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Abraham Lincoln on "Slavery"

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Abraham Lincoln on "Slavery"
Abraham Lincoln on Slavery

Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky (Abraham Lincoln Slavery and the Civil War, pg. 211, Johnson). Many Americans believe him to be one of the greatest presidents to ever serve in office. One thing that distinguished Lincoln from all the other former presidents was his distinct philosophy on slavery: that it is unfair and unjust to enslave another human being. Lincoln supported his opinion with a simple formula labeled the ‘Fragment on Slavery’ (Abraham Lincoln Slavery and the Civil War, pg. 20, Johnson), in which he described slavery as being easily applicable to anyone-not just blacks. By applying race or color, intellectual ability, or interest, Lincoln’s logic proved that if A (whites) can enslave B (blacks), then B can also enslave A. Lincoln justified his position on slavery based on his formula, in that no person had the right to enslave the other, based on those sole factors. Even though Abraham Lincoln is known as the “freer of the slaves,” he was not an abolitionist. According to the novel, there were many republican abolitionists who were far more against Slavery than Lincoln himself was. However, through his life and political career, his thinking about slavery and his policies surrounding it had changed drastically, especially during the civil war which evidently led to the end of slavery, and the preservation of the union. In this paper, I will analyze Lincoln’s thinking on the institution of slavery, as well as the general status of African Americans from his early political days, to his presidency, and through the civil war.

To begin with, Abraham Lincoln’s political career started off in 1834 after being elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as a Whig member. In March 1837, Lincoln made his first public declaration against slavery, and proposed an antislavery resolution in the Illinois legislature (Abraham Lincoln Slavery and the Civil War, pg. 211, Johnson). During his
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