Let’s get this straight…
He did not care if Blacks were freed… it just came with the package.
Lincoln publicly stated that if he could preserve the Union by keeping slavery in the United States, he would do so.
Nor did he believe blacks were equal to whites.
“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, 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 forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much 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.”Fourth Joint Debate at Charleston-Mr. Lincoln’s Speech (September 18, 1858)
