Another fantastic piece. The picture alone provides a seldom realized actualization of how Lincoln thought about the enslaved. Frederick Douglass amongst many others had to fight for Blacks, with it falling on predominantly deaf ears.
Some might say that one can not just society(ies) of the past by "modern mores," when the simple fact remains that "wrong is wrong," "evil is evil" no matter the time period.
In the first section of this lesson, Lincoln is quoted on the Emancipation Act in bold, with the date of 1952; the correct reference, I assume, would be 1852?
I agree with you that Lincoln was a complex man. When it came to slavery, I know this is a cop-out, Lincoln was a man of his time. But, Lincoln, unlike so many of his period, or today, evolved in his thinking. For a wonderful journey into Lincoln's evolution on the issue of slavery, I would like to recomend Eric Foner's The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.
I would also like to provide more quotes to provide a more immediate idea of Lincoln's thoughts:
If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with bright prospects for the future; and this too, so gradually, that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation.
--July 6, 1852 Eulogy on Henry Clay
The Missouri Compromise forbade Slavery to go north of 36.30. Our government breaks down that restriction and opens the door for slavery to enter where it could not go. This is practically legislating for slavery, recognising it, endorsing it, propagating it, extending it.
--October 4, 1854 Speech at Springfield, Illinois
Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature -- opposition to it is in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the declaration of independence -- repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man's heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak.
--October 16, 1854 Speech at Peoria
The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown, and proclaim his subjects free republicans sooner than will our American masters voluntarily give up their slaves.
--August 15, 1855 Letter to George Robertson
You know I dislike slavery; and you fully admit the abstract wrong of it.
--August 24, 1855 Letter to Joshua Speed
The slave-breeders and slave-traders, are a small, odious and detested class, among you; and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own negroes.
--August 24, 1855 Letter to Joshua Speed
The slaves of the South, at a moderate estimate, are worth a thousand millions of dollars. Let it be permanently settled that this property may extend to a new territory, without restraint, and it greatly enhances, perhaps quite doubles, its value at once. This immense, palpable pecuniary interest, on the question of extending slavery, unites the Southern people, as one man. But it can not be demonstrated that the North will gain a dollar by restricting it.
--July 23, 1856 Fragment on Sectionalism
I believe this Government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
--June 16, 1858 House Divided Speech
I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any Abolitionist.
--July 10, 1858 Speech at Chicago
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.
--ca. August 1, 1858 Fragment on Democracy
Now I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil.
--October 7, 1858 Debate at Galesburg, Illinois
He [Stephen Douglas] is blowing out the moral lights around us, when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way preparing the public mind, by his vast influence, for making the institution of slavery perpetual and national.
--October 7, 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Galesburg, Illinois
I spoke of the Dred Scott decision in my Springfield speech, and I was then endeavoring to prove that the Dred Scott decision was a portion of a system to make slavery national in this country.
--October 15, 1858 Debate at Alton, Illinois
I think we have fairly entered upon a durable struggle as to whether this nation is to ultimately become all slave or all free, and though I fall early in the contest, it is nothing if I shall have contributed, in the least degree, to the final rightful result.
--December 8, 1858 Letter to H.D. Sharpe
We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us ... Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope.
--ca. September 17, 1859 Fragment on Free Labor
Old John Brown has just been executed for treason against a state. We cannot object, even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery was wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason.
--December 3, 1859 Speech at Leavenworth, Kansas
An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property in a slave in not "distinctly and expressly affirmed" in it.
--February 27, 1860 Speech at the Cooper Institute
Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and, ere long, must be done again.
--December 10, 1860 Letter to Lyman Trumbull
You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.
--December 22, 1860 Letter to Alexander Stephens
I say now, however, as I have all the while said, that on the territorial question -- that is, the question of extending slavery under the national auspices, -- I am inflexible. I am for no compromise which assists or permits the extension of the institution on soil owned by the nation.
--February 1, 1861 Letter to William H. Seward
One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended.
--March 4, 1861 Inaugural Address
I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District, not but I would be glad to see it abolished, but as to the time and manner of doing it.
--March 24, 1862 Letter to Horace Greeley
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.
--August 22, 1862 Letter to Horace Greeley
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.
--December 1, 1862 Message to Congress
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
--January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation
I have very earnestly urged the slave-states to adopt emancipation; and it ought to be, and is an object with me not to overthrow, or thwart what any of them may in good faith do, to that end.
