How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He had been very interested in the notion of emancipation and had studied over it a lot while he went about his work. It was obviously just pure luck that he himself hadn't been born a slave, but if he had been unlucky Lincoln would have freed him. (1.91)
Because Lonesome Dove never explicitly tells us what in year the action takes place, Deets's ideas about abolition help us place the book somewhere in time. Deets is old enough to have been born a slave. The 13th Amendment was ratified 1865, so we know the book takes place a decade or two past that.
Quote #2
"I'm as American as the next," [Call] said, taking his hat and picking up his rifle.
"You was born in Scotland," Augustus reminded him. (1.95-1.96)
Race isn't just about skin color. Gus makes a good point here: many Americans at this point in history were still immigrants, from one place or another. For the most part, the only really native Americans were, um, Native Americans.
Quote #3
[Call] looked at Deets when he said that. He could not formally make Deets the leader over two white men, but he wanted him to know that he had the responsibility of seeing that the horses got there." (11.68)
Despite what we said about abolition, there is still racial tension in the country between white men and black men. White men don't want to take orders from black men. Have things changed?