"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery." and on he wrote to friend Horace Greely, " If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that."
Does this sound like a man who was very concerned about the slaves. If he was why didn't he free the slaves in the North when he wrote the Emancipation .
It only freed the slaves in the South (which he had no control over) but slaves in the north were not freed until the 13 th Amendment was changed in Dec. of 1865. This was his way of turning the war into an issue over slavery so that Great Britain and France would not help the south.(They had done away with slavery previous to the war)
Then there is the matter of his Inaugural Speech made on March 4th 1861. In Paragraph four " I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery...."
Even in his campaign speech he expressed his beliefs that he didn't think "negroes" should be made voters or qualified to hold office.
If we sit back and think about it was he the man that our teachers taught us he was in school. The great man who freed the slaves..I think not.. Below you will find some links that back up what I have said. Keep in mind the book was written by a black man. I think he is like the Editor of Ebony Magazine or something. I will find out for sure. The others are links to the documents....
|
