Lincoln's Ever Changing Views
on Slavery

James D. Gianpetro
South Middle School, Arlington Heights

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation . . ." The nation that Lincoln spoke of in his famous 1864 Gettysburg Address was a place that he and many thought to be free and independent, a nation that would stay united throughout history, a place where all men were equal, and a place where slavery did not exist.

In his early childhood Lincoln was exposed to slavery. Being a native of Kentucky, which was a slave state, Lincoln witnessed slavery in his early years. Lincoln's uncle owned a slave. His father's uncle, Isaac, was said to have owned a total of forty slaves. Lincoln saw a slave market in New Orleans for the first time as a boy. Lincoln knew even then that he was totally against slavery. Lincoln said in 1864 that he was "naturally anti-slavery and could not think of a time where I did not so think and feel."

Lincoln had many changing views on slavery but primarily his opinion of slavery was that it was wrong. Slavery was very much a part of Lincoln's political career. Lincoln said at age twenty-eight, "slavery was founded on both injustice and bad policy." Ten years later as a congressman he voted with his party to stop the spread of slavery, and he introduced a bill to stop slavery in the nation's capitol.

Slavery was an important part of his life during his presidency. During Lincoln's presidency (1860-1865), slavery was a very big issue not only in the United States but throughout the world. Slavery was partly the cause of the American Civil War. Lincoln always said that he "hated slavery as much as any abolitionist but feared that efforts to force abolition on the south would lead to violence." He also said "much as I hate slavery, I would consent to the extinction of it rather than see the Union dissolved, just as I would consent to any great evil to avoid a greater one." Lincoln said he did not wage war on the Confederacy to stop slavery because he felt slavery was on the path of total extinction. In 1862 Lincoln said "my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union." He felt that Congress had no right to interfere with slavery in states where it already existed. Lincoln hoped that after the war was over he could gradually stop slavery. Early in the war Lincoln resisted the demands of the radical faction of Congress, which insisted on the abolition of slavery and the use of black slaves in the army. He did this because he was afraid Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri, which were all slave states that remained loyal to the Union, would secede. Lincoln was also afraid that many Northern moderates were intellectually and emotionally unprepared for such a change, and they would desert the Union if the emancipation legislation was passed. Lincoln was bombarded by petitions, newspaper editorials, and visitors to the White House all urging him to free the slaves, but he was still hesitant.

Lincoln is portrayed here addressing the audience at Gettysburg.

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Lincoln wanted to wait for the right moment, a moment of victory on the battlefield, when the act of freeing the slaves would seem, not an act of desperation, but an act of justice. That moment came in the fall of 1862. The Confederates lost a battle in Antietam, Maryland. Five days after Antietam, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that on January 1, 1863, "all persons held as slaves in any state still in rebellion against the Union, would be then, thenceforth and forever free."

As the war was fought, Lincoln considered using free blacks and former slaves as soldiers, since many slaves were escaping the South to seek refuge with the Union Army units. Blacks eventually did fight in the war for both sides. In fact, as the war went on Lincoln began to decide that if the North had won the war and slaves were free in America, society would not accept them; hence, Lincoln decided that he wanted a place where they would be happy.

Lincoln initially wanted to buy a piece of land in South Africa, but he was not sure of this idea. He invited some blacks to meet with him to give him their opinions. One of those invited was Frederick Douglass, former slave and one of the most influential black leaders of the time. Douglass and some of his colleagues accepted Lincoln's invitation and met with the President to discuss his idea. Douglass did not approve of Lincoln's idea. Douglass tried to explain to Lincoln that the blacks helped shape the country. He told him that blacks were shipped here without their consent and now Lincoln wanted to ship them away as if they had never even been there. He told Lincoln that it was wrong because blacks were fighting in the Civil War, risking their lives so they could live free in America. Douglass was sure of one thing, that he and his people would not be shipped away after having thousands killed for the cause of freedom. Lincoln listened to what Douglass and his colleagues had to say, and Lincoln agreed with them. He could not ship the blacks away after all they had done for the country.

Lincoln's views on slavery did change but not dramatically. His initial view on slavery was that it was wrong and should be abolished so slaves could live a free life. Lincoln's views on the whole idea of slavery did not change at all but his ideas that made up slavery changed constantly as he experienced it.—[From Roger Burns, World Leaders Past and Present; William Dudley, ed., Slavery Opposing Viewpoints; Russel Freedman, Lincoln: A Photobiography; Mark E. Neely, The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia.]

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