Oath of Office as President of the United States: Lincoln v. Trump

[RJNorton]

Question: Was President-elect Abraham Lincoln an abolitionist? IMO, the answer is no.

Here is the text of a letter Lincoln wrote to Alexander H. Stephens on December 22, 1860:


For your own eye only

Hon. A. H. Stephens-

My dear Sir

Your obliging answer to my short note is just received, and for which please accept my thanks. I fully appreciate the present peril the country is in, and the weight of responsibility on me.

Do the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican administration would, directly, or indirectly, interfere with their slaves, or with them, about their slaves? If they do, I wish to assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not an enemy, that there is no cause for such fears.

The South would be in no more danger in this respect, than it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference between us.

Yours very truly

A. LINCOLN

To me the key words are, "You think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted." IMO, if Lincoln were an abolitionist at this time, the word "restricted" would instead be "eradicated." Although he was against slavery, he seemed to feel there would be a gradual and perhaps voluntary end to slavery as opposed to an immediate abolition. In other words, it would die out on its own.

Thus, IMO, President-elect Lincoln was not an abolitionist. I think he became one later on, but not in 1860.