Abraham Lincoln and Slavery - Essay Example

Abraham Lincoln and Slavery How and why did Lincoln’s ideas about slavery evolve from his early political days through his election to the presidency and through the Civil War? Did his ideas about Blacks change at all as his thinking on the institution of slavery evolved? Undoubtedly, Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most prominent and remarkable president in the America’s history. He lived between February 12, 1809 and April 15, 1865. He was the 16th president of the United States. He served as president from March 1861 until 1865 when he was assassinated. The reason why he is considered the most important president in America’s history is the fact that he led the country through major military, moral, and constitutional crisis - the American Civil War. During his presidency period through this crisis, he was able to end slavery, promote financial and economic modernization, and preserve the Union. 1 Lincoln was brought up in a poor family after his father, Thomas Lincoln, had lost his land through court cases, having been accused of possessing property titles which were faulty. Lincoln, therefore, did not enjoy most of the luxuries that were enjoyed by children from relatively rich family; luxuries such as quality education, good-conditioned housing, and descent meals among others. Regarding Lincoln’s education, it is approximated that he spent only one-year worth of classes in his formal elementary; most of education he received from various itinerant teachers. It is worth pointing out that he was an avid reader and he acquired most of his knowledge through self-education.2 He eventually became a country lawyer, legislator of Illinois State, and the US House of Representatives member for one term, but he failed twice in his attempt to capture US Senate seat. Lincoln married Mary Todd on November 4, 1842 and got two children, namely Robert and Edward. His political career began on March 1832 with his first campaign for a post in the Illinois General Assembly. Lincoln had professed in 1861 that he had been a steadfast Whig; Whig was a party that subscribed to the ideas of espoused urbanization, protective tariffs in order to fund internal developments, and economic modernization. His beliefs in Whig’s ideology informed most of his political decisions especially concerning America’s economic growth and development.3 Besides, he favoured unification of the US nation and opposed slavery and its expansion in the US. Therefore, the questions of how and why Lincoln’s ideas about slavery evolved are considered in this paper; besides, it tackles his ideas about Blacks and the institution of slavery. It seems to nearly every person who knows about Abraham Lincoln that his belief on slavery and race was well-defined and firm. It is a well-documented fact that Lincoln was against slavery and racism in period prior to his presidency and after. However, what still puzzles historians, political scientists, and other individuals concerned with Lincoln’s history and issues to do with slavery is whether his fight against the aforementioned issues was because of him being a politician or a leader. Until 1850s, slavery was legal in the southern US but had been outlawed in the northern states like Illinois. Lincoln was opposed to slavery and its spread, especially to the new territory of western states. As a young person, Lincoln had little knowledge on slavery that was dominant in the south because he had seen little of it as a child. As he grew older, his stance on slavery developed because of what he witnessed and experienced. Lincoln’s marriage to Mary Told contributed greatly to his developed stance on the slavery issue since Mary had had first-hand contact with slavery as she came from a slave- owning family; she, therefore, narrated to him slavery stories.4 In addition, having had a career as an attorney provided him with experience on slavery issue.5 He handled several slavery cases, the most notable being Bailey v. Cromwell and Matson v. Rutherford. William Herndon, Lincoln’s law partner, also played a critical role in the formation of Lincoln’s stance on slavery. Herndon had subscribed to pro-slavery newspapers, while Lincoln disapproved their contents by saying that even though numerous volumes attempted to prove that slavery is good, he had never heard of the man who had wished to take the good of it by offering himself as a slave. Herndon also read various abolitionist materials that he shared with Lincoln.6 Additionally, Lincoln was a staunch believer of maintenance of law and order; that is why he supported law enforcement concerning the fugitive slaves. It is worth highlighting that Lincoln was willing to accept slavery under condition that it was contained and it could not spread any further.7 It is clear that Lincoln’s stance was influenced by a number of factors in his early political career. His belief on slavery was quite firm and defined. As he progressed in age and political career, his view on slavery changed, especially prior to 1860. This change of view was because he was becoming aware of the facts and truths relating to slavery; as well as the risks and dangers that were potent concerning slavery existence and abolition. In 1854, there was a bid to enact the Kansas-Nebraska Act through the Congress by Senator Stephen Douglas.8 This law repealed the 1820’s Missouri Compromise and it intended to open up a considerable portion of the Midwest to possible slavery expansion. Lincoln, who was a rival to Douglas in the Illinois State, returned to politics to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was considered pro-slavery.9 The proposer of the law, Stephen Douglas, had incorporated the provision on popular sovereignty into the Act. Lincoln was opposed to the Act’s provisions, which stated that settlers had the right to locally determine whether slavery should be allowed in the new US territory, instead of having the decision determined by the Congress. Since Lincoln was opposed to the bill, he organized and scheduled three public speeches to respond to the bill during the fall of 1854. Peoria Speech delivered on October 16, 1854 was one of his longest speeches; its delivery took three hours. In the speech he pointed out that the Kansas Act aimed at spreading slavery which he hated. He explained that he hated slavery because of its monstrously injustice nature. Since he was a Republican, he argued that slavery deprived the Republicans of their example of just influence across the world. He also outlined the economic, political, legal, and moral arguments against slavery. 10 In 1858, the Republican Party nominated Lincoln for the US Senate. In the House he delivered the House Dived Speech which he tore into the division that existed in the house regarding slavery where half of the House supported slavery while half opposed it. Because of the evocative image created by the speech on danger caused by the slavery debate divisions, a stage was set in 1858 between Lincoln and Douglas debates on slavery; the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 are among the most famous in the American history. 