French students have some questions

[Eva Elisabeth]

Kate is right, after finishing my previous post I, too, thought that regarding heroism one has also to look at his intentions. Saving the Union and emancipating the slaves is what makes him - globally - a "hero" in the eyes of most people.
The views on Lincoln's views on slavery range from his paramount goal had always been to free the slaves and anything contrary he ever did and said was because he thought his voters wouldn't move faster and he had to walk step by step, to he was a racist and his reasons for ending slavery were solely economical ones in favour of the north. Even his idea of colonialization can be argued from different angles. All different approaches and argumentations seem logical while you read them, I believe the truth is somewhere in between, and one has to keep in mind that Abraham Lincoln was a "product" of his background and era - and he didn't grow up in a globalized world. Regarding this, I believe, as I previously said, his intentions were quite progressive pro-human (rights), and when black people met him (e.g. Frederick Douglass) they reported they were treated and respected like white people.
I believe the more personal experience and contact he would have had with black people, the more that would have changed his mind. Also I think one also has to regard his struggle in adjusting his deep belief in the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, to abolition and make it especially go along with the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Since we can't ask him what he - beside his words and actions - might personally have thought and intended regarding emancipation (and even that might not have revealed his true mindset - as Herndon said, Lincoln was "the most shut-mouthed man that ever existed") we will never know.