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A lot has been written about Abraham Lincoln and rightfully so. He is one of the most studied and written about men in the history of our country.
However, there are two things that I feel should be emphasized more in order to better understand the man and better illuminate his character. These
are his sense of fair play and the other his politacal astuteness. The sensitivitly of the man can be seen by reading a poem that he wrote at age 37. . This and other of his writtings suggest that he was a sensitive and fair minded man. However, there are those who say that his sensiivity is reserved for his race only and no other. They state that he is an admitted racist. As proof they use his own words against him. An example of this can be found in one of the most famous debates in United States history. This was the debate for the Senate seat of Illinois in 1858 between Lincoln and his arch rival Democratic Stephen Douglas. During Lincoln’s campaigning he would repeatedly talk about the equally of all men and the wrongs of slavery. Douglas siezed upon some of Lincoln’s remarks to use them against him during the debates. Douglas knew that the vast amount of Americans did not think that the Black man was their equal by any measure. When Douglas brought Lincoln’s take on equality forward in one of the debates Lincoln responded brilliantly. Paraphrasing, Lincoln stated: “The Negro is not my equal in color, nor is he my equal mentally. But he is the equal to me and to any man in the pursuit of providing for his family.” Now there are those who would say that his own words prove him to be a racist, and looking at the statement it is obvious that he is. He states: “The Negro is not my equal in color, nor is he my equal mentally.” Lincoln felt that the Negro was inferrior to the white race. Even so, it cannot be denied that he was deep rooted in fair play. It is certainly possible that one can have racist views but still be a fair minded person. Not only was Lincoln fair minded he practiced what he preached as he treated all men with fairness. I wish that there were more racist like him. Another of his illuminating traits was his political astuteness. In this he was second to none. This can be seen in his Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln is given the credit for freeing the slave with the Emancipation Proclamation. Whereas is was obvious as to his intention, in the short run the proclamation did not free one slave. The irony of the Emancipation Proclamation was that it didn’t free one single slave at it’s inception. It was to free the slaves in any State that was in rebellion in three months following the signing. Furthmore, he did not free any slaves in a State where he had the power to do so. This was in States that were under Union Control. The reason for this was he did not wish to anger any State that might join in the succession by his emancipration policies. There were referred to as “Border States.” If the Union had lost these Border States the Confederacy would have won the war.
A FEW OF LINCOLN’S OPINIONS / POSITIONSIn expressing his assesment of the value of the Black Union soldier Lincoln quoted: “Keep it [the Black soldier] and you can save the Union. Throw it away [the Black soldier]and the Union goes with it.” He further stated: “I know..that some of our most successful officers believe the emancipation policy and the use of colored troops constitute the heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one of these successes could not have been achieved but for the aid of the black soldier.” "If I could save the UNION by freeing all slaves I would do it; If I could save the UNION by not freeing one slave I would do that; If I could save the UNION by freeing some and not freeing others I would do that.” |