Abraham Lincoln Quote 

"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that 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. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything."

by:
Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) 16th US President
Source:
Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858
(The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, pp. 145-146.)
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=lincoln;idno=lincoln3;rgn=div2;view=text;cc=lincoln;node=lincoln3%3A20.1
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Reader comments about this quote:
Brilliant, this reveals Lincoln's true position on the slavery issue. Any objective study of The War to Prevent Southern Independence will show that the war was over whether self-determination (the Southern cause) or imperial subjugation (the Yankee cause) will decide the fate of the Constitutional Republic, not slavery.
 -- Jonathan Liem, Singapore		 
Bias and Prejudice limit the degree of greatness attainable by any one person.
 -- KS., Queensbury,NY.		 
We know his reasons but alas if only he would of allowed the South to have succession
 -- Robert, Sarasota		 
 -- Anonymous 
Only somebody with their head buried in the sand would admit that slavery had nothing to do with the Civil War. This quote does not prove anything about Lincoln, unless you ignore pretty much everything else he said. The Civil War wasn't about "Southern independence." The South were traitors, period. Traitors to the union, traitors to the Constitution.
 -- Anonymous		 
this quote is an insult to black people. he abolish slavery but say that blacks are inferior to white people. blacks are strong, intelligent people. no one have the right to judge anyone.
 -- Anonymous, cleveland		 
Lincoln was a closet racist who pandered to the north.
 -- Anonymous, minneapolis		 
 -- Anonymous 
I once had a social studies teacher at the high school where I teach come to me with this quote as a clear indication that Lincoln was a racist. I disagreed because the interpretation of this quote is ALWAYS based upon the core assumption that Lincoln MEANS the same thing as every other racist, myopic white man of his day. What he has done at the beginning of this quote is essentially say, "I am not willing to spend all of my time and energy arguing with every one of you listening about YOUR immutable views about the black person and their place in our supposedly whites-only society. Read the next passage as if you were able to hear Abe's thoughts about how IMPOSSIBLE it is for the white, supposedly "superior" race to accept others and it takes on a whole different meaning. Saying, "People can't get along" and thinking, "YOU will never get along with anyone else that YOU'VE deemed inferior, and unfortunately, YOU'VE deemed everyone else inferior" is NOT the same as embracing the general populace's narrow-minded point of view. "I will say in addition to this that 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 (BECAUSE THE WHITE RACE WILL NEVER BE OPEN TO THIS POSSIBILITY - my insertion in defense of a man who openly opposed slavery). In a society which CANNOT accept equality, then "superior" and "inferior" become acceptable, but not righteous or accurate, terms. In this narrow-minded circumstance, to say that the blacks should be treated as the superior race would just be an invitation to homicide, so LIncoln, in my opinion, is merely mimicing his audience's expectations basically TO GET ON WITH THE DEBATE AND OFF OF THE TOPIC OF THE BLACK MAN, but even with this understanding, AFTER publicly presenting the attitude of the masses BACK at them, he is brave enough to suggest that the black race STILL DESERVES SOME RESPECT.
 -- Edward L. Paciorek, Rochester Hills		 
good ol' abe is racist he thought that blacks were an inferior race.
 -- Anonomyous, Cleveland		 
Man, how in the hell did you come up with that justification. Good ole' Abe was a bigot, point blank. The man said that he is not in favor of bringing these two races together for any reason but is in favor of assigning the superiority to the white man. Know thats plain English to me.
 -- Anonymous, AB - Washington D.C.		 
Abraham Lincoln was a coward, a tyrant, and deserves to have his resting place urinated on by those he considered inferior. He got off easy with only one bullet.
 -- E, Las Vegas, NV		 
Abe was a product of his time and thought as others did about the superior white race, hadn't we proved it against the indians? Yet he had the stones to sign the emancipation proclamation when the country needed a rally point. Did he believe it? I doubt it. I believe it was a polical move. Look what happened to the black man after Lincoln was shot.
 -- Bob, Woodridge, Il.		 
RE: Bob I think the only thing whites proved to the indians is how horrible human beings can be in the search for power and conquest...
 -- Anonymous		 
The quote was made in response to Douglas baiting Lincoln as a "nigger lover." Lincoln was back-pedaling no doubt but this quote was from 1858. By the time he had been President 4 years his views had changed. Evidence of that? How about Frederick Douglass, the ardent black abolitionist and editor of the "North Star" an abolitionist paper, saying that Lincoln was the "only" white man to treat him as an equal. Many of the comments here do not reflect high level thinking skills or knowledge of the context.
