Cult of Lincoln
The Cult of Lincoln (also known as Lincolnism) was a civil religion in the United Commonwealth that developed during the Federalist Era. It was based on the cult of personality of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. It emerged in the aftermath of the American Civil War and the War of Contingency, and was a notable fringe movement that was concentrated in pockets of the Faithful Nine, especially among freedmen and former Republicans. It syncretized elements of Christianity with American civil religion and elevated Abraham Lincoln as a martyred, heroic saint that sought to preserve a "perfect Union".
The devotion to Abraham Lincoln was comparable to other prominent historical figures, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who were also figures of devotion. In parts of the Faithful Nine, the cult of Lincoln coexisted with similar cults for the Founding Fathers. Initially, it was a movement that found favor in certain circles of the Federalist Party, which claimed succession to Abraham Lincoln's party, the Republican Party. Elsewhere, in the South, the regional difference and attitude was stark. Lincoln was instead vilified as a failure, a tyrant, or even a demonic character. In such places, Washington, Jefferson, and other Founding Fathers were viewed favorably, while Lincoln was viewed as the antithesis. As the United Commonwealth gradually expanded, reuniting with parts of the South, the Cult of Lincoln declined, remaining mainly popular among black Continentals, especially as the dominant Federalist Party began to shift its policies and platform closer to Southern interests.
Following the Continental Revolutionary War, the United Commonwealth was reformed into a Continentalist–Landonist state, while the Federalist government retreated to the Antilles. Original themes and ideas associated with the Cult of Lincoln were reinterpreted under Landonist lenses, and Abraham Lincoln experienced a resurgence in popularity under the Continentalists. In the South, which remained resistant to the Continentalist regime, even after the war, the Cults of Jefferson and Washington were actively suppressed, and the American Founding Fathers were reimagined unfavorably in Continental national historiography. With the rise of Aeneas Warren, Warren's emerging cult of personality reached popularity par excellence that eclipsed the previous cults. However, Abraham Lincoln continued to be viewed favorably as a proto-Continentalist and his image became adopted into Continental symbolism and ideology. In the Antilles, former Southerners and Federalists developed the Antillean civil religion, as well as American Israelism, a Christian-based religion that viewed the Founding Father figures as biblical prophets. Lincoln as an image persisted, though he was portrayed false prophet or even an antichrist. Elements of the Cult of Lincoln persist in contemporary times in the United Commonwealth.
History
Background
Lincoln's personality cult initially developed organically following his assassination and his death was the catalyst that triggered a political crisis in the American government and the ultimate collapse of the United States. Immediately following its collapse, the continent was plunged into the War of Contingency. Lincoln's assassination and the violent outbreak that followed his death left a lasting impression and legacy that would shape the national mythos of the United Commonwealth. During the war, the remnant United States government reorganized into the United Commonwealth under the Federalist Party, with the aim of reasserting sovereign control over a number of breakaway states that declared independence in the wake of the political crisis. The states which remained a part of the United Commonwealth became known as the Faithful Nine. The United Commonwealth's efforts to reclaim states from Superior, the Northeast Union, and the reemergent South provoked international intervention by the Kingdom of Sierra and Brazoria.
Federalist Era
Decline and end
Characteristics
Legacy
In mainland United Commonwealth
