At his inauguration ceremony last month, President Barrack Obama
placed his hand on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used in his
1861 swearing-in. That decision holds a powerful symbolism
– especially because this year marks the bicentennial of
Lincoln’s birth.
At his inauguration ceremony last month, President Barrack Obama placed his hand on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used in his 1861 swearing-in. That decision holds a powerful symbolism – especially because this year marks the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. It suggests that President Obama is connecting in spirit with the wisdom of America’s greatest national leader.
Obama comes into office at a time when our nation seems to be a “house divided against itself,” as Lincoln described his own mid-19th century America. The partisan politics that have grown more aggressive in the last couple of decades is preventing our nation’s lawmakers from seeing the big picture and taking significant action in correcting the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
I think Obama can learn many lessons from Lincoln. Among them is the fact the Great Emancipator was human and made mistakes. Like Obama, Lincoln had no real administrative experience before finding himself at the helm of the nation. In one situation, this caused Lincoln to be manipulated by some East Coast bankers and investors trying to make a fast buck from Santa Clara County’s New Alamaden quicksilver mines.
Now a national historic landmark, the quaint village of New Alamaden is located in a canyon northeast of the South Valley. The Ohlone Indians often used the cinnabar found here to paint their bodies red. Cinnabar contains the toxic element mercury, which is also known as quicksilver.
In 1845, a Mexican Army captain named Andres Castillero saw the significance of the region as a source of mercury. He purchased the land, but with the start of the Mexican-American War, sold his shares in 1846 to an English firm called the Barron, Forbes Company. The new owners named the mines “Nuevo Almaden” in honor of the highly productive Almaden mines in La Mancha, Spain.
Mercury acts like a magnet in attracting gold, so the establishment of the New Alamaden mine before the California Gold Rush was financially fortunate for the new owners. As the most productive mercury mine in North American history, New Almaden enabled gold miners to collect vast amounts of the precious metal.
New Almaden played a vital part in the North winning the Civil War, too. Its mercury gave California and Nevada the means to supply enough gold and silver to help finance the Union Army. So vital was New Almaden to the war effort that greedy New York and Pennsylvania speculators pushed President Lincoln to seize it from the Barron, Forbes Company. These unscrupulous Americans realized they could make millions if they owned the mineral rights to New Almaden.
In early July 1863, Lincoln signed an order to evict the owners off their property. The order was telegraphed to federal agent Leonard Swett in San Francisco. He and a district marshal reached New Almaden a few days later to deliver the writ of ejection. Meanwhile, federal troops stationed in San Francisco’s Presidio got themselves ready to take the mines by force if the owners didn’t cooperate.
At New Almaden’s gates, Swett and his marshal met the mine’s superintendent Sherman Day. Behind Day was a gang of angry miners pointing shotguns and pistols. Lincoln’s two agents quickly retreated.
News of the stand-off spread across the nation. Many westerners felt alarmed that Lincoln would seize private property without real reason. Maybe, some suggested, Lincoln was planning to take control of gold and silver mines in California and Nevada.
California was loyal to the Union, but there were a number of people here in the 1860s who supported the Confederate cause. Lincoln realized that his order to seize New Almaden might push California and Nevada to the Confederate side of the war. He knew a potential West Coast front would be disastrous to the Union war efforts and extend the conflict.
Luckily, the situation was resolved on Aug. 26, 1863, when Barron, Forbes Company sold the mercury mines for $1.75 million to the Quicksilver Mining Company of New York and Pennsylvania. New Almaden is now part of a 4,157-acre park managed by Santa Clara County’s Park system.
Shortly before his assassination, Lincoln told his wife that he wished to travel to California for a visit. I’m sure if he had made it here, he would have asked that his itinerary include a visit to New Almaden. He would have no doubt pondered his error of judgment in handling the 1863 property dispute.
Last week, President Obama admitted that he “screwed up” in some of his Cabinet selections. He demonstrated maturity in his character to admit his error of judgment. Perhaps he can take comfort in the fact that another president from Illinois also made his share of political blunders. Lincoln’s handling of the New Almaden crisis shows us the wisdom of a great leader to remedy his mistakes.