 -- Sturdley, Northbrook, Land of Lincoln		 
No, lincoln hated niggers, he thought them far inferior the the aryan race, just not so low as to be owned like animals. but this was still wrong, because biblically, niggers are "two legged beasts of the field". And to this day the damn niggers, jews, and fags are ruining this nation and pulling it farther and farther from God every day. Read Your Bibles People. Its Your Instruction Manual
 -- AryanBrother, CSA		 
This is hilarious to read about all you morons trying to make sense of what he really meant. Maybe, he simply means WHAT HE SAYS!
 -- JB		 
For winners you Yankee's are sure sore Losers. Makes a country boy think you might be hidin' somethin'
 -- Bradley Rogers, Fresno, CA		 
this is retarted this B.S.
 -- Anonymous, brooklyn		 
What sort of idiot thinks that they're not a yankee when they're from Fresno? That said, the justification above is a stretch but there are two very important aspects to the quote: First, it was said during the 1856 Presidential debates, while Lincoln was back on his heels. He was being accused of wanting black men to be allowed to sleep with the daughters of everyone in the audience, and had to backpeddle himself fairly quickly. Second, and more importantly; Lincoln had plenty of time to change his mind and his ways. There were a lot of changes which occured within Lincoln's mind regarding the Union and slavery even after he was elected, let alone form 1856 when he was a young upstart in the midst of losing an election. That said - if you really believe that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery, read the succession articles! That's what truly started all of this, and if you read South Carolina's, for instance, you can clearly see that they were declaring their independence over slavery. Saying it had nothing to do with slavery also ignores Kansas and the Lacompton Constitution, the Dred Scott decision, the beating of Charles Sumner, the actions of John Brown, and generally at least a few dozen other brutally obvious points that fed into the start of the war. Believing that slavery had nothing to do with this is just Southern revisionism.
 -- Dusty Hodges, Wilson, NC		 
The problem with revisionist historians is that they judge the past in terms of present standards and norms. Think about the context of this quote...The debate had obviously reached the point in which Lincoln had to defend his radical beliefs with regard to the white and black races. There were few people in 1856 that truly believed that the white and black races were equal. The simple fact that Lincoln is accused of this shows that his beliefs were closer to equality than the majority of his contemporaries Lincoln's statement is racist today, but this is only because of the incredible progress made over the last 50 years in terms of civil rights. Lincoln did more for the cause of equality than any other president. And in his time, his actions were radical. He was on the cutting edge of civil liberties
 -- Tom, Reno		 
Yeah, Lincoln's views were so radical he espoused the same "let's get rid of them" beliefs so many other racist whites did. Was Frederick Douglas in the August 14, 1862 group of black leaders Lincoln presented the idea of repatriation? Somehow, we are supposed to believe that in the matter of 3 or 4 months Lincoln does an about-face on his views epitomized in the Douglas debate. Well, you got the wrong person if you think I'm going to buy that "it was 1856" mess.
 -- Anonymous		 
Lincoln remains the only president who caused more American casualties in four years than all of our foreign enemies have in two centuries. He is also the only president who has left mass graves of Americans in his wake on American soil. The only thing tragic about his assassination, is that it did not occur four and half years and 618000 casualties sooner.
 -- Anonymous		 
You would have to be a blind fool to believe War Between the states had nothing to do with Slavery, but you would also need to be a fool to believe it was all about slavery and had nothing to do with Southern independence too...
 -- Alaskan Viking, Kenai, Republic of Alaska		 
The wars primary cause was the pro states rights south, opposing the federalist north, slavery was just a casus belli for both sides, nothing more.. in fact the confederacy was preparing to free the slaves under its own reign in the closing year of the conflict. I am not revising history, I just take the time to study it rather then gobbling down what was written in my text book, printed in the 50s during the height of the cold war to bolster patriotism among all American citizens.
 -- Ignignokt, Ocala, FL		 
Hey AryanBrother, the Bible also says "I [GOD, NOT YOU] will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I [GOD, NOT YOU] will judge them. I suggest that not only you read the bible, but try to comprehend it. Our God is God of peace and love not one of violence and hate. If He truly wanted us to kill, torture and humiliate the "niggers, jews, and fags" as you so elegantly put it than He is not God. You put yourself on a pedestal AryanBrother, above everyone else, but in the end when it matters you will be on the bottom.
