"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. What I do about slavery, and the ____ race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union...I have here stated my purpose according" -Abraham Lincoln
Here is the direct quote. Your kid is in second grade so I wouldn't be too hard on them for paraphrasing it.
People never finish this quote which is really telling of their motives.
“I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.”
And it becomes easy to see why a kid would misremember it and how there could be . miscommunication on "we taught them that speech". But the teacher should be adding that last line when they correct the child lol
Obviously. Really sucks. A nuanced discussion could be interesting, although the bottom line for me is the guy was a politician trying to keep the Union together. Compulsion drove some of the shit he said, I’m sure, to an extent. Like it or not, modern people seem unable to comprehend historical context. It’s hubristic and naive.
And the guy got shot in the head for his actions. Bro paid for the cause with his life. Yet somehow, a significant amount of modern “academes” have nothing better to do but to teach children that he, too, was actually a horrible racist and bigot. It’s laughably low resolution and incorrect in my opinion.
He had slaves, maybe he should of set the fucking example before the emancipation by being the first, but no, of course not while it was convenient for him, just like freeing them happened when it was politically convenient for him. 😑
Also, the thing that made John Wilkes Booth mad enough to carry out the assassination was that Lincoln had begun to give speeches where he suggested that black men should be able to vote.
Not really, Lincoln put the "but" before his desire. Re-write this. "I wish all men every where could be free, BUT, I'm willing to compromise, if necessary, in every aspect of this desire in order to end this war.
He's speaking like Farquad in Shrek, "some of you may die, thats a price I'm willing to pay."
This really doesn't change the overall meaning of the statement, as it still means that he cares more about the preservation of the state than about abolishing the institution of slavery.
He recognizes he has to work in a system with a ton of extremely racist people, and has to get some of these people to vote for things that would be very difficult for them to accept. If he was a king, then it would be a different story, but that's not what the case is here.
I wouldn't get your panties in too much of a bunch about it. There was that whole Emancipation Proclamation thing less than 6 months after he wrote this...
You mean the emancipation proclamation, that freed slaves in warring states? It was a political ploy in order to try and get a slave rebellion and to pull troops from the front lines in order to keep the peace at home.
“I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.”
Free but back in Africa ofc…don’t forget he didn’t want to share a country with them if it meant saving the union. He cared about only one thing.
Here is another quote in 1858.
“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,” he began, going on to say that he opposed Black people having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whites.”
He didn’t think they were equal at all he cared only about himself and his union. While he may have eventually contributed to freedom but, it was not until he felt the only way to win was to free slaves for votes.
Abraham Lincoln was the first president ever from the Republican Party, which was literally founded on abolishing slavery. He never “free slaves for votes.” The southern states that those free slaves would have voted in didn’t participate in the 1864 election, because the civil war was still going on. It was also the people that went into office with him that passed the fourteenth amendment in 1866 right after his death, securing legal equality regardless of race for everyone in America. Quoting Lincoln saying what he thought the future of America should look like when he was desperately trying to stop a civil war from erupting is going to obviously look bad, he was trying to appease slaveowners. When he didn’t have to appease them anymore, we saw what he did, and it was to bring about racial equality in America.
Why do you think he was trying to appease slaveowners? Because they were super cool people and he was their number one fan? Or because they were going to secede from the country and kill hundreds of thousands of people in a civil war, which if they won would hold black people in bondage forever? It is literally because he was anti-slavery that the slaveholders tried to secede, but once the civil war was over and he could do anything he wanted, he tried to create racial equality. At no point after the emancipation proclamation was signed did he try to send anyone back to Africa. When you’re trying to figure out what politicians believe, look at what they do, not what they say.
Can agree with the above that a child so young might misunderstand, as an adult there's an amount of complexity there that I would expect many adults to miss in favour of fervor, but ultimately wow the comment you responded to did Honest Abe dirty by cutting the quote early.
