This week marked the 161st anniversary of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. There have been a number of posts about it on social media, which has made me think more about the event and the impact it had on our history.
In writing about him, I often find myself considering not only what happened, but what might have been different. One of the posts I read was about the effect Willie Lincoln’s death had on Abraham Lincoln, coming within the war years, when the conflict was not going well. How much happier Abe and Mary’s lives would have been if that little boy had lived. But thank goodness that Tad, who was also sick with typhoid fever, recovered. The loss of his son deeply affected Lincoln. No one can say how different his life might have unfolded had that loss not occurred, but it is difficult not to wonder how it shaped the man he became in those final years. He was very concerned with how it affected his wife as well.
And then there is the larger question–how different history itself might have been if Lincoln had lived. Mainly the reconstruction and the lives of Black Americans. We know the outcome, but people living in that moment did not. They were still moving forward, still making decisions, still believing there would be more time.
That is one of the things that draws me to writing historical fiction. It allows us to step back into those moments before
The end is known and to consider the people within them as they were–not yet defined by what would happen. In that way, the past feels closer, and more human.
Current projects:
- My book: continuing revision work on Chapter 10
- Edward Bryant: Continuing to review stories for the next publication.
History tells us what happened. Story allows us to consider what might have been.
Thanks for reading and walking alongside me.
The View From The Imaginarium 