 -- Anonymous		 
i think that although Lincoln helped the slaves and free African Americans he was still a racist who was just trying to make his way up the social latter and he was a phony.
 -- Anonymous		 
the bible was written by people not god u moron
 -- taylor		 
Oh my Lincoln said what was on his mind.. What is sad look at us now....
 -- J Jackson, Boon docks		 
Lincoln was a blessing no matter how you look at him. Failing to be perfect is something all of us struggle with. He had the resolve to turn the corner on the issue of human rights and gave the african american population a long overdue shot at freedom even if equality was not yet to be obtained. Abe gave this country a starting block to become something great. Thanks Abe
 -- white male, usa		 
Lincoln is Americas greatest mass murdering terrorist and is in Hell. He destroyed the concept of "government by the consent of the people" on the fields of Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Shiloh, Franklin...etc. My people still suffer to this day because of that madman.
 -- Davis, tennessee CSA		 
Contrary to what many think the USA was not the only country that had black slaves. England and France had slaves in their colonies and on the islands. They did away with slavery -- it is only the USA that went to war over it. Lincoln did not believe that blacks were equal to whites in any way. He wanted them out of the country. He made reference to this in another speech. In fact he had Ambrose Thompson, a wealthy shipping magnate with land in Panama look into shipping them down there to work in coal mines and on coffee and fruit plantations.
 -- JAM, People's Republic of Maryland		 
This statement to me is not so much racist, but merely an opinion. Just because he does not think that whites and blacks should be completely equal, it doesn't mean that he did not have respect for both races. He did just as anyone would do for his own race. If Abe had been a black man then do you think he would be saying that the white man is superior to him? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Only a moron would even begin to think that a man of a specific race would down his race by giving another the upper hand... So when reading this a man of either race should be pleased because he is giving the black race as much credit as the black man would give a white one.... And PRINCESS.. God may not have written the Bible, but he did however inspire each and every word.
 -- pinky, usa		 
thats is the neta way
 -- bessy, miami, florida		 
"Abraham Lincoln didn't have an emancipating bone in his body." -- Dr. Len Jeffries, CUNY Black Studies Dept. Chairman.
 -- Rumple Stiltskin, New York		 
A truly great president would have been able to avoid civil war.... What an idiot he was.... claims they're inferior then just sets them loose throughout the country. Brilliant....
 -- Tom, Tampa, Florida		 
Abraham Lincoln's thinking was a product of his times. His thinking was no different that the average Caucasian world-wide. I know from my limited study of him, that he had a good heart. Fredrick Douglas describe his meeting with him at the White House in his autobiography. He said the president rose from his chair and walked over to him and told him it was an honor to meet him. Since I didn't live during those times, I can only go by the description of Pres Lincoln given by others who lived then; Whom I greatly respect. Fredrick Douglas is one of those individuals. He said that Pres Lincoln was a good man and a great president.
 -- Amin, Melbourne		 
The first shot in the American Civil war was made by the south when they attacked Ft Sumter. That war was a war that G-d allowed to happen. John Brown predicted that the sins of slavery could only be washed away with blood. Anyone who read the history of those times can see that G-d was punishing the whole country; both north and south. Lincoln was not expected to win the presidency. The south over-reacted. The north was arrogant during the early part of the war. After not achieving a quick victory as they thought they would. Many of the Union soldiers began to desert. The north tried giving money to new recruits, but enlistment was low. Finally a draft was instituted. After a year of war the south was close to achieving their goal of two seperate countries. Then Pres Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that gave him the right to enlist the slaves from the areas of rebellion into the US military. Later African American males in the north were allowed to join the military. That is when the war turned in favor for the north. The African American soldiers were instrumental in achieving victory in all the battles they fought in. After the war a greatful nation made amendments to the US Constitution outlawing slavery and giving African Americans (males) the right to vote. John Brown was right, blood had to be shed.
 -- Amin, Melbourne		 
To the people crying that this quote is racist, it seems history has proven him right. Whites and Black still are on uneasy terms.
 -- Anonymous, Mudkiptown		 
Blacks are a less evolved species. In 6000 years of the black african they invented not a single measurement, a written language, a calender, or even the wheel. tey have built not a single road, bridge, or ship. For shelter they have not progressed past a mud hut, a mud hut that is inferior to those of beavers, birds, and other animals. They have smaller brains, skull capacity, and their average IQ is between 75-85. Face it, there is more then just a difference in skin color.
