Quoted:
Lincoln believed that "all men are created equal".
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[orange]Why did Lincoln, who opposed social and political equality for blacks, eventually free the slaves?
“My ancient faith teaches me that 'all men are created equal'; and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another.”
Abraham Lincoln
“What next? Free them and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this, and if mine would, we well know that the great mass of white peoples will not.”
Abraham Lincoln
These two quotes were taken from Lincoln’s The Monstrous Injustice of Slavery speech delivered on October 16, 1854. All in one speech he questions whether or not the “Negro” is a man, whether or not they are smart enough to participate in society, and suggests that they be sent back to Africa. Later on in the speech he suggests emancipation, says slavery is a violation of rights, and says, “our republican robe is soiled.” How can there be such distinct contradictions in Lincoln’s words?
Early on in his life, Abraham Lincoln stated that slavery was wrong. As a boy in Illinois Abe was quoted as saying, “If I ever get a chance to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard.” Lincoln believed that slavery as a practice was wrong and should be contained to the south. He debated with Stephen Douglas that the restriction of slavery had been the policy of the founding fathers and that the democrats had departed from the great tradition of containing an evil that could not be immediately contained. Lincoln’s hypocrisy can be seen in Douglas’ most effective debating point. Douglas claimed that Lincoln’s moral opposition to slavery implied a belief in racial equality. Lincoln, facing an intensely racist electorate in his election, responded with his fervent belief in white supremacy. He believed that blacks should be given the fruits of their own labor, but should not have the “privileges” of citizenship.
“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; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause."
Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves because he wanted to preserve the UNION. He felt that the nation could not survive half-free, half-slave.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
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[url]http://www.brophyprep.org/student/civilwar/NotePage.htm[/url]
You are correct. But he also believed that, as Orwell so aptly put it, "Some animals are more equal than others."