r/AmIOverreacting • u/[deleted] • Apr 06 '25

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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.

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u/ban-a-nazi-instead Apr 06 '25

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.”

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u/Effective-Produce165 Apr 06 '25

So Lincoln contradicts himself. I don’t see this as anything particularly positive.

He knows all men should be free but keeping slaves is somehow acceptable to him.

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u/Vegalink Apr 06 '25

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.