 -- Anonymous, America		 
WTF!? lol.
 -- Anonymous, Arlington, Texas		 
I like it.I agree wit it(sorry,my kids spilled OJ on my keyboard so one of te keys isn't working).Its true and everyone would know te trut of it if tey weren't so dang politically correct.Look at Africa.If tey are equal ten wy are tey still starving to deat after centuries(tey walk over diamond mines and sould be very ric)of time to evolve?Wy do we ave to sip tem food?Tey neiter ave te intellect nor te motivation to advance as te wite culture as.Tis is trut and if you don't like it ten go jump on your politically correct bandwagon.Te jewis media will not brainwas me anymore-its enoug tey did from te birt canal until 2 years ago wen I finally woke up to TRUT.Tank you!
 -- Anonymous, USA		 
It's interesting. I personally think everyone is a little racist but if this one quote is suppose to change my mind about a man who was doing the things Martin Luther King was doing, but a 100 years earlier your wrong.
 -- Joshua, Alton		 
This is one quote that I simply cannot agree with. I guess our founding fathers couldn't get it right 100% of the time. I'm white, however, good and bad occur in all colors, all nationalities, ethnic and religious groups. Human beings are human beings, no matter what color. All are beautiful.
 -- Nancy, Marion, OH		 
Thank you, Edward of Rochester Hills. I found this very helpful and enlightening because I just could not understand (or accept) this quote.
 -- Seth, Columbus, OH		 
Equality is a popular fashion but, ask an expert and they will tell you, it has no place in the biological sciences... LIE: Races do not exist Mark Pagel, evolutionary biologist, Reading University: "There is an overbearing censorship to the way we are allowed to think and talk about the diversity of people on Earth. Officially we are all the same: there are no races. Flawed as the old ideas about race are, modern genomic studies reveal a surprising, compelling and different picture of human genetic diversity. What this all means is that, like it or not, there may be many genetic differences among human populations—including differences that may even correspond to old categories of 'race'—that are real differences in the sense of making one group better than another at responding to some particular environmental problem. This in no way says one group is in general 'superior' to another, or that one group should be preferred over another. But it warns us that we must be prepared to discuss genetic differences among human populations." LIE: We are all equal Simon Baron-Cohen, psychologist, Autism Research Center, Cambridge University: "When I was young I believed in equality as a guiding principle in life. My mind has been changed. I still believe in some aspects of the idea of equality, but I can no longer accept the whole package. Striving to give people equality of social opportunity is still a value system worth defending, but we have to accept that equality has no place in the realm of biology." Charles Darwin wrote in Descent of Man : "The races differ also in constitution, in acclimatisation and in liability to certain diseases. Their mental characteristics are likewise very distinct; chiefly as it would appear in their emotional, but partly in their intellectual faculties." In light of the slight but definite effect that racial origins have on physical traits like medical risk factors and athletic abilities, there is no reason to suppose that such effects do not extend to mental traits. In his 2007 book, Avoid Boring People: Lessons From a Life in Science, Nobel Laureate James D. Watson writes: "There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically."
 -- TurboSwami, Suqian, Jiangsu, PRC		 
Lincoln was a master at herding cats. Read Team of Rivals about his choices for cabinet officials if you don't believe me. This quote is pure politics. It was meant for political effect. If he had said anything different at the time, the opposition would have sunk his chances for president and we would be stuck with Stephen "Missouri Compromise" Douglas as our president. Nobody would ever have heard of the Emancipation Proclamation.
 -- Erik, Hackettstown, NJ		 
 -- D-money 
It's high time to get over the Civil War and its aftermath. That war preserved the American Republic. Today the threats to our Republic -- and to human freedom -- include militant Islamo-Fascism and swarms of illiterate peasants.
 -- Will duRANT IV, God Bless the U.S.A.		 
well i think that hes mother was black and father was white
 -- derrick hall, laurel		 
I don't think Abraham Lincoln wrote it. I have read in three history books that he was mixed and he was described as Black. Abraham Lincoln wrote his biography and said that his parents were undistinguished.
 -- Annonymous, annonymous		 
 -- Jim Crow, Boston, MA 
I think its funny, considering you can find anti-Lincoln political cartoons where he was called "nigger Lincoln" because of his ancestry.