11 Lincoln in his argument warned that the Slave Power was a threat to Republicanism values, and accused Douglas of perpetrating distortion of values that were created by the Founding Fathers regarding the equality of all men. On the other hand, Douglas emphasized that it was the local settlers’ choice to decide on whether slavery should be allowed or not through his Freeport Doctrine, and he accused Lincoln of joining the abolitionists. Later on in 1858, Douglas was re-elected to the Senate; despite Lincoln defeat, his issues’ articulation had won him political reputation, nationally. New York party leaders, on February 27, 1860, invited Lincoln to give a speech to a group of influential Republicans at Copper Union. He took the opportunity of the speech to argue that the Founding Fathers had sought to restrict and abolish slavery. He further argued that the Republicans’ moral foundation demanded that slavery should be opposed. Despite disagreement from the audience, the speech elevated him to a front-runner in the Republican presidential nomination contention.12 Lincoln got his first endorsement to run for presidency on May 9th to 10th during the Illinois Republican Convention, which was held in Decatur. Even though Lincoln was not actively involved in his presidential campaign, his supporters focused mostly on Republican Party platform and on Lincoln’s life in poverty in his childhood, whose success was due to the free labour’s superior power. Eventually, Lincoln was elected as the Sixteenth president of the United States on November 6, 1860, beating other candidates, including his bitterest rival Democrat Stephen Douglas. His major support came from the West and the North, while very little support came from the Southern States.13 From the beginning of his presidency, Lincoln showed the intention to continue fighting slavery and its spread in various actions that he undertook as a president. Some of the actions included: a) he rejected the Crittenden Compromise which had aimed at extending the 1820’s Missouri Compromise, thereby dividing the territories into free and slave which was in total disregard of the Republicans’ values on equality for all; b) he supported the Corwin Amendment which the Congress had already passed and intended to enshrine slavery protection in the Constitution to states where slavery was already in existence.14 In fact, some weeks before the war, he went to a far place to pen a letter to each governor in search of their support in the ratification of the Corwin Amendment as a way of avoiding secession. However, Lincoln’s stance on slavery was further revealed on February 23, 1861 when he arrived in Washington D.C in disguise; in his inaugural address to the South he proclaimed that he had no intention of abolishing slavery in the Southern states. The civil war began on April 12, 1861 in response to Abraham Lincoln’s election as the US President. The southern slave states (11 states) made a declaration to secede from the US to form the Confederacy (Confederate States of America), while the other 25 states supported “the Union’ (the federal government).15 The civil war lasted for four years and was concentrated mostly in the southern states. Eventually, the Confederacy surrendered and the war ended in 1865, which culminated to slavery being outlawed everywhere in the US. Throughout the war, Lincoln actively opposed slavery and its spread. He kept emphasizing the declaration by Jefferson that all men were created equal and should therefore be treated equally; he made these propositions in numerous occasions including the famous Gettysburg Address in 1863. In addition, on September 1862, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which was his first. In the proclamation, he announced that from the start of 1863, he would use the powers that he has to free all slaves in states that were still rebellious hence making them come under the control of the Union. Besides, through a letter to Albert Hodges in 1864 regarding his position on emancipation, he stated that he initially thought he had no powers, constitutionally, to abolish slavery everywhere.16 However, the necessity for compensation was brought about by the need for Union preservation. It is nearly uncontested that Lincoln’s thoughts on the institution of slavery evolved as he was progressing form his early life through the time of his presidency until his assassination. During this evolution, his ideas about Blacks were changing but not to a significant extent. In the American history, he is considered as the ‘Great Emancipator’ as he championed the freedom of the blacks and supported equality of all citizens. He is also regarded as such because he fought the civil war with and ultimately succeeded to free the slaves.17 Even though it cannot be disputed that he detested slavery and considered it as a harmful and evil institution, it is a fact that he shared most American’s conviction that there should be no blacks' assimilation into the white society. Additionally, his view was that blacks should be resettled away from America. In fact, he supported blacks’ removal projects from the US. The reason why Lincoln supported the ‘exportation’ of the blacks was because he feared the ‘race war’. He is reported to mention to General Butler on April 15, 1865 that he could hardly believe the peaceful co-existence of the South and the North, and therefore there was need to get rid of the blacks (Negroes).18 Should Lincoln be considered as a politician or a leader as for his stance of slavery? It is evident from the discussion that Lincoln was truly against slavery and the belief emanated from his values, experiences and knowledge about slavery. His actions and words suggested that, indeed, he detested slavery and there was need to contain its further spread. His consideration of leaving slavery to persist in regions where it already existed was informed by his understanding that it was legally difficult on his part to abolish it. From the discussion, it is clearly indicated that his opposition against slavery was not political but out of genuine thought that slavery was immoral. As has been noted, his opposition against slavery was informed by the following reasons: his wife’s experiences, his practice as a lawyer, his law partner ideas, and his firm belief in Republican’s values regarding equality of all men. Therefore, he was motivated by these factors to fight against slavery, which he viewed as immoral and harmful. His intentions were to prevent further spread of slavery and ensure a united America. It can, thus, be confidently argued that his opposition was not motivated by self-interest, nor was it motivated to gain political power through winning of elections or war. Instead, it is proved that his opposition was based on his leadership principles that considered all men equal and the need to avoid harming a fellow human through practices such as slavery. Works Cited Johnson, Michael. Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War: Selected Writing and Speeches (The Bedford Series in History and Culture). Bedford / St. Martin’s, 2010. Print. Read More