Why Was Lincoln A Racist

As Bennett states in his article, Lincoln was opposed to the extension of slavery not out of compassion for suffering black people, but out of devotion to the interests of white people. In his Charlston speech, Lincoln stated, “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 race, . . . I will say there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.” The speech itself shows that Lincoln was opposed to every aspect of the Emancipation Proclamation that he himself issued. Not only that, but Lincoln felt pressured to issue the Emancipation Proclamation by Radical Republicans who were pushing for it to be passed. Furthermore, if Lincoln had not issued the Proclamation, the congress would have done it. Lincoln did not want to give up his power as a president, and signed the document himself. In response to the proclamation, Bennett writes, Lincoln “freed” slaves where he had no power and left them in chains where he had power (page 137). In Lincoln and Colonization, by Richard Blackett, a historian of the abolition movement, The pressures of war forced his hand. As a result, the proclamation contained so many restrictions that observers questioned its effectiveness (page 20).

First, Abraham Lincoln wasn’t a fan of slavery. He thought that slavery should be abolished. According to document 5 it says “Abraham Lincoln, who had declared “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free…”. Lincoln also thought that it should be “Free Speech, Free Homes, and Free Territory”. He thought that blacks should have the right to talk in public and blacks should own their own homes and property. Lincoln wanted all blacks to be free and didn't want racism.

He still did not think blacks should have the right to vote, hold political offices, or marry white people. He also still believed physical differences between the two races would prevent them from living together socially and politically (186). Lincoln was against whites benefitting from slave labor and did feel that blacks should be able to benefit from the fruits of their own labor. According to Dinesh D’Souza in her article “Abraham Lincoln: Tyrant, Hypocrite, or Consummate Statesman”, he was not, however, an abolitionist. Abolitionists wanted an immediate end to slavery and believed the rights of slaves should not be compromised and that they “had a duty to defend freedom, unreservedly, and careless of the consequences” (3).

This clearly shows that Lincoln was not out for the Negro but just to preserve the union. He says in many other debates that he thought the Negro had a physical difference from the white man as well as an intellectual difference (Lincoln-Douglas, n. pag.). Lincoln was considered by many in the south to be a bigot, a white supremacist who wanted segregation and opposed civil and political rights for blacks (Oates 21). Stephen B. Oates talks of many of the theories in his book, like that many southerners concluded that Lincoln was with them in the matters of race (22). Many of these examples show that Lincoln was a hypocrite of some sorts. He would appeal to the southerners by making statements that led them to believe that he was against the Negro. Yet he was writing the emancipation proclamation that was supposed to free all of the slaves. This also is debatable that the proclamation freed any slaves at all. The emancipation proclamation is looked at by some as one of the most far-reaching pronouncements ever issued in the United States (Oates 25). Also it is said that the proclamation freed few if any bondsman (Oates 26).

The Civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history up to that time. In September 1862, Lincoln issues his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, it was a military move, giving the south four months to stop rebelling, threatening to emancipate their slaves if they continued to fight, promising to leave slavery untouched in states that came over to the North. By the beginning of 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued and it declared slaves free in those areas still fighting against the union. The more blacks that were free joined the war and

During this time period, the treatment of slaves improved because they were treated more like humans rather than farm animal. Some slave owners even allowed their slaves to purchase their freedom by working for them for a certain amount of time. Some African American slaves were not as lucky for their masters forbid them to do so (Doc F). As the North finally gets rid of all slave activity, the South becomes more and more dependent on slave labor and more embedded into the system.

After about four years of fighting, the Civil War finally ended in about 1865. Although the Northern states won, there were many predicaments still unsettled. Even though Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves in the North, the Confederate States were still getting by with slavery. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation of Proclamation had a dramatic impact on the lives of African American slaves throughout the United States. As Frederick Douglass says in The Civil War: Opposing Viewpoints, “But read the proclamation for it is the most important of any

The Civil War is something almost everyone has a general idea about. It is more than a huge part of America’s history and is the central event in America 's historical consciousness. This war, unlike the American Revolution which created the first American states, determined what kind of nation it would be. Though there are many reasons for the cause of the American Civil War, one of the main reasons is the different attitudes the North and the South had toward slavery. In January of 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation was

The Civil War was a war between the South and the North. In the South they wanted slavery, and if they were in the North they did not. The conflict arose when the North wanted to abolish slavery, and the South wanted to continue. The Civil War was a 4 year battle, in the United States. The Union and the Confederate soldiers fought from 1861 to 1865 in the Civil War.

The first roar of the Civil War ended with a last gasp for air. Where in such a war more than six hundred twenty thousand men sacrificed their lives for their own belief in the abolishment of slavery (“Civil War Facts”). “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” (Baslor). These wise words of Abraham Lincoln cleared the way of a desolate trail of violence and pain, yet he was determined to accomplish his plans of abolishing slavery and creating equality. The Civil War, began in 1861 and ended in 1865, yet it was known as one of the bloodiest wars America has ever walked through compared to other American Wars (“Civil War Facts”). After the Civil War

They had no say (A) and were constantly discriminated against even in the North (H). In response to these hardships they formed religious communities (C). For example, they formed the African American Episcopal church. They were even denied the right to vote (A), and were put in a state of disenfranchisement even though when the union was first created some states allowed for slaves to vote. Enslaved African American responded to the Hardships both passively and actively. Many slave participated in a passive rebellion through sabotaging equipment and doing work very slowly, but some justified rebellion through religion (F). Some slaves, inspired by L'Ouverture Toussaint in Haiti, organized rebellion like Denmark Vesey Conspiracy, which resulted in stricter slave

The civil war was the greatest and deadliest battle in U.S. history, thousands of men died of the battle, diseases, and prison camps. Slavery literally split the nation into two (the north and the south) the civil war was an imminent war that was going to happen anyways. The 16th president Abraham Lincoln was also what caused the civil war because he wanted to end slavery as a whole and the south disagreed with him.

The Civil War is the deadliest war in American History. Between 1861 and 1865, over 600,000 brave souls lost their lives at nearly 10,500 battles. By the end of the war, there were nearly 200,000 African-Americans that fought on the side of the North, with 80 percent recruited from slave states (Half Slave and Half Free, 240). Wars are fought over irreconcilable differences. There may not be one specific cause. Directly or indirectly, slavery was intertwined in many of these differences and the physical conflicts that arose between the North and South. The moral versus practical issue of slavery evoked the passion necessary to unify the people to persevere through the great hardships that were to come.

The U.S. Civil War was the deadliest war in United States history up until that time. The Civil War caused the deaths of over 600,000 people. The reasons for this are slavery, tariffs, and the Fugitive Slave Law. Slavery was a something that Southerners wanted, however most people in The North were not in favor of slavery. The Fugitive Slave Law let the people in The South search people’s homes for their missing slaves. This led up to The Civil War because of how unfair and pathetic the law was. Tariffs were passed in 1828 and 1832, which “raised the issue of the states’ rights. The next thing that was passed was the Fugitive Slave Law. This law made the people in The South able to “decide for themselves whether to be a slave or free by a vote.”

Between 1861 and 1865, the Civil War of the United States was fought. The war was the north against the south, the north against slavery and secession, and the south for slavery and secession. “During the course of the war, more than six hundred thousand Americans on both sides of the conflict died, making it to this day the bloodiest armed conflict in U.S. history.” At the end of the bloodbath, called the Civil War, the Union north won. Slavery was abolished and secession was no more.