 -- Anonymous, San Diego		 
Abraham Lincoln was a great man. He was surrounded by racist people, Yes there were racists even in the north. White people everywhere thought of themselves as being better than black people even in the North. This is the first time I have heard that such a quote came from Lincoln and to be honest I am shocked. However, because I know his character I am convinced that this has be either taken out of context and twisted in some way or as I already stated, he was surrounded by bitterly racist people and there is no other way to have people on your side then to say what they want to hear. Also, It is only because of this man that we are still the United States of America and the abolishment of slavery; two things for which we should be eternally greatful!!!!!!!!
 -- T. Rogers, Ponchatoula, LA		 
Lincoln hated niggers for the same reason i hate them they stink they steal rape white women (30 000 + every year) they murder white people and the news media don't report it they have turned every major city in America into cesspools of drugs violent crime and disease (50% of all new Hiv/Aids cases in '07 were black)
 -- Donnie, Livingston Ky		 
Just to clarify - it wasn't the 1856 presidential elections (for which Abe was the VP candidate). It was the 1858 senate elections in Illinois. Also, he wasn't a political neophyte, he had been elected to the U.S. House 12 years prior to this campaign - so it wasn't his first go round.
 -- Jon, Jackson, TN		 
are you kidding me??? Lincoln had to get to the whitehouse. he had a agenda. to free the slaves/blacks and whites. The only way he was going to get there was to say that black people were inferior and could not hold office. He knew better...he had a vision way beyond his years...he knew it would take one step at at time. If he would have said anything other than what he said here....GUESS WHAT??? He would have never made it to the whitehouse and thus, never freeing the slaves period. Because no-one had the courage to do what he did....at the cost of 600,000 WHITE and black men. To say that lincolns grave should be urinated on....is so distasteful and ignorant....and you should know your history before you say anything about this great human being. thank you
 -- melissa, ohio		 
Liberals interpret Lincoln's racist quotes the same way they interpret the U.S. Constitution: IT DOES NOT MEAN WHAT IT SAYS.
 -- Unreconstructed Rebel, Manassas, VA		 
I think it's hysterical that Obama likens himself to Lincoln....and I also think that all you have to do is look around to see that the black man has used the opportunity to scream racism at every turn to get where he is. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with their intelligence or their ability...it's about using whatever slimy tactics they can to get what they want and in the meantime, we're getting screwed and not getting kissed!! I remember when segregation of schools began. I was in the 7th grade and our schools had to back up to years because the blacks started screaming that we were too advanced, purposely making it difficult for them to comprehend...yeah, well what about you are as Lincoln said, dumber.
 -- Anonymous, Atlanta, GA		 
Hypothetically speaking, what if homosexuals are eventually given the same rights as heterosexuals? Will people look back 150 years from now at Obama and his stated position that marriage should only exist between a man and a woman and decide that he was nothing more than a homophobic bigot?
 -- Jason, Baltmore		 
I believe, Lincoln's quote is spot-on.. All people deserve respect, and shouldn't have their resources stripped from them.. but the REALITY is, that Blacks often do little or nothing with those resources & opportunities.. and consistently prove themselves inferior to Whites.. (except in basketball) .. and he wasn't called 'Honest Abe' for nothing, the meaning of his quote is very clear...Blacks deserve to be treated with equal dignity, but that doesn't mean they are equal in capability.
 -- Jes, Los Angeles		 
 -- bob, here 
Obviously a man of such greatness, as reassured to be by the black community, knew what he was talking about.
 -- Michael, Houston		 
Wasn't the Civil War fought over 26 plantation owners wanting cotton fields in California and Nevada, while the North wanted small farms to sell little tools to? Didn't the issue of slavery enter in about the third year of the war? Obama's idol, Lincoln was very prejudiced. What a farce to see Obama's pic under Lincoln's statue. Such a joke.
 -- Anonymous, Hobart		 
On a separate note, lincoln grew up in Kentucky and Indiana, he moved to Illinois when he was 21, though Illinois is "the land of Lincoln".
 -- reader, atlantaarea		 
Let's take a couple of facts about the Civil War into account. The Confederacy wanted to secede from the Union because the Federal Government was giving them a raw deal financially. The Confederacy wanted a fair way of doing business with other countries without the Fed screwing them out of money (sound familiar?) The Civil War was not about slavery at all, but about keeping the Confederacy from becoming a new nation. That's why it was decimated by the Union Forces. Without its agricultural output of goods, the Confederacy was bankrupt, and couldn't fight anymore. So why was slavery abolished then? Well, slaves represented plentiful free labor for the Confederacy. How about taking away the free labor so the Confederacy couldn't rebuild itself? Looking at it from a strategic military angle, one can see the Civil War in a different light.
