The Lincoln that many people remember is not the man who led the Union in to and through the Civil War. Lincoln, is often been made out to a man of much grater moral standing than men of his day. But when Lincoln’s legacy is examined closer it becomes very apparent that he was a man, flawed like all men. Growing up in the South two different portrayals of Lincoln were taught to me. The first was the common portrayal of Lincoln, that of “Honest Abe,” the great emancipator of slaves and defender the Union. The second portrayal of Lincoln that I was taught was that of a flawed man, as we all are. This portrayal credits Lincoln for his accomplishments, but also recognizes that he made mistakes, and was a man of his day. I agree with Courtney’s statement in her blog post, “Thoughts about Thoughts,” where she said “Confederate memorial groups who criticize the modern idealization and glorification of Lincoln might actually be on to something.” I am not saying that the Confederate memorial groups have it all right, but I do believe that there is merit in approaching Lincoln as a man of his day. Only by examining the man Lincoln can we determine his true feelings about race and the institution of slavery.
Lincoln was a man of his day; his views closely mirrored those of other Republicans and Northerners. I believe to approach issue of slavery in this way we must first decipher Lincoln’s view of blacks. Lincoln’s feelings about race are most clear in his earliest writings and speeches. Lincoln, like many northerners of the day, did not feel that whites and blacks should be considered as equals. In Ottawa, Illinois in August 1859 Lincoln stated, “I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and the black races.” To Lincoln blacks were blacks and whites were whites and it should stay that way. In this same speech Lincoln conceded to Douglas that blacks were inferior in many ways including: “color, … [or] in moral or intellectual endowment.” Where Lincoln disagreed with Douglas, and many Southerners, was that blacks were people with “[the] right to eat the bread, without the leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns.”
It is essential to remember that Lincoln did not view blacks as equal nor did he believe they should be eligible to participate fully in society. Stating in a speech in Charleston, Illinois: “I am not… in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people.” Lincoln goes on to say: “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.”
What do these statements tell us about Lincoln’s views on race in the years leading up to his presidency? I argue that they clearly show that Lincoln was not that different from southerners like Douglas. By today’s standards, Lincoln was a racist; at the time his views on race were the norm. Lincoln clearly did not have a moral problem with blacks being in an inferior position to whites. In fact he was a proponent of this. Where Lincoln differed from his opponents was in his belief that blacks were men, and as men they should be allowed to work, earn, and be free. Lincoln’s view of the position of blacks in society resembles the caste system in India, where there was a dominant ruling class, and a lower class barred from receiving privileges of the ruling class.
So how does Lincoln’s views on race affect his views about slavery? In all of the provided works never did Lincoln support the morality of slavery. Though he never calls for the immediate emancipation of slaves in the provided documents, until the issuance of the emancipation proclamation in 1863. Even in his Speech to Congress in December 1862, Lincoln calls for the gradual emancipation of slaves and compensation of slave owners and slave states. Though Lincoln does believe that “All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual freedom by the chances of the war [shall remain free].” These documents do not portray Lincoln as the man we remember today, who fought vigorously for the emancipation of slaves. Even in 1860 when he was elected, Lincoln writes to his friend Alexander Stephens discussing how slavery “ought to be restricted.”
Lincoln mentions multiple times how it would be unconstitutional to abolish slavery, he only acquiesces as a means to preserve the Union and end the war. In a letter written in 1864, to Albert Hodges, Lincoln defends his actions regarding the emancipation of slaves as unconstitutional, but justifies it as a military necessity. Lincoln sites when he censured Gen. Fremont and Hunter’s separate attempts to emancipate slaves as lacking the “indispensable necessity” to warrant these unconstitutional acts. Lincoln makes certain to justify his later act to emancipate the nations slaves stating: “I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful, by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the constitution, through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve the constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution all together.”
I would argue that Lincoln did not emancipate the nations slaves because of a higher moral call, but as a military strategy to end the civil war and preserve the constitution. Lincoln acted to defend the nation, not to defend the slaves’ rights. Lincoln’s views on race allowed him to justify the existence of slavery as a morally wrong, yet constitutional institution. Lincoln’s duty to the preservation of the constitution allowed, him to justify the existence of slavery. Through Lincoln’s views of race and actions he took we can infer that he would have been fine with either the continued existence and containment of slavery, or the gradual emancipation of slaves over time. I wonder if the Union had not been in peril, would Lincoln have immediately emancipated the slaves? Also I wonder that if Lincoln was willing to take an action that he viewed as unconstitutional, to save the Union, what other unconstitutional acts did he take during the war? Lastly I would like to know the effects Lincoln’s views of the two separate race groups had in the years following his death and the reconstruction of the nation?