Abraham Lincoln and slavery?
The ending of slavery was obviously the major consideration for Abraham Lincoln to be a good president. However, Lincoln’s comments at Charleston when he debated Stephen Douglas. Does that sound like he is a friend of African Americans? Does his statement that he is waging a war to end slavery support the accusation of his critics that he didn’t care about the slaves until the war was almost over? Vincent Harding has a different take on who freed the slaves, what do you think? Some of Lincoln’s critics go so far as to say that he was an opportunist and a hypocrite; the Maryland State Song even refers to him as a “tyrant.” Do you think the Maryland State Song’s reference to him as a tyrant is fair? Thoughts?
Thanks.
Answer by nuclearbroods
Lincoln did NOT wage civil war to to free slaves, that was just a consequences of winning the war. He waged war to preserve the union aka America.
Answer by Lucky
No. Lincoln in his First Inaugural Address, and I’m paraphrasing, said that if he could free all of the slaves and save the Union that he would do that. If he could free none of the slaves and save the Union he would do that. If he could free some of the slaves and not others he would do that too.
Lincoln, first and foremost believed in the perpetuity of the Union.
Answer by ebears
Lincon was a huge Tyrant. he did more to destroy states rights than almost any other president. He fought the entire Civil war with out Congressional approval, and suspended many constitutional rights during the war.
Yes Abolition was a Major issue of the Republican party but it was not of pressing importance to Lincoln. The emancipation proclamation was only signed as a political move to keep the british from entering the war on the side of the south.
Answer by Josemazza
Lincoln position on slavery was made very clear by the man himself in a letter to Horace Greeley:
“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union.”
So there you go. Did he care about black people and the fact that they were slaves? Not really. Was he an opportunist, hypocrite, etc? Perhaps, but it doesn’t change the fact that his actions were paramount to the creation of the USA in the way we know it today.
One of the nation’s foremost Lincoln scholars offers an authoritative consideration of the document that represents the most far-reaching accomplishment of our greatest president.
No single official paper in American history changed the lives of as many Americans as Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. But no American document has been held up to greater suspicion. Its bland and lawyerlike language is unfavorably compared to the soaring eloquence of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural; its effectiveness in freeing the slaves has been dismissed as a legal illusion. And for some African-Americans the Proclamation raises doubts about Lincoln himself.
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation dispels the myths and mistakes surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation and skillfully reconstructs how America’s greatest president wrote the greatest American proclamation of freedom.
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What are Abraham Lincoln’s opinions on the issues of slavery and African Americans?
I’m kinda doing this essay for my english class, and I have to write about what did Abe Lincoln do to slavery and the African-Americans….is he a good president or not…..thanks
Answer by Scott A
You know Old Abe, He wanted everyone to have a few slaves. The Cival War was actually won by the south and that’s why we don’t get to have slaves today. Abe wanted us to all have a good slave to work for us.
Answer by oscaruh@sbcglobal.net
Contrary to popular belief, it was not Lincoln’s goal or intent to bring an end to slavery when the Civil War began. Southern seccession was a threat to the breakdown of the union. Lincoln thought that the Union needed to be united at all costs. Since slavery was a primary reason for southern secession and the idea of state’s right to seceed from the union was brought up, Lincoln concluded that the only way to bring about the idea that secession was not allowed was to abolish slavery once and for all. In the end he would sign the Emancipation Proclomation and basically work (behind the scenes) on the Thirteenth Amendment. Keep in mind that it was the Thirteenth Amdendment whcih really freed the slaves not the Emancipation Proclomation.
Answer by Amanda T
Lincoln ultimately believed slavery was evil and wrong. However, he felt that if it were necessary to have slavery to preserve the Union then so it must be.
Though Lincoln did issue the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a common misconception with the document was that it freed all of the slaves. It only freed the slaves in states still in rebellion. States that rejoined the Union would be able to keep their slaves and it was simply and incentive to end the war. If the South had won the Civil War the Emancipation Proclamation would have had zero effect since the Southern States would have no longer been part of the Union.
