Abe Lincoln, Unrevised

Yesterday was the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President (1861-1865).

Because American kids have been taught for generations that Lincoln "freed the slaves", he has been revered as a hero of civil rights.

Think again, Sparky.

Abraham Lincoln was more about preserving the Union than about ending slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation which Lincoln signed in 1863, freed the slaves in the Confederacy, but not those in the Union. So he did free some of the slaves, just not all of them. And he did it with attitude.

In a letter to Horace Greeley, dated August 22, 1862, Lincoln wrote:

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union..."

And from a speech on September 16, 1859, in Columbus, Ohio, Lincoln said:

"I will say, then, that 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 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, or intermarry with the 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 can not 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."

Revisionist Historians and Social Progressives take note.