DBQ 6
All throughout the 1800's, slavery was a very controversial topic. During the 1860 election, Abraham Lincoln was asked about his views on slavery. He simply stated that he would do anything with slavery to preserve the union. A few months later, Lincoln issued the Emancipation and this went slightly against what he had said earlier. Once this was issued, the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery became the main goal in the war. I believe that Lincoln's main goal was to preserve the Union and although he felt that slavery was morally wrong, he was willing to do anything to keep it together.
There were many instances where Lincoln made his beliefs on slavery very clear. Although he believed that it was morally wrong, he still did not believe that blacks should have the same rights as an american. He wanted them to be free. Just free somewhere else. During his presidency he tried very hard to do whatever needed to be done to preserve the Union. Lincoln restated this again in August of 1863 when he reminded people of the democratic party that the civil war was being fought in an effort to put the Union back together. Feelings on slavery did not matter but freeing slaves would make things easier because Confederate war effort would become more difficult.I march of 1862, Lincoln decided that it would be best to award states that freed their slaves with money. With this, people were not able to say that they didn't receive money for getting rid of slavery. This was simply a bribe though. He was not forcing anyone to abolish slavery and it was completely the state's decision.
Although that made the thought of abolition seem less awful to the confederates, they were still unsure. When speaking to a Committee of Religious Denominations of Chicago in September of that same year, Lincoln admitted that slavery was a big part of rebellion. He also stated that emancipation would prove to Europe that the U.S. had morals (image of