--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He…" description: "\"Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we would call infrastructure spend..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg" --- # Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in… ![“Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we would call infrastructure spending, government appropriation for canals, railroads, river and harbor improvements, and a tariff to protect industry. He believed in this market…” quote by Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/eric-foner-20891_appropriation_lincoln-was-a-modernizer-so-to-speak-he_2789338.jpg) > “Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we would call infrastructure spending, government appropriation for canals, railroads, river and harbor improvements, and a tariff to protect industry. He believed in this market revolution that was sweeping across Northern society. He himself benefited from it in his own life.” [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modernization involves using government to build infrastructure and protect industry, driving economic growth. **In simple terms:** Government can boost economies via infrastructure. Key Takeaway Support strategic public investment. Themes economics government development Mood analytical neutral Type historical policy When to use this quote - urban planning - transport projects - trade policy Key Concepts Industrialization public policy Questions to Reflect On - How balance public and private sector roles? - What are risks of over‑regulation? A Different Perspective Public spending may lead to inefficiency or debt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appropriation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriation/) [Canals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canals/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Development Whig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development-whig-3367137/) [Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic/) [Economic development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economic-development/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Harbors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harbors/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry/) [Infrastructure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infrastructure/) [Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lincoln/) [Lincoln Modernizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lincoln-modernizer-3367136/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Protect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect/) [Railroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroads/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Society Benefited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-benefited-3367138/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Spending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spending/) [Sweeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweeping/) [Tariffs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tariffs/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Whig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whig-313490/) ## Related quotes > [Remember that Abraham Lincoln was a Whig far longer than he was a Republican. As a whole, the Whigs looked upon banks and corporations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/remember-that-abraham-lincoln-was-a-whig-far-longer-than-he-was-a/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [A Whig is properly what is called a Trimmer - that is, a coward to both sides of the question, who dare not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/a-whig-is-properly-what-is-called-a-trimmer-that-is-a-coward-to-both/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“Most American ideas were a part of the great tradition of the eighteenth-century common-wealthmen, the radical Whig ideology that arose from a series of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-middlekauff/most-american-ideas-were-a-part-of-the-great-tradition-of-the/) [Robert Middlekauff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-middlekauff/) > [The Whig interpretation of history ... is the tendency in many historians to write on the side of Protestants and Whigs, to praise revolutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-whig-interpretation-of-history-is-the-tendency-in-many-historians/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [I have always been an old-line Henry Clay Whig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-have-always-been-an-old-line-henry-clay-whig/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [I am neither a Whig nor Tory. My politics are described in one word and that word is England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/i-am-neither-a-whig-nor-tory-my-politics-are-described-in-one-word/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [I have always said, the first Whig was the Devil~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-have-always-said-the-first-whig-was-the-devil/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Now one was either Tory or Whig; it was either dependence or independence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caesar-rodney/now-one-was-either-tory-or-whig-it-was-either-dependence-or/) [Caesar Rodney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caesar-rodney/) > [The sickly, weakly, timid man fears the people, and is a Tory by nature. The healthy, strong and bold cherishes them, and is formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-sickly-weakly-timid-man-fears-the-people-and-is-a-tory-by-nature/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The same political parties which now agitiate the US have existed through all time. And in fact the terms of whig and tory belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-same-political-parties-which-now-agitiate-the-us-have-existed/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [We should not care much whether those thus united (against slavery) were designated 'Whig,' 'Free Democrat' or something else; though we think some simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-greeley/we-should-not-care-much-whether-those-thus-united-against-slavery/) [Horace Greeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-greeley/) > [A Tory..., since the revolution, may be defined in a few words, to be a lover of monarchy, though without abandoning liberty; anda partizan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/a-tory-since-the-revolution-may-be-defined-in-a-few-words-to-be-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [The division into whig and tory is founded in the nature of men; the weakly and nerveless, the rich and the corrupt, seeing more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-division-into-whig-and-tory-is-founded-in-the-nature-of-men-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The parties of Whig and Tory are those of nature. They exist in all countries, whether called by these names or by those of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-parties-of-whig-and-tory-are-those-of-nature-they-exist-in-all/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The more I learn about the evolution of ideas, the more I have become aware that I am simply an unrepentant Old Whig-with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-more-i-learn-about-the-evolution-of-ideas-the-more-i-have-become/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## More by Eric Foner > [“Successful teaching rests both on a genuine and selfless concern for students and on the ability to convey to them a love of history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/successful-teaching-rests-both-on-a-genuine-and-selfless-concern-for/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [A man working for wages his whole life is not really free. That is why Jefferson said, you have to own land. Southerners said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/a-man-working-for-wages-his-whole-life-is-not-really-free-that-is-why/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [There are those who view the abolitionists as just maniacs, apolitical fanatics who helped to cause the war, and Lincoln is the model of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/there-are-those-who-view-the-abolitionists-as-just-maniacs-apolitical/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“New laws also redefined in the interest of the planter the terms of credit and the right to property—the essence of economic power