Lincoln Douglas Debates example essay topic

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was always known as a good and honest man. There are many other opinions that refute this statement. Many theories say that Lincoln was far from good and honest. Throughout his life he tried to do good then as president he tried to hold a nation together by tactics that could be looked at as unpleasant. Abraham Lincoln is considered a hero to many, but he could also be looked at to be a hypocrite and a racist because of his ideas about the Negro race and slave policy during his time. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Harden Country, Kentucky.

From an early age he was known as Abe. Lincoln later moved to Kentucky with his parents. Lincoln always wanted to be a lawyer even against his dad convictions who wanted him to be a farmer. He continued this so that he in life became a great lawyer, which may have helped him in the fooling of a whole race. Lincoln is looked at by most of the Negro race as a hero, a man of great stature.

They have been fooled by history that he loved the Negro, which in fact he did not. He has been quoted many times of talking down about the Negro and talking about how there will never be an equal society between the white man and the black race. In many Lincoln-Douglas debates he talked of this. I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races-that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this 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 (n. pay. ). This clearly shows that Lincoln was not out for the Negro but just to preserve the union.

He says in many other debates that he thought the Negro had a physical difference from the white man as well as an intellectual difference (Lincoln-Douglas, n. pay. ). Lincoln was considered by many in the south to be a bigot, a white supremacist who wanted segregation and opposed civil and political rights for blacks (Oates 21). Stephen B. Oates talks of many of the theories in his book, like that many southerners concluded that Lincoln was with them in the matters of race (22).

Many of these examples show that Lincoln was a hypocrite of some sorts. He would appeal to the southerners by making statements that led them to believe that he was against the Negro. Yet he was writing the emancipation proclamation that was supposed to free all of the slaves. This also is debatable that the proclamation freed any slaves at all. The emancipation proclamation is looked at by some as one of the most far-reaching pronouncements ever issued in the United States (Oates 25). Also it is said that the proclamation freed few if any bondsman (Oates 26).

Abraham Lincoln talked of the slave issue at many occasions. He said that his paramount object was to preserve the union, that if could do this my freeing no slaves or freeing all of the slaves he would do it (Lincoln-Douglas n. pay.) He did not care either way if the Negro was free or not he just wanted the Union to be together. So how can the Negro race say that he is the Moses of their people when he did not care for them, because he appealed himself to be for the black race, this showed his pure hypocrisy. Lincoln did oppose slavery in new areas, which Douglas did not (Barone and Parshall 70).

But Lincoln was also heard of saying that he agreed with the Dred Scott decision and that if someone would like to have a slave then all the rest have no way of keeping that one man from holding them (Lincoln-Douglas n. pay. ). Lincoln did not care one way or the other about the slave issue he just wanted a Union together and slavery was splitting it apart so he did what he could to get rid of it. These actions were not done for the Negro but for the Union. He at one point during the debates with Douglas that he thought nothing was wrong with slavery (n. pay.

). Abraham Lincoln spoke of many different views on the subject of the Negro, his opinion of them was very controversial in that he would speak of them that there would never be white and colored equality, that they where inferior to him, yet in the same speech he said, "He is my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every other man". (Lincoln- Douglas n. pay.) Lincoln was a hypocrite to the extreme and has the people of today blinded with the few good actions he carried out as president. Lincoln could very much be looked at as a hypocrite and a racist for his opinions on the Negro race and slave policy. Lincoln will forever be looked at in my eyes as both. John Wilkes Booth who was a popular actor at the time assassinated Lincoln on Friday, April 14 in Ford's Theatre.

This all happened just after the war had ended and Lincoln had supposedly saved the union from the south.

Bibliography

Oates, Stephen B. Abraham Lincoln. New York: Harper and Row, 1984 Lincoln and Douglas debates.
Online. Internet. 13 March. 2001 Available web of fame / lincoln -douglas / ol.
html Barone, Michael, and Gerald Parshall. "Who Was Lincoln?" U.S. News & World Report. 5 October 1992, Sirs.
March 2001.