America celebrates the bicentennial anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth this year. Some people believe him to have been the nation's greatest president. Lincoln lived from l809 to l865, when the 16th president of the United States was assassinated. Indeed, he is among the beloved, but it seems that with a new, intriguing book written about him, he may become one of the most controversial presidents because of his beliefs about freedom. What did it mean to him exactly?
Lerone Bennett Jr., the historian and author of Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream, provides critical analysis and a new perspective on Lincoln. He argues that Lincoln was racist. He forces a rethinking and reconsideration of Lincoln the emancipator. It is a challenging read but a necessary one for readers to get a comprehensive view of the man.
A clear view of Lincoln has to be conducted in historical context. He certainly faced challenges and made critical decisions that determined "freedom." He freed the slaves, but the real question is why did he free the slaves? Did he do it because it was morally and politically correct? Did he save the nation in doing so, not really caring about the evils of human bondage? Was he or was he not a racist? What were the forces that influenced his decision?
Abraham Lincoln's own words in an 1858 debate with Stephen A. Douglas make you wonder:
"I will say then, that I am not nor never 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 never have been in favor of making voters of the free negroes, or jurors, or qualifying them to hold office, or having them to marry with white people. I will say, in addition, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which, I suppose, will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality, and inasmuch as they cannot so live, that while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, that I as much as any other man am in favor of the superior position being assigned to the white man."
What is crystal clear to me is that Lincoln signed The Emancipation Proclamation and that in doing so he saved the nation. What is also very clear is that Abraham Lincoln gave us the rationale for American racism. He advocated the notion that blacks were inferior to whites. He promoted white superiority. He questioned whether blacks should have the right to vote. He questioned the equality. He questioned white rule and was absolutely in favor of it, realizing that black voters could alter the equation. He realized that "freedom" would bring about change in America if we gave the Constitution a literal interpretation. Lincoln kept America united and avoided a Union split.
Negroes fought the war and proved their loyalty, if not love, for their country. Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist, raised questions in his speech, "What the Black Man Wants," delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, April 1865. The speech was made days after the close of the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln. He said:
"What have you asked the black men of the South, the black men of the whole country to do? Why, you have asked them to incur the enmity of their masters, in order to befriend you and to befriend this Government. You have asked us to call down, not only upon ourselves, but upon our children's children, the deadly hate of the entire Southern people. You have called upon us to turn our backs upon our masters, to abandon their cause and espouse yours; to turn against the South and in favor of the North; to shoot down the Confederacy and uphold the flag -- the American flag. You have called upon us to expose ourselves to all the subtle machinations of their malignity for all time. And now, what do you propose to do when you come to make peace? To reward your enemies, and trample in the dust your friends?"
Douglas said in that same speech:
"I have had but one idea for the last three years to present to the American people, and the phraseology in which I clothe it is the old abolition phraseology. I am for the "immediate, unconditional, and universal" enfranchisement of the black man, in every State in the Union. [Loud applause.] Without this, his liberty is a mockery; without this, you might as well almost retain the old name of slavery for his condition; for in fact, if he is not the slave of the individual master, he is the slave of society, and holds his liberty as a privilege, not as a right. He is at the mercy of the mob, and has no means of protecting himself."
Lincoln discussed the "freedom" of blacks in a variety of ways. One was freedom with limitations. Another Lincoln consideration was to send slaves to Africa. This met strong objections from Frederick Douglass, the premiere voice of black America at that time. He argued this was our country and we had fought for the right of America's freedom, which included our very own.
Indeed, Lincoln was faced with hard questions of his day and his decisions were tough ones. He saved the union, and as a result, blacks were freed. But the debate demonstrates Lincoln was never convinced that blacks were equal and worthy. A primary question the gentlemen of Illinois argued was what the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence meant to the Negro. The thoughts were to nationalize slavery, to reduce how widespread it was, or to end the slave trade but not the institution of slavery.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 are an interesting read. There were seven debates between Lincoln, the Republican, and Douglas, the Democrat. The overall theme of the debates was the peculiar institution of slavery.
They were running for the U.S. Senate from Illinois.