--June 23, 1863 Letter to John M. Schofield
But the proclamation, as law, either is valid, or is not valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it is valid, it can not be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life.
--August 26, 1863 Letter to James Conkling
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling.
--April 4, 1864 Letter to Albert Hodges
I will say now, however, I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the Constitution as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation.
--June 9, 1864 Reply to Committee Notifying Lincoln of his Renomination
The President of the United States has no formal role in the amendment process under the Constitution. All the same, the January 31st resolution was sent to Lincoln and he added his name to it (along with the word “Approved”) on February 1, 1865. This small gesture by Lincoln, like many of his actions, was cause for legislative consternation. On February 7, 1865, Congress would pass a resolution restating that the President had no role in the amendment process and that his signature was unnecessary. This makes the 13th the only ratified amendment signed by a President. (https://caamuseum.org/learn/600state/black-history/february-1-1865-abraham-lincoln-signs-13th-amendment)
Finally, If he had lived, have pressed for black suffrage. The National Archives presents Black Suffrage: Lincoln’s Last Goal. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZX8zCGofpw)
We can agree he was pragmatic. I think he could adopt any view that could help him reach a goal. There are far more quotes from his seven debates with Douglas that make him look bad than good. I have a good friend with whom I agree to disagree about Lincoln. I offer you the same compromise.
Thank you. Just want to point out that the debates were in 1858 before he met and became friends with Frederick Douglass. Douglass was instrumental in helping Lincoln evolve his views.
Lincoln ignored Douglass and went ahead with his plan to deport free Black people to an island off the coast of Haiti (Cow Island) in 1862. Only after that effort failed miserably did he listen to Douglass. In the eulogy he gave, Douglass said he was "the white man's president."
Long past time to dismantle the whole white savior trope. Thanks for the info.
Another fantastic piece. The picture alone provides a seldom realized actualization of how Lincoln thought about the enslaved. Frederick Douglass amongst many others had to fight for Blacks, with it falling on predominantly deaf ears.
Some might say that one can not just society(ies) of the past by "modern mores," when the simple fact remains that "wrong is wrong," "evil is evil" no matter the time period.
Again, thank you for writing this piece!
In the first section of this lesson, Lincoln is quoted on the Emancipation Act in bold, with the date of 1952; the correct reference, I assume, would be 1852?
Mr. Spivey, I enjoy your daily lessons.
I agree with you that Lincoln was a complex man. When it came to slavery, I know this is a cop-out, Lincoln was a man of his time. But, Lincoln, unlike so many of his period, or today, evolved in his thinking. For a wonderful journey into Lincoln's evolution on the issue of slavery, I would like to recomend Eric Foner's The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.
I would also like to provide more quotes to provide a more immediate idea of Lincoln's thoughts:
If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with bright prospects for the future; and this too, so gradually, that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation.
--July 6, 1852 Eulogy on Henry Clay
The Missouri Compromise forbade Slavery to go north of 36.30. Our government breaks down that restriction and opens the door for slavery to enter where it could not go. This is practically legislating for slavery, recognising it, endorsing it, propagating it, extending it.
--October 4, 1854 Speech at Springfield, Illinois
Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's nature -- opposition to it is in his love of justice. These principles are an eternal antagonism; and when brought into collision so fiercely, as slavery extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions must ceaselessly follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise -- repeal all compromises -- repeal the declaration of independence -- repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man's heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak.
--October 16, 1854 Speech at Peoria
The Autocrat of all the Russias will resign his crown, and proclaim his subjects free republicans sooner than will our American masters voluntarily give up their slaves.
--August 15, 1855 Letter to George Robertson
You know I dislike slavery; and you fully admit the abstract wrong of it.
--August 24, 1855 Letter to Joshua Speed
The slave-breeders and slave-traders, are a small, odious and detested class, among you; and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own negroes.
--August 24, 1855 Letter to Joshua Speed
The slaves of the South, at a moderate estimate, are worth a thousand millions of dollars. Let it be permanently settled that this property may extend to a new territory, without restraint, and it greatly enhances, perhaps quite doubles, its value at once. This immense, palpable pecuniary interest, on the question of extending slavery, unites the Southern people, as one man. But it can not be demonstrated that the North will gain a dollar by restricting it.
--July 23, 1856 Fragment on Sectionalism
I believe this Government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
--June 16, 1858 House Divided Speech
I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any Abolitionist.
