Happy Presidents Day
Some interesting quotes and facts about Lincoln and Slavery:
-Lincoln Said “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”
-Lincoln didn’t own slaves (only 12 of the first 18 Presidents owned slaves, and only 8 of those while in office) but was married into a family of prominent slave owners (and even fought against his own brother in law in the Civil War)
-He believed that the Constitution prohibited the federal government from abolishing slavery in states where it already existed and only originally wanted slavery abolished in new territories.
-Lincoln wrote, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that…I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free.”
-The Emancipation Proclamation originally freed very few slaves (it was the 13th Amendment that freed all slaves) because the text stated:
“all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”
Which meant that any slave in the southern states rebelling against the US were to be freed, or slaves that escaped the south to the north, and slaves in areas won by the north during that war.
This is sort of like making a law saying Canadians can’t walk on the sidewalk, unless they come to the USA, since the south no longer considered itself part of our country, or was obligated to follow our rules.
-Lincoln pressured confederate border states to abolish slavery own their own and all but Kentucky did so, which contributed more than 180,000 freed slaves to the Union army, which licon said turned the tide of the war and said their sacrifices earned them their freedom and right to vote.
-The 13th Amendment wasn’t ratified until after his assassination