Throughout his entire political career, Abraham Lincoln has held many progressive as well as many cautiously conservative views regarding the issues of race and slavery. Lincoln’s political stance on slavery, prior to first shots at Fort Sumter, was that slavery should be permitted to exist, but should not be allowed to expand from its current areas of existence. He stated in the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 he has “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.” Although he claimed to have no inclination to eliminate the institution of slavery, Lincoln clearly was opposed to the institution, publicly declaring it a “monstrous injustice.” Accordingly, Lincoln had many different reasons for being opposed to slavery, as outlined in his various speeches and letters. One of the main arguments Lincoln makes is that all people, regardless of race or status, are entitled to the “natural rights” outlined by the Declaration of Independence, namely: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Logically, his moral-political belief about equal access to natural rights stands in stark contrast with the institution of slavery. Additionally, Lincoln criticizes slavery because “it deprives our republican example of its influence on the world.” As was discussed by Chandra Manning, like many other Unionists, Lincoln saw slavery as a glaring point of hypocrisy that blemished America’s shining example of democracy. Lastly, Lincoln opposed slavery because, as an institution, it causes men to place “self interest” over the ideal of “civil liberty.”

Although Lincoln sees slavery as an impediment to his political and social ideal, he does not see continual black subjugation as an issue standing against his beliefs in natural rights. Although he wishes to see everyone with the right to life, liberty, and happiness, he is not for promoting civil rights for African Americans. As he states in the Lincoln-Douglas debate, Lincoln is “not in favor of negro citizenship” and he stands by the law that “forbids the marrying of white people with negroes.” The bulk of his opinion regarding race can be summed up by his speech at Charleston, Illinois where he stated 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.” It is clear that Lincoln does not believe that the black and white races are, can, or ever should be, equal. It is this sentiment that distinguishes Lincoln from radical abolitionists.

It is apparent then that Lincoln’s view of slavery was influenced by his inferior view of the black race. He initially did not promote the outright end of slavery because he believed that free blacks and whites could not exist on equal footing due to innate “physical” differences between the two. While pondering the question of what to do with the large enslaved population, Lincoln asks “ what next? free them, and make them politically and socially, our equals?,” replying, “my own feelings will not admit of this; and if mine would, we well know that those of the great mass of white people will not.” The fear of creating a black social class that could potentially gain equality with the white race was a fear that most whites, including Lincoln himself, were greatly disturbed by. Additionally, the issue of slavery, an issue inextricably tied with race, was tearing the county apart and causing untold hardship. In meeting with a group of black men, Lincoln outright admitted to the group that “our[s] [race] suffers greatly from your presence.” He even goes further to tell them that to reject the creation of a black state and to choose to live among whites would be “extremely selfish.” It was this segregationist sentiment that drove Lincoln, and many of his supporters, to look for a viable way to deal with slavery by creating a free black country outside of United States. In contrast, Lincoln holds that “emancipation, even without deportation, would probably enhance the wages of white labor, and, very surely, would not reduce them.” Whether he actually believes this, or made this statement for pure political effect, Lincoln does not believe that the infusion of millions of African American workers into the job market would have any negative economic impacts for whites. This positive economic view regarding race relations influenced Lincoln’s push to end slavery. In essence, having the institution of slavery presented the political-moral issue of denying human beings natural rights, rights which Lincoln believed that people of all races should have. It was this belief, coinciding with the belief that slavery further perpetuating the conflict between the north and the south, that drove Lincoln’s ideology regarding slavery. In contrast, Lincoln’s doubts about the capabilities of the black race  also brought up painful questions about coexistence and equality. Lincoln’s prejudice of African Americans and concerns about coexistence also worked to delay emancipation until Lincoln felt it was absolutely necessary for victory.