left that up to the reader to decide. There are also some scenes of presidents before and after Lincoln with their views and actions. I enjoyed the large amount of first person sources included. It was very well researched and plotted out thoroughly.

Thank you to Post Hypnotic Press and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

For the last couple of years, memoirs have become an interest of mine. When I saw the audiobook of A House Built by Slaves pop up on NetGalley, I was immediately intrigued. In fact, the remainder of the title shows as "African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House."

During the years between 1861 and 1865, the Civil War was raging in America. At the same time, the president at that time, Abraham Lincoln, was engaged in a different fight, that of welcoming African Americans to the White House, forever changing most of America's hold on slavery.

What was interesting to me - okay, I have been out of school for decades - was (re)learning about colonization. In fact, for a time Lincoln was a strong advocate of colonization. He began meeting with African Americans at the White House, but had wanted to implement a way to have Blacks migrate to other countries. In fact, Lincoln once said, "your race are suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people...but on the broad continent, not a single man of your race is made at the equal of a single of ours."

However, Lincoln continued to meet with various guests at the White House and soon his decisions, if not his very words, began to take on a transformation. Citizenship of African Americans, as well as voting rights, became matters of importance to Lincoln. In fact, on January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which stated, "that all persons held as as slaves...are, and henceforward shall be free." These were not mere words of Lincoln's, but his actions showed even more concern for a race that was experiencing so much turmoil.

Jonathan W. White does quite a remarkable job exploring the various ways in which Lincoln used his platform at the White House to initiate change for African Americans. I thought it was a good note in the book that Lincoln could not simply initiate policy even though he was President of the United States. It took years for the Proclamation to be signed, and today, 155 years later, African Americans are still struggling in many respects.

A lot of the focus in White's book was about how often Lincoln met with African Americans at the White House and how these frequent meetings went a long way when it came to changing Lincoln's attitude and reference to Blacks. Of course, Lincoln faced many an objection to his changing views of Blacks, even to the point of being assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The freedoms and kindness that Lincoln showed Blacks did not extend to future presidents for decades.

It is hard to believe that this book was only 240 pages. White did an excellent job reminding readers like myself of what our forbearers experienced and what many are still dealing with during our present day.

Many thanks to Post Hypnotic Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this audiobook about Lincoln and his views. Since I never read anything related to him this book seems interesting and all the facts well new for me. I loved the sense of humanity this book gave me from Lincoln as a person and the interactions he got with other individuals and how all this create a possitive effect in the way Lincoln act towars black people rights. The narrator did such a brilliant book with this audiobook. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for grant me access to this beautiful book