in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/new-laws-also-redefined-in-the-interest-of-the-planter-the-terms-of/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Colonization was the idea that once slavery ended African-Americans should be encouraged - or required, in some people's view - required to leave the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/colonization-was-the-idea-that-once-slavery-ended-african-americans/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [ I don't \[even\] know the number of books on Abraham Lincoln. Ten thousand, twelve thousand? I have seen various numbers. It seems like every… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-don-t-even-know-the-number-of-books-on-abraham-lincoln-ten-thousand/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“Ironically, as Illinois Sen. Richard Yates pointed out, opponents of expansionism employed arguments extremely reminiscent of proslavery ideology, while its supporters upheld the principle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/ironically-as-illinois-sen-richard-yates-pointed-out-opponents-of/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Whatever Lincoln's racial views, which are not totally modern and egalitarian in many ways, he believes blacks should have this natural right to improve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/whatever-lincoln-s-racial-views-which-are-not-totally-modern-and/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“It is a well known fact that Abraham Lincoln spent much of his spare time visiting wounded soldiers in Union Army hospitals. I've spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/it-is-a-well-known-fact-that-abraham-lincoln-spent-much-of-his-spare/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [“Republicans, white and black, heaped scorn upon “respectables” who did not participate directly in the violence but “could not stop their sons from murdering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/republicans-white-and-black-heaped-scorn-upon-respectables-who-did/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Look, Mrs. McGillicuddy, it's not my fault your son jumped out a dorm room window on Christmas eve. I've written over fifty books as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/look-mrs-mcgillicuddy-it-s-not-my-fault-your-son-jumped-out-a-dorm/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Who owns history? Everyone and no one--which is why the study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/who-owns-history-everyone-and-no-one-which-is-why-the-study-of-the/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [For historians, hindsight can be a treacherous ally. Enabling us to trace the hidden patterns of past events, it beguiles us with the mirage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/for-historians-hindsight-can-be-a-treacherous-ally-enabling-us-to/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [In a democratic society, as Max Weber said, what is possible is only possible because some people have demanded the impossible. The abolitionists helped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/in-a-democratic-society-as-max-weber-said-what-is-possible-is-only/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [I admire Lincoln enormously and I think what's interesting about Lincoln is how he changes, it's not that he held the same view throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/i-admire-lincoln-enormously-and-i-think-what-s-interesting-about/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) [Explore all 30 Eric Foner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) ## More Appropriation quotes > [What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/what-would-america-be-like-if-we-loved-black-people-as-much-as-we/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [We have some of the most influential Members of Congress here today, and I do hope that we can get this appropriation for these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-have-some-of-the-most-influential-members-of-congress-here-today/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [“What you have now then is the marketing of racialized identities as tools for consumption. And certain racialized bodies and images are associated with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amalia-mesa-bains/what-you-have-now-then-is-the-marketing-of-racialized-identities-as/) [Amalia Mesa-Bains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amalia-mesa-bains/) > [Here one must think profoundly to the very basis and resist all sentimental weakness: life itself is essentially appropriation, injury, conquest of the strange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/here-one-must-think-profoundly-to-the-very-basis-and-resist-all/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [As chairman of the Senate subcommittee responsible for NASA appropriations, I say not a penny for this nutty fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-proxmire/as-chairman-of-the-senate-subcommittee-responsible-for-nasa/) [William Proxmire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-proxmire/) > [Feminist pedagogy can only be liberatory if it is truly revolutionary because the mechanisms of appropriation within white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy are able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/feminist-pedagogy-can-only-be-liberatory-if-it-is-truly-revolutionary/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-cleveland/i-can-find-no-warrant-for-such-an-appropriation-in-the-constitution/) [Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/) > [I'm not tied to the news cycle. I can do an episode on cultural appropriation, not on Rachel Dolezal. We might make a joke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moshe-kasher/i-m-not-tied-to-the-news-cycle-i-can-do-an-episode-on-cultural/) [Moshe Kasher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moshe-kasher/) > [I propose in the following discussion to call one's own labor, and the equivalent exchange of one's own labor for the labor of others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-oppenheimer/i-propose-in-the-following-discussion-to-call-one-s-own-labor-and-the/) [Franz Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-oppenheimer/) > [“The postmodern notion of "appropriation" is not a good fit. In New Mexico, the "indigenous" is a syncretic fusion of Native American and Hispano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/the-postmodern-notion-of-appropriation-is-not-a-good-fit-in-new/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) > [If you want to talk about cultural appropriation, we have to go back to the Greeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mcdormand/if-you-want-to-talk-about-cultural-appropriation-we-have-to-go-back/) [Frances McDormand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mcdormand/) > [Translation is not appropriation, as is sometimes claimed; it is a form of listening that then changes how you speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-weinberger/translation-is-not-appropriation-as-is-sometimes-claimed-it-is-a-form/) [Eliot Weinberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-weinberger/) > [“The alternative to appropriation is a world in which artists only reference their own cultures." "That's an oversimplification of the issue." "The alternative to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/the-alternative-to-appropriation-is-a-world-in-which-artists-only/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [There are two methods, or means, and only two, whereby man's needs and desires can be satisfied. One is the production and exchange of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-nock/there-are-two-methods-or-means-and-only-two-whereby-man-s-needs-and/) [Albert J. Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/) > [“Even you, the professional helper, often mistaken for the enlightened Guru or Staretz, can become lost in your thoughts that you must be competent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-e-spradlin/even-you-the-professional-helper-often-mistaken-for-the-enlightened/) [Scott E. Spradlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-e-spradlin/) [Browse all 108 Appropriation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lincoln was a modernizer, so to speak. He believed in economic development. As a Whig before the war he favored what we would call infrastructure spending, government appropriation for canals, railroads, river and harbor improvements, and a tariff to protect industry. He believed in this market revolution that was sweeping across Northern society. 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