Was Abraham Lincoln against segregation?

Answer 1

Lincoln's "support for segregation" is not exactly what some try to make it out to be.

To begin with -- Lincoln certainly did NOT think of blacks as 'less than human' (more on that below), and it is an absurd distortion of the Emancipation Proclamation to say that it "didn't free any slaves" or that Lincoln didn't really care about their being freed. He has left a LONG trail of evidence (writings, speeches and ACTIONS) to the contrary.
_________________

Now it is true that Lincoln for most of his political career (though NOT at the end) was a proponent of a particular type of separation -- one that involved emancipation and colonization of the slave population, but more as a solution to a difficult problem, to rid the nation of the evil of SLAVERY as well as to give former slaves a chance for a BETTER life.

It is misleading to simply call this "segregation" without explanation of his purposes or attitude, or without paying any attention to the context in which he lived and acted.

First, note that when WE think of segregation we think of animosity, and often of a view of some whites that blacks are inferior, perhaps not quite fully human, and not possessing the same human rights as whites.

If you look at Lincoln's FULL statements on these matters (not just sentences and half-sentences ripped out of context), you find that from the early 1850s on he argued, on NUMEROUS occasions, that blacks were part of the "all men" of the Declaration of Independence and were entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That does not mean Lincoln had "enlightened" views about race relations -- hardly anyone did in his day. He appears to have shared the views of his countrymen in opposition, for instance, to racial intermarriage. But the only time he said much about all this was during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, when he was seeking to blunt charges from Douglas meant to wound him politically. (That is, he was only responding to accusations, not advocating his own program.)

Several times he disavowed plans to "bring about social and political equality between the white and black races". BUT he did not display animosity. And in the next breath he would add "I have made it equally plain that I think the ***** is included in the word "men" used in the Declaration of Independence. I believe the declaration that "all men are created equal" is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest; that ***** slavery is violative of that principle;
(Letter to J. U. BROWN, OCT 18, 1858)

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2657/2657.txt

Compare the following:

"I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and the black races. There is a physical difference between the two which, in my judgment, will probably forbid their ever living together upon the footing of perfect equality; and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold that, notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why the ***** is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence,--the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. I agree with judge Douglas, he is not my equal in many respects, --certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellectual endowments. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man."
Speech at Columbus Ohio, September 16, 1859
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2657/2657.txt

___________________________

In line with all this, Lincoln insisted that slavery was a moral evil, though one that the Constitution did not allow people (including the President) to simply do away with. His solution was that slavery must be CONTAINED, not allowed to spread, in the expectation that this would cause it to die out in the South as it had in the North.

He also had the notion that, if the border states would accept compensated emancipation, with the freed slaves being colonized, the states then in rebellion, seeing this, would be open to reconciliation and to a similar plan to bring slavery to an end.

All these plans, however, came to an end with
the Emancipation Proclamation. Once it was finalized on January 1, 1863, he never argued for colonization again. Over the next two years he fought fiercely to guarantee the freedom and basic rights of blacks would be maintained AFTER the war, esp. by his efforts to gain passage of the 13th amendment (which applied to the WHOLE nation).

More than that, by the end of the war he was advocating that at least some blacks have the right to VOTE. In other words, he was now arguing that they ought to have "political equality". This is a shift from his pre-war position.

Note that Lincoln ALWAYS sought a Constitutional solution. THIS is why the Emancipation Proclamation applied ONLY in areas then in rebellion. Lincoln's only Constitutional authority for emancipating slaves was as part of the President's "war powers", that is, as a means to undermine the rebellion. He had NO authority to emancipate otherwise.

(Also, the Proclamation DID free slaves! First, it secured the freedom of those who had already fled, then that of slaves in any territory the Union armies were able to prevail in. By the end of the war --when the 13th amendment was not yet ratified-- it had freed slaves in ALL the Confederate states.)

____________________________

Lincoln was concerned that, given the evil legacy of slavery, blacks could NEVER enjoy equal treatment in the white society that had enslaved them. Indeed, there was something to his concern, as seen in the strong Southern backlash against Reconstruction --from black codes to lynchings -- until it finally fell apart (the North losing the political will to continue) and freed blacks were forced to live under the Jim Crow regime.

To get some idea of why Lincoln argued for colonization considering the following quotes:

"If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with bright prospects for the future; and this too, so gradually, that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation."
(from his Eulogy on Henry Clay, July 16, 1852)

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2654/2654.txt


"Your race are suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. . . ."
(Address on Colonization to a Deputation of Colored Men. Washington, August 14, 1862)

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2658/2658.txt

Answer 2

Abraham Lincoln clearly stated that the Civil War was for the preservation of the Union, not ending slavery.

Abraham Lincoln wanted to repatriate all the slaves back to Africa.

Abraham Lincoln used the imancipation proclamation to prevent European intervention if the South was recognized by Britain, France, and Russia.

Answer 3

Dr. Merce- the gay rumors come from the actuality that once some male acquaintances got here around they slept in the comparable mattress. in spite of the undeniable fact that, back in his days this became considered as thoroughly hetereosexual usual. No, he became no longer gay. Lincoln wasn't a real abolitionist. Lincoln became strictly independent and sided with the final public. Lincoln freed the slaves no longer using fact he adversarial to slavery, yet he became criticized by utilising the republican occasion for no longer abolishing slavery quicker. there is documented information the has Lincoln putting forward that he believed slaves have been inferior. specific, this became all authentic. He additionally became very suicidal b/c his existence became very tragic. remember nonetheless, he struggled with no be counted if or no longer Black human beings have been inferior. additionally, observe the Civil conflict became no longer started out over slavery yet unfair taxes, that maximum Union infantrymen did no longer care approximately Blacks, that the biggest slave possessing state became Rhode Island (illegally had slaves), that the British suggested they banned slavery yet they offered sugar made by utilising slaves in the Caribbean, and ultimately that the accomplice flag did no longer help slavery...the flag that did became yellow with a rattlesnake on it. The EP freed in basic terms some slaves in the South. those in the militia have been already freed. Slaves in Texas had to attend yet another 2 yrs and due to this there is Juneteenth now.

Answer 4

Not at all...he made many statements during his political career which pointed to the fact he more than likely supported the idea of segregation. Like the other person mentioned....it is widely known that he had plans to send all slaves back to Africa had he had the chance

Answer 5

"What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races."

— Spoken at Springfield, Illinois on July 17th, 1858; from ABRAHAM LINCOLN: COMPLETE WORKS, 1894, Vol. 1, page 273

Answer 6

Sadly, no. While he opposed slavery, he by no means supported equality of the races. Like most whites of his time, he didn't consider blacks to be fully human.

Answer 7

No.He just (ACTED TO BE FAIR).With the CONFEDARAT And The Union.

Answer 8

Judge for yourself.