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Lincoln's Changing Views on Slavery
Becky Richards In April 1861 Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, was confronted with the harsh reality of the Civil War. The problems he faced seemed nearly insurmountable. Loyal states outnumbered those seceding two to one. The North had a larger industrial plant, greater per capita income, and more resources than the South. But the Southern military had to be conquered. In order to win the war, in order to break up the attempt to found a rival nation, the North had to conquer the "disaffected section" completely. Many Northerners did business with the Southerners, and fighting their business partners meant losing money. To appease the business sector, Lincoln had to keep the cost of the war low and this meant finding another way to stifle the Southern rebels. His solution was to end slavery. The questions of slavery held the loyalty of the Northern Democratic businessmen, especially those in the border states. By ending slavery, the minority president (more popular votes were cast against him than for him) would end the war at the lowest cost possible for the businessmen, and gain the support of many of the Northern Democrats. The Emancipation Proclamation was a political move for Abraham Lincoln. This is not the only time that politics determined his policies on slavery. When Lincoln served in the Illinois legislature (1834-1842), Illinois was not as free a state as many people imagined. The constitution of Illinois technically prohibited slavery, but this was done with the understanding that it was necessary to get Illinois admitted as a state. The state constitution did not completely eliminate slavery. It went as far as it could to retain slavery and still permit Illinois to be admitted as a state. In fact, Illinois had a series of black codes, laws segregating races and taking rights away from blacks. Prior to the 1820s, many of the people came to Illinois from the South, bringing with them Southern attitudes and beliefs. Lincoln's service in the state legislature was during a time when the attitude of Illinois was mostly Southern where slavery was an important part of everyday life. Thomas Ford, who became governor immediately after Lincoln retired from the legislature, stated in his memoirs that it would be "dangerous" for a politician to be sympathetic to the Negro cause. Illinois was a state of strong prejudice against blacks during
Lincoln and Douglas extensively debated the slavery issue; this headline, claims that Lincoln refused to answer the question of slavery in Kansas. Lincoln eventually took a stand against allowing slavery in the new states of Kansas and Nebraska. Lincoln's years in the Illinois legislature. To survive in the political arena, Lincoln had to consider the needs and wants of slave holders. Abraham Lincoln's parents were anti-slavery, and young Abe also carried these views. This attitude caused him to face a dilemma when he became involved in Illinois politics. His viewpoint was in conflict with the opinion of the public and with some of his fellow legislators, many of whom were slave owners. When Lincoln announced his candidacy for state representative for his second term, he stated that he favored "admitting all whites the right of suffrage." Possibly Lincoln took this stand against blacks voting because one of his legislative colleagues, William Carpenter, was criticized for suggesting that free blacks should be permitted to vote. For the first time, and not the last, Lincoln conformed his view on slavery to fit the public opinion. In 1858 during the campaign for the United States Senate, Lincoln met stiff competition from Stephen Douglas. A series of seven debates, most of which confronted the issues of popular sovereignty and slavery in the territories, was the high point of the campaign. The idea for the debates was proposed by Lincoln, who hoped to gain public recognition. Douglas, who was for popular sovereignty and did not care whether the vote was for or against as long as it was honest, used the debates to portray Lincoln as a virtual abolitionist and advocate of racial equality. Both charges were calculated to doom Lincoln in the eyes of the intensely racist Illinois voters. In response, Lincoln affirmed that Congress had no constitutional authority to abolish slavery in the South. In one debate he asserted bluntly that "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about the social and political equality of the white and black man." Lincoln faced the problem throughout the debates that free soil and popular sovereignty, although distinguishable in theory, had the same practical impact. Neither Lincoln nor Douglas doubted that popular sovereignty, if fairly applied, would keep slavery out of the territories. In order to keep the initiative and sharpen their dif-
ferences, Lincoln shifted in the closing debates toward attacks on slavery as "a moral, social, and political evil." He argued that Douglas's view on slavery as merely an eccentric and rather unsavory Southern custom would dull the nation's conscience and promote the legalization of slavery everywhere. In doing this, Lincoln compromised his own position by rejecting both abolition and equality for blacks; at the same time he gained public support in the North. Once again, he shifted his views to conform to public opinion. Abraham Lincoln once said, "I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel." Indeed, Lincoln stood by this view for most of his political career. He ended slavery and deserves credit and recognition that goes with that accomplishment. But the record of his change of view is clear. When Abraham Lincoln was in office, he was anti-slavery. When he was up for reelection, he, like many politicians, followed public opinion. Siding with the abolitionists would have been political suicide for Lincoln. The Great Emancipator was like some politicians; he campaigned to please the public.—[From P. Boyer, et. al., The Enduring Vision; William Eleroy Curds, The True Abraham Lincoln; Blaine Brooks Gernon, Lincoln in the Political Circus; Paul Simon, Lincoln's Preparation for Greatness; Hans L. Trefousse, Lincoln's Decision for Emancipation.]
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