Our Resilient Republic
Professor of History Matt Pinsker, in the House Divided Project studio. Photo by Dan Loh.
Office Hours: Professor of History Matt Pinsker
Professor of History Matt Pinsker earned his D.Phil. at the University of Oxford. He is Dickinson’s Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History and teaches courses in U.S. political, legal and diplomatic history. His publications include the books Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home, the American Presidents Reference Series’ Abraham Lincoln and the newly released Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln.
Dickinson was founded by a signer of the Declaration of Independence in the same year the Treaty of Paris was signed, in a region that was itself a theater of the Civil War. For a student serious about American constitutional history, why is this the right place to pursue it—and how does your long-running House Divided Project fit into that?
For serious American history students, the House Divided Project offers a truly unique opportunity. We have hired over 70 student interns during the last 15 years. These students from across a variety of majors and backgrounds have worked on projects that concern the constitutional, political and military history surrounding the rise and fall of American slavery.
Over the years, they have helped to curate both online and museum exhibits, conducted archival research, produced short documentary videos, guided Dickinson & Slavery walking tours for educational and community groups, mentored high school students in our Knowledge for Freedom summer program have supported our many partnership programs with organizations such as the National Park Service, National Constitution Center and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
I really don't think that there is a campus-based public history initiative anywhere in the country that offers as many compelling experiences to undergraduates as the one that we've developed here at Dickinson.
Your new book, Boss Lincoln—recently reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, which cites your “deep research, interpretive daring and fine writing”—takes a fresh look at Lincoln as a political operator, not just a statesman. And your Substack, “What Would Lincoln Do?," is getting real traction. What drives your interest in Abraham Lincoln, and what do you hope your work changes about how readers understand him?
Most Americans complain about politicians, and nearly everybody says that they hate partisanship, but Lincoln's experience helps explain why American democracy needs good and effective partisan leaders to function. Boss Lincoln offers a fresh way to appreciate Lincoln's success as a party leader from across the entirety of his career and especially as a wartime president. He was an organizer of the Whig party, the Republican party and, most important, the Union party. Although often forgotten, Lincoln's wartime Union party proved essential to saving the union—just as important in many ways as the Union army itself.
My new Substack series draws on that key historical insight by suggesting ways that American politicos and citizens might apply lessons from Lincoln's example during the unfolding struggles to save our increasingly frayed union. "What Would Lincoln Do?" also highlights a range of stories from now obscure figures who helped make Lincoln's leadership possible or who later helped preserve his great legacy. These Profiles in Democracy have really become one of the main attractions of the series, especially for classroom teachers.
The Civil War ended 160+ years ago, but debates over constitutional authority, partisan warfare and the limits of executive power feel anything but settled. What do students risk missing if they try to understand today's political moment without grounding it in history?
As angry as people are, they were even angrier in the past. No era in American history witnessed more polarization, violence or injustice than the age of slavery and Civil War. And yet because of Lincoln's leadership and the sacrifices of so many others, the nation not only survived but also experienced a "new birth of freedom."
What is the lesson for today? Despite the obvious political tensions of our times, try to celebrate and appreciate this 250th anniversary year of our resilient republic. There has never been any singular Era of Good Feelings or Greatest Generation. It's always just been "We the People," arguing with each other the whole way. Yet the result has been an amazing national story, even if it has never been perfect and always seems contested.
Nobody should take anything for granted, but there remains plenty of reason for optimism. Lincoln called American constitutional democracy "the last best hope of Earth." Despite many flaws, it remains so today. Students without a firm understanding of American history can sometimes forget that central pillar of civic faith and national self-confidence.
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published April 22, 2026