Preface and Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery is a nonfiction book by historical writer Eric Foner. Foner has written extensively on history, including a focus on the history of black people in America as well as the Civil War.

Preface. In the preface, the author expresses his intention with this book. Rather than write a biography of Lincoln, a man most Americans believe they know well, the author's intention is to show the reader Lincoln's growing and changing opinions of slavery throughout his life.

Chapter one shows that Lincoln was born in Kentucky in 1809. When Lincoln was seven, his family moved to southwestern Indiana, where he would live until he was twenty-one. The family would then move to northern Illinois where Lincoln would live until he assumed the presidency in 1861. Slavery was legal in Kentucky. Slavery...