The Civil War: The Impact Of Abraham Lincoln On Slavery

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Abraham Lincoln’s position on slavery had always been the same, but his stance politically and publicly evolved from reserved to involved during the years leading up to his presidency. The more Lincoln got involved in politics, the more he pushed for his own beliefs that black men were equal and slavery was wrong. Abraham Lincoln went from being a personally reserved politician, basing most of his public political beliefs on the law to being an outspoken advocate to ending slavery. Lincoln’s stance in politics started as a mostly lawful view. He just wanted everyone to live as the Constitution gave them the right to do. He always had the belief that slavery was wrong, but as he stated in a letter to Joshua Speed in 1855, “I bite my lip and keep quiet,” when speaking of his encounter with the holding of slaves in chains on a ship (Lincoln to Speed). Lincoln would not publicly upset anyone with his views because the law declared slavery as legal. With saying this, in this letter, Lincoln also speaks of his continuous acts in congress to stop the spread of slavery. He claims to have “voted for the Wilmot Proviso,” and he opposed to restoration of the Missouri Compromise if Kansas did petition for statehood in the Union (Lincoln to Speed). During the …show more content…

In a speech, Lincoln expresses how people that say slavery is good would never be a slave and endure the “good thing” that they constantly claim (No Man Wishes to be a Slave”). Around this same time, Lincoln disclosed in a letter to James Brown that he thinks African Americans are people and black men should be equal. He also explains his beliefs that the national government should not intervene the states’ government laws (Letter to James Brown). Lincoln gradually began to more openly express his views on the issue of slavery but still did not really push for it to

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