 -- White American		 
 -- Wizard, Stone Mountain, GA 
Amendment 13 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Okay, slavery is wrong no matter what with this I agree. We need to abolish where it says "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. " That part of the 13th Amendment makes slaves out of prisoners and it is a part of Reconstruction ism of the South and needs to be abolished! Freeing slaves was not what was on Lincolns mind if it was he would not have inserted "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted," into the 13th Amendment. The majority of African Americans make up the prisoners in the evil corrupt prison system. So basically the 13th Amendment states that slavery is wrong but if you go to jail or prison then it is okay to make the prisoners into slaves. This part only needs taken out of the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment needs to be read or stated as: 1.Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. It is time to correct the wording of the 13th Amendment otherwise anyone in the prison system is a slave and the 13th Amendment still makes slavery legal as long as the person is in prison. Slavery of any kind is evil even if the person is in jail or prison!
 -- Freedom Lover, Gadsden, Alabama		 
Slavery started in the North.
 -- Anonymous, America		 
Lincoln was the only white man to treat Douglass as an equal? How about Lysander Spooner, who was a white guy that basically taught Douglass everything he knew, and was one of his biggest influences?
 -- Anonymous		 
The context of these statements are a large public debate in which Lincoln was answering a question of whether he favored "producing a perfect equality between the negroes and white people." He said these things with sarcasm and the crowd roared with laughter. Read the speech here: < href=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=lincoln;idno=lincoln3;rgn=div2;view=text;cc=lincoln;node=lincoln3%3A20.1http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=lincoln;idno=lincoln3;rgn=div2;view=text;cc=lincoln;node=lincoln3%3A20.1 There is no doubt Lincoln believed in freedom for blacks while at the same time acknowledging the divisions of the day. Without Lincoln, the freedoms enjoyed today in the US by all races might not exist.
 -- Good old, USA		 
So what if Lincoln was racist. Back then everyone was and even the Abolitionist movement didn't want total equality. ----- Lincoln still arguably did more to advance civil rights than any other president in our history and we should all be thankful.
 -- Good old, USA		 
Thank you to Ed Pakiorek (above) you are about the only person who has fully read before and after that paragraph and has put Mr Lincoln's words into proper context. He was NOT a racist, and he is clearly qualifying the small minded fears the whites had about the blacks in this paragraph but most people are reading it out of context. As someone else said: to read racism into that speech taken out of context would be the opposite of virtually every other thing Lincoln ever said! He risked his life to abolish slavery...do you really think he would have that kind of attitude towards people he risked his life to free?? Get real....read the whole bit he said if you really want the truth...if you want to take his words out of context to justify your OWN small minds that is your deficit not Abe Lincoln's.
 -- Maria, Framingham		 
TO RESPOND TO THE ANONYMOUS WRITER FOURTH FROM THE TOP who said that the south were traitors to the union, I would like to say that with all do respect they were not. Nor were they traitors to the Constitution. When this country was started and legally speaking as it stands today still each state is allowed to secede from the union. It was partly about slavery but not all about slavery most of it was about the state's individual rights. Speaking of legality the Emancipation Proclamation while a great document was a completely illegal one. The president is not allowed to make laws nor proclaim a change in a current law. That is the purpose of our checks and balances system. However the ammendments made after were legal so the Proclamation can stand now but when it was wrote and stated it could not. Despite what we, including myself, was taught in school as a child about the civil war we have to keep in mind that history is written by the winners of the wars that are fought so therefore the history that is told will be biased to one side. The end of slavery was a wonderful thing a just thing that came from the civil war but it was not the reason nor passion that people of the south fought for. They were fighting to preserve their way of life. Not to keep slaves. If you honestly research this, while slaves were horribly beaten and sold away in some cases, in the 1800s in the south it was not the norm to beat your slaves nor to sell them from their families. It was considered low class and looked down upon. Do not take this to mean I am condoning slavery in any way I am not, no one should have to live that life no matter what race creed religion or gender. Not one person is superior or inferior to another. But before we decide to hold someone up on such a high pedestal we need to recieve facts from both sides and make an intelligent decision on what our opinion is. I hate that after I researched I found what used to be one of my heroes is really maybe not so far as a racist but at the very least a bigot, it broke my heart. It taught me though that there are two sides to every story and the one should know the truth before judging another.
