Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln the 16th President of the United States, born in 1809 in

Kentucky. Being the son to Parents who did not own slaves, Lincoln was

astonished the first time he saw slavery.

Lincoln first quotes “Your race suffers greatly, many of them, by living among

us, while others suffer from your presence. In a word we suffer on each side. If

this is admitted, it affords a reason why we should be separated.”

The premise of Lincolns, what some consider his “slave problem” leads up to

the full Emancipation of the enslaved. In the beginning of the Civil War slaves

began to seek refugee behind the lines of the Union Army, it pushed, what

some considered the slave problem to the forefront of the national agenda. It

was something that they could not sweep under the rug so to speak. Although

Lincoln was not naturally an abolitionist; he has been quoted saying he hated

slavery. In the collected works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy Basler,

volume II, Speech at Chicago, Illinois, (July 10. 1858) – “I have always hated

slavery; I think as much as any abolitionist.” His quote reveals that he doesn’t

consider himself an abolitionist but he hates slavery, that he feels every man

should be free and not bound by another. But he also felt like based on the

longevity of slavery at this point in his political career that whites would always

feel and be superior to blacks. And blacks would always be inferior, just based

on the historical context between the two races.

When Lincoln speaks how the black race has suffered greatly, he has empathy

for the black man because of the condition they had no control over.

Nevertheless, he also has a belief that the black race can thrive if they are

colonized somewhere else.

Lincoln wants to colonize Guyana and Belize because he feels that if blacks are

freed they won’t be able to cohabit amongst whites.

He feels blacks will always be inferior to the white race because and based on

how blacks have been treated by whites, this is where his idea of colonization’s

forms. He believed if blacks live among the whites then the the blacks would

force to have to be made equal as whites. Although he hated the very institution

of slavery he did not believe black people should have the same rights as

whites, he didn’t think they should be able to vote, though his voting stance

changed later as he felt any man who served should be able to vote, he didn’t

believe they should serve on juries, hold office or accustom themselves to marry

white. He felt strongly that a black man should have the capability to control and

make his own life better and enjoy the fruit of their own labor.

He felt that there might be some sort of retaliation from the blacks wanting to

have equal rights. He also thought it would displace white labor from the

economy.

Lincoln settled on Panama to construct a canal and the other colony in the West

Indies for a colonization plan.
Lincolns plan to colonize, I’m not sure if it was realistic as the black leaders did

not like the idea of colonizing. Why should they leave after they have been

stolen from their country, placed in this new land, only to be expelled out

because the whites who feel superior in thought and position to them. I think

that would have made all African Americans displeased and cause a revolution.

Lincoln, nixed the idea after he shared his thoughts with the black leaders he

hosted in his home. His plan about colonization revealed that he was a

progressive thinker as many of his thoughts change. I suspect that Lincoln was

trying to find a way to keep slavery from growing. Colonization was one of his

ideas and it never came to life. Lincolns view on slavery changed from

colonization to the actual emancipation of slavery. His view changed from

emancipation only to the troops who served to full emancipation which

immediately freed 20,000 slaves totaling 3 million released from bondage in the

slave states, except Tennessee and Texas.

Even though there were some flaws in Abraham Lincolns slavery and

Emancipation ideologies it was his stroke of pen that set African Americans free

from the physical bondage that they were placed under by no control of them

own.