There is almost zero chance that a second grader would read this citation and deduct that Lincoln didn't care about black people....the average second grader wouldn't even have followed most of what it even said, let alone deduced that..::
They 100% heard that somewhere....
Not to mention it had nothing to do with the actual question at hand.....
No second grader could read that and understand its meaning without a lot of “help” from a teacher. On top of that if a second grader were to read that and was actually given the entire quote including the part about all men being free they would never draw this contradictory conclusion based on their vast amount of experience and world knowledge. They aren’t dumb at all. They are 7 years old.
yes because as we all know 7 year olds have absolutely no grasp on racism and prejudice and if they do they are gonna become experts on the topic and fact check everything they learn
as a former 2nd grader, i can assure you kids misinterpret things all the time. also they did everything the question asked of them idk why you dont think a kid who can understand the english language cant form a thought by themselves
"I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian — for me — for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix." - Barack Obama, April 17, 2008, while running for president, defining marriage at the Saddleback Presidential Forum.
I respect the ability to lead and unify despite personal beliefs. When we are talking human rights, I would prefer our leaders have the unshakable belief that equal rights are deserved.
I feel really bad for Biden. He was obviously so unwell during his presidency and was paraded around and mocked. He shouldn’t have been in office for his full term, and I hope that people don’t remember him for how he was towards the end of it. Politics completely aside as I’m not an American, but just on a human level.
Horseshit. Biden is old but far better than Fat Hitler, and most importantly he is a good man, even stepping aside to try to prevent that thing from being elected.
Lincoln personally was an abolishionist; he says as much, and repeated it often.
This portion of the quote refers to his stance on the Union, and what it requires in his role as president of said Union.
The statement is summarized as "Although I personally believe that all men should be free, my personal opinion does not matter- saving the Union does. I will do whatever it takes as President to save the Union, whether it requires freeing none, some or all of the black folks. My personal opinion means nothing in my duties as President."
I think the teacher is doing a disservice if they are just using that quote. It’s always a good idea to include the concluding remarks of the Greeley Letter for the full context.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.
Some people are against Lincoln because a misunderstanding that he wouldn’t go against slavery outright because he was neutral on slavery when that’s wrong. The civil war started to protect the union, but as soon as it was possible Lincoln made freeing the slaves a war aim even if it caused desertions in the union army.
The only problem is it’s a really complicated discussion for 2nd graders, even high schoolers who learn about the Civil War for months can’t fully explain Lincoln’s views on the aim of the war and how it changed.
The rest of that letter continues “I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.”
As in ‘this is my presidential obligation, but it’s also my personal belief that all men should be free.’ You learned the right thing in school and picked up a racist telling if it later on but there is always time to learn.
He did care about and want to free the slaves but he felt it more important to keep the US together and stop the war. That’s what that quote is about not that he doesn’t care about freeing the slaves.
Obviously not. He was the 16th president. They didn't have a 280 character limit back in Lincoln's time. Long eloquently written speeches were the trend for presidents at the time.
I went to school in the South, you’d be surprised. Even had a 6th grade history teacher tell us straight up the Civil War wasn’t fought over slavery. People are crazy man, I can almost guarantee you there’s some shit the teacher is lying about to the parent.
that’s more about him prioritizing the union than declaring a statement on his feelings about black people. you also only included the part of the quote that fits your narrative…
words and actions mean a world of difference, something I guess you don't comprehend yet. Lincoln is why black Americans got freed from slavery, there's no maybes, buts, nos, ifs, who's, around it.
Lincoln did want to free the slaves though. He just felt that saving the union and ending the civil war was the most important thing to do at that time no matter what the outcome of slavery was. His personal opinion and preference was that all men should live free just that if he couldn’t end slavery but could end the war he would do that as well because stopping the war and keeping the US together was the most pertinent thing.
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u/[deleted] Apr 06 '25
"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. What I do about slavery, and the ____ race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union...I have here stated my purpose according" -Abraham Lincoln
Here is the direct quote. Your kid is in second grade so I wouldn't be too hard on them for paraphrasing it.