Abraham Lincoln and slavery

Common card · No. 252387

Abraham Lincoln's position on slavery in the United States is one of the most discussed aspects of his life. Lincoln frequently expressed his moral opposition to slavery. In 1858, he said, "I have always hated slavery, I think as much as any Abolitionist". Yet, though Lincoln believed that slavery was a moral, social, and political wrong, he was not an abolitionist until well into the Civil War. He stated in 1837, "The Congress of the United States has no power, under the constitution, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the different states," and, though "the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy; ... the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils [by driving political support toward slavery]." Yet, Lincoln often expressed his desire for slavery's end. The question of what to do about slavery and how to end it in a divided nation, given that it was so firmly embedded in the nation's constitutional framework...

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