If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with bright prospects for ...

"Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil, having due regard for its actual existence amongst us and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations which have been thrown about it; but, nevertheless, desire a policy that looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks hopefully to the time when as a wrong it may come to an end." ... edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Galesburg" (October 7, 1858), p.

April 10, 2015 - An official website of the United States government · Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States

In this manuscript, a fragment from one of Lincoln’s speeches during the 1858 Illinois Senate race against Stephen Douglas, Lincoln advances the fundamental truth to which all creatures are entitled, declaring that even a slave kept in ignorance "does constantly know that he is wronged." And he uses economic logic against slavery, arguing that in freedom "the weak .

I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save Slavery, I do not agree with them.

Lincoln wrote a response to New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862, a response almost identical in sentiment to Grant's: "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any ...

If I could save the Union without ... I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save thise Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union....

October 30, 2019 - If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.

Abraham Lincoln's letter to George Robertson of Lexington, Kentucky (August 15, 1855), later published in "Early speeches of Abraham Lincoln, 1830-1860" by Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, 1909. Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political evil, having due regard for its actual existence amongst us and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations which have been thrown about it; but, nevertheless, desire a policy that looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks hopefully to the time when as a wrong it may come to an end.

February 23, 2021 - One of Lincoln's many notes to himself suggests a man wrestling with the conflict between democracy and slavery and what he should do about it.

July 14, 2021 - The posts ( here , here ) attribute to Lincoln the words: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it” and to Lee the quote: “There is a terrible war coming and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait ...

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

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January 20, 2026 - This website provides a list of individuals and organizations who worked to end slavery in the United States, as well as historic documentation on the anti-slavery and abolition movements in the US.

2 days ago - "There is a famous letter written by an enslaved woman named Annie to Abraham Lincoln in 1863," he says. "'Dear Mr. President, my name is Annie. I live in Maryland. I want to be free. How can I be free?'" But the moral force of the Emancipation Proclamation and the seeming inevitability of the end of slavery led three border states to end the practice even before the end of the war, the historians who spoke with NPR say. Delaware and Kentucky held out until the ratification of the 13th Amendment —the constitutional change that officially abolished slavery in December 1865 and that Lincoln described as "the harpoon in the monster." As early as 1862, Black Southerners were already crossing into Union lines to escape slavery, an exodus that would intensify as the Confederacy increasingly lost ground to Union forces. "The practice of running toward Union troops and offering their services begins before the Emancipation Proclamation," according to Blair L.

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 the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others ...

Liberty was the cornerstone of ... elsewhere. In the Peoria speech, Mr. Lincoln said: “This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate....

We want, and must have, a national policy, as to slavery, which deals with it as being wrong. ... I try to learn from the past, but I plan for the future by focusing exclusively on the present. ... More about Abraham Lincoln...