i love college history

[gwarguy]

"I am not, nor ever have I been, in favor of bringing about in any way, the social and political equality of the white and black races; I am not, now nor I have ever been, in favor in making voters or jurors of Negros, nor qualifying them to hold office...I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black

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In context...

[jkt013]

Lincoln was raised in an area where slavery was not prevelant, but racism was accepted and expected. His first real taste of the terrible truths of human bondage was a trip down the Mississippi with a friend of his, making a delivery of stock to the docks in New Orleans. He was only 12 or 14 at the time and the site of boats being unloaded by humans that just had darker skin toubled him. Later when he was elected to the House of Representatives on the Whig ticket, he spoke against Polk's war in Mexico, but wrote about the terrible sight of the slave market in Washington D.C. His days as a lawyer gave him an appreciation for justice and knew that the exploitation of these individuals was going to end one way or another. Later when he was elected President and the South seceeded, he felt they were fleeing not him, but free repulic ideals. The South was going to seceed as long as they didn't get their man in the White house which wasn't going to happen anyway based on electoral data. They didn't have the support, so they were doomed to lose the election and sought other means. When your back's to the wall, all you can do is strike forward and that's what they did. They cut and run and left the Union. No state in history has ever peacefully allowed for it's territory and much less it's citizenry to just leave a signed and ratified pact. China is still fighting for Taiwan back and the US was no different. The rebels, as they were seen, needed to be brought back into control. The small group of elitist aristocrats wanted to maintain their power over the large agricultural poor. That scenario plays itself out all over the world in many countries, so the American situation is not unique in the least. Lincoln was a good pollitician and did not reveal the abolitionist leanings he gained while he learned more of the plight of slaves. He believed the earned value of work, and that slavery was antithetical to that belief. If you want to know more, I suggest a good biography of Lincoln, like With Malice Toward None.