--July 10, 1858 Speech at Chicago
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.
--ca. August 1, 1858 Fragment on Democracy
Now I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil.
--October 7, 1858 Debate at Galesburg, Illinois
He [Stephen Douglas] is blowing out the moral lights around us, when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way preparing the public mind, by his vast influence, for making the institution of slavery perpetual and national.
--October 7, 1858 Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Galesburg, Illinois
I spoke of the Dred Scott decision in my Springfield speech, and I was then endeavoring to prove that the Dred Scott decision was a portion of a system to make slavery national in this country.
--October 15, 1858 Debate at Alton, Illinois
I think we have fairly entered upon a durable struggle as to whether this nation is to ultimately become all slave or all free, and though I fall early in the contest, it is nothing if I shall have contributed, in the least degree, to the final rightful result.
--December 8, 1858 Letter to H.D. Sharpe
We know, Southern men declare that their slaves are better off than hired laborers amongst us. How little they know, whereof they speak! There is no permanent class of hired laborers amongst us ... Free labor has the inspiration of hope; pure slavery has no hope.
--ca. September 17, 1859 Fragment on Free Labor
Old John Brown has just been executed for treason against a state. We cannot object, even though he agreed with us in thinking slavery was wrong. That cannot excuse violence, bloodshed, and treason.
--December 3, 1859 Speech at Leavenworth, Kansas
An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property in a slave in not "distinctly and expressly affirmed" in it.
--February 27, 1860 Speech at the Cooper Institute
Let there be no compromise on the question of extending slavery. If there be, all our labor is lost, and, ere long, must be done again.
--December 10, 1860 Letter to Lyman Trumbull
You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.
--December 22, 1860 Letter to Alexander Stephens
I say now, however, as I have all the while said, that on the territorial question -- that is, the question of extending slavery under the national auspices, -- I am inflexible. I am for no compromise which assists or permits the extension of the institution on soil owned by the nation.
--February 1, 1861 Letter to William H. Seward
One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended.
--March 4, 1861 Inaugural Address
I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District, not but I would be glad to see it abolished, but as to the time and manner of doing it.
--March 24, 1862 Letter to Horace Greeley
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.
--August 22, 1862 Letter to Horace Greeley
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.
--December 1, 1862 Message to Congress
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
--January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation
I have very earnestly urged the slave-states to adopt emancipation; and it ought to be, and is an object with me not to overthrow, or thwart what any of them may in good faith do, to that end.
--June 23, 1863 Letter to John M. Schofield
But the proclamation, as law, either is valid, or is not valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it is valid, it can not be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life.
--August 26, 1863 Letter to James Conkling
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling.
--April 4, 1864 Letter to Albert Hodges
I will say now, however, I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the Constitution as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation.
--June 9, 1864 Reply to Committee Notifying Lincoln of his Renomination
The President of the United States has no formal role in the amendment process under the Constitution. All the same, the January 31st resolution was sent to Lincoln and he added his name to it (along with the word “Approved”) on February 1, 1865. This small gesture by Lincoln, like many of his actions, was cause for legislative consternation. On February 7, 1865, Congress would pass a resolution restating that the President had no role in the amendment process and that his signature was unnecessary. This makes the 13th the only ratified amendment signed by a President. (https://caamuseum.org/learn/600state/black-history/february-1-1865-abraham-lincoln-signs-13th-amendment)
Finally, If he had lived, have pressed for black suffrage. The National Archives presents Black Suffrage: Lincoln’s Last Goal. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZX8zCGofpw)
Lincoln's last address (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-last-public-address), which John Wilke's Boothe witnessed. He is stand above Lincoln in a photo of that speech. Some speculate that the speech cemented Boothe's decision to assassinate Lincoln.
We can agree he was pragmatic. I think he could adopt any view that could help him reach a goal. There are far more quotes from his seven debates with Douglas that make him look bad than good. I have a good friend with whom I agree to disagree about Lincoln. I offer you the same compromise.
Thank you. Just want to point out that the debates were in 1858 before he met and became friends with Frederick Douglass. Douglass was instrumental in helping Lincoln evolve his views.
Lincoln ignored Douglass and went ahead with his plan to deport free Black people to an island off the coast of Haiti (Cow Island) in 1862. Only after that effort failed miserably did he listen to Douglass. In the eulogy he gave, Douglass said he was "the white man's president."
Perhaps a statue of John Brown would have both black and white persons kneeling. He was the true emancipationist.