When Lincoln came to New Orleans
R. Lincoln Harris
He arrived as a young man
With no life experiences outside of
Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois
Where he was born and raised.
It was here that he witnessed human beings
Being treated like cattle
Shackled together
And held in captivity.
The result shocked his consciousness
And forever separated him
From the barbarous horde
Which refused to acknowledge their humanity,
Since doing so would force them to confront
How debased their own humanity had become.
He carried this experience back to Illinois,
Still the penniless young man he was
When he first arrived,
But instilled with a moral purpose
That guided him for the rest of his days.
And all of us are better for it.
Lincoln went to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1828. He guided a flatboat down the Mississippi River. It was the first visit to a major city for the teenager. New Orleans was also the largest slave market in the USA. Lincoln visited the town again in 1831.
At the corner of Esplanade and Chartres is a sign marking where a slave pen once stood. Solomon Northup, who wrote "12 years a slave", was sold at this spot.
Poetry Atlas has a number of poems about Louisiana.
