Was Abraham Lincoln a racist - Term Paper Example

ave evaluated the matter agree that calling Lincoln a racist is an overtone to his early political life; typically, in the late 1850s, on the debates with. Douglas, Lincoln spoke to what he considered to be basic black and white racial differences "which, in my [Lincolns] judgment, will probably forever forbid their [blacks] living together on the footing of perfect equality" (Gewen, 1). Additionally, Lincoln is known to have agreed that the blacks were not in some aspects equal to the whites, one of them being color but when it came to other aspects like the right to eat the bread without leave of anybody he was equal to Lincoln, Judge Douglas and any other man.

From this and most of his statements, Lincoln depicts that his belief that both black and white were entitled to equal rights and protection under the Constitution. Lincoln, as president, struggled to the end of civil war and preserved the nation making him extensively sympathetic when it comes to the matter of slaves; moreover, it also increased the urge for equality among the races in America (Walker 1). Radically, Lincoln dropped his support for plans to colonize freed slaves to Africa after the Civil War after seeing over 200,000 African-Americans volunteer and fighters alongside Union forces; additionally, in 1865 Lincoln delivered an address in which he became the first activist president extending voting rights to African-Americans who fought for the Union.

On this notion, Lincoln campaigned that there it was fair that people of the black color are denied some of the rights and franchise yet some of them serve their cause as soldiers and significant members of the society hence they should also experience the same privileges. Abraham Lincoln’s statement on this matter and others was an indication of his belief that any African American should a full political equality; unfortunately, this was the last speech that he made as initially said by John Wilkes Booth from the crowd (Zeeboe 1).