Reflection Of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln lived through a very controversial time because he had the power to either end or continue slavery. Lincoln developed multiple opinions on the topic of slavery throughout his lifetime as his political positions changed. We can track the change in Lincolns views on slavery If we focus on the period of his life in between the First Inaugural and the Second Inaugural. In order to trace Lincolns journey from his First Inaugural Address to his Second Inaugural Address, we must first look at his life before the First Inaugural Address, so that we can understand the type of person he is.

Abraham Lincoln was a good man that had the best interest for all people in mind whenever he made a decision. We can see that Lincoln was a good man though

They know they are not demons, nor even the worst of men.” (Address to Temperance Society, pg.36) Instead of given up on the drunkards like everyone else did Lincoln looked for a method to help them. From this, we can see that Lincoln is the type of person who wants to help people, not tear them down. These values can be seen in Lincoln throughout his lifetime. Lincoln kept his morals the same throughout his life, but his public and private opinions on slavery and equality changed drastically throughout his lifetime. In order to understand the change in Abraham Lincolns views on slavery, we must first look at his personal beliefs at the beginning of his political career. In Lincoln Fragment on Slavery, he questions the logic behind slavery. Lincoln personally was trying to understand the justification behind slavery when he wrote, “You do not mean color exactly? – You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a intellect superior to your own.” (Fragment on Slavery, pg.91) In this personal writing, Lincoln puts up every justification for slavery and then refutes it by showing the holes

In all of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, we can see that Lincolns views on equality have changed drastically. In all of the debates, Lincoln says something along the lines of, “I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and the black races.” (Fourth Lincoln-Douglas Debate, pg.171) The most evident example of the change in his views on equality can be seen in Lincolns First Inaugural. In this speech, Lincoln quotes the First Lincoln-Douglas debate when he says, “I have no purpose directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” (First Inaugural, pg.284) We can see that Lincoln views on both slavery and racial equality have changed because in these debates he opposes the ideas that he previously supported in his Peoria Speech. Not only did Lincolns public views change, his private views also changed. Lincoln privately wrote a fragment On Pro-Slavery Theology in the same year as the First Lincoln-Douglas, in which he talked about racial superiority. In this text Lincoln says, “Suppose it is true, that the negro is inferior to the white, in the gifts of nature; is it not exact reverse justice that the white should, for that reason, take from the negro, any part of the