 -- Jolynn, somewhere in this wonderful free country		 
lincon wuz racist
 -- jerome, brooklyn		 
Lincoln lovers are a religious cult that can not allow any criticism of their god. They become very angry and bitter any time he is revealed to them in his true light. They are in such denial that they can not see the forrest for the trees and will not accept the truth no matter how plain it may be presented to them. Some people just can't accept that they have been lied to all of their lives. The Truth? Lincoln was a centralist and a big government tax and spend politician in the same mold with todays bureaucratic politicians and we go along with them because we are sheep and too afraid to take any personal responsibility for ourselves. Just as Lincoln intended, we now, for the most part, depend on the government for everything. After swearing to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution he went on to break almost every aspect of that Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Please do not take my word for it and please try to have the courage to look into it yourself. The truth will set you free and maybe piss you off enough to make a real change in the way we govern ourselves. Neither Republicans or Democrats are the answer...we are!!!
 -- Kent, California		 
booorrrriiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnngggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!
 -- deninse, san antonio		 
Hell yeah, the civil war had just about as much to do with slavery as a laxitive has to do at stoping diarreha. To be honest slavery was more or less just a cover up set up by the government. He had another quote "amancipation followed by imediate deportation" inotherwords if john wilks both hadnt shot lincon there wouldnt be any blacks in america.
 -- Aaron, spatanburg,sc		 
I hate
 -- Anonymous		 
Lock and Load; saddle up ................
 -- Lee, Charleston		 
The war was never about slavery.. it was about the South preserving what our forefathers fought to build. "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Power from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying it's Foundation on such Principles, and organizing it's Power's in such Form, as to them shall seem mostly to effect their Safety and Happiness." -- The Declaration of Independence
 -- Sarah		 
Abraham Lincoln was opposed to slavery, regardless of color, period. He also realized blacks would never peacefully assimilate into civilized European society, for which reason he invited the black leaders of the day to Washington to discuss setting up a "Negro State" in S. America. They never got back to him, and why would they, they came from the jungle but suddenly has all the benefits of society handed to them. Take a look at any country in Africa today and tell me they can govern themselves. Look what happened in Zimbabwe when they "appropirated" the white owned farms. In just a few years, that country went from being a net exporter of food to one of the most impoverished in the world. Case closed.
 -- Anonymous		 
Everyone needs to consider that at the time the slave ships were traveling to Africa, that in Europe they had built upon hundreds and hundreds of years of establishing a society. Whereas, the slave ships went to Africa and just scooped them up from the jungle. The Pilgrims must be turning over in their graves seeing what happened to the New Worlsd.
 -- Anonymous		 
Everyone agreed then that blacks were inferior to white. The only disagreement was whether blacks should be treated equally. So instead of bad mouthing one of greatest men in history, you should start learning your history and get some perspective. Your comments only prove that you are inferior.
 -- Think, Critically		 
The North fought the war to save the Union, BUT the South seceded because the end of slavery was near. The writing was on the wall. So, yes, the Civil War was caused by slavery. I hate slavery -- look at all the crime we have today. Look at Detroit, Baltimore; all lost due to slavery. Instead of just regurgitating what you are told by other idiots, pick up a book (hopefully, more than one).
 -- Culture of, Defeatism		 
Lincoln said what he said. Look at all the 5-star ratings. The statement cannot be revised. I opine he was racist. Dare we castigate such an honored person?? Look at all the support his statement has garnered. Further, read the comments from all the Lincoln apologists!! We will forever have our home-spun sickos spreading their particular brand of hate. Nothing new.
 -- B. Frank, Tacoma, WA		 
EXCELLENT!! BRAVO!! HAS THE PRES. EVER READ THIS?
 -- 88, BATAVIA, NY		 
I think there are very few critical thinkers or students of history on this commentary page. Those who understood Lincoln's posture from the point in history he is quoted, good job. Further, I note that those so prone to invective paid no attention to other Lincoln quotes condemning slavery. Of course, some here demonstrate only unreconcilable hatred and are themselves racist. If not for Lincoln and many others, all those who died in defense of union, slavery may have endured much longer in the United States.
 -- PM Connors, S		 
Abraham Lincoln was not a racist sure he hated niggers but Hey! don't we all?