Lincoln did however take steps to ensure that that 13th Amendment (the one that ends slavery) was passed by the House of Reps.
Answer by robe
As far what they “are” – I can’t tell you as of today. What they were, now that’s a different story.
The world – particularly the northern world – wants to make Lincoln a kind of Moses figure. He was not. He openly stated in his debates pre-election with Douglas that he was not about to push the slavery issue.
He had a great impact in that he maintained the Union, and that led to the development of the greatest nation in the history of the world.
He only went after the slavery issue in 1863, two years after the war started, because his advisors publicly convinced him it would destabilize the South. It did not. Privately they were extremely concerned that England was going to come into the war and aid the South. By attaching the issue of slavery in 1863 in a pronounced, public way, Lincoln was able to keep the Brits out of the war – by 3 votes.
Interestingly, while he detested revolution in the US, he sent arms and resources to Benito Juarez in perpetuating the Mexican Revolution.
Could the war have been prevented? Some say yes, some say no. I believe it was a penalty we paid as a people for our own revolution 80 years earlier against our King. Scripture tells us not to do that. Scripture also has many examples of where people made the wrong choices, and God designed a plan for them to redeem themselves. I believe the US has done that in many good works since that time, and, as General Westmoreland said, “No nation in the history of the world has done more good for more people” We offer up our lives and our resources, rarely getting anything in return, but always stand ready to help the helpless.
Originally published in ca. 1881. This volume from the Cornell University Library’s print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.
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He had no interest in interfering with the insitution of slavery and made it clear that the best answer would be repatriation of the slaves back to Africa.From Fragments: Notes for Speeches, September 1859, Vol. III, p.399 of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln).
“I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the White and Black races–that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with White people, and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the White and Black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the White race. . . I give. . . the most solemn pledge that I will to the very last, stand by the law of the State, which forbids the marrying of white people with negroes.” – Abraham Lincoln (Fourth Debate with Stephen Douglas at Charleston, Illinois on September 18, 1858, Vol. III, p. 145-146 of The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln).
“Now I say to you, my fellow citizen, that in my opinion, the signers of the Declaration of Independence had no reference to the Negro whatever. One great evidence is to be found in the fact that at the time every one of the thirteen colonies was a slaveholding colony, every signer of the Declaration representing a slaveholding constituency, and not one of them emancipated his slaves, much less offered citizenship to them when they signed the Declaration. If they intended to declare the Negro was equal of the white man, they were bound that day and hour to have put the Negroes on an equality with themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln, during the October 16, 1858 debate in Peoria, IL with Douglas. “I can conceive of no greater calamity than the assimilation of the Negro into our social and political life as our equal. . . We can never attain the ideal union our fathers dreamed, with millions of an alien, inferior race among us, whose assimilation is neither possible nor desirable.” – Abraham Lincoln, after signing the Emancipation Proclamation (like other presidents, Lincoln sought to repatriation of freed Blacks to Africa).
I think Lincoln was like Washington, who’s was opposed to slavery on many different fronts, though not exactly an abolitionist.George Washington was about keeping the Union in order in order to move forward, hoping that the slavery issue would pass after several years.Abraham Lincoln was about saving the Union whatever way he had to do so, and slavery was not the major concern.
Well Lincoln was from a different time, all though be was very morally opposed to slavery (see his slavery memorandums). His main stance against Douglas was opposition of expansion of slavery to new states entering the union. At the end of Lincoln’s term it is widely believed that towards the end of his life he lost almost all faith in God because of how men treated slaves and because of the animosity of the war.
Well yes he had to save the Union first and foremost. But lets not forget THE SOUTH STARTED THE CIVIL WAR THEY FIRED ON FORT SUMTER, over what they claim to be states rights, 1 of which is Slavery, which the North ( the majority of the population esp at that time ) oppose. So I believe from his point of view he was against slavery, but not deeply enough to lose the union. However Thank good the North won and he got his way anyway.