2009 is the 200th Anniversary of both Lincoln and Darwin.

Date:   2/13/2009 2:05:45 PM ( 15 y ago)

"Darwin and Lincoln"

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were both born in 1809, 200 years ago, and both were born on the same date - February 12th. Now that 200 years have gone by, on this Bicentenial anniversary year of their births, we can look back and see what a huge contribution these two men, born on the same day, have made.

Darwin's Theory of Evolution has helped us understand who we are, and what life is all about.
Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States of America, and enacted some of that nation's most important legistlation.


In another parallel of these two lives, it was in their fifth decade of life that both of these historical men did their most important works - Darwin was 50 years old when he published his major work, "The Origin of the Species" [the theory of evolution], and Lincoln was, in 1862, 52 years old when he was elected president for the first time.

Tragically, Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, at age 56, whereas Darwin lived to age 73. Both men died in the month of April [but of different years].


---------------Details:

LINCOLN:
To Lincoln's credit, abolishing slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation [he had a flare for rhymes] and putting down the rebellion of the South led to a much better America than would have been possible without those changes. Lincoln helped to promote the unity of the United States of America by stressing the benefits of "a nation united as opposed to a nation divided". Wiki quote: Lincoln redefined the American nation, arguing that it was born not in 1789 but in 1776, "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Another major act of Lincoln's Presidency that would unite America was the creation of the system of national banks by the National Banking Acts of 1863, 1864, and 1865, which allowed the creation of a strong national financial system ;The Legal Tender Act of 1862 established the United States Note, the first paper currency in United States history.*

Some trivia: Lincoln was the only President of the United States to hold a patent: a "device to buoy vessels over shoals". The concept was never commercialized, but it does show his inventive and curious mind.

Lincoln was self-educated, having had only 18 months of formal education, but managing to become a lawyer by passing the bar exam simply by reading. He is said to have had a great capacity to absorb the material he read - no DUH!!

Quote:
"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time."
K - that quote from Lincoln was about the civil war, and to some degree inspired by his son Willie's death [3 of his 4 sons died young], but it does also relate to the question of "competing religions" where they all claim to know and worship "the one and ONLY God", but only one can be right, and possibly none are right ; all but one are wrong, maybe they are all wrong. In this context, "God" could be "the truth", or rationality, reasoning, that breaks down belief and confronts the believers with their follies [not all can be right where conflicting views are held] .

Lincoln's humble beginnings, born in a log cabin to farming parents who were not very prosperous, and had to move off their land due to financial problems, were far different that Darwin's life. Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father, had been a respected citizen of the Kentucky backcountry.


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DARWIN:
Darwin had the advantage of being born into wealth, and was thus able to become a "gentleman scientist" freed of the need to earn a living. He was givin the opportunity to spend time studying at Universities, and then to set sail on a ship called "The Beagle" for a five year voyage of discovery and science.

His successes were not only factors of birthright though - observation and deduction were perhaps his best inate qualities, those that allowed Darwin to discern things that others would not, even upon seeing the same things. The ability to learn by reading and by observation of the life around them was a gift shared by both Lincoln and Darwin.

Travelling to the Galapagos Islands, and the founding of his Theory of Evolution, is what Darwin is, of course, famous for. He would be somewhat amused, perhaps disappointed, to know that in the 21st C people were still debating the basis of something as well-proven as evolution, due to the way it somehow offends religious belief. Darwin himself, in replying to the religious protests over evolution theory, said that the religious could simply try to see that God was working through nature, using evolution, to carry out his/her plans for the world ; in other words, the concepts of evolution and religion do not necessarily have to clash.
Darwin himself did not dismiss religion, he made referances to God many times in his writings.



..with that, I salute them.
Happy 200th Birthday to you both, Lincoln and Darwin!!


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Edited to add a bit of Silly Poetry [if you work at it, the rythmn works too}

Darwin and Lincoln [poem] -

Darwin, was born, 200 years ago
50 years later, he published his theory
Lincoln was born, 200 years ago
some 50 years later, he abolished slavery


Both being born, in 1908,
and more than that, ON the same DATE
Perhaps it was a day that was somehow lucky
for male babies born, in England and Kentucky


Yes Born on the 12th, the 12th of February,
The weight of Science and a Nation is the weight they would carry:
Lincoln and Revolution ; Darwin and Evolution,
Proclamation of Emancipation, Revalation of Evolution,


Darwin's evaluation, of Natural adaptation
Caused a conflagration of Religious indignation;
Lincolns Emancipation of the Colored Nation
Caused immediate Protestation from the Slaver's
organisation.



Darwin's Evolution, and Lincoln's Emancipation,
Started a Revolution in Science and the Nation
Darwin said Adaptation was the basis of Earth's Diversity
Lincoln became the President without going to University


 

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