 -- Donnie Statom, Livingston Ky		 
Abe Lincon was a man of his time. Was he a racist by today's standards? Yes. Was he a racist by the standards of the late 1800's? No. I don't think it can ever be proven what his real thoughts on the matter are. He did what he did because he wanted the Confederacy and the Union reunited, because he knew both would fall apart without the other. His motives weren't based on racism and slavery- they were based on what he thought he had to do to save the country. Whether or not he did it by ending slavery didn't really matter to him, I don't think.
 -- Anonymous, Rochester, NY		 
Abraham Lincoln in his own words said whites were superior to blacks. He was not a great man. We have been mentally raped by the (public) education system. Why has this quote been left from history books?
 -- Joseph M. Miller CSA, confederate state		 
"making voters or jurors of negroes nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people" wow obama is everything that lincoln did not want to happen. They sure dont teach ya that in school do they, oh no no no he was the "great emancipator" for killing his brothers because some owned slaves its all bull, history is writin by the winners of wars and they dont forget to put there spin on it to.
 -- Anonymous, yank town ohio		 
Live not by lies
 -- Ernest, Roanoke		 
Check the crime statistics for blacks 50 years after we started giving them free food, rent, etc., preferrential hiring, scholarships, etc.......Ever hear one say, "Thank you"? Most are ingrateful--like President Obunghole who be dissin his white grandma and ma for raising him and be lovin his black pappy for leavin him.
 -- Anonymous		 
 -- Anonymous 
It's amazing: some people think Lincoln was telling the truth as a racist, and others think the was LYING-- i.e. that it's ok for a president to lie to the people about his convictions "for the right reasons." People like that don't want a democracy- they want a DICTATOR who LIES to the people in order to get into power, and then does whatever he wants, even if millions die because of it-- and the more he kills, the more the fools call him a "great leader" and make preposterous excuses for him, saying how "the stupid people just don't UNDERSTAND" him. Yeah right, we just didn't "understand" Adolf Hitler or Charles Manson either. That's the most dangerous type of person there is-- a pragmatic tyrant. Oh and for those who say Lincoln wasn't serious: he sponsored a law to keep everyone out of his state, who was of ANY black ancestry: yep, Lincoln wouldn't even allow Obama INTO Illinois, so only a FOOL would credit Lincoln for Obama becoming PRESIDENT! Right: we just didn't "understand" him. Well we "understand" that you're NUTS who think that! And those who think the war was about slavery: consider what ELSE Lincoln said when taking office: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." Translation: "keep your slaves, just fork over the MOOLAH-- or DIE!" Come on, tell us again how "great" Lincoln was, and how we just "don't understand" him. Liars.
 -- Brian McCandliss, Los Angeles		 
Read the rest of Lincoln's quote - the rest of that speech. Lincoln went on to say what the physical differences were -- skin color!!! He also said slave owners should be kicked to death -- and then he kicked it to death. He also said slavery had to go -- and he made it go. He also said the blacks were equal in ALL ways to ANY white in the right to freedom, the right to pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Plus - Lincoln personally wrote the EP - and then personally pushed the 13th Amendment through. Who else did anything like that?
 -- Anonymous, Peoria		 
"sure he hated niggers but Hey! don't we all?" - LOL
 -- Xev		 
Lincoln is history's greatest mass-murderer? Davis, your sense of history is pretty funny. Get your head out from under your a--, and you might see that history is complex. I know that's a tough concept for most illiterate Americans, but try real hard. Lincoln had a tough situation, and NO ONE could have done as good a job of dealing with it as he. I have great respect for Davis, Lee and the South, but if you can't see that Lincoln played a difficult hand you must be blind or an idiot. Or both.
 -- Patrick Henry, Maryland		 
It's very important to understand the difference between racism and racial discrimination. Racism can lead to racial discrimination, but both terms are not one and the same. To be a racist, all you have to do is believe yourself superior to another race. You don't have to hate them, just think that you're better than them. It's like you being a genius amongst a group of people with low iq. You're gonna think of yourself better than the rest because of your high iq, but you're not going to start harming them physically or something because of it. (I'm not saying that other races are dumb, this is just the most literal example i could come up with that didn't have anything to do with people's skin color). That said, just because Lincoln freed the slaves doesn't mean that he thought they were all on equal footing. And before I start getting insulted or something, I'm going to point out that my race was created thanks to the mixture of three other races. Two of those races are african black and european white. So yeah.
 -- Puertorrican		 
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