Post by cupcakes on Aug 24, 2017 16:50:00 GMT
tpfkar
Lincoln didn’t believe blacks should have the same rights as whites.
Though Lincoln argued that the founding fathers’ phrase “All men are created equal” applied to blacks and whites alike, this did not mean he thought they should have the same social and political rights. His views became clear during an 1858 series of debates with his opponent in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas, who had accused him of supporting “negro equality.” In their fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois, on September 18, 1858, Lincoln made his position clear. “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,” he began, going on to say that he opposed blacks having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites. What he did believe was that, like all men, blacks had the right to improve their condition in society and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way they were equal to white men, and for this reason slavery was inherently unjust.
Though Lincoln argued that the founding fathers’ phrase “All men are created equal” applied to blacks and whites alike, this did not mean he thought they should have the same social and political rights. His views became clear during an 1858 series of debates with his opponent in the Illinois race for U.S. Senate, Stephen Douglas, who had accused him of supporting “negro equality.” In their fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois, on September 18, 1858, Lincoln made his position clear. “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,” he began, going on to say that he opposed blacks having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites. What he did believe was that, like all men, blacks had the right to improve their condition in society and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. In this way they were equal to white men, and for this reason slavery was inherently unjust.
The only use the Union army had for blacks, they were told then, was as cooks and cleaners. In time, they would need blacks to save the Union from the Confederacy.
Fact two: It was not Abraham Lincoln who first pressed the US Congress to pass an amendment to the US Constitution outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude. It was abolitionists like the former slave Frederick Douglass and white feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who fought both for freedom for blacks and, as leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, fought for the right to vote for white women.
While Lincoln dithered and prevaricated, Stanton and Anthony sent women onto the streets of America to gather names for a petition to present to the Congress that would show that Americans wanted an amendment included in the Constitution ending slavery.
Fact two: It was not Abraham Lincoln who first pressed the US Congress to pass an amendment to the US Constitution outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude. It was abolitionists like the former slave Frederick Douglass and white feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who fought both for freedom for blacks and, as leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, fought for the right to vote for white women.
While Lincoln dithered and prevaricated, Stanton and Anthony sent women onto the streets of America to gather names for a petition to present to the Congress that would show that Americans wanted an amendment included in the Constitution ending slavery.
Lincoln on Slavery
slaveryAbraham Lincoln is often referred to as "The Great Emancipator" and yet, he did not publicly call for emancipation throughout his entire life. Lincoln began his public career by claiming that he was "antislavery" -- against slavery's expansion, but not calling for immediate emancipation.
slaveryAbraham Lincoln is often referred to as "The Great Emancipator" and yet, he did not publicly call for emancipation throughout his entire life. Lincoln began his public career by claiming that he was "antislavery" -- against slavery's expansion, but not calling for immediate emancipation.
My point is that the North weren't fighting the war to emancipate the slaves though that is how it is portrayed in films, a lot of them owned slaves themselves.
That's some dedicated slant-work. Lincoln was always against slavery, he just didn't know how to practically accomplish it near-term it given the Constitution. And since he personally issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it's pretty odd to state that "he did not publicly call for emancipation throughout his entire life". Lincoln like most then was racist. And he was navigating what he knew was a powder keg. And his primary stated goal for resisting the secession and attacks of the South was that above all he wanted to keep the nation from splitting. But he was consistently anti-slavery on moral grounds throughout his career, and he also moderated his own racist beliefs a great deal over time.
And, still regardless of every bit of that, putting up statues for accomplishments other than supporting slavery is a very different thing to putting up statues for supporting/fighting wars to support slavery. It's just not a "both sides" thing, no matter how badly the Nazis, racists and their sympathizers want it to be.
on many sides